Discipline by a Part Time Teacher
I teach only one night a week, and find discipline in my class very difficult to enforce. There are usually no administrators in the building after 5pm, so finding an official to help me deal with a disruptive student is not always possible. Any ideas on how to enforce professional discipline "on my own" in my classroom?
Kathy,
I would the first day of class remind them the importance of the topics you are teaching them only one day a week.
Emphasize the positive outcome of the knowledge you are trying to provide them and how it is related to their real live
Kathy... I see this as a safety issue as opposed to being a problem for enforcing classroom discipline that needs to be addressed on the adminstrative level. As an instructor that has no "back-up", you should not need to have your ability to provide what you and your institution have agreed to offer to each student be impacted in this way. But in the mean time, you should be familiar with the other instructors and where they are during your class so should the need arise, you can find both strength and safety in numbers.
Kathy, talk to your curriculum team about professionalism points as part of your grading rubric. You can use such points to put more emphasis on professionalism in the classroom.
Regards,
James Jackson
Kathy,
The scenario you described is very similar to my own situation when I teach as I, too, only teach one night a week. I don't notice any disciplinary problems, though, aside from the occasional side conversations and tardiness to class or after breaks. I had originally waited for the tardy students to return after a break, since I didn't want them to get too far behind or interrupt the rest of the class when they came back into the room. By following this practice, though, I noticed that it frustrated some of the other students, so I spoke to the guilty students after class, which has worked so far.
Luckily for me, there is always a security guard on duty until all of the instructors leave. I find comfort in knowing that if things were ever to "get out of hand" I could rely on that school employee to come to my aide.
I believe that if you outline your classroom policies and expectations early on and conduct friendly reminders of them when behavior becomes less than acceptable, I would hope your disciplinary problems would be kept to a minimum. Maintain control over the classroom by being firm with them, yet professional. I've found that there are often other students in the room who find the disruptive behavior just as bothersome as you do, so they're willing to help "police" the room with you. Good luck!
