Get Your Students Hired
Ellen, nicely done and resolves several issues. Allows the disruptive students a way to easily remove themselves if they do have a serious issue to discuss. They are obviously aware that you are not going to tolerate such disruptions to the rest of the class. It also lets the entire class know that they too could be asked to leave the classroom if they are not paying attention or become disruptive.
James Jackson
Charles, such disruptions are at the extreme level and of course require immediate and decisive attention. If you are in an environment where this happens more than once or is actually somewhat common then I also highly recommend always having a go to assignment that students are trained on during the early stages of any new class. Examples can include reviewing current events that relate to the topic being studied and writing a brief explanation or having student take an extra credit quiz which could be used in place of another quiz that maybe they were not able to prepare for as well. By making the quiz for extra credit it cannot harm their grade and they do not take it as a negative when you have to leave class to handle a serious disciplinary action.
James Jackson
Liset, using a Socratic type question is a great technique on multiple levels. You can quickly regain the attention of your students and you also get the entire class to think more deeply about the subject matter. Another great technique is to use a current event to relate to a specific subject matter. When students can properly relate a current event to a specific topic you are teaching you know they truly understand the materials.
James Jackson
Gwendolyn, there are times when a student is taking so much of the attention of the class that some level of immediate action is necessary. The goal is to have the least negative impact on all parties as possible. We want our overall classroom to move forward while allowing the unruly student to understand the impact they are having on the class. Another good technique that can be used is to let the student know you understand they seem confused about the subject matter and thus are acting out in class which is not the correct method of seeking help so please plan on meeting with me after class so I may better assist you. This gives the student an easy way out, lets them know you are unhappy with their behavior and allowing the rest of the class to continue on with the lesson plan.
James Jackson
I rarely have had any major problems with discipline in my classroom. I cover my classroom rules at the beginning and I strive to be consistent. The biggest problem I have is cell phones. I have in the past simply asked the student to put their phone on my desk until class is over.
I Have also found that the silent approach is effective. If the behavior occurred a second time, I have just asked the students involved to leave the room to continue their discussion & instructed them to return when they have finished their discussion & are ready to particiapte in the class
Students need to be disciplined differently as they are not all the the same. Good classroom management from the start is the key. An instructor needs to be able to change management skills needed for each class. I had a student go off in the class room cussing and cussed at me. I knew this needed to be handled right away. I nicely asked him to go out into the hall. I had the class study the next chapter while I took the student to the managers office. The class was impressed by the way the concern was handled, as this student had interupted other classes.
I usually wait in silence , its only a few seconds until they realize they are talking , another technique I use is asking a question regarding the lecture to the student who was disrupting the class , it works pretty well , they start paying more attention after that.
John, what a great statement and very true. You are as likely to encounter an adolescent 40 year old as you are a mature 25 year old student. Maturity is more a matter of the mind than it is chronological age. The focus then becomes more a matter of learning more about your students and their motivations to be successful and working towards achieving those goals.
James Jackson
Age is definitely not the best indicator of adult behavior. Many of my older students come to class with heavy burden related to their home situations.
As an instructor, I believe I have a responsibility to know my students and to be aware of their concerns and needs. When any age students acts out in my room (which is rare) I spend time determing the root cause and deal directly with the student and the behavior.
My discipline problems deal more with uniform infraction. From time to time I have some more serious issues.
Just recently I had a class of thirty five and I noticed there were several discipline areas I could have worked on. We had a huge age range from 18 to at least 50+ and some of the younger ones would talk just low enough that it did not bother me but it did bother some students. I spoke with them after class and it worked for a while. This next session, I will be more aware. The problem I have is giving consequences when it continues. We are moving at such a fast pace that sometimes stopping to write down who is being disruptive is difficult. I think I will try using a signal with the students. It only happens during lecture and discussion. Instead of being a part of the discussion, they sidebar. I will make an endeavor to ask them questions so they can be part of the discussion.
Another thing I will do is asking them to separate themselves if it continues. I will do this after class of course.
Every now and then, I will get a strong personality in my classroom that has alienated the other students. The students rotate to me during the 4th six weeks. Because I am a verbal communications class and it is about dealing with members on a team, sometimes the alienation escalates in my class as the students try to give voice to their dissatisfaction. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. I am thinking of finding out more about these students as they appear in my class to see if I can create a strategy before an incident happens. For instance, what did the other teachers do before me. In the three years I have been there I have only had four students that were difficult to get along with and two were in the same class.
Other than that, I usually go and stand by people; I quietly ask for change when needed and endeavor to be digilant in follow through.
On one occasion, during the course of lecturing, I had to ask an unruly student to step outside the classroom so that I could address her behavior. As a consequence of that action, the student was embarrassed when returning to class. In retrospect, I should have handle the matter differently; for example handing the student a short written note as I moved around the class, or asked her to meet with me after the class had ended.
I had a student verbally attack another student, during his oral presentation. I asked him to leave the room immediately. I then got higher management to help.. Any suggestions on how to handle this differently?
This probably works when one student is talking. However, if two or more are talking than waiting for them to finish will not work.
Lisa , silence can be a very powerful tool as well as brief and general statements. As you identify the repeat offenders you may still need to consider private counseling to better understand the root of the issue. For some students they simply do not realize they are being disruptive. For others they simply need to be acknowledged and crave personal attention.
James Jackson
Ofelia, we have all been there and experience is the best teacher. Courses like this can also provide some great insight into best practices so make sure to practice what you have learned and come back into the lounge from time to time and share your experiences and to keep up on what others are doing.
James Jackson
I have discreetly slipped a note to a disruptive student, asking her to meet with me after class. It was effective. Of course, the first concern she had was wondering if she was in trouble or not. I had a candid discussion regarding her behavior, using a "three strikes, you're out" approach and it seemed to work well. One drawback is that she was so preoccupied about our meeting after class that she most likely missed out on valuable learning time in the classroom.
Mr. Jackson You are correct. My job is to get the students involved in the learning process and to keep them engaged as much as possible. I was thinking the ones who after many attempts to reach still continue to not pay attention. My job is to use all the ways I can to get the information to them. Thanks for your input.
William, another technique that works well is to think about other ways to deliver your information that engages the students versus just having them listen. The more students can become part of the learning process versus just subjects of a lecture the more they will understand and retain.
James Jackson
I will have many young students right out of high school in my class and during lecture it can be hard to keep them involved in the in the subject being presented. I use eye contact the first time and a very light hearted reminder to stay focused on the subject at hand. If there is a second time from the same student the other students will usually remind the disrupting student to pay attention and knock it off. If the behavior continues I will ask the offending student to step outside the classroom with me. Usually a one on one talk will reveal what is the root cause of the behavior. Hopefully I will be able to help that student or at least point them in a direction where they can receive assistance. In all the years of teaching only a few times has this technique has not worked for me.