Teaching Tips & Tricks | Feb 16, 2013
Should the toughest kids be assigned to the best teachers?
By Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
Should the toughest kids be assigned to the best teachers?
By Angela Watson
You know exactly which kids I’m talking about here–their faces appeared in your mind’s eye as soon as you read the blog post title. These are the kids who are violent and relentlessly disruptive in class, the ones who have a reputation throughout the school as being incredibly difficult to handle.
Each spring, the teacher’s lounge is filled with speculation over who will get each of those kids the following year…and in many schools, it’s a highly predictable pattern. The teachers with the best classroom management skills get the toughest kids. And every year, those teachers say, “I don’t know if I can take another class like this one. I need a break. I can’t keep doing this year after year.”
Sometimes the principals listen and spread out the toughest kids among multiple classrooms in a grade level, but many times, they don’t, and the teachers who used to be amazing become mediocre because they have nothing left to give. They stop researching new activities in the evenings because all they have the energy to do at night is sleep. They show up at school early to plan meaningful learning experiences, and then get so disgusted with breaking up student fights all morning long that they put on a movie in the afternoon and call it a day. They don’t have the energy for the hands-on activities they used to do, so they pass out worksheets.
I’m not saying that response is right. What I’m saying is that it’s happening, in thousands of classrooms all across the country. Our best teachers are burning out from bearing too much of the burden. I understand the need to place students with the best possible teacher for them. The problem is that teachers with strong classroom management skills often feel like they are being punished by getting the most challenging students year after year after year. It doesn’t matter that it’s not intended as a punishment. It feels that way when your job is knowingly made 100 times harder than the job of your colleagues simply because “you can handle it.”
What happens when you can’t handle it anymore? And what happens when the grouping of students interferes with the entire class’ education? I can think of two years in particular during my teaching career when I considered it a miracle that the rest of the class learned anything because my attention was so focused on the third of the class who had constant meltdowns. It absolutely broke my heart to see some of my sweet, hard working kids get less attention and assistance because I had to spend every spare second heading off their peers’ violent outbursts. No child should go to school each day in fear of being harmed by other kids in the class, or be unable to get the individualized learning they need because the teacher is constantly attending to severe behavior problems.
I don’t know of any clear cut solutions. I’m wary of principals burdening brand new teachers with students they know will be challenging–the teacher attrition rate is already astronomical. Some of these kids are so challenging that a new teacher would probably leave the profession before the year is out.
I also don’t want to see high needs students suffer under the leadership of a teacher who is unable to handle them. Maybe schools need to provide more professional development to teachers so they are equipped to handle a wide range of student needs and behavioral issues. It’s rare that a district acknowledges how much classroom management issues interfere with student learning: PD in most schools is centered around improving test scores and implementing curriculum. I did work in one district that allowed principals to identify teachers who struggle classroom management skills and provided extra training through CHAMPS, which is an excellent program, but the change in those teachers’ classrooms was negligible. Without ongoing, individualized support, the results are not going to be transformative. And some kids are just so disruptive that all the PD in the world is not going to prevent the average teacher from being exhausted by 9 a.m. on a daily basis.
Is the solution to get rid of teachers who aren’t able to handle their students? How would we identify those teachers in a fair way? Many of them are not “bad” teachers and are perfectly capable of educating the majority of the student population, they just aren’t prepared to manage the type of kids who throw desks when they’re frustrated and threaten to stab any adult who dares to correct them. Let’s be real: some of these students have no business being thrown into a general education classroom with little to no support. I don’t think it’s fair to blame the teacher for not being able to handle such extreme behaviors in addition to, you know, actually teaching the other 29 kids in the class.
So maybe this brings us to the heart of the issue: schools need to figure out how to meet these tough kids’ needs, instead of tossing them in the classroom with teachers who are expected to manage on their own. These students deserve small class sizes, psychological counseling, ongoing social skills/coping strategies support through small group sessions with the school guidance counselor, and so on. Some of these students even need individual one-on-one behavioral aides. But these resources take money, and schools just don’t have it.
Where does that leave us? If all outside factors–teacher training, special services, class sizes, and so on–stay exactly the same, what should principals do? Should all the toughest kids go to the teachers with the best classroom management skills? How does this work in your school?
Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
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There is so much to do on this era of education. I have read all of the comments to the original post. As educators we are trained in some manner to teach and manage students. Instruction and management go hand in hand. The stories of those who believe their management skills are proactive also gave anecdotes about the level of active learning in their classrooms. A few responded about parental involvement. Only 1 gave evidence on the support of their administrator. The most powerful comment provides the solution. Professional development. The best PD comes from your own colleagues – the culture if your school is seen through YOUR eyes. Depend in each other for support. – even if your district can’t afford in service give it to yourselves. The saddest thing in education is the isolation teachers feel. Where are your mentors? What happens at your grade level meetings? And why did no one mention support from your unions? If you are being hurt in your classroom incident reports must be completed. Assault is assault and it changes the climate if your classroom and your building’s collegiality. This changes the impact you can have in educating your students. No one should ever be subjected to physical hurtings by a child.
Through response to intervention – a national mandate- academics and BEHAVIOR must be monitored, evidence gathered, observations by counselors or school psychs completed, testing done (one doesn’t have to be spec Ed to get some testing done), parents must be notified each and every time students behave in such ways. Your principals must take these students out if your classrooms- in school suspension is a temporary stay for all involved. Know this too, educators , the federal Dignity For All Students Act -DASA-comes into play for the children who SEE this behavior. There is so much that can and should be done. Please become informed about Dignity for all students Act and your districts policy on response to intervention. RTI is NOT a spec Ed initiative. The data that is brought forth in RtI meetings is to help each student at risk. AND the teacher through the good sharing of strategies.
Parents must be called in
Data must be collected to bring forward to Rti
Discuss these behaviors and solutions with your DASA coordinator ( every school must have one- usually your principal)
Insist that your principal or ap take the highly of bounds student out of your classroom for long time outs or in school suspensions
Work with your colleagues and admins to find suitable solutions to improve the climate in your class and building.
I am a 34 year veteran teacher and administrator. Experiences like all of yours is unhealthy for the at risk student , the other children, and you. In this age of accountability we need each other more than ever before. Collaboration is of paramount importance. No one can exist in isolation- we must protect each other through proactive solutions, we must be mindful to the needs of all students , we must engage all of our resources . Without our teachers our students will not learn, they will not grow. It is time for teachers to be proud of their work as a collective entity. Together you will help these sad and emotionally torn students. You will engage all students up and down the continuum of learning and you will love them with your heart and soul just as their parents do. Give to each other , be present, and know that you are your students’ best hope.
Hello!
I think that as teachers we need to set limits ourselves. We have to stay strong and say we won’t allow certain behaviors and let those involved (students, parents, administrators, other teachers) know what we will and won’t tolerate. Bottom line… it comes down to the safety of our other students and ourselves. We have to hold all accountable to ensure that these behaviors are not tolerated. Students will continue with behavior if it is tolerated, and this applies to adults as well. Why should we bullied into having to deal with the toughest students? Administrators are ultimately responsible for the safety of ALL students. I would never allow the safety of the majority of my students suffer because of a difficult one. We have to ask ourselves, “How much are we willing to tolerate?”
Yikes!
I am a 42 year old dog learning new tricks. I am currently in my Sped portion of my student teaching. A change of career for me. I will be K-8 general and K-12 Sped.
There are so many stories of poor administration support here! I’m now a bit frightened.
I will say this, as a man, students with behavioral issues (EH) seem to get along with me just fine. It is up to us to realize they have bad days more frequently than general the population. I find that listening and then showing/proving strategies to help them and then accountability works. Once calm……ok, calmer…..they know what’s right and wrong.
At my school we set up balanced classrooms at the end of the year. We spend about 2 hrs. on this.
This way each classroom gets approximately the same number of challenges, male/female ratio, ELLs,
High, medium, lows etc. Then during the summer the principal rearranges all of our work. She does not know the children and undoes all our hard work. The current principal is honoring all parent requests.
I had 2 chair throwers this year, 3 biters and hitters/kickers, and 2 parents that were in total denial over their kids behavior. I was totally worn out by the end of the year and not a very nice person… total negative attitude. I asked for help from the principal and did not get it so I quit asking. The other teachers had several behavior problems too. I just ended up with the extremes. As a result I hated teaching by the end of the year. Then via a staff email I discovered I was moved to Kindergarten (not where I would put a teacher with major burn-out issues) and had to move classrooms. I hate that principal and pretty much hate teaching. I taught Kindergarten for 5 years…it is not my passion. I do not like the curriculum. It is just not me. I cannot transfer nor can I retire. I only have 28 years of teaching and I am too young. So I am looking for other jobs in the education field, using my summer to work on being positive, and taking workshops to try and reignite the spark. I am also saying prayers and asked to be put on a prayer chain.
So NO do not give the challenging kids to one teacher…place them very carefully and evenly.