Blurt Cards: A Classroom Management Tool for Chatty Classrooms

If you have a chatty class, this is the perfect classroom management tool for you. First, print out one card per student. These Blurt Cards are designed to last a full week. To begin using this product, give students their card on Monday morning. Explain that every time they “blurt” out in class, you will come over and hole punch their card. I count blurting as calling out during a lesson, interrupting another student or the teacher, or just being off task in general.

In my class, students are “allowed” 3 blurts without penalty. Here is the system I use. You could also use class money or any reward system implemented in your classroom.

No hole punches (no blurts for the day): 15 Dojo points
2 spots left: 10 Dojo points
1 spot: 5 Dojo points.
All 3 holes punched: no Dojo points.
If a student is having a bad day and they have more than 3 blurts, I go over and put an X in pen on their card. Each X means –5 Dojo points.

At the end of the day, students drop their cards in a box so I can reward or deduct all the points at once.

This is a great tool because it allows you to positively reinforce your students that are consistently not blurting in class. Once your blurters see their classmates getting 15 extra Dojo points a day, they start to figure it out :)

***2/16/2016 File updated with more printer friendly Blurt Cards***