do some reading on basic behavior modification.  they've been proven to be effective in different settings with different subjects(even with those who have learning disabilities) in different cultures. 

for the first case, you can try positive reinforcement when the child stops talking when you tell him to.  something as trivial as saying good boy or giving a thumb up will suffice as a positive reinforcement.  or give positive reinforcement for whenever he's not talking in a situation where he usually talks. 
the other method is token economy.  while traditional token economy involves giving tokens for desired behavior and exchanging a set number of tokens for a reinforcement, you can try a modified version of it.  that is, let them know that they have 5 points to start with, and they'll lose a point everytime they talk when you tell them not to talk.  and if they don't lose all 5 points, they get to play little game at the end of the class (or you can let them choose their favorite drills or exercises instead of doing a game).  and once they can manage not to lose all 5 points, then start with 4, then with 3, and eventually with 1 point. 

with the second case, the best way to deal with it is by extinction - all the attention she's getting is reinforcing her to do the same thing over and over again.  extinction, by definition, means that the subject will not get reinforcement for a behavior that he/she had been reinforced before, therefore, the likelihood of that person performing the behavior decreases.  depending on the situation, just the instructor/teacher ignoring the behavior may do the trick - by ignoring her behavior, she's not getting attention, and she's no longer reinforced to do so and will decrease in frequency of that behavior.  however, all the attention she gets from the peers may still be reinforcing.  you are going to have to come up with something so that the rest of the class will ignore her behavior.  you can try that token economy from the above situation - they lose a point if they laugh or giggle at someone's silly act.  or you can try respondent coditioning - by definition, RC is that an unconditioned stimulus that produces unconditioned response is paired up with neutral stimulus, so that neutral stimulus becomes conditioned, and the neutral stimulus that became conditioned stimulus will produce a conditioned response, which is the same response as unconditioned response.  so with this case, whenever kids react to her silly act, immediately make everyone, who were reacting to her act, do 10 push ups (or if it's more than half the class who are reacting to the silly behavior, then make everybody do it).  you have to be careful with the timing of when to tell them to do push ups, as they may think that her silly act is leading to the push ups.  i would first give them a verbal warning as kids react to a silly behavior, and if they don't address themselves within 2-3 seconds, then make them do push ups.  eventually, they'll unconsciously know that laughing at her silly act will lead to 10 push ups, and they'll stop doing so.  and with lack of the attention she's getting from her peers, she'll eventually stop with her silly act. 

one thing to keep in mind with behavior modification is to be consistent and firm with the application.  even if only 2 kids reacted to her silly act, make them do push ups.  a lot of people fail with behavior modification, because they let things slide when it's trivial, and it'll take longer time for the subjects to learn the desirable behaviors. 

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i'm delicious

The problem with the behavioristic model that you've laid out, doughboy, is that it doesn't address the higher comprehension involved in the student.  What you're talking about is conditioning.  In my view, it's not the best alternative.

There's a reason to the rebellion as well and I don't think we're going to all the way see that here.  First, we won't see it because it's too big for us to see without being there.  Second, we won't see it because I get the distinct impression that the OP probably isn't crazy about some of what's been said.  Both of these are fair; no one likes to hear what others think they may be able to improve on.  After all, I'm nobody; why should anyone have to listen to what I think?

I'd just like to point out that, while it wasn't my intention to say something harsh, I recognize that what I've said may have come across that way.  For that, I apologize.  However, I do assume that someone willing to dish out harshness is also able to hear it when it comes to them; hence, my lack of concern at the time I typed it.  I do stand by the substance of what I said, however... I still think that (per the information I have) that I have valid points.

And when I say it, I mean it: Best of luck.

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Pajamas and a Belt

major3rd wrote: For that, I apologize.

 

Accepted and appreciate your best wishes.

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Exwrestler turned Martial Artist

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Training in the wilderness...