You could not be more correct. Having previous work in school administration, I have seen just how cruel students can be to one another. I have often found that everyone really just wants to feel like they are being heard in many situations. I quickly learned that speaking with students on an individual basis can de-escalate most issues. It goes back to the old adage of praise in public, punish in private.
I agree. I spread these students out, mix and match, and those that are the “ring leadersâ€, I give them something to do. I try to keep them occupied . This person may be called up front to lead a discussion, or write notes on the board, etc. I find that when you have disrupters, you really need to not just talk to them and advise that the behavior is unacceptable, but find duties for them in class to keep them occupied! It works!
Scott
Hi Scott,
Thank you for sharing this great strategy for getting challenging students involved. Based upon the methods you used I can see why the "turn around" came about and the students became big supporters of yours. Keep up the good work!
Gary
I love this tactic.
From my own personal experience, when I spot these 'problem' students, I like to move them around the training environment, get them in front of new people, ask them questions, and really just pull them out and get them involved.
After leanring this method, I have seen a lot of these types become my biggest supporters!
Hi Thomas,
It is amazing at the different things that come up in teaching. Our task as educators seems at times to be simple but it never is as evidenced by your situation. The human factor really influences how a class is going to operate.
Thank you for sharing this situation with us and how it was resolved. We need all of the examples we can have so we will have some idea of how to handle our own situation when it comes up--because we know it will. It's not if--it is when.
Gary
This is a subject I recently became very familiar with. I had a brother and sister 'team' in my class for a 7 month course. To show how out of control it can be, it led to threats of lawsuits between to rival students in the class and the "cliche" at issue. It was handled by simply making it clear regarding the student policies that they signed and agreed to comply with, as well as a 'group' chat with the director of the college to reinforce these policies.
Hi Kimberly,
This is such an important point and often not realized by students. Employers ask instructors for recommendations about students. We instructors can only tell them what we know. If a student does not come to class, complete assignments and doesn't get along with other students that is all we know.
On the other hand we can tell employers about students that are motivated to do good work, have good communication skills and a high level of expertise. It is up to the students which group we promote. Hopefully all students will strive to be in the highly recommended group.
Gary
Often students that behave inappropriately do so becuase of feelings of insecurity. When this handles in my classroom, weither it is directed towards another student or me as the instructor, I remind them that they are here to improve their chances of gettin a job in their field of study in the future and that one of the biggest hurdles that stands in the way of professional development is inappropriate and unprofessional behavior. They may be students now, but instructors often recommend students for positions and we can't do that if they do not meet the classes standards.
Being open and speaking with the student after class might alleviate them continuing to be rude, sometimes this is just a feeling of being uncomfortable at times.
I was given this advice from my peers-- to encourage the student to help with students not as strong. It worked out well. This was acknowledgement of this particular student's skills which was all that they seemed to want.
You need to be very careful on how you respond to these students! Often they will twist what you say around to make you look like the bad guy. Reward evil with kindness.
Dawn,
I would try to re-direct his rudeness, into a positive. In other words, make him my ally, not my enemy. Encourage him to help me with other students that are not as strong as he is.
Hi Dawn,
I break the class up into groups the very first day and have an activity. This way I spread out the veteran and new students into the different groups. When veteran students are reduced in numbers say one or two per group they don't treat the newcomers as poorly since they are not in the majority. If they get to stay in their group they have power in numbers and develop a mob mentally. Spread them out and make the course fast paced so they don't get to spend a lot of time "picking" on the newcomers.
Gary
