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Prevention is better than cure.  Several teachers at my school have been using this strategy for years, and shared it with the rest of us this year.  The strategy is:  Boot Camp!

It goes like this:

Let students know how you expect them to handle a transition or other activity, then practice the transition or activity.  As an example, you want the students to line up in your classroom, at this location, without talking, facing forward.  You let them know what 'without talking' and 'facing forward' mean by demonstrating or using one or two students as an example.  Then you practice.  If the students don't get it right, have them do it over.  And over.  And over until they do get it right.  Then you move on to your next expectation.  If they have a relapse of behavior in one transition while practicing another, you practice both, over, and over, and over until they get it right.

Your initial expectation and practice should be during class time.  Any additional practices needed should take place during recess or other preferred activity time.  Students 'get it' right away when they lose recess time for additional practice.  Once a few recesses have been lost to practice, you start getting peer pressure from those who want recess directed at those who are depriving the whole class of that time.

This was my first year of holding Boot Camp for my students.  After the first two weeks, the only time I have had any problem with student behavior in or out of class has been when a new student joined us.  What a change from previous years!

Dont take the bait.

 So often, kids will disrupt in a manner that is made worse by the response of the adult in charge.  Kids are very intuitive and able to quickly figure out which staff have "buttons" that can be pushed, and what they are.  Being human, it is only normal to want to react, especially when we know the students abilities far exceed the effort being expended on getting along in the class (appropriately participating).  I have had many students tell me that the reason they engaged in a particular behavior was because it is fun to watch the respons of the teacher (or other adult).  The very best advice I could pass on to a new staff member is: Don't overreact.  By not trying to win every conflict, you have already won.  In other words:  Pick your battles wisely.

Intensive Service Team Social Worker, ages k-12.

I highly recommend the book, Lost in School by Greene.  It provides teachers with options to work with students collaboratively.  It is a win-win for everyone involved because teachers don't have to give in nor does the student.  Having an explosive child at home as well as meeting several students over the years with the same issues, the plan I learned in this book has been enlightning.  It has to do a lot with how we deal with children, how we talk to them, and delving in to find what causes them to be continuously disruptive.  I have tried it with my son at home, and it has worked.  I am currently a coach so I am no longer in the classroom, but beginning next fall, I'm anxious to share it with the teachers in my district!   

Disruption can often be caused by boredom.  Enlist the student's aid in helping another student understand the assignment.  Co-opt them and have them be a special helper for a disadvantaged student or a low performing one.  This often helps the student direct their energy in an appropriate way.

I have a whole range of tactics for disruptive students, but they hardly ever make a bad student a good one.  Mostly they're about control and saving other students from the bad behavior.  When there are too many poorly behaved students in the same class, it reaches some kind of "critical mass," and every day is a misery.

My best success with one of these awful classes was after I'd struggled with weeks to get them to act as real learners, I bought them donuts.  One of the kids said, "Mr. Van Pelt, why did you bring us treats?  We're terrible."

I said, "I don't know, but there you go."

For the rest of the semester they were better (not good, mind you).  Whenever someone got too loud or disruptive in other ways, someone else would say, "Cut it out.  He bought us donuts."

What I learned from that is that when everything else fails, throw them a curve.

Most kids who disrupt are only getting it off of education and onto behavior because it is better to be known as a behavior problem than it is to be known as a dummy!  Teach the skills required for the task and do not assume that the students know the skills.  Kids forget, or did not internalize the skill, so go to where they are, and bring them to where they should be, and the disruption will cease.  When in the classroom, most of my students were in need of remediation or were learning disabled.  If the skills required are taught until learned, then the students can sail through the assigned work.  As a guidance counselor, kids came to my office to get the help in the skills.  Most claim, "My teacher said it was just too bad that I did not understand how to do it as the rest of the kids did, and they went forward, and I was in a time warp".   

