How to Handle a Chronically Disruptive Student
Being a teacher not only means you have to know a lot of information; it also means you have to have a lot of patience in order to deal with disruptive students. Educators refer to students as chronically disruptive when they don't alter their behavior after consequences have been faced. Many times these students have already been in trouble with the law or have dismal family situations. Sometimes, a teacher might be the only person in that student's life who cares enough to help him or her learn responsible behaviors.
Instructions
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Stop the misbehavior. If students are calling out when they should raise their hand first to speak, then address that behavior as soon as it happens. If students are being rude to you or others, put a stop to it. If you allow students to continue breaking reasonable expectations, then they will think it's okay with you, and the behaviors will be harder to stop in the future. Stop misbehavior early so that students don't develop negative habits.
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Think twice. For chronically disruptive students, traditional intervention methods often prove ineffective, which is why these students persist in their disruptive behaviors. These types of students rebel against authority figures and often wish to be sent to the principal and even dare you to contact their parents so that their parents can blame you for embarrassing their child. Tread lightly before treating your chronically disruptive student in the same way as you would your "typical" misbehaving student. Often, your chronically disruptive students are seeking a trustworthy adult figure in their lives to hold them accountable without necessarily placing blame on them.
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Address the issue directly. If you just ignore the behavior, then students will think you don't care about what they do. Make sure that you address the issue head-on by saying things such as, "That kind of rudeness is not acceptable here," or "We can't continue until the shouting out stops." Be specific and be matter-of-fact. Chronically disruptive students in general tend to enjoy disrupting the flow of classroom routines, so if you allow yourself to get bent out of shape, chances are that the student's goals have been met and your day has been ruined. Be a strong teacher who isn't afraid to confront the issue at its root.
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Explain why. Giving reasons behind why you have certain expectations sometimes helps chronically disruptive students to see things from another perspective. If students carry on with interruptions or don't stop after you have given them a chance to, say something like, "If that kind of shouting out continues, then we can't learn what we need to today. It's my job to make sure that these 25 students have the opportunity to learn as much as they can, and I can't let one person ruin it for the rest of us. The reason why we have rules is so that everyone knows where the lines are. If we didn't have rules, we would have chaos, and no one would learn anything. I am not interested in wasting my time or yours, so let's move on." Sometimes, students have never had anyone who actually took the time to explain why rules are in place, so by taking a moment to lay out the logic, you may win a few students over who, otherwise, would have continued to be a pain for the whole year.
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