Disruptive & talkative students (vent)

[Little_Bear2013]

Sorry but I just got to vent....We have a handful of students in our class who just feel they always need to talk or make little sidebar conversations that have nothing to do with the freaking lecture! Or my favorite, they have to share every personal story or ask the teacher if they can help diagnosis my friend who seems to have the exact same situation the teacher is explaining! I'm all for story telling every now & then but when it's every single class period two or 3 times a day especially by the same student, it gets so irritating especially when the teachers response is the same thing every time such as, "without seeing that patient I couldn't tell you".

You can't even sit in a particular area in the class without even hearing someone whisper too because the way the classroom is set up, a lot of noise echoes.

Anyways...I'm normally a pretty likable person but it's just gotten to a point this semester where the talking & the story telling by other students makes it to where the instructor can't finish the lecture & they have to record the rest online, so we gotta go home sometimes & listen to the rest or the class will be talking & I miss what the instructor says. I don't mind going home to relisten to the online recording because that's where I get another good extra notes & even sometimes I go to the night lectures because this class is so much more respectful & quiet & the teacher actually gets the lecture done!

We have a designated person on a student council who is suppose to tell people to calm down but they're kind of a talker themselves & doesn't even want to do it anymore because our student council is more politics & drama than dealing with the issues at hand. Couple of instructors have even told our class that we have the most disruptive class in the program & at times it gets out of hand.

Rant over, sorry just wanted to blow off some steam before I get back to studying & before I blow up on the class & just tell people to shut up!

Anyways, does anyone have any similar stories to tell or further ways to hopefully tune these people out?

[ThatBigGuy]

You need to present this problem to the chain of command in your program, starting with your professors. If it's truly as bad as you say, then many others have noticed and it has become a distraction to the program.

We had a similar problem brewing, but the professor quickly got a handle on it by having a second professor sit in the back of the class and mark those who were disruptive. They were asked to stay after class, during which the two professors explained how much of a distraction they were. The next class, the students were well behaved at first, but soon reverted back to their old ways. The second professor proceeded to tap them on the shoulder and quietly escorted them out of the classroom, then locked the classroom door.

The booted students then had a meeting with the associate dean in which they were apparently given a verbal warning of sorts. They didn't disrupt the class after that.

[duskyjewel]

What a process. Oh for the days when a professor could just issue a warning and then throw you out when you ignore him.

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

I'm feeling your pain right now. Lol.

[RookieRoo]

yes, we have one of these in our cohort as well. It is frustrating as the instructors try to be nice, yet this person argues, talks over others, and tells anecdotal stories in class... every "question" turns into a story about how "oh, well does that drug always do that, because when they proscribed it to me blah blah blah" or "what would you tell me if I told you that blah blah blah...". This person even stayed after class one time, after the instructor finally told them that we didn't have class time to take up discussing yet another anecdote. They were following the instructor around as the instructor first cleaned up, then put away supplies in the lab, and finally made their way up to the office, talking about their personal stories and anecdotes the entire time. I only know about this because I was waiting to ask a legitimate question that I never got to ask- the instructor and I made rueful eye contact a few times, but neither of us could get a word in edgewise. I sometimes feel that the instructors need to step up more and make more of an assertive effort to ensure uninterrupted class time. It's frustrating, to be sure.

[Everline]

I saw that kind of thing early in the program, specifically for the first two semesters. Now that we are almost at graduation, most of those people are gone or have seriously curtailed their behavior. When it started getting very challenging and the stakes got high (as in people started to fail exams and be in danger of getting booted out), people adjusted accordingly. I know it's annoying. It used to make me upset that the teachers did not control their classrooms. I found that sitting in the front of the class lessened the distraction. Wish I could give more suggestions.

[duskyjewel]

These professors should be ashamed of their lack of backbone. If I were running that classroom, they'd get ONE warning, and then they would be asked to leave my class for the day. If they refused to leave, security would be called. Lather, rinse, repeat until effective.

If we got to five repetitions of this, I'd be speaking to my department chair about having them removed permanently.

It's just ridiculous that this is allowed to continue so long.

[MissCris]

Ugh, this started at orientation in my class. They were showing us the charting software we'll be using in the computer lab and two girls wouldn't stop talking to each other. When the presenter was halfway through one of the girls asked "Wait, can you start over?" and HE DID! I couldn't believe it. I would have told her she should have paid attention the first time if she wanted to know. She is a CNA and talks underneath the professor all the time. "Yup, that's what we do in the hospital." "Oh at MY hospital we blah blah blah." Mostly she's agreeing with her but the know-it-all behavior is obnoxious.

And while we're venting, the other thing that really bothers me is when people start packing up their stuff toward the end of class when the professor is wrapping up but still talking. I gotta wonder who taught them their manners.

[duskyjewel]

two girls wouldn't stop talking to each other. When the presenter was halfway through one of the girls asked "Wait, can you start over?" and HE DID!

I gotta wonder who taught them their manners.

Idiots like your professor. If they paid a price for such behavior, they would stop.

[caliotter3]

Like BigGuy said, you need to bring this to the attention of the instructors, then the school administrators, if the instructors do not get things under control. I would make an anonymous written complaint to the dean. You do not necessarily want to be identified as the person doing the complaining, because in many, if not most, situations, the person who speaks up about a problem puts a mark on their own back instead of the troublemakers. You don't need to be getting yourself on the bad side of administration. Good luck.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

the instructor ought to be able to control the class, either by calling them down, referring them to houserules, asking them to excuse themself, etc. You need to make sure the instructor knows it is a problem to you. The instructor may think they are the only one bothered by it

[leonard_huh, BSN, MSN, RN, APN]

I always hated that, but just sucked it up and learned to tune it out or start daydreaming when they asked questions cause you knew a story was coming.