Mindset & Motivation | Nov 21, 2013
What to do when you get the “class from hell”
By Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
What to do when you get the “class from hell”
By Angela Watson
It’s a difficult phenomenon to describe to non-educators, but classroom teachers will instantly know what I’m referring to–having a group of students that just don’t click with you and are extremely difficult to handle, usually with more than the average extreme and violent behavior issues tossed into the mix. These experiences seem to suck the joy out of the work you love and make you question why you ever entered the profession in the first place. Here are 5 pieces of advice if you’re facing that situation right now:
1) Stop commiserating with teachers who had your students last year.
If your students’ prior teachers have any helpful advice, you will have already heard it within the first week or two of school. The only thing you’re doing with them now is complaining and rehashing all the horrible things that the students have ever done. Let the past be the past: this will open you up to recognizing change in your students and perceiving them as capable of improvement.
2) Recognize that group dynamics and individual behaviors WILL change.
You’ll have new kids transfer into your class and others transfer out, shifting the dynamics of your class continually. The addition or subtraction of just one kid can make a huge difference in how the whole class behaves and how you feel about your work. Also, individual student behavior often changes a lot throughout the school year as students mature and as they experience shifts in their home and social lives. I can’t guarantee all the changes will be for the better, but take comfort in knowing that things will be different: current problems will go away and fresh challenges will arrive. Discouragement sets in when you envision yourself having to deal with exactly the same headaches for the entire school year–but that will never happen. Change IS coming.
3) Learn everything you can from your students: one “class from hell” year is worth three years of regular teaching experience!
After this year, you will know so much more than if you’d had a more typical teaching experience. You will have tried out so many different interventions and witnessed such a wide variety of issues that you’ll feel like a 30 year veteran by summertime. You’ll be experienced enough to deal with whatever issues are presented by next year’s class, and there’s a good chance that group will feel easy to handle in comparison.
4) Take big risks. Try new things. You have nothing to lose!
Many teachers don’t try different lesson ideas or behavior management systems because they’re worried about upsetting a delicate balance or ruining a good thing. You don’t have that problem. So, experiment with the reward system you were scared to try, test out a new room arrangement, or take a chance on redoing your daily schedule. This is the year for experimentation.
5) Refuse to make any decisions about your career based on one year’s class.
This is the single most important piece of advice I can offer you. When we get groups of students like the one you have (and we ALL have them at some point!), it’s very natural to think, “I can’t take this, I need to quit, I don’t want to teach anymore.” But here’s the truth: this will all be over in June. Keep telling yourself, “I can do anything for 7 more months.” Then you will get 6-9 weeks to recuperate and start fresh with a brand new class. This is only temporary–most people can’t say that about their jobs! You can do this! Do not be swayed from a career path you once loved based on a single group of students you’ll never have again.
I would love to read your stories. How have you coped with having a difficult class? What advice would you give other teachers facing that situation right now?
Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
Discussion
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I had this class.. 3 different schools for almost 3 years in a row.. I quit this past October.. between the class and admin and non supporting team mates , I had enough. I can tell you life has gotten easier with my son because my cup isn’t running over by the time I get home. I am still searching for a job and honestly , yes teaching is my passion, but I am not so sure I want to deal with classes like that and just the changes in the whole education system anymore. Only time will tell.. I do miss being in the classroom that is for sure.
Karen
Basically, the “class from hell” is a group of children who have learned that being disrespectful to their teacher is the norm and acceptable. A “social contract” created by the children and the teacher together is a step in the right direction. The next step being the children (and the teacher) holding one another to the contract. They just haven’t learned, and held to, proper social behavior in a classroom. As the adults in the room, it’s up to us to teach them that behavior. And the adult has to show the children that he/she refuses to allow children to disrespect them. Then, and only then, can education happen.
The real issue with this approach however is that these types of contracts are essentially forced onto the kids, and most likely only offer tokenistic autonomous action. The intentions and trickery will be very transparent to students, especially to those who are at-risk and who are street (or adult) smart, and the result will be further disempowerment – which is the reason they are acting out in the first place. To avoid such irony, use empowering discipline: http://paulgmoss.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/empowering-discipline/
After teaching for 33 years, I have indeed had a few of the classes “that shall not be named” in my career. I am a firm believer in teaching procedures and expectations the first weeks of school. This can be time consuming but in the long run, the benefits will outweigh the deterrents. I have also used variations on social stories, depending on the ages of the children and the behaviors. We all know that the climate of each year seems to ebb and flow but in today’s classrooms there seem to always be challenges. Never be afraid to reach out to your colleagues as they are your best and closest resource. Learning from your community of educators is your greatest tool.
I have taught 8th grade English for 18 years and 2 years ago I had “The Class From Hell”. First, I should say that I think they were this way because for 4 years prior they were labeled this by teachers and other students. They then morphed into this raging class of about 350 students who were fulfilling their own prophecy. I think that it was because the “good kids” were the instigators and used the “bad kids” as their minions. Anyway, that’s a whole separate dynamic that I should probably research.
What I did that year to survive was: 1) promote my “million dollar attitude” classroom motto even harder=if you’re negative, you don’t belong in my classroom 2) get a massage at least once a month 3) don’t grade everything and don’t let the students know it i.e. do a lot of credit/no credit 4) make their behavior in your classroom a part of their grade 5) stay away from complaining teachers; this will only bring you further into the “Pit of Despair” (say it like that guy on Princess Bride) . If it means eating alone in your classroom, do it. 6) do something to promote a team spirit in your class; take pictures of the kids and post in the class or do a slide show occasionally…check out that “Tribes” philosophy. 7) Take care of yourself and don’t take it all personally. They will be out of your classroom in 9 months and Angela is right, after this year you can count it as 3 years! 🙂
This is really really awesome advice. I am going to type it up and keep it somewhere in my home office! I had 2 bad classes in a row – left the school because of the attitude I was receiving from everyone around, despite the fact that I staryef a club on my own, for free, to have kids do their hw. Anyway. Excellent ideas, thank you!
I teach high school. One of my tricks is to say, “If you act this way at school, you must be even worse at home. I’ll bet your mom could use a treat, so I am going to come to your house today with a snack for her, and we will eat ice cream and talk about your behavior. No, you won’t get any ice cream. Your poor mother needs it more.”
I do not know why this works (though a former boss once told me, “People don’t want the school staff showing up in their yard.”), but I assure you it does. You’re there at the end of a long day, you are tired. Mom is tired. You have chocolate or ice cream, and a shocked, humiliated kid. You can see what he lives in, so you understand him more. Mom has a snack, likes it, likes you. The kid DOES NOT want you to come home again, so he behaves better. It gets around school, and other kids don’t want you showing up at their homes, so they improve. I have been to four homes in six years, and I would say every home visit yielded positive results.
If you truly hate it, though, I would say to quit. If you are young and not called to teach, figure it out and leave. Life’s too short to be unhappy.
Love this idea!
A good idea but doesn’t need to be dressed in deceit. The student would also react to your positive intention of trying to understand their homelife, despite some superficial embarrassment. Children who are at-risk especially benefit from such action because they need all the allies they can muster, as troubled homelife is often the catalyst for their disengaged or antisocial behaviour. Creative discipline is ultimately more effective because it actually honours the student’s situation/life/experiences/troubles/spirit, and doesn’t simply try to bandaid them.