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Original poster

Incessant talking in class

35 replies

itstimmytime · 25/05/2010 23:44

My dd is in 1st year at high school and is 13 in December (young for her year). Tonight was parents' night and was not surprised to hear that she talks all the time in class. Sometimes to the point she disrupts the class. She has had this problem at school since she was in primary and regularly had to sit alone.

She is universally liked by teachers who describe her as delightful, friendly, kind, bright, entertaining... They find her persistant chatting frustrating as they feel it will hold her back in the future as do I. She is academic and has been in the top stream of classes since primary, is challenged by much of the work, although not all. She is also popular, but I think she has developed a persona of 'class clown'. I know there are more disruptive children in her class as well, but I'd like to deal with this now before it affects her life chances/results etc.

Anyone had this problem? What did you do?

OP posts:
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kritur · 30/06/2010 11:09

Sorry I haven't read all this thread but I thought I'd share a story about a gem of a parent of one of the kids in my form. About the middle of Y7 the boy N started getting a bit chatty and disrupting, class clown type behaviour. Ns mum got wind of this and took a week off work. She sat next to him in every class he had and at lunch and break. At the end of the week of mortification she turned round to him and said if he went back to his old ways then she would pack in her job and do that every day as she wasn't having a son like that. N became a model pupil, he's just left Y13 and is off to university and should get fantastic grades. I think his mother should give parenting classes myself!

pointydog · 28/05/2010 20:04

gertcha

cyb · 28/05/2010 19:27

LOVE chas n Dave

snooker loopy nuts are we
me and him and them and me

I coudl go on.....

cyb · 28/05/2010 19:26

rabit rabbit rabbit rabbit

pointydog · 28/05/2010 19:25

with your incessant talking
you'r e becoming a pest

name that tune

campion · 28/05/2010 01:34

Giving a set number of questions/comments that can be asked ( ie a limit) during the lesson can be an effective way of reducing constant interruptions if they're reasonably intelligent.
Obv this has to be done by the teacher so he/she must agree.

eg 5 questions/comments allowed and each one marked up on whiteboard so she can see she's only got, say, 1 left.

Then she's not allowed to ask any more / call out etc. Too bad if it's important. So are other people.I'd isolate her, too, but then I'm mean
If she doesn't cooperate she could stay behind and chat to herself.

Such children can be a real PITA ( am thinking of someone in particular here!!)

Original poster
itstimmytime · 27/05/2010 22:37

Sorry, I read boring, whoops. Hmmmm, not sure about bored either - I think, as Jopeg says, she's enjoying entertaining the troops etc and finds that less boring than sitting quietly paying attention.

OP posts:
Original poster
itstimmytime · 27/05/2010 22:35

Oh she's not boring, but were you implying that about my wean Skidoodly? That's not what I read into it. She's just being a wee shite and needs to get her finger out which she allegedly is doing. Although I only have her (and loyal friend's) word for it .

OP posts:
bruffin · 27/05/2010 20:55

actually agree with you there as well Jopeg.

Jopeg · 27/05/2010 20:11

And getting lots of attention, having fun, entertaining people and being entertained if my DD is anything to go by (and myself at a similar age except I didn't like being told off whereas she doesn't seem to let it bother her).

bruffin · 27/05/2010 18:42

Agree with you skidoodly about boredom, however OP hasn't said her DD is bored and knowing my DD it isn't about boredom, it's more about an impetuousness that needs to be toned down.

cory · 27/05/2010 17:59

skidoodly fan club has another member

deaddei · 27/05/2010 15:39

I love you even more skidoodly.

skidoodly · 27/05/2010 14:06

Oh I know teachers don't buy it, I'm just amazed anyone does.

Boredom is a sign of being boring and lacking the personal resources and wit to find what is interesting in something.

Learning how not to be bored is one of the most important things for children, and most particularly teenagers, to learn.

