4 Ways to Interrupt Respectfully
One thing I remember vividly from my childhood is that my parents often told be not to interrupt them. And yet they constantly interrupted me. Instead of a situation of mutual respect for communication, in my family it was an issue of power, of who got to interrupt and who did not.
Teaching your students not to interrupt is also a basic skill in any classroom and you want to make sure that it is based on mutual respect. This doesn’t mean that you have to let the kids talk incessantly. There will be many instances throughout the day where you will need to interrupt your students.
Here are my favorite 4 ways:
When there is laughter, that often signals the end of a story. This is a really good place to interrupt.
Wait for the natural lag in conversation that tends to occur in many large group settings. Listen to the point where the volume of the group goes down. That’s your cue.
Involve yourself in the student’s conversation. Connect to their interest and ask them a question on the topic they are discussing. Now you can use that as a segueway to turn their attention back to you.
Whenever you can, listen until the end of your student’s sentence and then say “Thank You.” The phrase “Thank you” has a little magic, it seems to get people’s attention, even that of the children that you did not directly address.