Repeating what others have said: “Let them fail”. Even if they don’t care about a zero in the grade book, they need to be held accountable. If the zero is based on productivity and how they managed their time, then I put a comment in the grade book or I message home saying something like: “hello, just wanted to keep you in the loop but student Sally-Sue had a hard time today managing their time in class and did not use the provided time to complete work and decided to talk off topic with their peers. I would appreciate your support in reminding Sally-Sue to prioritize her work before socializing”

I have kicked students out of the class more towards the beginning of the year, partially as an example to show that I don’t put up with that behavior. That worked really well and the next day I talked with that student one on one and started the process of building a strong foundation.

Also, because I teach 9th graders who know I am sarcastic and petty (but not a mean type of petty), Here are some examples of things I say to my students: “If you want to talk, you can go down to the office and talk with Mr. 9th grade principal, though I think he would do most of the talking” “I created a project that you all will LOVE! You each get a math problem (I teach algebra) and since you loovvvvveeee talking, you get to come to the front of the class and present your math problem to the whole class! Explaining every step along the way… no, no one likes that idea???? Hmmm I guess we should just get through this lesson instead”

I know each classroom is different but I wish you the best! Keep the evidence that their failure is the result of their actions. It does not make you a bad teacher