If you’re a teacher who has completed an online Masters of Education, you’ll know that when it comes to managing children in a classroom it often tends to require a mix of different techniques to keep the kids focused, engaged and on track. After all, no two children are the same.
As educators are required to cater to the individual needs of each student, understanding how to manage a class as a whole takes plenty of patience and practice. One of the challenges every educator will face is learning how to deal with disruptive or inattentive students who do not wish to participate in class activities.
With that being said, the importance of understanding your students, both in the classroom and in life, is essential to fostering a classroom culture of growth and development. If you would like to gain greater insight into teaching techniques that help in dealing with disruptive behavior, continue reading to find out.
What Defines Disruptive Behavior?
Different types of behavior in the classroom can affect a classroom setting. While your classroom may consist of students who exhibit positive and/or negative behavior, they still hold the power to affect the classroom setting and other students around them. For that reason, it is important that educators are aware of the different types of disruptive behavior in order to manage a class better. Here are some examples of behavioral issues:
Disruptive Behaviors
Students with disruptive behavior may exhibit throwing tantrums, cussing, yelling and rejecting instructions given.
Detached Behaviors
This refers to those who are physically present but may seem mentally or emotionally absent due to anxiety, school-related phobias and withdrawal from social groups.
Violent Behaviors
Students who demonstrate violent types of behaviour such as kicking, punching, and slapping might threaten their peers.
Student Misconduct
Student misconduct can range from students who engage in inappropriate conversations online to crossing the boundaries of their classmates.
What Teaching Techniques Help in Dealing with Disruptive Behavior?
Being able to recognize disruptive behavior is the first step to achieving greater control over the classroom. The next step then lies in understanding teaching techniques that may help to deal with challenging types of behavior. Here are a list of techniques that might support your teaching methods:
Focus on Relationship Building
Having strong, healthy relationships with those around you is essential to leading a less stressful life. This goes the same for disruptive students, who need to be able to understand the importance of relationship-building with their peers as well as their educators. Engaging in strategies such as greeting them by the door or putting a halt to your teaching activities when you sense something wrong can go a long way toward better classroom management. By working on strengthening the relationship you have with your students, it gives more room for proper growth and development to take place in different aspects of their lives.
Set Firm and Proper Expectations
Another way to ensure that your students do not behave in a disruptive manner in the classroom is to set firm and clear expectations from the beginning. Lay down some ground rules you require them to follow while they’re in your class. Have clear standards and explain to them why these rules are in place. When these rules are broken, ensure you have the appropriate discipline in place that shows the student there are consequences to their behavior. Setting firm expectations for the students helps them understand that they need to follow the rules and behave appropriately while they’re in the classroom.
Provide Continuous Encouragement
Most students find completing homework on time and studying to be challenging at the best of times. After all, who wants to do schoolwork at home? It’s important to remember that students are often learning a lot of concepts for the first time. This calls for the need to provide your students with continuous support and encouragement when they’re attempting something for the first time or when they do a good job. By doing so, it can boost their self-confidence as they start to feel good about themselves.
Consistency is Key
It is one thing to have a clear plan and set strategies on how to deal with disruptive behavior. It’s a whole other to enforce the plan and stay consistent with how you deal with students who are disruptive. The importance of being consistent cannot be stressed enough. Consistency goes a long way in establishing healthy habits, developing discipline, holding the students accountable and tracking improvement. Being consistent can look like following through on discipline measures when a disruptive student acts out, regularly rewarding or praising them when they follow the rules and sticking to a stable routine throughout the week.
Conclusion
Having to deal with challenging students doesn’t have to take up a large portion of your energy, time and mental strength. It might take some practice and patience but focusing on understanding these students and building strong relationships with them, setting clear classroom rules and being consistent with them all go a long way in keeping the class engaged. This way you can create a more conducive learning space for growth and development to take place.
