My Classroom Management » reflection

Sarcastic Non-verbal Reactions from Students

jenniferw — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:50:11 +0000

Thanks to one of my readers asking how to handle students who respond with non-verbal sarcasm in the classroom.

Sarcasm is one of those deadly sins in the classroom. Only the right teacher with the right mix of students in exactly the right situation can get away with sarcasm. Usually it’s to be avoided at all cost. That said, many students use sarcasm daily, even hourly! (or in some student’s cases, always.)

The benefit of non-verbal reactions, provided they do not physically harm another person, is that the result is always emotional. That doesn’t sound like a great benefit, but at least you will not have to call the school nurse or fill out an incident report. There are two important things to know when dealing with a student who is using non-verbal sarcasm.

First, realize that there are two causes for the behavior you are seeing. 1: the student has it out for the teacher, is very smart, has found your buttons and enjoys pushing them as often as possible. and 2: the student is feeling huge emotions and doesn’t know how to handle them without acting out. Knowing which is causing the particular behavior in your class is not necessarily important to the solution to the problem, but it is good to be aware of both reasons.

Second, it is important to remember that your job as a teacher, for better or for worse (and regardless of what Washington DC says), is to teach these students how to succeed in the world. This goes way beyond reading, writing and arithmetic (or whatever subject you happen to be teaching).

When a student responds with non-verbal sarcasm, it is important first to not react emotionally. You are the adult. You need to respond with maturity even when your student is not. This goes for your attitude too. If you are thinking immature thoughts, you cannot expect your student to act any differently.

The easy answer to what to actually DO is to do nothing. Ignoring the behavior is the best choice when the student is trying to push your buttons. Unfortunately, many times the student is experiencing strong emotions (frustration, hurt, anger, irritability, sadness, you name it) and doesn’t know how to deal with them, and so as soon as the opportunity presents itself, out comes the sarcasm and irritating behaviors.

If these behaviors are a repetitive problem in your classroom, it might be a good idea to start activities that help to teach students how to manage their emotions. Journals where they have to explain how they feel about certain situations can help them verbalize emotions that feel too big to express, even if about hypothetical situations. Role playing, where students have to act out common situations in life that require self-control and subsequent discussions about possible reactions and proper reactions are also good activities.

What NOT to do: discipline! unless the student does a specific thing that is against school or classroom rules, you should not give a consequence for the behavior.

Last tip: after school is out, sit in that student’s seat. Think about school from that perspective for a while and reflect on the student’s behavior, other students’ responses and your response. Sometimes reflection will provide insight that surprises you!

Classroom Management Grows With You

jenniferw — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 18:48:14 +0000

In talking recently with a third year teacher, I found a nugget of encouragement I wanted to share with all of you. He was explaining how his classroom management has grown even without him realized it, as he repeated an activity this year that he unsuccessfully attempted his first year. Not only did the activity go more smoothly, but the entire lesson was a much greater success.

As he grew as a teacher, his classroom management skills grew as well.

What can you glean from this?

First, don’t shy away from difficult activities just because you’re afraid of classroom management. Use your teaching skills to change the activity as necessary if it gets out of hand.

Second, if an activity goes poorly, reflect on it but do not throw it away. Pull it out again the next year or the year after and see how you have grown as a teacher.

Have you had an activity that went poorly the first time you tried it?

Bad Classroom Management Example

jenniferw — Fri, 14 May 2010 17:58:28 +0000

Let us take a look at one example of how a teacher handled a classroom issue and take a look at what was done poorly and what could be improved upon for next time:

Mrs. D* teaches fifth grade. Her students were having a bad day and were not listening or staying in their chairs. Her method of handling the situation was to pull out the Barney song (I love you, you love me…) and play it for the class. The class was instructed that they must sit still and quiet through one whole playing of the song in order for the students to move onto another activity. Twenty minutes later the class period ended and they moved to specials with the song still playing.

The first problem with this scenario is that the song and task are both demeaning to the age of the student. A fifth grader does not like Barney and does not like that song. Having students sit through this song over and over again, having to sit still and quiet, was in essence the teacher telling them that she had no respect for them.

A student put in a position of belittling will revolt, whereas a student put in a position of being held to a high standard, will likely rise to the occasion. Next time, the teacher could have the students write a letter of apology to the teacher, or write a letter home to their parents explaining their behavior and signed by the teacher.

*Name changed

Those Who Can’t Do… Ask

jenniferw — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:31:47 +0000

There are two basic categories of teachers: those who have good classroom management and those who don’t. Those who have it either worked hard to get it, or it just came naturally. Those who don’t have it, well, it’s not because of a lack of trying.

In fact, in speaking to some teachers who struggle with classroom management, it is doubly frustrating for teachers to struggle day in and day out to control a class of students with another teacher never struggles at all. Usually teachers lay blame. In fact, all teachers I have spoken to lay blame:

Bad group of kids
Awkward age for kids
Bad mix of kids
Bad home life
and so on

The list goes on but in the end it’s lying blame when in fact the only person who can change the situation is the teacher. And all teachers are able to change the situation if they only put their mind to it. It takes a lot of reflection, patience, trial and error and asking for help.

If you can’t seem to figure out how to get a particular group of kids under control, ask someone who has a great class – observe, ask “what if” questions, invite criticism, ask for suggestions, and be open to change.

Stop blaming the kids, start asking for answers.

Reflection is the Best Remedy

jenniferw — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:44:18 +0000

Many teachers are able to identify the fact that there is a problem in their classroom. Some are even able to specify what the problem is:

“John is my biggest classroom management problem”

“There are a couple of boys that just don’t get along”

“My students have respect issues”

These teachers often are also able to list various strategies they have tried in order to solve the problem.

“I’ve tried everything – taking away recess, threats, calling parents, notes home, sending them to the Principal’s office, ignoring the behavior, yelling, rewards, punishments, new seating arrangements, nothing helps!”

It may in fact seem to be the impossible class – often it is a group of students who have been impossible each grade level, developing a pattern of issues.

Solving a problem like this may not be simple but it is possible with some reflection. It is important for the teacher to take a good long look at what circumstances surround the issues involved in the classroom and attempt to think back to a trigger. It may be problems at home, it may be the style of teaching or it may be the lack of a social skill.

With some intense reflection on what works and what doesn’t work in each situation, the teacher may be able to start to address the heart of the matter and begin to see small changes in the behaviors. Addressing the behavior may not solve the problem, so through this reflection the teacher will hopefully begin to see beyond the outward behavior to the root cause.