Good day: I have a difficult situation were I am the Director of Faculty as well as an Instructor. Students tend to see me as an administrator rather than a instructor. However, the best way I get around their fears is that during the first class I tell them that i am not here as an administrator rather than just a facilitator for the course. This in turn lest them relax and gain their confidence . This has worked for me and my position in class is a guide ,with a bit of controller and it has gone well.
Chalie Colon
I take a very mellow approach to classroom discipline. I rarely have any confrontations with students. I get them talking about the subject at hand in such a way they don't even know they are learning. At the odd time when discipline is needed, I take the person aside and talk to them in an adult manner. I have had great success with the approach.
I'm so glad I signed up for this course. I'm to focused on presenting the information and making sure I don't leave anything out of the syllabus. Sometimes when I get a distraction in class it throws me off track and I don't have a back up plan.
On eof the techniques I used today was from the training course. I used the "I" language when I had to stop students from talking. Enstead of loosing my composure and yelling "SHUTUP", I used the a term from the course, "I need your attention before I can continue class". I had to say it twice and then I got their attention. A few minutes later the same students were turned around in their chair and talked with each other. I had to say "I need your attention before I can continue". The disruptive student gave me the look, then turned around and was quite.
I like this technique better than "Excuse me Susie, please be quiet. You are disruptive and rude to the other students in the class".
If i need to stop my class again to get the attention of disruptive students, I will ask them to stay after class for a moment. Then, I will ask for their cooperation so I may continue teaching class. If that does not work, I will ask them to leave and set up a meeting with the Director before they can come back into class.
This course provides me (us) with some tools for dealing with disruptive adults. I already used a few techniques learned.
Thank you
Michael Dean
Math, Computer Science, Business
I have used a few different approaches. If it is a student or two talking during a lecture, I generally use the silence approach because then they stop to see why I am not speaking. I have in the past asked students to leave because their behavior was unacceptable, which I always thought I would never have to do because we are all adults but it had to be done. The "See me after class" approach works pretty well because they know that you are unhappy with them and they reconsider their actions. This has worked for me recently. The student changed his behavior for the most part for every class after that. It reinforces the fact that it is your classroom and rules must be followed.
I've learned several techniques from this lesson that I haven't tried. I've used the silent treatment when students are talking and that usually works. I will try giving the difficult students a note and talk with them after class.
Cynthia, great point and in my experience of 14 years there has ALWAYS been a root cause of student misbehavior. Interesting side note, there are some colleges that have reported a significant reduction in classroom disruptions when they introduced a counseling element into their environment. The ability for students to have access to a professional counselor gives them a trusted outlet for their issues that are not academic in nature. Your story seems to demonstrate this issue to some extent as you were able to identify a root cause of the disruption outside of anything academic in nature. Thanks for sharing.
James Jackson
I have found that the silent approach works best for me. Some of my students are actually younger than me (or around the same age) so they automatically think they can let their hair down and relax when they come to my class. My silence while I wait for their attention seems to get me through lecture and their silence when they see the test and how much discussion they missed gets me through the rest of the quarter. They are always more attentive after exam 1.
I had a discipline problem with a student while I was teaching a computer lab class. He apparantly came to school that day with personal issues and was enable to control his emotions. I was completely unaware of his problems, because he was not an open individual and at times appared angry. Well he started with comments about my teaching and concern for my students, which I ignored at first, but started to become worse with loud disruptive foul comments. He ticked me off and of course I exploded and threw him out of the class. Afterward, I felt very bad about what I had done, and sot him out. We talked about his concerns and feelings, he came back into my class the next day, piblic apologized to me and the rest of the class members. I after that began talking to me about his concerns and feelings. Sorry to say, that his family situation eventfully caused him to drop from the school. I did learn a very valuable lesson from this being never to judge a book by its cover or a student for that matter.
Frank, good practice. The more you as the instructor set the stage early in your class the more success you will see.
James Jackson
I always set the expectation of class rules and structure during my first day coverage of SOP's for my class.
Samuel, may also be food to relate class tardiness to being late to work with an employer. Habitual tardiness is habit forming and part of the role of college is to prepare students for the work environment.
James Jackson
Dell, techniques like direct eye contact or brief moments of silence can be very powerful tools in an instructor's tool kit.
James Jackson
Christine, how do you define adult? Be careful to associate age as a factor of being an adult. You may encounter 25 year old adults as well as 40 year old adolescents. Sharing the traits of what adults do and how they are successful may be very valuable to your more adolescent students.
James Jackson
yes, i use several techniques to control minor and major disruption. I sometimes use humor to return attention to the lesson.( Now that we have had a commercial break)
I discuss with chronically late students the effect their lateness has on their grades. I point out the information that they missed on exams and quizzes was presented in the time they were absent.
I don't use this type of technique as it opens the door for confrontation. I prefer to stop talking and use the weight of silence to reassert attention. If not I ask the class for attention. If A disruptive student continues (which I have rarely Have) , I ask them to meet with me after class.
Maintaing discipline in a classroom is a must otherwise you loose the respect of the students and the control as an instructor. If a situation occurs with a disrespectful student while class is in session, I usually continue to lecture, but walk close to the student that is causing the disruption and stand next to them, and this will kill the foolishness. After class I will usually speak with the disruptive student to see if there is a problem we should discuss concerning the class that I should address.
I agree that these students are adults and they need understand how the real world works
I get my classroom attention right from the beginning by explaining my rules as well as the schools. I also tell them I am a recruiter for my agency and if they can't behave in class how can I recommend them for a job?
I take the same approach. I teach Criminal Justice Classes and I say if you can not be trusted in the class how will you get a job in the field.
