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Classroom Management Chatboard

not letting the one student disrupt the whole class

by Dawn T.

Jul 1, 2011

I am sure that everyone has dealt with that one student who wants all the attention to themselves. They will act out, and does not care about the class, peers, or authorities/teachers. How do you run the classroom and keep the class under control when that one student constantly interrupts, and has no care for rewards, incentives, or punishments. In fact, rewards backfire, when he becomes even more upset if he does not get a reward. If he does not get all rewards that he could obtain for the day, then he will throw a fit and want none of them. I am absolutely lost for words, this is not a typical child that I have ever dealt with. I am sure that he will just slip through the system, but I am hoping that someone has suggestions to help this student understand that he cannot rule every class and situation he is in.

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Sara On 7/01/11, Dawn T. wrote:

I have had students like this but each one of them has had something wrong with them - it's not a choice they're making, in my experience.

One of my students like this had recently lost his mother to breast cancer - another had also lost a parent. One had recently had his parents divorce and yet another...See MoreOn 7/01/11, Dawn T. wrote:

I have had students like this but each one of them has had something wrong with them - it's not a choice they're making, in my experience.

One of my students like this had recently lost his mother to breast cancer - another had also lost a parent. One had recently had his parents divorce and yet another had been almost literally raised by wolves - he had known absolutely no discipline as a child.

Another was unmedicated ADD - he worked on pure impulse and seemed to have no conscious thought process. At my school we are allowed to send a student out into the hall - thankfully. I can send that student out into the hall and tell them they can return when they have calmed themself but one of them spent almost the entire year out in the hall...

I never do rewards unless you consider coming back into the classroom a reward. I don't bribe students to behave and being allowed back into the classroom is a reward - students enjoy my class and it's must more fun to be in it than sitting out into the hall. Nevertheless, with all of my students who have been 'that one student' it was a year-long struggle.

I'd only say with my 'that one kid' they were not consciously trying to control the classroom - they were bundles of pain or bundles of impulse. The other 'that one kid' I could bring into line by one on one discussions with them.

Good luck. > I am sure that everyone has dealt with that one student who > wants all the attention to themselves. They will act out, > and does not care about the class, peers, or > authorities/teachers. How do you run the classroom and > keep the class under control when that one student > constantly interrupts, and has no care for rewards, > incentives, or punishments. In fact, rewards backfire, > when he becomes even more upset if he does not get a > reward. If he does not get all rewards that he could > obtain for the day, then he will throw a fit and want none > of them. > I am absolutely lost for words, this is not a typical child > that I have ever dealt with. I am sure that he will just > slip through the system, but I am hoping that someone has > suggestions to help this student understand that he cannot > rule every class and situation he is in.

Jul 5, 2011

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Tara I was in a classroom for a few weeks in the spring with a student like this. I was in the classroom at the beginning of the semester and than again at the end. This student had severe ADHD and it was unmedicated. He disrupted the class more than I have ever seen a student do before. He would run around, lay under his desk and speak out during all l...See MoreI was in a classroom for a few weeks in the spring with a student like this. I was in the classroom at the beginning of the semester and than again at the end. This student had severe ADHD and it was unmedicated. He disrupted the class more than I have ever seen a student do before. He would run around, lay under his desk and speak out during all lessons. The teacher in that classroom worked on building a relationship with that student and giving him as much individualized attention as possible. Giving students individualized attention is not an easy thing to do, but over the semester the relationship she built really helped give the student a purpose to try and behave. She made sure to speak to him before and after lessons during the day, talking about pros and cons of his behavior and what she expected. She had a classroom reward system, but this did not really apply to him any differently. His behavior was never perfect and he struggled to change and control himself, but there was some significant growth over the semester. It was something that never went away and was a problem in that classroom, but you have do what you can to get through the situation. Every student is different and they require all different sorts of approaches. I thought she handled him really well though and I hope to able to do that in my own classroom.

On 7/05/11, Sara wrote: > On 7/01/11, Dawn T. wrote: > > I have had students like this but each one of them has had > something wrong with them - it's not a choice they're making, > in my experience. > > One of my students like this had recently lost his mother to > breast cancer - another had also lost a parent. One had > recently had his parents divorce and yet another had been > almost literally raised by wolves - he had known absolutely no > discipline as a child. > > Another was unmedicated ADD - he worked on pure impulse and > seemed to have no conscious thought process. At my school we > are allowed to send a student out into the hall - thankfully. > I can send that student out into the hall and tell them they > can return when they have calmed themself but one of them > spent almost the entire year out in the hall... > > I never do rewards unless you consider coming back into the > classroom a reward. I don't bribe students to behave and being > allowed back into the classroom is a reward - students enjoy > my class and it's must more fun to be in it than sitting out > into the hall. Nevertheless, with all of my students who have > been 'that one student' it was a year-long struggle. > > I'd only say with my 'that one kid' they were not consciously > trying to control the classroom - they were bundles of pain or > bundles of impulse. The other 'that one kid' I could bring > into line by one on one discussions with them. > > Good luck. >> I am sure that everyone has dealt with that one student who >> wants all the attention to themselves. They will act out, >> and does not care about the class, peers, or >> authorities/teachers. How do you run the classroom and >> keep the class under control when that one student >> constantly interrupts, and has no care for rewards, >> incentives, or punishments. In fact, rewards backfire, >> when he becomes even more upset if he does not get a >> reward. If he does not get all rewards that he could >> obtain for the day, then he will throw a fit and want none >> of them. >> I am absolutely lost for words, this is not a typical child >> that I have ever dealt with. I am sure that he will just >> slip through the system, but I am hoping that someone has >> suggestions to help this student understand that he cannot >> rule every class and situation he is in.