It's the students word against yours. How do you prove it? I had a class with 15 disruptive students. They were the class from Hell! So Every class period I would start class right after the bell rang with me announcing that I was taping my class this period. That any and all things would be recorded and any parent, teacher or principle could few the tape at any time. I reminded the students that whatever they did I would comment on and ask why they were doing something. If there were outbursts, I would have them recorded. Well once I did this I never had anymore trouble from the class. They were model students. They knew it was no longer just their word against just mine. I had the tape recording to prove it. Video cameras are great, too. If you announce that you are recording them right after the bell rings, you will have the upper hand.

One of the many classes I have taught since moving to the high school level is senior seminar which is the class where students plan and create a self-directed project to demonstrate their readiness to graduate. Having taught elementary, middle and high school prior to this, I was amazed at how much procrastinating, hostility and defensive behavior was exhibited by otherwise mature seniors the first few years this requirement was in place in my high school. I soon realized that the balking and disruptions were more a result of uncertainty and avoidance than a student's inability to plan a project. I quickly got into the habit of modeling a concept first to the whole group, doing guided practice with small groups and then sitting down and giving one on one attention to individual students as needed. This was an "I do it, we do it, you do it" approach as practiced at the elementary level and which transferred nicely to high school seniors. I quickly became the culminating exhibition guru in my district with the highest percentage of successful seniors in senior seminar. I know that students to save face will get defensive and put on their most disruptive face in order to save face. I ignore those smoke screens and focus on the student needs instead. My best advice to new teachers would be to distance yourself from the disruption to analyze what is sought by the disruptor. Is it attention, power, avoidance? Once you know why those students are misbehaving it becomes much easier to be proactive in problem solving than in being reactive and feeding into the problem with your own insecurity.

As a behavior intervention specialist working with troubled youth of all ages, I train school staff in Thereapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI), which has proven to be successful in working with the "disruptive" student.  The following behavior management techniqeus are just some general techniques from TCI that should be implemented on a consistent basis. 

There are ways to "interfere" at the triggering and escalation phases of crisis with a young person who is beginning to act out, but who is by no means at the point of being in danger to himself or anyone else.  The idea is to interfere at the "warning signals" or the initial behaviors, to stop the escalation process and to help the young person return to normal functioning.

1.  Managing the Environment:

-  must be aware of & manage environment as a low arousal behavior management technique

-  the way in which the environment is arranged sets the tone for the intervention

-  important that we are aware of the tone we set and that we manage the environment to help prevent /deescalate a crisis. 

2.  Prompting:

-  signaling to either begin a desired behavior /to stop an inappropriate action

-  verbally ("It's about time to put the book away", "Lunchtime is in 10 minutes", "What is the rule about talking in class?", "Do you remember the agreement you made with Ms. King yesterday?")

-  nonverbally:  include signs/checklists relating to desired behavior displayed throughout the room (glance/nod which reminds the young person of what is expected, hand gestures, facial cues, raising hand, eye contact, facial expressions, & coughing)

-simple, noncritical direction given when the young person needs help in taking the next step

-  should only be given once/twice

-  IT IS NOT NAGGING, which is a constant unpleasant urging/scolding

-  should be given pleasantly, as privately as possible, calmly, & noncritically

3.  Caring Gesture:

-  affection helps increase a young person's self-esteem.

-  often when young people are being most difficult, we can look past the behavior and determine the need that is behind the behavior.

-  sometimes the behavior is coming from insecurity, fear, and anger at life circumstances

-  an additional shot of affection and caring may be what the young person needs in order to cope with the problem

-  Expressing warm feelings of like & caring

-  let young people know that we care about them as human beings even if we don't like the behavior we are seeing

-  involve young person in a game, ask young person to explain something

-  express approval ("Good job!")

