[punkiepie90]

Hello-
I'm in a 5th grade class and there is one student who makes a comment on most everything I say (and sometimes what the teachers says). Also, there are moments where she insists that she is right on subjects and won't make any concessions. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions that I could use when she starts talking back and won't settle down during discussions.

Thanks

[Mrs.T92207]

When I have hands and I'm not asking a question, I ask the student if it is a question or a comment. If it is a question I either let them ask it or ask them to wait until I am done beacuse I might answer their question. If it is a comment and I don't really have time for comments at the moment, I let them know that I am not asking for comments right now. I have a student who would comment on EVERYTHING if I would let him, but when I ask if it is a question or comment, I am able to weed out what I don't want to hear right now.

[MissESL]

I did what PP said...and with last year's group, it didn't work. So when the hand s went in the air, I would say 'hands down, I'm not done giving directions' or 'hands down until we finish this section of notes' or something. That way it doesn't interrupt my teaching and there's a possibility they may hear the answer OR even forget what they wanted to argue about by the time the time comes for questions.

[vjmustang2010]

I know this might sound "bad" but sometimes ignoring the child for the time being might help them realize that they are not to call out during class. I have a lot of students that call out and my teacher just overlooks them and continues teaching. They have learned that they should only talk out when they are allowed. If this doesn't work, you could always implement a "quiet chair" and maybe move the child away from the rest of the students.

[madelyneva]

I look the student in the eye and say: "Thank you for letting me know." Then I ignore them and keep on teaching.

I also have used this statement: "It is time to listen and learn."
Please put your hand down.

If the student continues, I give him/her a conduct mark for not being on task, being disrepectful , or interrupting the learning environment.

Some kids love to control the classroom/teacher to postpone having to work on assignments, or just to have control over us. Some are used to being the center of attention at home and want the same at school. I hope your cooperating teacher is also stopping this student's inappropriate behavior.

[punkiepie90]

Thank you very much! I like the idea of "It's time to listen and learn". We have a letter system for not following directions so I think I'm going to use that as well. I just feel like it's difficult to discipline students in another teacher's classroom, especially when they are observing you. At the time when the student was calling out, I was teaching a lesson and was being observed so my teacher wouldn't have stepped in unless the calling out got really bad. But, she is very good with behavior management.

Is this a student who just feels like their idea won't be heard if they don't say it "RIGHT NOW"? I had a student like that and ignoring it, telling them that this was time to listen, etc. did not work. What I ended up doing was giving this child a sheet of notebook paper. I told him that if something occurred to him or he had a question to write it down and I'd get to it after we started working and I was walking around. This worked like a charm because it was work to jot down all those extraneous comments and we were left with only questions and things directly related to the lesson. Also, when I looked at that if there was something that would benefit the whole class I could call everyone's attention to it. Maybe it's just a matter of giving your kiddo a way to focus.