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ESL forum >
Techniques and methods in Language Teaching > managing disruptive behaviour
managing disruptive behaviour
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mirela.sorina
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managing disruptive behaviour
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What can you do when you ask your students very simple questions and one of them refuses to answer destroying the chain? I was talking to them about the importance of English and ask them to think quickly at one song; my purpose was to show them , it was in ENglish; one of the girls, the sixth asked one, turned to native language saying I don �t know; the rest of them after her, almost all said the same thing; I felt somehow in an awkard position; is it better to ignore or to try to punish/ scold etc the nonparticipative student>? It was not a difficult question, since they all listen to music , so it was not about difficulty in answering it! |
27 May 2012
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ueslteacher
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Maybe she was having a bad day and as to the chain reaction, well, that �s a very common story. I don �t think this is the case when punishment or scolding works. You could talk to the girl one on one and tell her that next time if she feels uncomfortable answering the question she can miss her turn and take part in the activity when she feels confident. Sophia |
27 May 2012
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papadeli
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My experience has taught me not to punish but motivate. There are children who are not interested or just bored... These ones have to be approached in a different way. At the end of the lesson a private chat, not necessarily about their behaviour, can always help. Kids need to feel special and they usually change when the teacher spends time with him/her separately. I sometimes ask them what they would do-if they were teachers- to make the lesson less boring -at least. I also ask the weakest student to be the teacher. I give him/her the answers and he/she adds the scores on the board. That makes them participate and follow the lesson without refusing to answer or looking out of the window...
Crafts help as well. You could ask them to make a paper bag. Put in 3 items taken from the song you taught, stick the name of the song on one of the sides, draw the title if they prefer, write the grammar topic they were taught in sentences on the other side, and so on...
A lot of praise, applause, ... They need it as much as we do.
Greetings from Greece,
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27 May 2012
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mirela.sorina
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I felt that she ignored me; but during the class, this makes the others behave the same....thank u~!!! |
27 May 2012
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French Madame
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I agree you have to talk to her after the class. If you discuss in front of her classmates, she may become even more agressive. So just keep on the activity with the others without noticing her behaviour.
What I do when it occurs, is that I say(after the class): "Today you didn �t make an effort to answer but I didn �t insist because sometimes it can happen to anyone. But it �s not an acceptable behaviour because you can �t progress in English, you prevent your classmates from learning, and you put yourself in an uncomfortable position. "
Then, try and understand why she reacted this way: she might be very shy, feels she �s bad at school, or clearly doing it to get on your nerves. So try and find ways with her to break this barriers, but if the latter is the reason (she does it on purpose to get you angry and ill-at-ease), tell her what will happens if she does it again.
Finally, talk with her other teachers, she might be doing the same with them. We often end up discovering that all the teachers are batteling with the same kids and sometimes we can find solutions together.
I hope I was clear enough (which I �m not sure at all). I came across this kind of situation so many times, I couldn �t read your post without answering.
Take care and be confident in what you �re doing.
Mich�le
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27 May 2012
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joannajs
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Here is what you might consider doing in the future: 1. At the begining of the school year, come up with some kind of contract with students - things that are ok in the class - binding both for the teacher and studens e.g. addressing each other with respect, not interrupting etc. ; the students � obligations e.g. doing homework, participating in class activities etc.; you can entail some fun elements in in too like "chewing gum in class is only if it helps your pronunciation" ;-), 2. If difficulties arise it is then easier to refer to rules which are spelt clearly (best if they are done together as class project and hanging out there in plain view); 3. I do agree that it �s best to deal with issues like yours after class (and for various reasons avoid confrontation if possible - peer group strengthens misbehavior, the conversation may not turn in your favor etc.) 4. When discussing issues with a student, you may try this technique: talk about FACTS (WITHOUT their evaluation e.g. it �s the third time this month you have been late for class), tell her/him how you FEEL about the situation (e.g. I get distracted, it disrupts my lesson), finally talk about your EXPECTATIONS in a form of a request, suggestion or motivating question (e.g. I expect it won �t happen again - or I myself prefer this one - What are you going to do about it?)
Hope all this helps  though it may not help after just one go, it needs to be systematic :-)
best, joanna |
27 May 2012
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