-   affection increases the young person's desire to identify with the caring adult and to copy the adult's behavior & values

4.  Hurdle Help:

• - young people may begin to "blow" over an overwhelming task. They may feel that too much is expected of them & that they are going to fail. Rather than laying down the limits & insisting on cooperation, it is sometimes better to give them a little help through the first few steps of the task/over the stumbling block.
• - this does not mean doing the task for them
• - getting the young person started & offering assistance so that they can continue alone
• - best used when young person's frustration comes from a problem-solving block & not from some other, more severe problem
• - Creating opportunities for learning & making sure young people can use the opportunity without becoming overly frustrated

5.  Redirection:

-  redirecting the young person/group (e.g., moving from one side of the classroom to the other) may be enough to help a young person calm down & return to normal functioning

-  method of diverting & redirecting a young person's energy & attention to a substitute activity can de-escalate the situation & help the young person maintain control

-  can turn young person's attention from an undesirable/inappropriate activity to one that is neutral/more socially appropriate

-  effective technique with a group when the whole group is about to erupt

-  by changing activities, the group's energy is redirected

-  we can also use redirecting by interrupting the behavior with a distraction

-  e.g.:  "How did you do in school today?" "Could you get me the paper?"

- may be enough of a distraction to interrupt the inappropriate behavior

6.  Proximity:

• - often the mere fact of having us close by will be calming and can give them the needed support to stay in control
• - maintain order in the classroom without calling attention to/singling out
• - move closer to the person who is struggling to stay in control
• - standing/sitting between two young people who are angry with each other provides a buffer & barrier to break the tension
• - approaching angry person from side versus front (less confrontational)
• - never touch an angry person

7.  Planned Ignoring and Positive Attention: 

• - time is set aside for young people to receive attention in a positive way
• - planned ignoring is slow but very effective way of eliminating harmless, attention-seeking behavior (be sure that this is behavior that can be ignored, that it is not dangerous)
• - distinguish between behavior that is escalating into a serious problem
• - along with ignoring the undesired behavior, we must give positive attention for the appropriate behavior
• - when using planned ignoring: stop speaking to the young person, adopt a neutral facial expression, look away from the young person's face, avoid touching the young person
• - generally, young people respond to planned ignoring by escalating the problem behavior so it is critical for everyone to work together
• - all must praise the appropriate behavior & give the young person positive attention when it is being used
• - requires a lot of patience, teamwork, & determination

8.  Directive Statement:

• - when stress escalates & the ability to make rational decisions decreases, it is necessary to provide young people with direct guidance
• - tells a young person in specific terms, what is expected
• - range from requests, to a statement of rules, to demands
• - phrase statements in positive ways ("Talk in a quiet voice" rather than "shut up") ("Please step out into the hall")
• - request what they should do rather than what they should not do
• - should be clear and specific & should not be confused with prompting
• - clear and assertive manner
• - not a question and it is not a conversation. The less talking the better.
• - If a young person continues to behave inappropriately & is not responding to direct requests. It may be necessary to assert authority, using the directing approach ("Come back to your desk and sit down")

9.  Time Away:

• - requiring young people to go to a quiet area when they are upset & being stimulated by others
• - young people can regain control in an area where they can calm down & think
• - may simply need a few min. alone to realize they are missing out on fun & attention of others
• - few minutes away can be used to remind them of the behavior expected of them if they want to participate with the group
• - they should receive praise for being quiet and taking some time away, & for behaving well once they rejoin the activities
• - can use some time away to regroup & think about what happened in addition to calming down
• - after a few minutes, should be ready to discuss what happened & plan how better to handle frustration experiences

-  should return to group as soon as possible

Great book!  I completely agree with this philosophy and implement it when working with troubled youth, or any youth for that matter!  

I wish that the problem was the "disruptive student," singular.  I have multiple strategies for helping a child who cannot focus, but they all require me to pay attention individually to that student.  If the disruptive student is in an otherwise well-functioning group that's not a problem, but often times I get a class with a critical mass of disruptive students.  It's impossible to give the problem student attention without turning my back on the rest of the class and the other problem students because that's an invitation to chaos.  I need helpful strategies for high school-age kids when the whole class of 30 students is toxic, not just one kid.

I don't think this is purely a high school issue either.  My wife is a 2nd year kindergarten teacher (1/2 day classes), and one of her classes was the class from hell.  The pull-out program teachers (art, music, library, computer, P.E.) all dreaded that class, and even the principal was at a loss.  She tried every strategy that a whole school full of seasoned professionals suggested, but the class never became a good one.  The kids made growth, and the class as a whole improved, but it was never a happy place.  She came home everday like she'd been kicked in the head.  Thank goodness that today is the last day of class.  She said yesterday the first grade teachers sat in on the meeting where they made next year's class list, and the first grade teachers all were very concerned that this group was broken up.

