Fixing the behavior problems... (teaching, writing, high school, language) - Issues affecting teachers - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

Luke9686 · 02-15-2010, 10:10 PM

I think the seat assignments idea is a good one.

The underlying problem is you have lost control of your class. The kids DO know appropriate voice levels, that they should be paying attention to the teacher, etc., but you haven't set the standard and applied it. You need to start disciplining and correcting the behavior before it gets worse. Don't worry about what they think is "fair" treatment. You aren't their friend. Set a standard, stick to it, and I bet things get better.

jacktravern · 02-19-2010, 02:33 PM

I hate to say this but a lot of times, high schools need to be filled by males and not split 50/50. High Schoolers, especially in many locations, are dangerous individuals who respect power, either in the form of a grown man or woman who lets it be known shes got a wicked tounge and take zero mess. You just cant be scared of students, AT ALL! I dont care if they are gang affiliated or not, if there huge, whatever, kids can never be in charge of a school. Its just always best to be a lil nasty, and firm until your students understand that you are not playing games. theres a bit of a law enforcement mentality needed, especially at the high school level but if you cannot bring out that side of you, then one must consider working at the elementary level b/c when one class in undisciplined, it messes up the culture for the rest of the school. They feel that every class should be a party until they actually come across a teacher thats not playing games.

dazzleman · 02-20-2010, 07:18 AM

I'm not in education, but I was once a student so I remember well. Students quickly size up a teacher and how much they can get away with with a certain teacher. Then they behave accordingly.

There are several different ways to keep the students under control, and the one you use depends upon your personality. You can be the 'cool' teacher whom the students want to be nice to. Or you can be the tough teacher whom they don't want to cross. You can be the interesting and engaging teacher who keeps their attention so well that they don't think of acting up.

You have to find that right balance. Either extreme is bad. I remember I had one teacher who came in in the middle of the year as a replacement, and went out of his way to be a total SOB from day one, as a way of showing he wouldn't be pushed around. I understand why he did it, but he took it too far and probably invited more problems.

It's a little harder to re-establish order with a class once things have been allowed to drift. Sometimes, if that has happened, you need to crack down hard and make an example of a couple of students to show that you're really serious. I got caught up in this in one of my high school classes. We acted up and made a fool of a teacher for about half the year, and then he decided to crack down. It took a number of hours in detention for a bunch of us in the class before it really sunk in that we couldn't keep up what we had been doing.

Good luck. I'm sure things will work out fine for you.

dazzleman · 02-21-2010, 02:37 PM

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs139.snc3/18648_497111840017_451224155017_10913359_6033391_n .jpg (broken link)

stepka · 02-21-2010, 07:04 PM

Quote:

6) Can you establish who the alpha males are in the class? Can you pick out the ringleaders? Can you identify a way to get them on your side and redirect them so that you aren't fighting the crowd?

I discovered a way to get these guys on my side when I was subbing: I'd ask them to run the attendance sheet to the office and while they were gone it was easy to get the rest of the class under control. When they got back and everyone was quietly working, it was a lot more difficult for them to be disruptive. Then I would ask their advice about procedures so they'd feel important and when they got that feeling they'd do anything at all to help me. I know it was subbing but it should be easy for a teacher to adapt it. Good luck--let us know how it goes.

sun queen · 02-26-2010, 01:28 PM

God bless teachers. I don't think there is anyway to resolve behavior problems in the classroom. The problems r diverse and complex. There is no simple fix here...

harhar · 02-26-2010, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sun queen

God bless teachers. I don't think there is anyway to resolve behavior problems in the classroom. The problems r diverse and complex. There is no simple fix here...

I don't think the OP is trying to FIX them but rather just control the current situation.

I think the important thing that the OP is learning is TONE.

You need to keep it strong the entire year. Enforce the rules, but don't be unreasonable.

Let the students know what is acceptable and what is not at the beginning of the year.

Cell phone out during class, give a warning. Next time its out. It's mine.

Disruptive student, take them outside talk to them sternly but fairly, give them a chance. Next time they act up; send them to the AP.

When an entire class is out of control, you need to talk to your APs or principle and be honest. Like someone else said, you will have to reset and make an example of some students by sending them up to the office or giving out a bunch of detentions and stay hard for the rest of the semester.

Next year, at the first sign of them being too loud you tell them to quiet down. If they don't you send the loud ones outside, or you tell them for every second they talk now is every second they have to stay when the bell rings (or whatever works for you).

You won't be liked by everyone, but you're not there to be liked. You're there to teach. And you may not feel like it but the kids on the average WILL respect you more for it.

lenapolster · 03-13-2010, 08:39 PM

Students (8th grade) put a chewing gum on my chair - just for fun, but I wasn't loughing at all. In order to leave the school (fortunately it was the last lesson), I had to stay for a long time in the bathroom trying to clean my pants... There wasn't any reason for doing that; the school year just began (in Costa Rica we start the school year in February) and I didn't give them any grades yet - good or bad.
What should I do? I don't know exactly who did it, so I can't punish just one student. I was thinking on punishing the whole group by giving them double difficult test, compared with other groups... At the beginning of the school year I told them: Lets get along well. For that purpose, a teacher has to give students clear instructions, easy tests and nice exercises. And students have to work in the class and have good discipline. Everybody agreed and we made a "treat". So, now I have a "moral right" to give them a difficult test because they didn't follow the rules.
But then I remembered that a professional man in discipline problems, who ones gave us a workshop, told: "We - teachers - shouldn't REACT, we should ACT", means the revenge is a bad method of education...
So: I'm asking, if somebody can give me an advice, what should I do? Of course, I can't pretend nothing happened. I don't want to shout at them, neither make a police research, neither come with long sermon conveying God... I am really not good at these things and hate them... I like my subject, that is the English language, but probably I'm not a very good pedagogue. Although I have already been teaching for 10 years, I feel I'm still a beginner; I started to work as a teacher at an adult age, and probably I am not so fast at getting teaching skills.

88txaggie · 03-14-2010, 07:39 AM

lena - natural consequences usually work best. Explain to the class calmly that you would like to know who put gum in your seat, and give them one day to come forward. If no one does, then give the whole class a consequence that matches what they did - so in this instance, if you can, have them stay after school/after class and clean something - desks, tables, your room, etc. If you feel the need, do this for more than one day.

Or if you have to keep it academic, have them research different clothes cleaning methods - why do some clothes need to be dry cleaned? What is dry cleaning? What chemicals do they use, why?.....etc, etc, have them write a multi page report.

lenapolster · 03-18-2010, 06:46 PM

Thank you, 88tx, probably you're right. By the way, that class started to behave very well after the incident, almost I didn´t punish them yet - they're waiting for something... But another group today put a chewing gum into the door lock, another favorite outrage of theirs. So it's a good idea to make them write about this topic, of course they can't research much because their language level is not as high. But I'll make them copy something...