Problem behavior: Blurting out during morning meeting, mini-lessons, and other whole-group discussion times

Goal: Reduce/eliminate Kim’s blurting during whole-group work

Background information
Kim was an articulate fourth grader, a bubbly, fun-loving girl who loved to chat with friends and adults and really wanted to be good. Too often, her need for attention interrupted learning. To help her focus we had recently agreed to move her desk away from the other desk clusters for a time. To her credit, she accepted this willingly. She realized she needed to be away from others in order to get work accomplished. Academically, Kim was higher in reading than math. During math class, she needed a lot of assistance and encouragement. When she got lost or behind, she would assert herself and ask clarifying questions until she understood the concept. This was a strength of hers.

She lived with her mom and her younger sister here in Minneapolis. Her dad lived in Illinois. She often shared about how her family was from Illinois and how in the coming summer she, her mom, and her sister were going to move back to Illinois to be closer to her dad and his extended family. Her mom was very supportive of Kim; we e-mailed back and forth a lot.

Moving Kim’s desk helped her stay focused during work times but didn’t change another problem behavior that was driven by her need for attention and her lack of self-control: blurting during whole-group learning times. Basic behavior management tools like modeling, reminding teacher language, take a break, redirecting teacher language, and the buddy room didn’t seem to have any lasting effect on Kim’s over-participation. She and I needed to sit down and have a heart-to-heart conversation about her blurting and create a plan that was tailored to meet her needs. I reflected on all that I knew about Kim and arranged a problem-solving conference. Here’s what we said to each other.

Conference Dialogue
MRS. DEBREY: Kim, thanks for sitting down with me today. I noticed you really worked hard yesterday at getting your essay done. A lot of research went into that and you finished on time. What did you notice about your essay and the job you did?

KIM: Yeah, I worked hard on that, and had fun typing…I mean, publishing it. It turned out good.

MRS. DEBREY: Yes, it did. I also wanted to talk to you today about a problem that you are having in class, and that is blurting out during certain times throughout the day. For example, today you blurted out six times during the math mini-lesson. This has also been a problem in Morning Meeting, especially during other people’s shares. You make a comment out of turn sometimes. It’s happening when our whole class is together, trying to work, build community, or discuss something. This blurting you’re doing is a problem because it interrupts the speaker, or it disturbs the think time I am giving other students, and it doesn’t give others a fair chance to be heard or to answer. What have you noticed?

KIM: Yes, you’re right. It’s a problem [pauses for a moment]…and yesterday when you were talking, I added words to what you were saying about Aminata’s birthday celebration.

MRS. DEBREY: Right, exactly. So you see it, too. I really want to find out from you why you think this is happening. Why do you think it is so hard for you not to blurt out?

KIM: Well…..maybe I don’t know. Sometimes I don’t know if you want us to just answer as a group, or to raise our hands…when I don’t know, I don’t try to hold in my ideas. Another thing, when you do tell us to raise our hands, I…I know the answer and you don’t always call on me, and I get upset so I just blurt it out.

MRS. DEBREY: Hmmmmm…. [senses Kim has more on her mind]

KIM: Well…another thing is I know I like getting attention.

MRS. DEBREY: You mean even if we’re not focusing on you, you’ll take the focus off another student to get the attention turned on you?

KIM: Yeah….

MRS. DEBREY: I get that…I understand that you like attention. Many of us do! You are being so honest, and I really appreciate it. It helps me understand the situation and how to help you better. Kim, I want to give you positive attention, not negative attention.

KIM: That is what my mom says…I should get positive attention, not negative attention.

MRS. DEBREY: What do you think negative attention sounds like?

KIM: Phone calls home, time-out, behavior teacher’s office

MRS. DEBREY: How does that feel?

KIM: Not good, especially when I am trying to go to this birthday party this weekend. My mom said I had to be good in order to go.

MRS. DEBREY: What do you think positive attention sounds like?

KIM: You telling me when I am doing good, a high five from you, or you saying give yourself a pat on the back. Oh…and good notes home.

MRS. DEBREY: Which kind of attention feels better?

KIM: Positive.

MRS. DEBREY: Do you need anything from me to help you follow our rules and stop blurting out? How can I help you with this?

KIM: Keep telling me that I am doing good!

MRS. DEBREY: OK. I’ll always try to notice it when you’re doing things the right way. Sounds like I need to do a better job of remembering to tell the group whether to raise their hands before answering, or whether to wait until someone calls on them, or whether it’s OK to blurt. Will that help?

KIM: Yes. That’ll be good.

MRS. DEBREY: How about an extra signal just for you?

KIM: Yes. [Energetically] Before you are beginning a lesson, put your hand over your mouth to remind me to raise my hand before blurting out!

MRS. DEBREY: OK, and then when I do that, I want you to make eye contact with me so I know you got the message.

KIM: OK.

MRS. DEBREY: This is going to take a lot of self-control, patience, and commitment from both of us. Are you willing to try this?

KIM: Yes!

MRS. DEBREY: Me, too. Let’s practice.

They do a simulation. Mrs. Debrey begins a lesson by telling the group how she wants them to respond to her questions. Then she adds the special signal for Kim, who gives good eye contact to indicate she is clear about the expectation. The two continue on for a few seconds, Mrs. Debrey ad-libbing something about decimals and Kim listening carefully. Then, to give Kim a chance to practice the actual tool, Mrs. Debrey asks a question as if she’s addressing the whole group:

In this first problem, what place is the decimal in?

Kim raises her hand and waits patiently. Mrs. Debrey pretends to call on another student first and listen to an answer. Kim waits patiently, quietly. Teacher then calls on Kim, who responds appropriately and correctly.

MRS. DEBREY: That worked well. I’m pretty sure you understand our plan. Am I right?

KIM: Yep. Got it!

MRS. DEBREY: How will we know if this strategy is working?

KIM: You can make me a ‘good chart and a bad chart.’ You can do happy faces if I am not blurting out.

MRS. DEBREY: Hmmm. That might work. Let’s think of the times during the day when you need to work on this most. What do you think?

KIM: Morning Meeting, math, read aloud, and lit circles.

MRS. DEBREY: OK…I’ll make a chart and give you feedback for these times. We can look at the chart at the end of each day, starting tomorrow, to see how you did. Sound good?

KIM: Sounds good.

MRS. DEBREY: And let’s do our best to keep this up for a week. If the blurting disappears or goes way down—we’ll try it without the special signal. If it’s not going as well as it should, we’ll meet again and see if we need to change our plan.

KIM: OK.

MRS. DEBREY: Thanks for meeting with me. One way or another, we’ll work this out.

KIM: You’re welcome. I think we will, too.

Liz Debrey teaches 4th graders at Whittier International Community School in Minneapolis MN

This article first appeared in Origins’ Special Issue, Spring 2010