Say Hello to My Little Friend

On Tuesday, I introduced what has become my secret weapon…



It's called a blurt chart.

And this is how it works:

Each day every student starts with three "blurts" next to their assigned number. I give them a warning for their first "blurt" each day. A blurt, in my classroom, is defined as talking during instruction or while I'm talking without first raising your hand and waiting to be called on. Each time a student blurts after the warning has been given, without stopping my instruction or interrupting the lesson, I simply walk over to the chart and take a blurt from next to their number. If/when all three blurts are gone, their parent is called immediately - no ifs, ands, or buts. (Again, praise God that my students' parents have agreed that I can call them mid-day! I LOVE parent support.) I give an M&M to each student who still has all three of their blurts at the end of the day. (I know, one M&M. Seems a bit meager, ey? It's my way of rewarding those who consistently make good choices, but not to the extent that they are working for the sake of the candy alone. I'm not about to have a classroom full of bratty, walmart-aisle-type children who will only work for candy haha. It is wise to not underestimate how quickly that can happen...)

Pretty simple, right?
And it works like a dream!!
I'm not kidding - my students were like a whole different class with this procedure in place. I was honestly amazed at what some little clip art squares velcroed to a poster can do.
It has really helped my little "blurters" become more aware and begin to practice self-monitoring their behavior. Several of my students now catch themselves when they start to blurt and quickly place their hand over their mouth and raise their hand (they do not get a blurt removed if they self-correct). I think that some of my students were really just unaware of how often they were talking during class - and it is for those students that this chart was designed.

The blurt chart paired with playing catch with my students on recess was a winning combination.
My kids must have thought I was the coolest teacher ever since I could actually spiral a football (not to mention I was naturally able to throw it twice as far as any of my little third graders).
By simply playing with my students I was able to make leaps and bounds in the quality of our classroom interactions. It's amazing how correlated a student's behavior is to their relationship with you. I guess it really is true that students don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Below is a photo which perfectly combats a previously uploaded image bearing preeettty much the exact opposite sentiment. Needless to say, I prefer this one by far.


Thank you, J, for teaching me how to properly throw a football haha - we had no idea what the payoff would be down the road! I'm so grateful that you took the time to practice with me :)


(This week we're starting an "out of your seat" chart as well…..muah ha ha HA ha)