My students spend so much time talking! I’ve tried rewards, I’ve tried consequences, I’ve been clear with my expectations. So far, nothing has worked. What do I do to get my students to stop talking and start working?

Aaaah. The age-old question asked by teachers of preteens everywhere: How do I get them to stop talking!?

The most difficult part of this issue is that I think we really need to challenge the assumptions within the question itself. And truly, I get it. My fifth graders could talk like it was their JOB. But this is the nature of their development, and if we’re going to build relationships with them and help them learn, we’ve got to find a way to embrace who they are.

As a person who talks to learn, I absolutely understand the need to talk in class! If you put me in a room with a book, I’ll enjoy myself. If you let me hang out with others who loved that book and will discuss it passionately for hours, I will discover more about the book, others, myself, and possibly life itself than you ever thought imaginable.

So how can we embrace the preteen chatter and bring the learning to a developmentally appropriate place? I believe the best way is to build in opportunities for communication whenever possible and help students see the value in what they are doing.

Here are a few things that work for me:

Modeling

Full disclosure: This is sometimes really challenging! At the beginning of the year, it’s easier to remember to wave to a colleague and find another time to ask my quick question, because I remember that the students are looking to me for leadership. When the holidays approach and I’m exhausted, I can sometimes forget. It’s in the moments when my students are misbehaving that I find I need to look inward.

Almost every time, I have been the one to slip up as much as they have (if not more!). When I realize it, I own it, apologize for my mistake (even though they did the same thing – after all, I am the adult!), and ask if we can all return to the appropriate procedure. In third and fourth grade, students are often happy to hold me accountable. Fifth graders (and up) are less likely to care about holding me accountable, but they definitely appreciate my willingness to own my mistakes. I’ve also found they’re more likely to work with me if I hold myself to the same standard I’m holding them to (and after all, isn’t that only fair?).

Mini Lessons

Whenever possible, I keep my teacher talk and direct instruction to fifteen minutes or less, and that time ideally includes at least one opportunity to turn and talk. Reading and Writing Workshop are great for this! When appropriate, the workshop model is also a huge asset in math. I’ve found particular success when the topic is one where student ability levels vary.

Constructivism

In both math and science, helping students construct their own understanding can be a powerful learning tool. I may pose a question to start the lesson, and students then take responsibility for discovering the answer. With this model, the closing reflection is key to be sure students’ understandings are accurate. The 5E model is also helpful in science.

Student Goal Setting

My students and I set goals at the beginning of the year, and we create a plan to achieve them. I share my teaching goals and let students see when I’m trying new things. Each person in the classroom talks with an accountability partner about their goals, and we spend a few minutes every week or two talking about how things are going. Students give each other advice, encourage each other, and learn to hold each other accountable in a kind, productive way. When we have free time, students work toward their individual goals, and we have whole class celebrations when they achieve them, if the student is comfortable with it. This builds in time for talking that is productive and helps students learn how to set goals and support others.

Explain Why

At the beginning of the year, I teach my students to ask why we’re doing something if I haven’t explained it adequately. There is a purpose to everything, and I want them to have a clear understanding of the reasons behind each assignment and how it relates to their individual goals.

As a student, I did not memorize my multiplication tables. The purpose of doing so was completely lost on me. (Yes, I was the student who could do the task… I just wouldn’t without a good reason.) In fact, I managed to get through my entire academic career without knowing them. It wasn’t until I tried to throw a party in my 20s and was counting on my fingers in the grocery store that I realized why those facts were important. I memorized them with my first fourth grade class. It was the most embarrassing, humbling experience of my life. A few years later, a student asked me why we memorize facts, and I was finally brave enough to share the truth. Every single student in that class mastered their facts. It was incredible.

A few years later, one of my fifth graders had no interest in writing. I explained that writing was important in every job, and gave a few examples. Because I’d encouraged them to challenge me, he very politely explained that no one writes anything on the football field. There would be no need for writing in his chosen career. After a discussion of the importance of communicating with fans, reading and revising contracts, etc, he was happy to remain focused and created a wonderful story for younger football players. He just needed to understand why.

Boundaries & Procedures

I’d be remiss if I didn’t include this. Of course there are times when talking is simply inappropriate, and it’s our job to help students learn that. We practice the procedures for our classroom routines, and I am lovingly picky about how they are done. If we are chatting when we transition from mini lesson to work time, we simply try it again. No reason to start our work time if we’re not focused on what we’re doing. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of clearly, kindly naming what we want and practicing the procedure until students achieve it.

For me, the key to all of it is this: Know my students. Love them for exactly who they are. Believe that they can, and expect them to rise to the occasion. They always do.

Mother Nature is calling on us to make changes to the way we interact with the world. We try to use less water, be mindful of what we throw away, turn off the lights, and generally be good stewards of what we have.

I must confess, though – All my efforts to be good to the earth tend to stop when I enter the school building! I find myself throwing away stacks of worksheets I copied and never used or throwing away perfectly good materials that no longer fit my style. It’s always made me cringe, because I strive to model what I hope to see from my students.

