How to Calm Students Down

Many teachers ask how to calm an upset student. This includes students who are embarrassed, upset, whiny or even downright angry. The answer is simple: stay calm. Students will feed off of the emotions that the teacher displays, so the calmer the teacher, the calmer the students. Take a look at an example:

Sally crumples her paper up into a ball and jumps onto her feet and throws the paper across the room as hard as she can. “I can’t do it!” she screams at the top of her lungs. The entire class is watching, open mouthed. The teacher raises her voice to be heard over Sally’s screams and frantically tries to tell Sally to calm down and sit down. The rage continues as Sally starts running around the classroom. The teacher, feeling quite out of control at this point, begs the other students to stay seated, but one or two others join in the race around the classroom. The teacher calls for help and Sally is taken out of the classroom, screaming and kicking her legs.

Now replay this scene, only this time, the teacher stays calm, keeps her voice low, even monotone. When Sally throws her paper and screams, the teacher walks calmly to her, and asks quietly, “would you like me to help you at your desk or at the back table?” Now Sally may scream some more, but with continued calm, quiet persistence, the teacher will be able to quickly diffuse the situation and help Sally complete her work.

While downplaying situations that become dangerous is not a good idea for the sake of the other students, most outbursts in the classroom can be quickly solved through a calm, quiet voice and manner. If the teacher finds it difficult to remain calm, or to keep emotion out of her voice, not saying anything or purposefully speaking in a monotone will help. Try it this week with a small behavior problem and see if it doesn’t work!

Related posts:

1. Maintain Classroom Management Without a Voice
2. Success Story: Whisper Teaching
3. Sarcasm in the Classroom
4. Speak Softly
5. Check List for Managing Misbehavior