Self Study

Classroom Management: Blurting/Distractions

By Taylor Findlay
3/12/23
 I. Focus Area

The focus area for my self study included blurting and distractions in the classroom. My

classroom this year struggled with this in all subjects and during every time increment during our

daily schedule. Distraction and blurting are something that happens frequently when discussing

new things with my class and I feel it is because they want to be the first to answer or just

because they are very excited. My goal for this self study is to decrease the amount of blurting

that way there won’t be as many distractions when teaching my lessons and to limit getting off

topic. I am not expecting for there to be none during the entire lesson, but I want to limit it to at

least twice a lesson. Improving disruptions and blurting can make others participate more, having

them raise their hands patiently and quietly, and really trying hard to call on each person so

everyone gets a chance to share what they want to say. I like having interactive lessons, but I

want my students to understand and practice to not blurt things out, wait to respond to give

others the opportunity to share, and listen to what their fellow students have to say.

II. Plan for Collecting Data

My plan for collecting data spelling out the word RECESS out on the board. If the students were

quiet, worked efficiently, respected what others were saying, and listened without disrupting they

could earn a letter. The goal for the entire day is for them to complete and spell out the entire

word RECESS. Each time someone blurted out or disrupted someone else I would take away a

letter. Just because I took away a letter, they would still be able to earn it back. By the end of the

day if they spelt out RECESS they would earn an extra indoor recess!

III. Resources for Professional Improvement

To find out more about blurting and disrupting my CT, Mrs. Siler was a lot of help for this. She

actually gave me the idea of spelling out Recess and earning that extra time at the end of the day.
She gave me advice and was able to explain the process for me and how it can be run effectively.

She had a lot of examples, and she actually ran this in the beginning of the year. She had sheets

laminated where I could color in different things and if they got the full amount, they could earn

some things. One example she had was you would color in a certain number of shoes that had to

be colored and each time they received a compliment in the hallway they would earn one. There

are a lot of different ways I could run my data, but I chose the Recess one. Another resource that

helped me collect my data was Bill Cecil and his book. He also had the compliment in the hall

for one of his and earned that reward at the end of the year. I also used a lot of his advice about

teamwork. When I first ran this, I explained to my students this is a team effort and they have to

work together to spell out recess. I told them that they could encourage other classmates to listen,

stop talking, keep working hard, and etc. They could give those statements to classmates, but

they had to be nice and respectful when saying it they had to work together to receive it. So, Bill

Cecil book was very helpful with my self study.

IV. Plan Implementation Process and Timeline

I began this process pretty much right after we discussed it in class. I was pretty much taken over

by then, so I briefly explained to the students the roles they had to complete as a team in the class

to get the indoor recess reward. The only data I collected was simply if they received it or not

and I like it this way because it really held my class accountable to work together and it was

quite easy for me to keep track of the timeline.

 Disruptions and Blurting
* They received an indoor recess
x They did not receive an indoor recess

Week 1 1/30: * 1/31: * 2/1: x 2/2: * 2/3: *

Week 2 2/6: x 2/7: * 2/8: * 2/9: * 2/10: *

V. Data Collected

The data I collected was pretty straight and narrow. The first day I explained the process to the

students, and I answered all the questions and gave them scenarios so that they understood how

they could spell out recess efficiently. I would also say that the first day I gave out a little bit

more warnings just so they really understood and tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, but

the following days I did not give warnings. Recess is a semi long word so they would be given

tons of opportunities throughout the day to earn or take away a letter. Earning a letter could

involve anywhere from helping peers, giving friendly reminders, working as a team, not blurting,

finishing work, being determined, etc. Losing a letter/ not earning a letter meant not doing any of

those things I listed above but most importantly not blurting and not going off topic.

VI. Data Analysis

Looking over my data I believe my self study did pretty well and I chose something the students

really liked and felt rewarded with. Besides the point, I had a great group, and my class was just

eager to learn and try new things with me. I decided to run this study within a month because this

is when I started to really take stuff over. I wanted to challenge myself and wanted to really gain

that respect and their responsiveness when I was teaching. The two days they did not get the

indoor Reese on 2/1 because that day we had a lot of guest speakers come into the classroom and

teach things like the school nurse and the behavioral coach so usually when others came in and

taught the students were all over the place and very hard to refocus back up. Along with that it
 was our 3 indoor recess in a row because of the weather so I think the kids just needed to burn

some energy out. On 2/6 that was a Monday and the start of spirit week and something the kids

were adjusting to. Overall, my data was pretty laid back and my kids handled me running the

self-study pretty good.

VII. Improvement Plan

My improvement plan that I would do next time I conducted this study is add more notes onto

my data table. All I recorded was the indoor recess and why they didn’t get it. The next time I

run this I would keep track of how many letters got taken away each day as well as what kids

may have been the one doing the blurting. With these I feel I would have had more data points to

reflect on and compare with. Overall, my self study I was happy with the way that it was ran and

I feel that the days my students didn’t receive an extra recess my kids were very motivated to

earn it the next day. My goal for this self study was to improve my student’s behavior by not

blurting as much or giving as much distractions. The spelling and taking away letters to the word

recess was very beneficial and I always feel like the students were always looking at the board to

see how many more letters were needed or watch me add a letter to see what behavior was going

on around them.

VIII. Benefits / Difficulties of the Self Study

Benefits: Some benefits of my self study that I had included having the class work as a team and

not targeting just one individual. This self study had the class work together and learn from each

other on how to get a reward for everyone. Just because one student was following directions

doesn’t mean the other wasn’t and it benefitted everyone to respond to others and watch others to

see how they were acting. Another benefit was definitely smoother transitions throughout my

lessons and having a lot more responses. I feel that more people participated and they were really
wanting to follow the rules for the 1st week or so to show that they were the leader of the group!

Lastly, I feel that it worked on their respectfulness and treating others the way they would want

to be treated in different situations that weren’t going their way.

Difficulties: Some difficulties with this self study that I had was getting the kids to be nice to the

individual that made the mistake. Teasing can be an issue with all grade levels but making sure

to really emphasize the team with it that way it's not just one person's fault. With first grade and

being little kids it is hard for them to understand losing and getting too upset. So I had to explain

to them that they can’t always expect an indoor recess at the end of the day and that they actually

have to work together to get this reward. The last thing that was difficult is adding something to

their routine and getting them used to it. But otherwise, there were no major difficulties. It was

just important for them to recognize working as a team is important in the classroom and through

life!