Spring
2014
Dealing with Difficult
Students
Jason McKibben, Ashley Stewart, Kasee
Smith
Jason McKibben, Kasee Smith, Ashley Stewart
TAMU
Spring 2014
Workshop Agenda
1. Introduction to Management
2. Motivations for misbehavior
3. Preventative Strategies
a. Teacher / Student Relationships
b. Peer Relationships
c. Parent / Guardian Relationships
d. Classroom Standards & Procedures
e. Maintaining on Task Behavior
f. Positive Behavior Supports
4. Behavior Corrections
a. Proactive
b. Reactive
i. Non-Verbal
ii. Verbal
Basics of Behavior
Please write down the most outlandish student behavior story you have ever heard
The Good News

In the Jones’ (1992) study of off task behavior, 99% of off-task behaviors are

Antisocial, dangerous behaviors make up a fraction of the time students spend off-task
The Relationship
75%_____________________+25%________________________= Good Management
Motivations for Misbehavior
Motivation
Acceptance / Affiliation
Attention
Expression of Self
Gratification
Independence
Justice / Revenge
Power / Control
Protection / Escape / Avoidance
Explanation
Student just wants to fit in, be a part of the group
Student wants teacher/class attention (often from insecurity)
Want to “be their own person”, do something different
Likes the feeling of being deviant
Doesn’t want to involve others in their thoughts
“Righting a wrong” caused by the teacher
Wants to be the dominant force in the classroom, enjoys “winning
the battle”
Trying to get out of actual work, often common when they don’t
understand or aren’t motivated to learn
Preventative Strategies
O
O
O
O
O
Teacher / Student Relationships
Peer Relationships
Parent / Guardian Relationships
Classroom Standards & Procedures
Maintaining on Task Behavior
Strategy
Teacher / Student
Relationships
O
O
O
Peer Relationships
O
O
Parent / Guardian
Relationships
O
O
O
O
Explanation and Thoughts
CARE ABOUT THEM!!!!
O Ask about something _____________
of your room, remember, & relate
O They won’t see you as a
_______________unless you see
them as one
Your _____________ will ruin more than
theirs
They deserve a fresh chance every day
Have guidelines for their interaction with
each other
Your classroom should be the “safe zone”
(for the whole school)
Group work will help with this
You have a common goal with parents
Keep them informed!
O Its always better if the first contact
they have with you is
______________________
Communication Formula
O Greeting
O Come from a place of care/concern
O Something positive about student
O Behavior needing modification
O Impact of behavior
O Ask for suggestions
O Stay positive about student
Classroom Standards and
Procedures
O Not just rules… also how you do things in
your room.
O Develop _______________ students
O Review them often
O Helps with transition time
O Classroom Standards and Procedures Guide
(attached to this handout)
O The environment
o How you set up the room matters
o How its set up for student teaching
may not be a choice
O Define your box
O Set your expectations
O First day tasks!
o Let them know what defines your box
o Be a person to them
o Let them know the things you will
(and will not) tolerate
Maintaining On Task
Behaviors
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
Clear instructions
Clear beginning of lesson
Maintain attention
Pacing
Use seatwork effectively
Summarize lesson
Give feedback and evaluation
Make smooth transitions
O Magic Formula for Instructions
O
Tell them the KEY WORD
O
Give instructions
O
Have them repeat instructions
O
Ask for clarification
O
Say the Key Word
Behavior Correction Strategies
Tips for behavior management in general
O YOU are the adult….
O Stay calm
O Pick your battles (___________ every battle you pick)
O Don’t _______________
O Be consistent
O No grudges
Proactive Strategies: Use these when you can see the problem just starting…
Strategy
Change the Pace
Remove seductive
object
Boost interest
Redirect
Description
O When you see that students are
about to have free time, have
finished the last task etc.
O Speed up the whole class or move
into the next activity
O Good in general to correct all types
of behavior
O Take away something that you see
could be a distraction
O Simply remove the item from the
student
O Effective as an initial step… very
commonly used with phones
O Do something new in the lesson
which will allow them to buy in
O Use this once you see that glazed
over look to prevent them all
getting off task
O Tip: if you are getting bored, they
have been bored for a LONG
time
O Calls the entire class back to
attention and refocuses activities
O Works well if a large number of
students are off-task
What it looks/sounds like
Non punitive time
out
Encourage
appropriate
behavior of others
Provide cues
Permit/Tolerate
O Removes a student from the
room/environment for a period of
time without penalty
O Excellent to defuse a situation
where a student is incredibly
frustrated/upset/distracting
O Works well with attention seeking
behavior
O Praise those who are being good,
ignore those who are not being
good
O Works well to curb behavior
seeking attention… they will be
good to get the attention
O Have them all signal their good
behavior
O Works well in cases where only a
few are off task
O Allow the poor behavior to burn
itself out
O Do not allow it to distract others
too much
O Works well with minor attention
seeking behavior
Reactive Strategies: to control a problem once it happens…
Strategy
Planned Ignoring
Signal Interference
Proximity
Interference
*BEST 1st STEP*
Description
O Ignoring behavior unless class
procedures are followed
O Curbs some talking out issues
O Any type of nonverbal behavior
that communicates to the student
without disturbing others that the
behavior is not appropriate
O Should be clearly directed at the
off-task student.
