Handling Specific Disruptive Behaviors
The following excerpt gives some suggestions on how to
handle disruptive behaviors in class. It is from,
TEACHING AT ITS BEST A Research-Based Resource for
College Instructors, by LINDA B. NILSON, Vanderbilt
University Anker Publishing Company, Inc. Bolton,
MA. Copyright (c) 1998 by Vanderbilt University.
All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
HANDLING SPECIFIC DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIORS
CHAPTER 8, CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT (pp
46-48)
If you encounter a discipline problem in your classroom,
the first thing to do is to stay calm. Count to
ten, breathe deeply, visualize a peaceful scene,
anything to keep you from losing your temper. No matter how
much an offensive student tries to bait you, you lose credibility if
you lower yourself to his level. If you keep your composure,
you win the sympathy and support of the other students.
They may even start using social pressure to discipline
the offenders themselves.
Keeping your composure, however, does not mean just accepting
and tolerating the abuse. There are some specific,
appropriate measures you can take in response to
disruptive behaviors (Nilson, 1981; Ballantine and
Risacher, 19993).
TAKING IN CLASS. Occasional comments or questions from
one student to another are to be expected. However,
chronic talkers bother other students and interfere
with your train of thought. To stop them, try a long,
dramatic pause. Then, if necessary, accompany your pause with an
equally dramatic stare at the offenders. If still necessary,
say something general like "I really think
you should pay attention to this; it will be on
the test" or "You are disturbing your classmates." If the
problem persists, get stern with the offenders outside
the class. Direct intervention and public embarrassment
are strictly last resorts.
PACKING UP EARLY. Routinely reserve some important points
or classroom activities (e.g., quizzes, writing
exercises, clarification of the upcoming readings,
study guide distribution) until the end of class. Or have
students turn in assignments at the end of class. Paper-rustling
and other disruptive noise-making during class can be stopped
the same way as is talking in class.
ARRIVING LATE AND/OR LEAVING EARLY. State your policies
clearly on these offenses in your syllabus and on
the first day of class. You can insist that students
inform you, preferably in advance, of any special circumstances
that will require them to be late to class. You can even subtract
course points for coming late and leaving early, as long as you
set this policy at the start. You might draw attention
to offenders by pausing as they walk in and out.
Alternatively, you can set aside an area near the
door for latecomers and early leavers. Finally, as you can
do to discourage packing up early, you can routinely conduct important
class activities for the beginning and the end of class.
CHEATING. Academic dishonesty is such a serious and widespread
problem in higher education today that the entire
next chapter is devoted to preventing it.
WASTING TIME. If students habitually try to monopolize
class time, encourage them to speak with you after
class to clarify their questions. You can broaden
the discussion and call attention away from the disruptive
student by asking the rest of the class for the answers. Another
strategy is to put out a question box. You can read the questions
after class and briefly address some of them at the next meeting.
You can also encourage students to e-mail their questions to you
or to put them on the course listserv or newsgroup. While less
personal, these options offer a less confrontational format.
ASKING PROBLEMATIC QUESTIONS. These include a wide variety
of questions: those that you've already answered,
those that try to wheedle answers out of you that
you want the students to arrive at on their own, those
that ramble on and on, those that you regard as argumentative,
loaded, or hostile, and those you don't have the information
to answer. Constructive ways to respond to such
questions, whether or not they are ill intended,
are covered in Chapter 16.
SHOWING DISRESPECT. Once again, make your expectations
for appropriate classroom manners clear from the
start, and reinforce them continually by your exemplary
behavior. Enlist the aid of other students to monitor and
report disruptive incidents. Talk to offenders privately and explain
that their behavior is affecting their fellow students' ability
to learn. Sometimes students show
disrespect to get the attention they believe they
cannot get through any other means, to vent their anger towards
authority in general, or to express some other deep-seated
emotional problem. Leave such cases to the professionals
and refer such students to your institution's psychological
or counseling center.
ATTENDING CLASS IRREGULARLY. In general, attendance drops
off as class size increases. It is also lower in
more lecture-oriented classes. So one obvious way
to increase attendance is to build in more opportunities for
student participation. Taking some of the following measures in
combination should also help: basing part of the course
grade on attendance; taking attendance regularly
(even if you don't calculate it in the grade); basing
part of the course grade on participation in discussion
(see Chapter 15); giving frequent, graded quizzes; covering different
material in class from that in the readings; not allowing commercial
production of your lecture notes; conducting cooperative learning
group activities in class and grading students in part on peer
performance evaluations (see Chapter 18); and conducting
other frequent, graded in-class activities (see,
for example, Chapters 17, 19, and 20).
ASKING FOR EXTENSIONS AND MISSING ASSIGNMENT DEADLINES.
In your syllabus, specify penalties for late
work, with or without an "approved" extension
(e.g., docking a portion of the grade). Some instructors feel
comfortable strictly enforcing this policy. But if
you prefer to be flexible, you probably realize that students occasionally
have good reasons for not meeting deadlines.
But they also occasionally lie. You must assess
each extension request and excuse on a case-by-case, student-by-student
basis, perhaps allowing a single, documented incident but
drawing the line at the second. A student
with a habitual problem deserves a private talk along with the
full penalties as described. You might ask colleagues
any chronic cases among the majors in your
department. Your best strategy against all
forms of disruptive behavior is prevention.
Be aware of potential problems, and plan carefully to keep
them from developing and to nip any stray weeds in
the bud.
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