Thinking boredom is a sign of intelligence is like thinking that impatience is a sign of efficiency.

Jopeg · 27/05/2010 11:14

Sounds very like my DD, sorry to say it has got worse and worse although no real complaints from teachers until Year 10 but just when she should be settling down she isn't.

No advice really but just sympathy!

deaddei · 27/05/2010 09:44

Nice one skidoodly!!!

Goblinchild · 27/05/2010 07:45

I think more parents than teachers do skidoodly.

skidoodly · 27/05/2010 07:23

Do people actually buy that bullshit that being bored is a sign of being a genius?

pointydog · 26/05/2010 19:45

If someone has the ability to multi-task, can't he stay silent while working while also understanding why silence is sometimes necessary?

Original poster
itstimmytime · 26/05/2010 19:35

Don't think G&T exists in Scotland. Thank goodness.

OP posts:
brennannbooth · 26/05/2010 19:23

I did this at school, it helped when I found out it would disrupt others but TBH they seemed willing to be disrupted! I was just bored really, isn't that what G&T provision is supposed to help with nowadays? I got through it by being told off a lot and by drawing pictures in the back of my exercise book or by reading ahead in the textbook or after I'd finished the classroom work, and took a long time over any diagrams I had to draw. It didn't affect my academic record at all but yes, I can see I was a v annoying smartarse teenager with hindsight.

Original poster
itstimmytime · 26/05/2010 19:19

Thank you everyone for your advice. Bruffin our girls sound similar! I love her enthusiasm, but wish I could help her learn to keep a lid on it in class. She's also at a (state) school which offers performing arts - sometimes they go straight from a dance/drama type class to maths. I expect this doesn't help!
My dd has reported that she tried really hard today and that is all I want to hear. Her friend is round this evening and backs her up but bribery could have been involved lol.
When meeting with teachers last night I asked if they would consider sitting her at a desk alone if it gets out of hand and a couple agree. As it's a new school, many of the classrooms are weirdly shaped and it wouldn't be possible for all, but I did ask them to please discipline her if she is disruptive. I sound like a right old bitch, don't I? I think this would be a wake up call for her and that she would perhaps learn that her teachers are in charge. As I said, she's not the most disruptive pupil, but I think she's at an age where lack of thought for those around her should be diminishing.
My god, I am delusional - a child's lack of thought for those around them will diminish at almost 13. Prob another 10 years til that happens.

OP posts:
senua · 26/05/2010 10:46

LOL @ skidoodly "teenagers love to make things harder for themselves than they have to be"

bruffin · 26/05/2010 10:19

My DD is 12 and sounds exactly like your DD even down to becoming a bit of a clown. She is one of those who can listen and talk at the same time and it's taken a while for her to realise that others can't do it.

In primary she was moved from her friends, but she actually contributed a lot to the class and teachers really enjoy teaching her. They used her to bounce off of and liven up the class and I suspect she got away with a little too much. She is very quick witted and can't stop herself.
This year she started secondary and has been enjoying herself far too much and it has taken a while for her to settle down. I have had to tell her that her primary teachers knew her really well, and that her new teacher don't know her at all and don't know what she is capable of, all they will see is the girl who talks to much.
We had first parents evening and it was actually very positive. She did get defensive when she was asked by the teacher how she thought it was going, she would always say "I talk too much" I think it was abit of a wake up call for her and she seems to have got over the excitement of starting a new school and making new friends.
I think it's about getting the balance right you don't want to squash her so much that she loses her enthusiasm for school.

deaddei · 26/05/2010 08:48

Definitely tell your dd about the negative effect she's having on others.
My dd's yr 8 teaching group had 7 intensely disrupted girls who shouted out, talked all the time and thought they were being "funny". It made it very difficult for dd to concentrate and even though your dd may perceive herself as "popular", she may not be in reality.
If you tell her how her behaviour makes others FEEL, she may stop behaving like that.
Not fair on others. And parents will complain (we did)

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