When You Talk Too Much

For the first writing assignment for the year in my Writing and Grammar class, the students were assigned to write a paragraph about something they were good at with reasons to support this claim. Most students bragged that they were great soccer players, outstanding artists, or wonderful friends.  Then I got to a paper that started like this:

"I am really good at talking too much."

My first reaction was to think he did the assignment wrong. It was supposed to be positive. I continued to read. He explained how his mom constantly had to tell him to be quiet. He told how he raised in hand so that he could talk in every class. He even labeled himself the "speaker" for his younger brothers. While it wasn't necessarily a positive paragraph, it was a claim that he really believed was true and he had relevant evidence to back up his belief. He had been told his whole life he talked too much, and that had become a part of his identity. When asked to write about himself, this was his self-perception.

I ended up giving the student an A. His paragraph really struck a chord with me. How many times have I been told to be quiet by my parents? How many teachers told me to "give someone else a chance to talk"? How many times have I been excited and talked right over someone else? And I've definitely seen that glazed look in the eyes of all my friends at one point or another when I just forgot to quit. People in my life have always joked about it, but it always, always makes me feel terrible when someone brings attention to my talking.

Unfortunately for my friends and family, I can't stop talking. When something comes to mind, I just am dying to blurt it out immediately. So is this student. He talks and talks and talks. I realized reading his paragraph, that I had already lectured him a couple times about blurting out in class just in the very first  week. So, I took the next week to be purposeful about listening to him instead. While, at times, I knew he was just looking for a laugh from his peers, he also loved to contribute to what we were learning. He had all kinds of ideas and wanted to share them.

Today, I approached him. I said, "You know what? I talk a lot too." "Really?" he replied. "Yep. Everyone is always telling me that I talk too much. But sometimes it's good to tell your stories. I like to hear what you have to say. We talkers have to stick together."