I once prided myself on my ability to keep kids silent. I ran a tight, quiet ship. It, I thought, was the mark of a classroom staged for learning. I now think I thought wrong. Learning is human. Learning is social. Learning is noisy. I set the stage differently now.

Of course, there are times when the script calls for quiet and noise needs to be addressed, needs to be regulated, but as I’ve outgrown my compliance model of old, I have come up with new ways to create commitment opportunities for my kids. I don’t want to force them into compliance. I want to nudge them into commitment.

Eight days in, I have found it’s time to nudge a few of my talkers. Here’s the conversation I hope to have today.

Me: Hey, guys. How ya feelin’ about your talking?

Them: Eh, we probably talk too much.

Me: Agree. But I’m stuck. I don’t want you to stop talking. I value your energy and voices. But we need to find a way to manage your talking.

Them: Okay.

Me: I have an idea. Keep talking. But I want you to monitor it. I want you to try to be aware of how much you’re talking. And then, at the end of the period, I want a report. It’s just between us. It will be subtle. When we go to do Journey Journals, I want you to give me a sign with your fingers. 3, we did well. 2, we did okay. 1, we didn’t do well. I also want you to write the number at the top of your journal entry for the day. Let’s start Monday. And then let’s check back in on Friday to see how the week went. Okay?

Them: Okay.

Of course, I cannot really know how they will respond, and of course, this approach may fail miserably, but as I thought about my student teacher’s question yesterday about how we deal with talking, my mind rejected compliance strategies and set to finding commitment opportunities. And this is where I landed.

They are not acting disrespectfully and they do come to attention when necessary, but outside that, they are talkers, offering running commentary on just about everything. And I think–perhaps–it may very well be that they’re just not fully aware of how much they’re talking and how interruptive it can be. I say interruptive because it’s not really disruptive. They interrupt more than they disrupt. Maybe semantics. Either way, I am going to ask them to be aware. My hope is that they then come to a place of self-regulation.

Will it work? I don’t know. If it doesn’t, we will come at it from a different angle. It’s all we can do. Humans together. Living. Learning.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…growing with grammar.

…connecting with others through their stories (Freedom Writers entries).

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Friday, all. Have a wonderful weekend.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.