Say No to Blurting Out

A Few Simples Steps to Reduce the 'Blurting Out'

Whether you're a teacher or a parent, blurting out is often an inappropriate behavior seen in many children. Why do they do it? Because they can! If you respond to a blurting out, you've just taught the child that it's okay to do so.

Think about the classroom, you are going over some instructions and a student speaks out and says 'but can we......'  How do you respond?

1.  Answer the question and carry on with your instructions.
2.  Ignore, carry on with your instructions and ask for questions at the end.
3.  Slowly walk over to the student, rest your hand on his shoulder, continue giving instructions.

Your best responses are 2 and 3. Once you engage the child, you've taught them that it's okay to blurt out, interrupt you and much more, expect a response for the inappropriate behavior.

If you remain consistent with your approach to blurting out, they will soon learn that it's an inappropriate behaviour. Will it completely end? Of course not, but it will certainly improve.

Same thing goes for students who neglect to put up their hands - DO NOT respond to them. If you do, your classroom management will suffer. When you respond to 1 student, you inevitibly are teaching the whole class that's it's okay.

For some of the best tips on classroom management including 'What to do when the rules get broken' and 'How to handle common behavior problems' be sure to check out these articles.