CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Class Disruption How to Prevent and

CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Class Disruption How to Prevent and Address Classroom Disruptions. There is nothing quite so distracting for a teacher than a student disrupting the classroom. Classroom disruptions waste valuable instruction time and can also lead to ongoing behavioral problems for students. Some teachers choose a reactive approach to classroom disruptions; however, the most effective approach is to be proactive and take steps toward preventing disruptions before they occur. Though you will probably still have occasional classroom disruptions, you can greatly reduce occurrences through some focused classroom management strategies. Classroom management practices reduce occurrences of students disrupting the classroom, and the result is a classroom more conducive to learning. The following are ways to prevent and address classroom disruptions.

CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Class Disruption • Be Prepared If you don’t know the material or aren’t sure about how your lesson will progress, you’ll create an uncertain atmosphere during instruction time. The students will pick up on it, and it could lead to disruptions such as distractions, unwanted student activity and general misbehavior. Know how the day and each lesson will flow ahead of time. This will help students to stay focused, and you’ll reduce incidents of student disruptions. • Foster Classroom Connections Teachers are most effective when they know their students and their students know and like them. Take some time to make genuine connections with your students. You’ll create trust, and the students will become easier to teach. Set aside weekly talk times that allow you to get to know students more personally, and they can learn a bit more about you. Share your hobbies, perhaps a bit about your family life, future hopes and plans — and ask students to do the same.

CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Class Disruption • Classroom Arrangement Strategies One theory states that teacher mobility should be the top objective for classroom arrangement. The seating arrangement should provide easy discipline and focus the student’s attention toward the teacher. Students likely won’t see the seating arrangement as a classroom management tool, but distractions will be minimized. Allow for each student to clearly view the front of the room. The classroom seating arrangement should be fluid, flexible and organized. • State Clear Rules Try and compress your main classroom rules into 3 to 5 simple, concise guidelines for student behavior. Post them in the classroom and refer to them occasionally. A small number of simple classroom rules can help students remember and focus on what’s expected of them. However, too many complicated rules will just confuse them. Keep it simple, concise and to the point. Let students know the consequences of breaking the rules as well.

CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Class Disruption • Enforce the Rules It’s not enough just to have rules; make sure you enforce your rules consistently and fairly. Students should know and be able to predict reliably what consequence will occur if they break the rules. Practice common and consistent procedures. If students know what is expected for daily routines such as filing out for recess, unpacking books, lining up or taking a bathroom break, there will be far less chaos, confusion and disruption. It’s also a great idea to offer rewards, praise and incentives too if students consistently follow the class rules. • Minimize Distractions Take steps to prevent both yourself and your students from becoming distracted. Remove distracting items such as sporting equipment, games and art materials during classroom instruction. Turn off your cell phone and avoid using your computer during class time. Post a “Do Not Disturb” sign on your classroom door during important activities such as tests or exercises that require a great deal of concentration. Make sure other teachers and school staff honor your classroom rules and boundaries.

CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Argumentative Why You Should Never Argue With Students • • It’s stressful. It can make you lose your cool. It can cause you to behave in a manner you’ll regret. It wastes time. It creates friction between you and your students. It weakens your relationship with students. It makes you less likable. It encourages students to challenge your authority.

CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Argumentative How To Avoid Arguments With Students • • • Follow Your Classroom Management Plan – Arguments begin when the teacher asks a student to stop doing something rather than enforcing a consequence. Your classroom rules should cover every possible misbehavior. So when a student breaks a rule, simply follow your plan. Give A Warning – Your classroom management plan should include a warning for the first offense. For example, when you see Andrew kicking the heels of the girl in front of him, make eye contact and say, “Andrew, you have a warning because you’re not keeping your hands and feet to yourself. ” Move On – After giving a warning, or a time-out if it’s a second offense, turn away from the student immediately and continue with whatever you were doing. Don’t give your students an opportunity to argue or explain their behavior. There is no need.

CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Argumentative • Pause/Repeat – If you find yourself in a situation where a student is determined to stand in front of you to plead his or her case, maintain eye contact, pause several seconds, and then repeat, “You have a warning because you are not keeping your hands to yourself. ” • Enforce A Consequence For Arguing – If the student continues to argue, enforce the second consequence. “Andrew, you’re being disrespectful to me, which breaks rule number three. You will be getting a detention. ”

CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Disrespect First and foremost, REMAIN CALM! Remember you are modeling for the student the proper way to handle conflict. You need to be a role model for students and show to properly deal with an argument and/or disrespectful student. Stop and take a deep breath and continue calmly with what you want to say. Remember they are looking for an opportunity to create chaos and an angry, negative response will not resolve a situation, only make it worse. There a number of reasons for a student to act out disrespectfully that can include: • The student has been mistreated and therefore is mistreating others. • There may be a great deal of conflict between the adults in the home. • He/she is feeling a great deal of pain caused by peers, family, or educators. • The student, because of his/her hurt, is hurting others as a form of power. The power is usually a demonstration against adults. • Because of the treatment received, the student-through disrespect-lets everyone know he/she is somebody.

CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Disrespect Actions to Take Always remember that disrespect is never given without reason. The reason may or may not have to do with the teacher. • • Adopt the strategic position of acting in a positive rather than a negative way. Don't try to fight fire with fire. The behavior of this student can't be changed with such an approach. Try responding to the offender with "What's wrong? Did I do something to offend? If I did, I'm sorry. " This can set the stage to resolve rather than fuel the situation. Keep the responsibility on the student. This is an important aspect of handling the disrespectful student. Retaliating only lets him/her off the hook. Whenever you can, move to the hall or a private place in the room to handle disrespect. A public confrontation may put the student on the spot and compel him/her to act even worse to save face or retain his/her image as one who "doesn't get pushed around by anyone. "

CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Disrespect • • • Remember, an unprofessional reaction always reinforces negative behavior in this student. Approach disrespect as you approach other student misbehaviorprofessionally. Although it's normal to be offended by disrespect, returning it only proves to the disrespectful student that he/she is right and justified in the behavior. It convinces the student that the teacher does not deserve respect. Be calm, poised, and perceptive when disrespect is shown. Most disrespectful outbursts are the result of quick, unthinking, and emotional responses. Don't engage in sarcastic comments, put-downs, ridicule, or barbed teasing with students, or you will probably hear similar statements made to you-openly or behind your back. There is much truth in the old cliche: Example is the best teacher. The behavior you display toward students will be mirrored. You can count on it. Remember, misbehavior can originate from both sides of the desk.

CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Non-compliance Why do classroom conflicts between teachers and students seem to occur so frequently? • • • Conflicts are social power struggles and must always involve at least two parties. As conflicts between students and teachers appear to be so widespread, it might help to examine what factors tend to push each party into these power struggles. Students who are prone to conflict often do poorly in school. They may act out in part to mask their embarrassment about their limited academic skills. These students may also lack basic prosocial strategies that would help them to work through everyday school difficulties. For example, students may become confrontational because they do not know how to ask for help on a difficult assignment, lack the ability to sit down with a peer and calmly talk through a problem, or are unable to negotiate politely with a teacher to get an extension on an assignment. Students can also sometimes adopt defiance toward teachers as a deliberate strategy--because, in the past, this confrontational behavior seems to have 'paid off' for them in the form of reduced expectations for schoolwork or improved social standing with peers. The longer that a student has engaged in habitual confrontational behavior, the more time and energy a teacher will probably need to invest in specific strategies to turn that behavior around.

CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Non-compliance • Teachers who get pulled into power struggles with students may not realize that they are often simply reacting to student provocation. For each step that the student escalates the conflict (e. g. , raising his or her voice, assuming a threatening posture), the teacher matches the step (e. g. , speaking more loudly, moving into the student's personal space). In other words, a teacher allows the student to control the interaction. • If a teacher has already decided that a student is generally defiant, the teacher may be overly quick to jump to conclusions, interpreting any ambiguous behavior on the part of the student (e. g. , muttering in frustration during a test) as intended to be deliberately confrontational. The teacher may then reprimand or criticize the student, triggering a confrontation.

CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Non-compliance What is the most important point to keep in mind when working with a defiant or noncompliant student? The cardinal rule to keep in mind in managing conflicts with students is to stay outwardly calm and to maintain a professional perspective. For example, it is certainly OK to experience anger when a student deliberately attempts to insult or confront you in front of the entire classroom. If you react with an angry outburst, though, the student will • • • control the interaction, escalate the conflict until the student engineers his or her desired outcome. Set a poor example for potential future issues Approach the student in a business-like, neutral manner, and impose consistent, fair consequences for misbehavior, you will model the important lesson that you cannot be pulled into a power struggle at the whim of a student.

CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Non-compliance How do I deliver a teacher command in a way that will minimize the chance of a power struggle? • • • Approach the student privately and using a quiet voice establishing eye contact and calling the student by name before giving the command. State the command as a positive (do) statement, rather than a negative (don't) statement. Phrasing the command in clear and descriptive terms (using simple language that is easily understood) so the student knows exactly what he or she is expected to do.

CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Non-compliance What are proactive steps that I can take to head off or minimize conflict with students? • • Offer the student face-saving exit strategies. “Face-saving reflects a person's need to reconcile the stand he takes in a negotiation or agreement with his principles and with his past words and deeds". When a potential confrontation looms, you can give a student a face-saving way out by phrasing your request in a way that lets the student preserve his or her self-image even as the student complies. A teacher, for example, who says to a student, "Rashid, take out your book now and pay attention--or I will send you to the office!" backs the student into a corner. The student cannot comply without appearing to have done so merely to avoid the threatened disciplinary consequence (that is, prompt compliance would probably result in Rashid's losing face with his peers). The teacher might instead use this face-saving alternative: "Rashid, please take out your book now and pay attention. We need to make sure that you do well on the upcoming test so that you continue to be eligible to play on the lacrosse team. They need your talent!“

CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS Non-compliance • • • Act in positive ways that are inconsistent with the student's expectations. Because they have experienced so many disappointments in school, confrontational students may believe that teachers do not take a personal interest in them or value their classroom contributions. You can surprise these students and begin to forge more positive relationships by showing through your actions that you do indeed value them. You might, for example, occasionally bring in articles from popular magazines on topics that you know will interest the student, set aside time for weekly individual conferences to be sure that the student understands and is making progress on all assignments, or take a couple of minutes each day to engage the student in social conversation Select fair behavioral consequences in advance, take time in advance to set up a class wide menu of positive consequences for good behaviors and negative consequences for misbehavior. Be sure that all students understand what those consequences are. Then be consistent in applying those consequences to individual cases of student misbehavior. Avoid making task demands of students when they are upset. Students will be much more likely to become confrontational if you approach them with a task demand at a time when they are already frustrated or upset. When possible, give agitated students a little breathing room to collect themselves and calm down before giving them commands.