Jul 5, 2011

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marjoryt Very seriously! I had an 8th grader like that - he was ADHD not on prescribed meds but definitely self-medicating himself. The description "wild" perfectly fit him. I have some suggestions; very definitely discuss with an experienced teacher at your school and/or admin such as principal or counselor. They may approve or suggest other ideas. The gui...See MoreVery seriously! I had an 8th grader like that - he was ADHD not on prescribed meds but definitely self-medicating himself. The description "wild" perfectly fit him. I have some suggestions; very definitely discuss with an experienced teacher at your school and/or admin such as principal or counselor. They may approve or suggest other ideas. The guiding principle is to get an effective diagnosis, then develop a plan, then work the plan for all it's worth. Focus on one thing at a time and REALLY work it. I truly admire SPED and coaches for their abilities to work with these kids - be sure to talk to them too.

1. "All the time" isn't real documentation. You desperately need effective data about types of instances, number of instances, number of redirections. There are some really good behavior trackers on the internet - find one, tweak for this student, then print out at least a week's worth. Don't make a big production out of the sheet, but use it - make tic marks as the student works through the class. I found extremely suprising findings every time I did this, including two instances where the students weren't as bad as I thought they were, just doing the same 2 or 3 behaviors constantly. On the other hand, after just one day of tracking, I took the results to the principal. He arranged for psychological testing.

2. The student must understand exactly what good and bad behavior is. Teach again, again, again. One of my 7th graders arrived just not understanding when not to talk back. His constant smart responses to teachers, bus drivers, counselors, principals, superintendent, judge - landed him in my class. After the second instance of inappropriate response, I stopped class and with the help of the other students modeled appropriate discussion with a leader, especially in times of stress. Evidently he'd been carefully taught at home to "not take anything off anyone"; he didn't realize his responses were digging deeper holes. It took all semester to learn how to respond to a principal. We NEVER let him slide, because adjusting to situation was so critical.

3. Don't underestimate placement in the classroom - take away his audience. Make sure the desk or chair is appropriate for the student; this is especially important if the student is in the same chair for more than an hour. We expect students to sit on hard chairs ALL period and sometimes multiple periods in a row without gettting up - even we don't work to those standards.

4. Don't ramp up your behavior in response to his misbehavior. Coaches are really good at this. This is a great time for the "teacher look" and for hand signals. I use the basketball "time out" signal with students who want to interrupt - I see they want to talk or are talking, and I look at them, hold my hands in position and do NOT respond until it's that student's time. I've actually walked across the room with my hands in position until standing directly in front of the student. I don't talk, I don't look mean, but my stance is "recognize the signal and wait." Always, I do get back to the student and thank him/her for waiting, and provide a listening ear. Consider, you are not talking and fussing, but getting the message across. For every "redirection", find a nice hand signal - use both and use frequently.

5. If you can work in a physical activity or a physical space for operations for that student, make that allowance. For instance, we duct taped a rectangle on the floor around that 8th grader's desk. He could sit on the desk, slump in the desk, sit on the floor, stand up - but he stayed in that rectangle unless given permission. If there was a reasonable excuse AND asked politely, I always tried to give permission. On average, he changed position about every 5 minutes for the first 20 minutes, then found a center and slowed down.

Track exactly what the problems are and how often. Report back to the principal with a suggestion of behavior modification. Get permission to start the program and put into action. Work on one behavior at a time, trying to ignore the rest. Plenty of praise, plenty of reteaching, continued insistence on doing it right. You are training a brain into some organization - it can be done. Report back to the principal periodically.

At some point, if you are tracking the behavior, and the behavior modification isn't working, you'll have the data available for the next remediation level - evaluation by an expert.

You can do this. There are experts at your school who can help you.

Jul 7, 2011

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Leah Dawn T, you have been given excellent advice.

The following are related articles you may find helpful:

30 Ideas for Teaching Children with ADHD; Rewards in the Classroom; Oppositional Defiant Disorder in Children; Words Can Inspire. Just click below and on the title of your choice.

Jul 29, 2011

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Brian B Like everyone else, I have had students that fit this category. While each individual case is different, the biggest common thread I found among these students is that they were all seeking attention. Many of them were low achieving academically and would try to get attention in any way possible. When I have students that are trying to get attentio...See More

Aug 2, 2011

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