Always disrupt a disruptor ~ works! FYI (I didn't) coin that term. H.S. sped 75% behavior issues...

1. Reward positivity w/ anything superb you can say or do. Be sincere, in earshot&view of dis-rupter. 2. Ignore the dis-rupter as long as possible then in front of the class announce something like, " Jesus, I don't want to have to send you out to be BABYSAT", then state expected behavior. Non-compliant still after 2-3 times? Repeat as necessary. Don't get your feathers ruffled. Soon Jesus will want OUT of the limelight. Send Jesus out (with work) to a place seen by peers. Each time thereafter use the term "babysat" ~forget referrals. This has worked for pre-K thru H.S. Sped and no sped.

                                                 Happy Disrupting

I worked for 5 years in a private school at a residential facility for students with behavior disorders that have been "kicked out" of their district schools and I am currently working at another special education school for this population.  So, all of the classes are of this population.  When I say "disruptive student", I am usually referring to more than one student.  As far a splitting the kids up rather than lumping them together based on behavior, this strategy has also proven to be very successful!  At the residential facility, we had the youth divided into programs both at school and outside of school.  One of the programs in particular was known as the most difficult group to work with.  My last 2 years there, we slit the programs up and carefully arranged the classes!  This was one of the BEST decisions we ever made! 

As far as modifying your class to target this population as a whole, it is all about the approach!  Have you tried a level system for the student in this class?  Find out what motivates them and have them work toward that goal.  Consistently reward the positives with "you earned it cards" that they can use to purchase things that motivate them, such as a homework pass, extra points on a test, Axe products (very popular with the high school boys), Gatorade drinks...just to name a few examples.  They should only be able to purchase items if they are on a certain level.  At first, they students may not think that it all that great, but when they see their peers getting "something special", they often want to compete with that.   Of course this is not going to work for all of the students, but it will certainly make your job a lot easier!  

Disrupting the Disruptor - One of the best classes I've ever taken.  It has preserved my energy and sense of humor while accomplishing behavioral management in my classroom.   It becomes a way of life.  It can cause people to bristle initially, so it isn't for the feint of heart, but when it's good -  -it's great!

 Hello,

I have been teaching for 23 years. I taught special education including EBD for 20+ years. The two tried and true methods I have found are these:

1) Put the item causing the noise disruption etc. into "time-out" instead of the child. Oh, that pencil box is too noisy. It needs to go into the time out desk until after lunch. It takes away much of the arguing  and sets a limit for when the item will be returned. It also states the problem instead of accusing the student of doing something wrong.

2) Work as a group to earn rewards. We move blocks when we complete a task towards 15 minutes free time. We move minutes for recess when we work quietly. Also, once earned it is not removed. Otherwise it becomes a negotiation. All students share in the recess or free-time regardless of participation. It builds the team. Other times we have rewards just for those who have earned it. But these two are for the class.

Happy Teaching,

Lori Sandberg :-)

Disrupting the Disrupter is a great class! I took it several years ago while still teaching elementary school. It worked there, it worked when I moved to the middle school level and it really works with high school. Students don't expect you to take that approach at all. When they are feeling guilty for slacking, they want to get into an argument, this tactic really turns the tables on them and takes away the fuel for their fiery tempers. Plus, they have also been taken off the hook and need not save face.

READ THIS ONE, ITS GOOD!!

Being pro active is the key!!

Have a plan before the challenge begins. 

Have several plans!! LOL!

Establish trust!!  If the children don't think you are fair, and have unconditional love and respect for them (you know,  in a teacher/student sort of way that is!!!), then they will never produce in the classroom to the best of their academic and social ability.

I know this sounds like a lot of work, and it is.  However, if teaching is what we love to do, the time will be put in.  Also, be "lite on your feet," and remember to NEVER take it personal.  They are children, with no clue about what they are doing in regards to your feelings. 

Because our classroom environments are diverse we have to adapt. Your expectations should remain the same, but the way you get each child to meet those expectations must be different.

