It happens for no apparent reason.
You send your students off to recess and a troop of Howler Monkeys returns. Or a visit to the library turns into an embarrassment of unruliness and misbehavior.
It could be a direction you just gave your students or a routine they’ve been doing for months.
Whatever the case, there are times when your instructions fall on deaf ears, when your students know what you expect from them, yet ignore it anyway.
It’s common for teachers to react to such blatant disregard with frustration and how-dare-you emotion. Lectures, threats, and warnings are the norm. And although these methods may settle things down initially, they do nothing to stop them from happening again and again.
The truth is, if you look real close, if you sneak up quietly, part the tall grass, and examine the situation with a bit of shrewdness, you’ll see an opportunity just waiting to be had…
An opportunity to teach your students a lesson they’ll not soon forget.
Here’s how:
Wait
Don’t lecture. Don’t remind. Don’t pace or brood. Simply signal for your students’ attention and wait. And then wait some more. Give them a chance to grasp the gravity of ignoring your instructions—without you spelling it out for them.
Test
Give a simple direction. Ask your students to clear their desks and sit up straight, for example. If you waited long enough they should be eager to do whatever you ask of them without hesitation.
Cancel
Clear your schedule for the next fifteen minutes or so. Yes, you’ll lose learning time in the short term and may even have to cancel the next lesson. But in the long run, pumping the brakes on your day is more than worth the time lost.
Mimic
Without mentioning names, mimic for your students the behaviors you witnessed. Be as exacting as possible. With rare exception, whatever you act out for your students in detail, they’ll go to great pains not to do again.
Model
Normally I recommend having a light, even humorous, tone when modeling. But not in this case. Disregarding your direct instructions is a serious offense—with safety implications. As such, affect a serious tone as you model the right way to do things.
Undo
Ask them to make things right by showing you how it should have been done. If possible, duplicate the conditions under which the misbehavior occurred. A quick return to the scene of the crime, so to speak, makes for a memorable lesson.
Move On
As soon as your students prove they can do it right, start your next activity as if nothing happened. Too many teachers undermine these opportunities by belaboring the point, harping on it until the students are resentful and ready for revolt.
Remount
Get your students back on the horse as soon as you’re able. In other words, if the problem occurred while visiting the library, try to arrange for a visit the next day. Give your students the chance to put the incident fully and completely behind them.
Averting A Train Wreck
Many teachers react to brazen disregard by either losing their cool or by trying to reason, plead, or coax their students into doing what they ask. Some may even do some ignoring of their own.
But these methods are a train wreck, counterproductive at best.
Effective classroom management is about action. It’s about doing something in response to misbehavior. It’s about communicating what you want then holding students accountable for doing it.
Resolve to stop being so disappointed by whole-class misbehavior and too-cool-for-school complacency. Instead, start looking at them as opportunities to make your class better, sharper, and more receptive to your instruction.
And each time you do, each time you bring the train to a screeching halt and send the message that you really do mean what you say, the closer you’ll get to having that attentive, respectful, and well-behaved class you really want.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Michael and readers,
More great suggestions. When I first began teaching, I recall the lectures I gave, the anger I regrettably displayed, even the “shame sirens” I blew in my students’ ears for their misbehavior. Not a good scene!
A better approach is to calmly state the infraction(s), and let the students know where and how they failed to follow the directions. Giving students the chance to do it again and make things right is a win-win.
Another simple strategy I’ve had success with involves posters. A few years ago, after a particularly troubling experience with a class, I remember writing my thoughts in large print on poster papers. When the students came in the next day, I waited for them to settle and be silent. I said nothing, but held up my posters one by one. You could have heard a pin drop. My students’ eyes were glued to the posters. There were no grins or giggles. Just a group of students who understood they had crossed the line.
It is crucial that students understand we mean what we say. This is true even at the high school level, where I now teach. For example, I told my first period students that once the bell rings, they need to put their electronic devices away, place their coffees on my back counter and we will get to work. The first few days it was a struggle! The kids were so used to texting and sipping coffee in their other classes, they were unwilling to break these habits. It took class time, but I waited until every student put the phones and coffee away until we began instruction. Day after day the same thing, until eventually those struggles lessened.
Last week as the bell rang, I watched a student put his coffee on the back counter, put his iphone away, and begin the daily warm-up problems.
Joy!!
Hi Victoria,
Love the poster idea. Powerful. As always, thanks for sharing.
Michael
Hi Michael,
I am loving all of your ideas and great insight! I have a question for you. I have had success modeling correct and incorrect behaviors with my Kindergarten class, except for one student. When I model incorrect behavior, she always exhibits that behavior, almost like she is mocking me! She knows exactly what she is doing, and it frustrates me because at times she can get a few students to do the same. Any suggestions would be helpful! Thank you!
Hi Tasha,
She’s testing you. And she’ll continue to test you until and unless you enforce a consequence. Be sure and read through the Rules & Consequences category of the archive.
Michael
You’re talking about an over-correction procedure paired with positive practice and positive punishment. Why more educators don’t know about this baffles me. Mentalist approaches to classroom management are so archaic and ineffective, yet behaviorism gets slammed… alarming.
And for Tasha, make her do it the right way, and reinforce approximate attempts until it’s perfect…
How does one do this in the computer lab? I turned off the lights last week, and no one seemed to notice–they went on talking, even though I waited quite a long time. We ended up leaving, and I said we wouldn’t be going back until we learned what my signals meant. I would appreciate your suggestions! Thanks,
Hi BAM,
It shouldn’t make any difference where you are. I recommend the same guidelines regardless of where it takes place.
Michael
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