Controlling Your Classroom II
A good teacher has to be something of a diplomat. We looked at dealing with students who try to undermine you, bullies and aggressive students. The bottom line is that you are charged with making sure your pupils learn and are ready for the world. If you cannot deal with unruly children then teaching will be harder for you and not a positive experience for your students.
You may encounter a pupil that thinks they are in charge of the class. They will try ordering the rest of the class around with no regard for your authority. You need to nip this behavior in the bud before it gets out of hand. You will have to take into consideration the child's stability, age and the effect he or she is having on the rest of the class to determine your course of action. Only you will know the first steps to take and what you may need to do to rectify the situation. Your past experiences may be a good guide. If you feel intimidated by the thought of this happening you might want to consider some extra classes on child psychology.
It is a frustrating experience when you have a student that does not appear to be trying their best. Admittedly, there are many pupils who are not interested in a particular subject but they at least make an attempt to hide it and even to learn. Those who openly look bored and are not paying attention need to be encouraged. Otherwise, other students will see that the lazy pupil is getting away with doing nothing and follow suit. Do your best to bring them into discussion on the topic. If they still don't respond, take them aside after class and try to find out why they are not getting involved in class.
Then there are the moaners. These are students whose only participation in class involves complaining either about the subject or the way it's being taught. They never have anything positive to say and try to bring down the collective mood of the classroom. There are many options for a teacher to take. You can ask the complaining student to write down their complaints and promise that they will be looked at in the next class. Ask them to come up with a solution and paraphrase their negative comments. Work with them. They are looking for attention and depending on how you paraphrase; the sheer negativity of the statement may shock the student into mending their ways.
It is certainly a test of your patience when a student saunters into the class twenty minutes late. By this stage, you have got into something of a rhythm with your lesson and this tardy individual brings your momentum crashing to a halt. What you do about it is all going to depend on the student and what you know about them. You can halt the entire class and request the latecomer leave and show up on time for the next class or , you can let them take their seat and wait until after class to deal with it.. It is their responsibility to be on time and not disrupt the rest of the class.If you really want to instill some punctuality into them, you could consider appointing them the leader of the class so that they have to be there on time. Experience with each student and class will be your best teacher as to how to handle every situation.
Even though the majority of your class will make teaching a pleasure, there will always be one or two that will try and disrupt the harmony of your class, but a good teacher will find a way to deal with everything. The next article will look more ways of dealing with troublesome students, so if you have no knowledge when it comes to sorting out tricky classroom situations, then you need to read on.
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William F. Gabriel gives practical tips on choosing the right lanyards and boojeebeads.com. To learn more please visit http://www.boojeebeads.com/index.php .
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