After reading Zero Waste Home (which was at the same time wonderful, inspiring, and so completely overwhelming that I began reading it in small chunks…), I decided to start a list of ways I could reduce waste in my classroom. In addition to helping me do my part for the environment, I have become mindful of my educational choices (after all, I want students to be creating with what they learn more often than they are completing a rote practice worksheet). In the long run, this is also way better for my finances, because I’m not as drawn to the Dollar Spot at Target (well… at least not as frequently!).

Each of these ideas is simple and easy to implement. I found it even improved my instruction. I started with trying just one thing (a scrap bin, because I had an extra crate!). If we each implement one new idea every month, who knows how far we can go!? So here are 5 tips that have worked for me. I’d love to know what works for you!

Tallest Tower Challenge

Use Fewer Worksheets

Have you heard of a week without worksheets? This might be a great place to start if this is your first step into using less paper in your classroom.

I am generally not a worksheet person (though I do believe in the importance of practicing particular skills), and I still find I go through a lot of paper! I ask myself every time I’m standing at the copy machine whether those copies are essential. It’s a strange habit that has actually caused me to put down the workbook and step away! My teaching improved dramatically when I started asking this question each day.

A Few Replacements for Worksheets:

• Writing Workshop: Students spend most of their time writing. I almost never use worksheets for this.
• Reading Workshop: Students spend most of their time reading books that they’ve chosen. Very few copies needed, and huge growth in reading skills.
• Science: 5E Lessons have been a game changer for me. Simply and practically speaking though, I just try to think of ways I can get the children to drive their learning. When I want to teach the scientific method, I create a problem to be solved. What should we use for cleaning up water spills in our classroom? Test out various brands of paper towels or compare paper towels to cloth towels.

Interactive notebook for problem solving… and I only photocopied 2 pages!

Reduce Paper Use

A few years ago, I learned about Interactive Notebooks, and it changed my teaching forever. No longer did I feel the need to print a full worksheet just so students would have the task at the top of the page and plenty of space for their thinking. I’m cringing just thinking about how many almost blank pieces of paper I printed while notebook pages sat unused!

Here are a few ways I handle this now:

• Type the task multiple times on a sheet of paper. Cut it out, and have students glue it into their Interactive Notebooks.
• Print the task on each side of a piece of paper. Fold the paper into a table tent. Use for learning centers or group work
• Have students create the task on whiteboards, solve a partner’s task, then check and compare answers

Class Scrap Box

Have a Class Scrap Box

Put extra paper of all sizes into a scrap box. In younger grades, I split the scrap box into big pieces and smaller pieces. In upper elementary, we just mix it all together. We use paper from the box for any crafts, posters, practice work, etc.

Practicing Sight Words With Rocks And Sticks

Incorporate Recycled and Natural Materials

My son taught me this one! He is forever creating experiments using supplies he’s found in the yard or on a walk. We take a collection bucket outside with us most of the time, and we bring in whatever he finds that we may need.

In the younger grades, sticks make great tools for building letters, loose parts, and math manipulatives (acorns work just as well as erasers from the Dollar Spot… and you have the benefit of counting them when you come inside).

In upper elementary, these materials can be used for a STEAM cooperative learning challenge. Put various materials on the table and invite students to create the strongest structure, tallest structure, or a structure that can do something. My students made some incredibly strong structures using only materials they found in our classroom recycling bin.

Place Value Practice With Dice, Base-10 Blocks, & A Laminated Place Value Mat

Practice with Games

Some things just have to be memorized – math facts, spelling rules, important dates, etc. These are things we just have to know. I try to embed this practice into classroom games, which typically increases movement, reduces time, and reduces paper!

I use Match It games during Morning Meeting or as a way to form groups. These games use just a couple pieces of paper for the whole class, and we reuse them frequently throughout the year. They are also great as exit tickets (ex: tell me the sum, then line up).

There are lots of math games that can be played with dice, decks of cards, and other materials we have in the classroom. I try to use these as much as possible for review and warm ups, so we’re just using a worksheet for our weekly assessments.

BONUS! Use Recycled Materials for Classroom Storage

I have no idea why it’s taken me so long to figure out how wonderful shoeboxes are for storage! They are easily decorated (and can be a great group project for your students at the start of the year), and are basically the same size as the containers I tend to use for craft supplies. It’s important to label them clearly (and draw a picture if your students aren’t reading yet), because they aren’t clear like the storage containers I usually use. However, they are PERFECT for storing stickers, small containers of glitter, extra pencils, etc.

Diaper boxes are my other new favorite storage system. Depending on the size, they’re great for storing paper, notebooks, and games for learning centers. These can be trickier to redecorate in an eco-friendly way, because they often have a shiny coating that isn’t easy to paint. Tape is one way to cover it, and recycled paper is another. This is a great use for those copies I know I’m not going to use and would typically throw away. If you’re less picky than I am, just using the box as it is would probably be the best option!