Dealing with Difficult Students

1. Dealing with Difficult Students Ashley Stewart Kasee Smith

2. How bad can it be? • On the post it notes, please write the most difficult student situation you have ever heard from a teacher or witnessed in real life

3. The Good News • In the Jones’ (1992) study of off task behavior, 99% of off-task behaviors are • Talking out of turn • Clowning • Daydreaming • Moving about without permission • Antisocial, dangerous behaviors make up a fraction of the time students spend off-task

4. Today you should be able to: • Determine motivations for student behavior • Identify preventative classroom management techniques • Correctly model non-verbal and verbal behavior corrections

5. The Relationship

6. Why are they naughty??? • Acceptance / Affiliation • Attention • Expression of Self • Gratification • Independence • Justice / Revenge • Power / Control • Protection / Escape / Avoidance

7. Preventative Strategies The best way to manage poor behavior is to stop it before it starts

8. Preventative Strategies • Teacher / Student Relationships • Peer Relationships • Parent / Guardian Relationships • Classroom Standards & Procedures • Maintaining on Task Behavior • Positive Behavior Supports

9. Teacher/Student Relations Tips • CARE ABOUT THEM!!!! • Ask about something outside of your room, remember, & relate • They won’t see you as a person unless you see them as one • Your attitude will ruin more than theirs • They deserve a fresh chance every day

10. Peer Relations • Have guidelines for their interaction with each other • Your classroom should be the “safe zone” (for the whole school) • Group work will help with this

11. Parent/Guardian Relations • You have a common goal with parents • Keep them informed! • Its always better if the first contact they have with you is POSITIVE

12. Parent/Guardian Relations • Communication Formula • Greeting • Come from a place of care/concern • Something positive about student • Behavior needing modification • Impact of behavior • Ask for suggestions • Stay positive about student

13. Classroom Standards and Procedures • Not rules… just how you do things in your room. • Develop WITH students • Review them often • Helps with transition time

14. Classroom Standards and Procedures • The environment • How you set up the room matters • How its set up for student teaching may not be a choice

15. Classroom Standards and Procedures- Define YOUR Box • What are the things that you want them to do? • What are YOUR non-negotiables?

16. Classroom Standards and Procedures- Set the Expectations Its a Brand New Day

17. Classroom Standards and Procedures- Set the Expectations • First day task!!!! • Let them know what defines your box • Be a person to them • Let them know the things you will (and will not) tolerate

18. Maintaining On Task Behavior • Clear instructions • Clear beginning of lesson • Maintain attention • Pacing • Use seatwork effectively • Summarize lesson • Give feedback and evaluation • Make smooth transitions Be a good teacher…

19. Maintaining On Task Behavior • Magic Formula for Instructions • Tell them the KEY WORD • Give instructions • Have them repeat instructions • Ask for clarification • Say the Key Word

20. Behavior Management Strategies Because sometimes, despite all your hard work, they will be naughty anyway

21. Tips for behavior management in general • YOU are the adult…. • Stay calm • Pick your battles (win every battle you pick) • Don’t argue • Be consistent • No grudges

22. Proactive Strategies • Use these when you can see the problem just starting… • Change the Pace • Remove seductive object • Boost interest • Redirect • No punitive time out • Encourage appropriate behavior of others • Provide cues • Permit/Tolerate

23. Change the Pace • When you see that students are about to have free time, have finished the last task etc. • Speed up the whole class or move into the next activity • Good in general to correct all types of behavior

24. Remove the seductive object • Take away something that you see could be a distraction • Simply remove the item from the student • Effective as an initial step… very commonly used with phones

25. Boost Interest • Do something new in the lesson which will allow them to buy in • Use this once you see that glazed over look to prevent them all getting off task • Tip: if you are getting bored, they have been bored for a LONG time

26. Redirect • Calls the entire class back to attention and refocuses activities • Works well if a large number of students are off-task

27. Non-punative timeout • Removes a student from the room/environment for a period of time without penalty • Excellent to defuse a situation where a student is incredibly frustrated/upset/distracting • Works well with attention seeking behavior

