I often hear from teachers who in long missives describe awful behavior towards them. They describe angry, argumentative, and aggressively disrespectful students. Students who tell them off and try to disrupt and sabotage their class. Students who roll their eyes and refuse to look … Read more
A reader emailed SCM last week wondering how to handle six students who were wreaking havoc in his classroom. Every day they were disruptive. They were talkative and silly. They called out during lessons and made inappropriate comments. They played off one another and … Read more
A student points their finger inches from your face and teasingly says, “I’m mad at you. That homework last night was hard!” Or . . . A student raises their hand and commands you to “Tell John to stop bothering me.” In either case … Read more
It’s a common refrain. “With a student like Erik, you have to pick your battles.” “In my class this year, I’ve got to pick my battles.” “The best advice I could offer would be to . . . pick your battles.” The idea behind … Read more
You can’t teach your students to respect you. Oh sure, you can try. Many teachers do. They harp on it, do read alouds about it, and even role-play it. But in the end, students can’t be persuaded or talked into respecting you. No, in … Read more
With over 500,000 page views, How To Handle Disrespectful Students is one of the most popular articles on this website—and for good reason. A disrespectful student can get under a teacher’s skin like almost nothing else. When confronted with disrespect, it’s easy to take … Read more
At the start of every school year you drag your finger down your roster, hopeful you won’t see one of the few names that can send shivers down your spine. Every year, it seems, there are a handful of students that have the potential … Read more
I wasn’t sure I could do this. One week into my first teaching assignment and I was having second thoughts about my career choice. Although I had been working with kids since my junior year of high school, I had never encountered a child … Read more