This year, more than ever, we are seeing comments in our Facebook groups concerning an overly chatty class. With a chatty class being the trend, we tapped into the wealth of knowledge in these online groups. Below is a list of top tier teacher hacks for talkative students. Get ready to calm the classroom chaos!

Word on the Board

Write a word of choice, for example popcorn, on the whiteboard. Every time they interrupt you or are talking, just quietly go erase a letter. If you feel like rewarding them (a popcorn party if they can keep ALL the letters)…It’s a whole class thing. That way they all succeed together. Soon you’ll have kiddos correcting each other and telling them to hush. -Anne H

I give extra recess (let's be honest, they need it). Instead of taking letters away, you can be positive and write the letters on the board when they're doing the right thing. I find that when I'm looking for negatives it puts me in a negative mindset and when I'm looking for positives it puts me in a positive mindset! -Tarin H

Classroom Screen

On Classroomscreen.com, set up the sound level and turn on the annoying alarm. It works for my kids. I give them a number of times the alarm is allowed to sound, then consequences begin. Some settings are pretty sensitive, so play with it. -Kristine M

A Touch of Sweetness

When I had a chatty class, I used sweet tarts/gummy worms/skittles. I’d pass one out to every child that wasn’t talking or yelling or whatever behavior you want to eliminate. I also made sure to say, “Thank you for doing _____!” You’d be amazed what they’ll do for one sweet tart or skittle. -Terri D.

Silent skittles: Every time you catch someone quiet and doing what they're supposed to…drop a skittle on their desk and let them eat it. You will get no fair….yes it is…they were silent. -Michelle S

Classroom Economy

Money worked for me. I gave out $1.00 bills to students that were on task. On Friday I let them do things like sit in my special chair, eat lunch with a friend, bring a stuffed animal to school, chew gum for the day, write with a pen, no shoes in school. This would happen when they had enough money to pay for it. I carried money with me everywhere. I even gave it to the special area teachers and the cafeteria monitors. They soon cut the talking down because they wanted to be able to do some of the things. -Marie W.

Hallways & Transition Times

For the hallway, use a mystery walker! Pick a person and they, or the class, get a reward if the mystery walker does a good job. We also have a hallway poem we say before we leave so they start out quiet. Assigned spots could also help.

Transition time: I actually let them use this time to allow talking in class, as long as they are focused on getting to the next activity. I count down for when they have to be ready for the next activity.

Work time and rotations between activities can get crazy ! Jennifer A. had this strategy to try, “I started to really stop and listen to conversations, most ended up being on task, the ones who weren’t, I correct and we talk about the importance of staying on task .

For more ideas like this, check out this post: Classroom Procedures: Lining Up & Walking in the Hallway.

Voice Levels

Labeling and practicing voice levels has proven to be a very successful classroom management strategy. Here are sample voice levels from a Facebook member:

0: voice off

1: whisper

2: table talk

3: teacher voice

4: outside voice

Grab a ready made voice level chart:

To differentiate between 1 & 2, we put our hands on our throat and talk in a normal voice and feel the vibration, then we whisper and you can’t feel anything move. My cue when they need to be whispering is “check your voice box”-Jennifer A

For more voice level monitoring ideas, check out this post: Strategies for a Talkative class.

Brag Tags

One of the most successful hacks for a chatty class is rewarding positive behaviors. One way to do this is with Brag Tags.

These little tags can work wonders in your classroom! Simply hand them out to reward and encourage positive behavior. Students are highly motivated to earn and build up their brag tag collection throughout the school year.

I also hand out brag tags on birthdays, for lost teeth and any holidays or special events. This ensures the brag tag excitement continues.

To learn more about Brag Tags, sign up for our Brag Tag Workshop, and be prepared for a calmer, less chaotic classroom.

For endless teaching hacks & ideas, join one of our Facebook Groups: Lucky 1st Grade Teachers or Lucky 2nd Grade Teachers.