The Talker
Any other ideas on how to discourage excessive participation (talking) from the "talkers" in the class.
I always have some students that are thankfully very enthusiastic but take up more than their fair share of the discussion.
I want to be able to discourage the excess without hurting someone's feelings. Any ideas,
Dan.
Hi Dan,
One thing I do with students like this is to make them recorders. Before class I ask one of the "talkers" to be a recorder. What I ask them to do is listen and record the key points of what we discuss. At the end of the discussion I give them 3 minutes to list the key points. This keeps them quit during the discussion, and limits their time to talk at the end. They like doing this since it makes them sepecial plus they get to talk, even if it is only for a limited time.
Let me know if this works out for you.
Gary
Hi Dan:
I, too, share your frustration with handling those students who feel compelled to comment on everything. I have found that in the most extreme cases, a one-on-one talk with the student in question can work wonders, especially if you can figure a way to let that student know you appreciate his input but that he or she needs to allow others to have input as well. Also, I have resorted to having students raise their hands to speak instead of speaking out open discussion-style. My classes are traditionally smaller so hand-raising seems ludicrous (not so in my larger classes!) But by requiring a raised hand puts control of who speaks in your hands, and you can choose to recognize others, maybe with the "let's hear from someone else" line tossed in for reenforcement. Additionally, I encourage the talkers to come by my desk after class if they want to discuss things in depth (mostly, my talkers are trivialists; timewasters who try to derail the discussion with minutae). That way the know I care about their ideas and opinions, and I control how my class time is spent without alienating anyone. A few minutes of my time between classes is well-spent if it yields more class time spent on topic.
I have been that person, the talker, and I know what it feels like to be ignored. So the key is to make sure you let them know you care about what they have to say; you just want to have a little more control over how much they get to say. For me, being aware of my verbal dominance made me a better listener and taught me how to be more selective about commenting or asking a questions as a student. Now, it gives me some insight as an instructor.
I hope my thoughts help you out Dan.
Regards,
John
I had a woman at ACC who had been in an accident and had a head injury. If I ever said "good morning" class "how's everybody today?"...she would begin to tell me and the class about her weekend and how she was feeling...crazy stuff.
It came to the point where I literally had to ignore her and begin speaking to the class and not allow her to finish her sentence before cutting her off and just speaking while she was speaking.
I also pulled her aside after class and had to confront her about it.
Most of the time, students will get the hint and you can control the excessive talkers by letting them speak at the very beginning of class while others may still be coming in. Basically, they just
want to get your attention and the beginning of the class before
things get going may be the best time to allow them to speak.
Hi Michael,
Good points all. I have worked with a number of Traumatic Brain Injured (TBI) students and it is always a challenge to determine how to best support them.
Your experience should be of value to you as you have other students that come into your class with issues related to being talkative.
Gary
Eye contact I found to be a good tool. If I want some activity from a student I'll make eye contact with them. If the student is going on excessively, I'll break eye contact and walk away from them, and follow up with a comment such as, "That’s a great idea, can anybody else continue?" If early in the course I establish I have excessive talkers, I'll put time limits on discussion topics.
This is all meaty stuff. on a personal level I struggle with talkers, that come across as trivialists, and timewasters. Now as an instructor i have no choice but interact with these type of learners. I like the idea of hand raising in class and throwing in lines such as "Let's here someone else's point of view".
this is all great info thanks!
You have to be careful not to come across as aggressive or angry but I will call on a student and tell them that they need to contribute, once they do follow with a positive comment so that they have been forced to involve and when the time permits you can speak to them later and say something to the effect, "that was great, keep contributing" sometimes I will do this also to put the talkers at bay and tell them that they must stop talking because it is "Johns" turn. I won't allow them to participate until they realize they must get their talking under control.
Hi Owen,
Good class management strategy. You have to have a balance between those that don't want to talk and those that talk too much. A good instructor is also a good facilitator and is able to find that balance where everyone can contribute to the course at different times.
Gary
That's a great idea! I've never thought of this but will use it and see how it goes. I have "talkers" too. : )