28. Encourage appropriate behavior of others • Praise those who are being good, ignore those who are not being good • Works well to curb behavior seeking attention… they will be good to get the attention

29. Provide cues • Have them all signal their good behavior • Works well in cases where only a few are off task

30. Permit/Tolerate • Allow the poor behavior to burn itself out • Do not allow it to distract others too much • Works well with minor attention seeking behavior

31. Reactive Strategies • Non-Verbal • Planned ignoring • Signal interference • Proximity interference • Touch interference* • Verbal • Hints • Questions • Requests / Demands

32. Non-Verbal • Planned Ignoring • Ignoring behavior unless class procedures are followed • Curbs some talking out issues • Example would be a teacher not calling on a student unless they raise their hand

33. Non Verbal • Signal Interference • Any type of nonverbal behavior that communicates to the student without disturbing others that the behavior is not appropriate • Should be clearly directed at the off-task student.

34. Non-Verbal • Proximity Interference • Moving into the “awareness zone” (within 10 feet then 5 feet) of the student who is misbehaving • Some expert suggest being in every students’ awareness zone every 5-10 minutes

35. Non Verbal • Touch Interference*** • A light, nonaggressive physical contact with a student. • Can be taking a hand or placing hand on shoulder ***For student teaching, and maybe even after, don’t do this one***

36. Verbal- Hints • Adjacent (Peer Reinforcement): • Focuses class attention on appropriate behavior rather than on inappropriate behavior. • Teacher comments publicly on appropriate behavior of another student.

37. Verbal- Hints • Calling on the Student/Name-Dropping: • Teacher redirects the student to appropriate behavior by calling on the student to answer a question -or- • by inserting the student’s name in an example or in the middle of a lecture if asking a question is not appropriate

38. Verbal- Hints • Humor • Directed at the teacher or at the situation rather than at the student can defuse tension in the classroom and redirect students to appropriate behavior • Be careful not to “call out” a student, that can lead to resentment

39. Verbal- Questioning • Questioning awareness of effect: • Teacher makes student aware of impact of his/her behavior through the use of a rhetorical question • requires no response from a disruptive student. 

40. Verbal- Requests/Demands • Sending an “I Message • “I Message” is three-part message that is intended to help the disruptive student recognize the negative impact of his/her behavior on the teacher or other students. • Three parts: • (1) simple description of the disruptive behavior, • (2) description of its tangible effect on the teacher and/or other students, • (3) a description of the teacher’s and peer’s feelings about the effects of the misbehavior.

41. Verbal- Requests/Demands • Direct Appeal • Courteously requesting that a student stop the disruptive behavior

42. Verbal- Requests/Demands • Positive Phrasing • When the positive outcomes of appropriate behavior are easily identified, simply stating what the positive outcomes are, can redirect students to proper behavior. • Example: “As soon as you do X (make a good decision), we can do Y (a positive outcomes).”

43. Verbal- Requests/Demands • “Are Not For’s” • Use “are not for.” • Examples: Pencils are not for drumming on desks, pencils are for writing • Seems very condescending to high school students, that’s part of the effect

44. Verbal- Requests/Demands • Reminder of the Rules • Reminding disruptive students of the rules, when a teacher has established clear guidelines or rules early in the year and has received student commitment to them.

45. Verbal- Requests/Demands • Glasser’s Triplets: • Direct students to appropriate behavior through the use of the three questions: • (1) What are you doing?, • (2) Is it against the rules? • (3) What should you be doing? • Asking open-ended questions may result in student responses that are dishonest, improper, or unexpected(be wary)

46. Verbal- Requests/Demands • Explicit Redirection: • An order to stop the misbehavior and return to acceptable behavior • Give a command and leave no room for student rebuttal

47. Verbal- Requests/Demands • Canter’s “Broken Record”: • Strategy for communicating to the student that the teacher will not engage in verbal bantering and intends to make sure that the student resumes appropriate behavior. • Begin by giving the student an explicit redirection statement. If the student doesn’t comply or if the student tries to defend or explain his behavior, repeat the redirection.

48. Verbal- Requests/Demands • “You have a choice” • Give the student a choice of either complying with the request or facing the consequences.