That lengthy and deep thread about blurting from about three or four months ago (new people search “blurting” on this topic if you want to not feel so alone) had a lot of excellent ideas on how to deal with blurting in class. Each, of course, like everything we discuss here, will be as valuable to individual teachers to the degree that the idea fits each teacher’s teaching personality.
But, for me, I’ve started to see a pattern on how I deal with blurting and it is just real simple. I do the usual “smile” and point and that whole sequence that I have been doing for well over a decade, which is really very effective, but I have noticed lately that I am getting more and more in the face of the kids who choose to blurt.
I just let the kid know with direct eye contact and kind of a “Really?” look. I don’t care what they think. They know the deal. This kind of confronting blurting is in the vein of the Annoying Orange technique. I suspend the instruction, invade the offender’s psychic space in a much more real way than I used to, and then move on.
We’re so afraid of offending kids that is has become ridiculous. I guess I have to add that this works for me and may not work for others. But when did we lose our way on being the adults in the room? I guess with the first enabling responses by administrators to the little cry babies and their enabling parents.