 You must get to know your kids- know exactly what approach will best fit each of them. Establish several times throughout the year(more often in the beginning and as the school year is ending) that you understand each child is unique and some children require more structure and guidance than others.  This will illiminate the comment, "It's not fair! You didn't do that when Johnny...."  Some students will have to be given a little more leverage than others- if this means allowing a student lay on the floor for a short time in order to get him/her to do what you need them to, then so be it. Give the child a textbook, paper, and an alternative assignment while they are on the floor! For a long time afterwards they will remember compromise that was made between the two of you. They get to express themselves, whild still doing some form of work.

For the loud and very disrespectful ones, NEVER show signs of confrontation, or insecurity! Go the opposite with your approach.  Get close, and very quiet as you explain your expectations. An audience will make things worse. If you can remove the child from the mainstream. Remind them they have a right to feel the way they do,  and it is very natural for them to be going through what they are at the time.  Ask them what it is they want you to do for them, and let them know they will get it as soon as you see progress.  You as a teacher have to define "progress" and what that "looks" like. Try these strategies and let me know!!!  Shannonsigler@paulding.k12.ga.us

Shannon Sigler

Atlanta, Georgia

8th Grade Physical Science

Paulding County 

I teach a K-5 self contained behavior class. My kids range in age from 5-11 with a past history of suspensions and countless efforts by others in changing their disruptive behavior. I know already they have a preconceived notion of being "kicked out" and how they think things will be when they get to me. When they are behaving and having good moments I spend individual time with them finding something that I can interact with them about. I search for interests or facts about their life with their friends or families that I can use later to build upon. When they need a little lowering of frustration levels, I will surprise them by staying calm and interacting with them using what areas I know about them. We can talk, do a quick art project or computer time while taking some deep breathing time to refocus. It doens't work with every child every time, but surprisinginly enough with those who have had major issues, it showed them I cared and thought they were worth my time.

Judy Stockrahm, M.Ed.

Special education teacher

Oak Grove Elementary/Pulaski County Special School District

Keep 'em guessing . . .

Have a notebook handy.  Whenever a student disrupts, pause and look quizically at him/her.  Silently take out the notebook, look at the disruptor, write down the infraction and the date, look at the clock, record the time, look at the disruptor again, close the notebook, and resume class.  If anyone asks what you are doing, remain silent.

I have not done this myself, but I heard it at a workshop.  The presenter used this technique and said quite often the offender would stop after class to ask if the teacher was recording his/her behavior.  This gave him a chance to discuss the behavior privately with the student.  It also provided documentation for parents/administrator if needed later.

I know what you are saying, Jim, and it is a relief to hear other educators talk about this problem which so many administrators call "no classroom management."  The "critical mass," I have found, isn't the number of students who are disruptors, but rather occurs when the students gang up on the teacher.  I have had this happen with as few as 2 students!  And they can totally pollute the rest of the class.  Sometimes, I don't know who the disruptors are!  They whistle, snort, throw things across the room, and I honestly don't know who is to blame, because I'm trying to teach math/help the students who want help.  

My approach in recent years is to try to bond with all at-risk students during the first week of class--I plan fun math activities/math labs for the first week, I bring Otter Pops(cheaper than donuts), I conference with the class as a whole on how much I can help them improve their test scores.  It doesn't always work, but it does get a large number of students "on my side," which helps a lot.  Students who have always hated math see that this class will be different.  They also seem to "get it" that most of my students will pass the infamous exit test if they 1)come and 2) give me full effort during class time.  They appreciate no homework and no additional tests.  Still, there are serious behavior problems occasionally and sometimes unexpectedly.  

But, I have even had an Algebra II class with 3 chronic disruptors who ganged up on me!  This is just as challenging to handle, as the curriculum is intense and fast-paced--i.e. no room for pause.  Not all college-bound kids are nice(and some may be exhibiting the first signs of bipolar or schizophrenia). Yikes.

I look forward to reading more suggestions, and appreciate that others have the same issues.  I have taken numerous classroom management courses, and tried literally 50 or so approaches.

Thanks for talking about the elephant in the room!

Barb