No Talking

The fifth graders are glad to see each other on Wednesday morning after a silent evening the day before. Students who spoke after school come forward on the honor system and confess and the score gets brought up to date. Lynsey thinks the girls are winning.

All fifth graders are called to an assembly. Principal Hiatt orders Dave and Lynsey to come onstage, where she tells them to lead the students in the Pledge of Allegiance. Dave and Lynsey glance at each other and silently arrange a truce. They turn to the assembled students and nod. Everyone recites the Pledge in loud voices. Mrs. Hiatt announces that, although it’s been fun and interesting, the kids’ contest disrupts normal classroom activity and is therefore canceled. She asks if everyone understands and they reply in unison, “Yes, Mrs. Hiatt” (108) but otherwise remain silent. She realizes that they’ve given a three-word answer. Mrs. Hiatt wants to test them further, but decides not to push it. 

The kids go to their classes, none daring to speak in case the contest is still on. In math class, Mrs. Escobar calls on Lynsey who writes on the board to show the steps she took to answer a homework problem. Mrs. Escobar demands Lynsey speak, but Dave saves her. He writes on the board using fractions instead of decimals to get the same answer. Mrs. Escobar asks how many students did it Dave’s way, and half the hands go up. She asks how many did it Lynsey’s way, and the other half go up. Dave realizes the game is still on. The kids give three-word answers or write on the board, but Mrs. Escobar realizes that they’re engaged and focused.

In science class, Kyle gives three-word answers to Mrs. Marlow, who says that the principal has ordered them to speak normally; Kyle asks if “normal” can change.

Mrs. Marlow relents since “the new normal was at least ten times better than the old normal” (117).

In social studies, pairs of students give their oral reports speaking three words at a time, one after another. Mrs. Overby realizes the kids aren’t trying to avoid work and that the three-word rule, though awkward, keeps them focused.

Mr. Burton has two students debate whether the cafeteria should have soft-drink machines, and they argue in three-word bursts. Mr. Burton scribbles notes for his thesis paper, including some three-word ideas of his own. He considers writing his research paper entirely in three-word sentences.

At music, the kids agree that singing isn’t talking. Mrs. Akers assumes they’ve caved in to Principal Hiatt’s orders.

In all the classrooms, it’s the first time that fifth-grade girls and boys have agreed on anything, and today they’re doing it constantly. Reluctantly, the teachers admire their discipline. Mrs. Hiatt, however, has been away all morning at the district offices and doesn’t yet know that students and teachers alike have disobeyed her. 

Mrs. Hiatt arrives at the lunchroom, bullhorn in hand, expecting the usual bedlam, but she finds instead another day of silence. She demands to know why the students are disobeying her orders. She makes Dave stand up and orders him to talk to Todd in long sentences about what he learned that day.

Dave glares at the principal and shouts, “I do not have to talk now if I don’t want to. This is our lunch time. None of us have to talk!” He turns to the students and says, “You have the right to remain silent!” then sits and folds his arms (130). Lynsey folds her arms too, and soon all the students have folded their arms.

Mrs. Hiatt leaves in a huff. Todd starts to clap, and soon all the boys, and then the girls, clap and whoop. It’s so loud that Mrs. Hiatt can hear it from inside her office with the door shut. She sends a message to the lunchroom; Mrs. Marlow receives tells Dave that he must go to the principal’s office. 

Dave enters the principal’s office and sees Mrs. Hiatt looking out the window. He says, “I’m sorry.” He means it, since he feels that yelling at her was wrong even if he was right about the issue. He also hopes the apology will save him from a severe punishment.

Mrs. Hiatt turns, and he sees she’s been crying. She apologizes for losing her temper and hopes he’ll forgive her. She asks what they can do about the problem. He answers, “Um…not sure” (135). She says he can speak freely here, away from the other kids, but he shakes his head and says, “Honor system.”

She asks how the contest got started, and he explains—in short bursts—about the social studies project where he learned about Gandhi. She asks why the kids are speaking short sentences instead of being totally silent, and he answers that it’s out of respect “For school.”

Dave invites Mrs. Hiatt to join them in the three-word game. He writes out the rules, including no talking after school. Realizing that this is her chance to undo some of the damage she caused at lunch, Mrs. Hiatt agrees. She writes a note to her assistant to be typed and distributed. Then she and Dave walk back to the lunchroom together. 

Mrs. Hiatt, speaking in alternating three-word sentences with Dave, apologizes to the students. She calls an assembly where she declares that the three-word rule now applies to everyone at school, and that the contest is now between grades, not genders. Dave feels a bit like Gandhi winning a battle with the British Empire, except that this time, both sides win. Mr. Burton goes into a frenzy taking notes, photography, and audio recordings of the students talking in short bursts. The school loves the new challenge, and a principal who participates makes it even more enjoyable.

On Thursday at noon, the fifth-grade boys and girls add up the overnight score. Only a single at-home violation by a girl is noted, but Dave’s tirade against the principal was 30 words long, which spilled over the three-word rule to add 27 points against the boys. It looks like they’ll lose, but, 15 seconds before 12:15pm, Lynsey stands and says she admires the boys for following the honor system, and that everyone did well at being quiet.

The clock strikes 12:15pm and the students erupt, talking and yelling. Dave shouts to Lynsey that he counts 47 points against the girls; Lynsey’s notebook has 74 points against the boys. She then shows him her last-minute comments, which she’d written out, and which penalize the girls enough to match the boys at 74 points. She has forced a tie.

He wants to thank her, but they just look at each other, smiling, and don’t speak. “Not one word” (145).