O Moving into the “awareness zone”
(within 10 feet then 5 feet) of the
student who is misbehaving
O Some expert suggest being in every
students’ awareness zone every 5-
What it Looks/Sounds Like
O not calling on a student
unless they raise their
hand
Touch Interference
Adjacent (Peer
Reinforcement)
Calling on the
Student/NameDropping
Humor
Questioning
awareness of effect:
“I Message”
10 minutes
O A light, nonaggressive physical
contact with a student.
O Can be taking a hand or placing
hand on shoulder
***For student teaching, and maybe
even after, don’t do this one***
O Focuses class attention on
appropriate behavior rather than
on inappropriate behavior.
O Teacher redirects the student to
appropriate behavior by calling on
the student to answer a question
-orO by inserting the student’s name in
an example or in the middle of a
lecture if asking a question is not
appropriate
O Directed at the teacher or at the
situation rather than at the student
can defuse tension in the
classroom and redirect students to
appropriate behavior
O Be careful not to “call out” a
student, that can lead to
resentment
O Teacher makes student aware of
impact of his/her behavior through
the use of a rhetorical question
O requires no response from a
disruptive student.
O is three-part message that is
intended to help the disruptive
student recognize the negative
impact of his/her behavior on the
teacher or other students.
O Three parts:
O (1) simple description of the
disruptive behavior,
Teacher comments publicly
on appropriate behavior of
another student.
Direct Appeal
Positive Phrasing
“Are Not For’s”
Reminder of the Rules
Glasser’s Triplets
Explicit Redirection
O (2) description of its tangible effect
on the teacher and/or other
students,
O (3) a description of the teacher’s
and peer’s feelings about the
effects of the misbehavior.
O Courteously requesting that a
student stop the disruptive
behavior
O When the positive outcomes of
appropriate behavior are easily
identified, simply stating what the
positive outcomes are, can redirect
students to proper behavior.
O Use “are not for.”
O Seems very condescending to high
school students, that’s part of the
effect
O Reminding disruptive students of
the rules, when a teacher has
established clear guidelines or rules
early in the year and has received
student commitment to them.
O Direct students to appropriate
behavior through the use of the
three questions:
O (1) What are you doing?,
O (2) Is it against the rules?
O (3) What should you be doing?
O Asking open-ended questions may
result in student responses that are
dishonest, improper, or
unexpected (be wary)
O An order to stop the misbehavior
and return to acceptable behavior
O Give a command and leave no
room for student rebuttal
“As soon as you do X
(make a good decision), we
can do Y (a positive
outcomes).”
Pencils are not for
drumming on desks,
pencils are for writing
Canter’s “Broken Record
“You have a choice”
O Strategy for communicating to the
student that the teacher will not
engage in verbal bantering and
intends to make sure that the
student resumes appropriate
behavior.
O Begin by giving the student an
explicit redirection statement. If
the student doesn’t comply or if
the student tries to defend or
explain his behavior, repeat the
redirection.
O Give the student a choice of either
complying with the request or
facing the consequences.
Handout scenarios for parent interactions
1.
Blake Blakely is a bright student who has been having a hard time keeping his phone put away
in the last week
2.
Sue Susanman cannot stop flirting during class with the new attractive gentleman who recently
moved to town.
3. Frank Furter has had a difficult time completing assignments and being motivated at school.
4. Brett Frett is continually picking on a nerdy classmate
5. Willy Williams refuses to work on his group assignment with the group.
6. Ann Anderson refused to stop talking during a test.
7. Donald Donaldson yelled at you and called you a stupid (insert expletive here), when you asked
him to put his phone away
8. Valerie Vail screamed and made a scene in your classroom while confronting another student
about “stealing her boyfriend”
9. Al Alverson came to class late, and when you asked him where he was, he told you to “shut up”
10. Bertha Bert has come to class unprepared for the last two weeks
Scenarios for Instructions
1.
Students need to put away notebooks, find a partner and sit with them
2.
Students need to get out a blank paper, fold it into four sections and label the sections A, B, C,
&D
3.
Students need to arrange themselves in groups of 3 or 4 and await further instructions
4. Students need to get out their textbooks, turn to chapter 14, and be ready to popcorn read
5. Students will have two minutes to draw a farm on a piece of scratch paper in silence