important lessons in life

Classroom Disrupters!

What to do about out-of-control kids? Your colleagues share their strategies.

You’ve got a fabulous lesson ready to roll out, but that kid in the back is about to throw a chair! It’s the opposite of the teaching moment—that dream opportunity when everybody’s mind is open, paying attention, eager to assimilate a new idea.

No, this is your nightmare. Nobody is paying attention to the learning because they’re all focused on one out-of-control student. It’s a rare state of affairs in some schools but amazingly common in others. Repeated incidents lead quickly to teacher burnout.

If this describes you, don’t give up! Many educators report dramatic success in dealing with disrupters. Only, they don’t all do it the same way.

Students are different. Educators’ personalities are different. And so are their approaches to children and teaching. Here are some strategies we gathered from educators in Maine and across the nation, with help from NEA Member Benefits. Select, adapt, and good luck!

Curb the class clown.

Most kids who disrupt do it because it is better to be known as a behavior problem than to not know the answer! Teach the skills required for the task. Do not assume that students know how. Go to where they are, bring them to where they should be, and the disruption will cease. —Cecelia Smith, Retired teacher and counselor, Greensboro, Georgia

Get to know them.

Be proactive, not reactive. Within a week of opening day, you know who the potentially belligerent students are. Get to know them before they become problems. Finding out what interests tough students is a good place to start, whether it’s dirt bikes, basketball, make-up, or fashion. A few years ago, one eighth-grade girl tore up the classroom everywhere except in my language arts class. I found out she loved a particular show on MTV, so I joked with her about the program and talked about a few characters. I had seen it only once, but that didn’t matter. Our interactions might have seemed trite, but they weren’t— who knows how many other adults took the time to initiate positive interactions with her? —Paul Barnwell, Eighth-grade language arts teacher, Shelbyville, Kentucky

Consider your physical position

If the situation is minor, I will typically position myself by the student or have them move, and then pull them aside after and have a discussion about their behavior. However, if it is extreme, I will remove them from the classroom and have a brief conversation and make sure they know their behavior is not okay and that they are welcome to come back in the classroom when they are ready to learn and not disrupt the learning of others.

-Vanessa Evrard, middle school teacher, Auburn, Maine (Auburn EA)

Deputize them.

Co-opt them. Enlist the [disruptive] student’s aid in helping another student. —L. Carvel Wilson, Syracuse, Utah

Keep your cool.

Don’t take the bait. So often, kids will disrupt in a manner that is made worse by the response of the adult in charge. Kids quickly figure out which staff have “buttons” that can be pushed, and what they are. Don’t overreact. Pick your battles. —Mitchell Steils, K–12 Intensive Service Team social worker, Ida, Michigan

Try Boot Camp.

Several teachers at my school use this strategy: boot camp! Let students know how you expect them to handle a transition or other activity, then practice. Example: You want students to line up in your classroom without talking, facing forward. Let them know what “without talking” and “facing forward” mean by demonstrating with one or two students. Then practice. If they don’t get it right, do it over until they do. Then move on to the next transition. Your initial practice should be during class time. Any additional needed practices should take place during recess or other preferred activity time. Once a few recesses have been lost, you start getting peer pressure directed at those who are depriving the whole class of that time. —Judith Lister , Second-grade teacher, Pahrump, Nevada