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T O P I C : Disruptive Troublemakers Stephanie raises the issue: My question is very similar to Grace's question; however, it seems to be the greatest problem I have. I have three students, all of whom are well known by the teachers, admin, and the other kids as disruptive troublemakers and underachieving students. All come from poor homes with poor family situations and are very familiar with detention. Posted October 9, 2008
 R E S P O N S E : A Conference in the Hall Scott Koenig writes: Stephanie, I, too, have had the same issues that you talk about in your question. My suggestion would be, if possible, to call the student out in the hall for a private conversation when you see them displaying inappropriate behavior. That way, that student knows you're serious about their behavior, and it also lets the other students know that you won't tolerate such behavior. When you're able to speak to them in the hall, talk to them about working "with" you, and how you two might be able to do something so that this inappropriate behavior can be discontinued. Try to enlist them as much as you can. I've seen this work a few times. I've also seen teachers express "disappointment" with a student's behavior, so you might try to speak with the student about how they respond to you when you talk to them alone, but then when they get into the classroom, everything gets thrown out the window. Posted November 16, 2008
R E S P O N S E : Reach a Sensible Compromise Kelli Cole writes: I agree with Scott and have firsthand experience with positive results from such a conference. I had one student who continually disrupted class, not loudly to me, but bullied and bothered other students. After a few instances of sending him out in the hall, I wrote him up and asked him to see me after class. This next part was what really seemed to get through to him. I told him how his behavior was giving me trouble. I told him that I appreciated his positive contributions to class, but that his negative behavior was keeping the other students from being able to learn. Then I asked this question: “You know how I feel about this subject. How do you feel about this?” He told me that he just liked the attention it got him when he acted up and bothered the other students. Then I asked if he had any suggestions about how we could each bend a little in this situation and come up with a compromise that both of us could live with. He ended up having some really helpful feedback about how he could tone down his negative behavior in exchange for some attention. I told him that I would only give him that attention if he was contributing in some positive way to the other students’ learning. Since then, he has been great. I don’t know if this type of conference would work for you and your trouble-makers. I was actually pretty skeptical about letting the student come up with a solution to the problem, but he was really responsive to being treated like an adult who had an opinion. I don’t know your kids, but they may respond to being treated like your equal and coming up with a solution together. Posted December 1, 2008
R E S P O N S E : Offer Incentives and Bonuses Martha Sandven writes: It is challenging for any classroom teacher or administrator to identify fresh or new ways to cope with a chronically disrespectful or misbehaving student; that's for sure. The fact that chronic misbehavers are "accustomed" to detention and the like doesn't help! In my own experience, there isn't a single student who has served an In-School Suspension (ISS) who didn't NEED to be in class, learning and participating, instead of isolated from his or her peers in a room of fellow misbehavers! While some schools discourage or prohibit "extra credit," I have found that incentives offer great inroads to success for misbehaving and underachieving students. I am a big fan of the "Bonus Point." The students can become enthusiastic about the chance to shine and earn an extra point! Sometimes, I will announce at the beginning of class that there are "bonus points" available for the day. For example, I created a bulletin board on the wall called "Rules for Living." Any student who brings in a rule, writes it on a piece of paper, and posts it on the bulletin board receives an extra point. I simply go into the gradebook, find an assignment on which the student scored less-than-perfect, add a point, and then make a note in the gradebook that they received a "Bonus Point." I write "+1" on their contribution so that the whole class can see it. (Note: Bellringers seem to be a fair and equitable place to add points — adding a point to a 100-point test for one student, but a point to a 10-point assignment for another student doesn't really work.) While it's only one point, the bonus seems to invigorate the class. A competitive air begins to form. Some of my misbehavers have started to embrace the idea of the "extra point," and bring in artifacts or news articles or bits of wisdom, and look at me expectantly to see if they are going to receive a reward. Sometimes, they do! It seems to be enough to keep them coming back for more. There is always room for incentives and praise. Sometimes we find ourselves allocating too much time in the classroom to management of misbehavior. Here's another "incentive" I have seen in action: All those who are behaving and doing well get to line up at the door to go get a drink of water. The teacher stands at the door and watches them while they go out in the hallway for a moment. She stands at the door and monitors the "misbehavers" who have to remain at their desks while their peers get a taste of "freedom," however fleeting. NOTE: Like any Pavlovian training, incentives and rewards are most effective when they are awarded irregularly. You will find that the students are perked up and waiting to see if there is going to be a reward offered on any particular day. Try to brainstorm incentives and bonuses for your classroom, so that you have a bag of tricks for yourself when times are tough. A pop quiz for offenders and sustained silent reading time for well-behaved students, or the opportunity to work on homework for another subject, can also be an option. It is difficult to offer incentives and rewards sometimes because we are working in a culture that promotes "fairness." However, the question remains: how "fair" is it to deny well-behaved and engaged students reinforcement? In my book, that's not fair at all. Balancing traditional "consequences" with innovative "incentives" makes the playing field more even for everyone. Good luck! Posted December 4, 2008
R E S P O N S E : Say No to the Bully — Deanna Bunch writes: There is no place in school for bullies! I am so tired of teachers being complacent on this issue. Students who are bullied end up becoming dangerous members of society. There was a consistent bully in one of my classes last rotation. My mentor and I called his parents repeatedly. Surprise! They never returned our calls. In fact, they were incredibly accustomed to these types of calls. We referred him to the office twice before I realized that the administrators were tired of dealing with him. They knew that he wanted to be suspended from school so that he could stay home and do as he pleased. His parents both work and travel consistently on business. I ended up documenting every instance of bullying I observed, the reprimand I gave the student, the student's response, if a referral was sent to the office, if the parent was called, etc. I e-mailed this summary to the principal, and it seemed to finally get his attention. I think administrators get so busy dealing with the "assembly line" processing of discipline problems, they don't realize how many times a single student has been involved in a bullying incident. This happened toward the end of my last rotation. The student was in ISS for two weeks. I talked to my mentor teacher this week, and she said the student has been keeping his hands to himself. My bottom line recommendation is not to be tolerant of any bullying. Document your interventions and share them with your administrators when you feel like a student has a serious problem. Posted December 5, 2008
R E S P O N S E : Call Home Rachael Gatewood writes: I have had this issue as well. When I taught ninth grade ESL and regular English, this was a consistent problem. My mentor teacher dealt with it by yelling at the kids. This would put a stop to things for a few minutes, but they would be right back at it in a short while. I was never able to completely stop this type of disrespectful and disruptive behavior either. During my second rotation, I talked with the ESL specialist for the district, and I got the chance to ask her about what she would do in this situation. She told me that when she taught and students were disruptive, she would give them one warning, then take them out into the hall and call their parents if the behavior persisted. If students were disruptive while she was teaching, she would walk to their desks and place a red post-it on the corner of their desk while continuing to instruct. The post-it served as a visual warning. If the behavior occurred again during the period, she would look up their guardian's number on the computer, take the student outside of the door where the rest of the class could see what was happening, and have the student explain to their parent what was happening. She said that this would stop any disruptive behavior because the students knew she was serious. I don't know how disruptive it would be to take time to look up the parent's number during class, but it might be worth it if it works. Also, she said that if the parents didn't speak English, she would have the student translate, then have the translator call the parents after school to make sure the parents understood the situation. I have never tried this, so I don't know how well it would work. But I hope this suggestion helps! Posted December 5, 2008
E-mail your suggestions and comments to fbowles@uark.edu 
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