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
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Great post! This is wonderful advice for all teachers. Those classes are unforgettable. The best part is believing in them and seeing the changes throughout the semester. I also like the idea of getting a massage once a month. The only statement that may not be true for everyone is when she says that next year they will be gone and you never have to worry about them again. In my school I teach 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th grade English. Those wild 8th graders became my wild 9th graders the following year. Fortunately that isn’t always the case. One year I had wild 9th graders turn into wonderful 10th graders the following year. Love reading this post and its replies.
“Seek first to understand rather than to be understood.”
1. I try to categorize either truly malicious behavior or immaturity/learning disability/obvious lack of guidance at home. 99% of the time it’s the latter.
2. Learn as much as you can about learning problems. Lots of kids act out because they are frustrated.
3. Be kind. Your kindness may be all they get. Some of these kids have really bad home lives, from disinterested parents all the way down to abusive parents.
4. Those kids are someone’s babies. Once upon a time they were brand new to the world, with limitless possibilities.
5. Find their gift. I promise they all have one. Do they know what to do with it?
6. Find out their learning style, and give them different ways to learn.
7. If they seem hopeless, offer them hope.
I agree with your approach of compassion for difficult students. It can be the hardest part of teaching the “class from hell” but we have a very powerful role that can often truly change our student’s lives. Kindness, boundaries, and love can go a very long way.
I totally agree with giving the students a fresh start each year and refuse to talk to other teachers about students. When I get a class like that, I work very hard at treating each child like the individual he or she is. I pray very hard every day before entering my classroom, and it truly helps me get through the day.
So…. I don’t want to be negative, but I want to be sure that I understand everyone’s opinions here.. So is it possible that this is just a really bad dynamic, a tough group of kids, and that no expert in classroom management could handle them any better than I do? and that I just need to hang on? Cuz that’s where I’m at…. I have indeed been eating lunch alone in the classroom, because my partner teachers are horribly negative (about everything) and I’m questioning my career track ….. I’ve tried positive reinforcement, negative consequences…. bribes, threats, invited parents to class, had the principal visit…. I’m almost to the point of throwing an assignment out and “supervising” the rest of the period. I know it’s not fair to the students, but when the teacher can’t get a single sentence out without being interrupted, what is there left to do? Any advice?
I’ve used this technique in the past with success– identify the ringleaders in your class and find something good about each of them. Announce this “special trait” that they each have to the class. For ie., if anyone needs help spelling ask so and so. The experience I had was once the ringleader(s) felt needed the bad behaviors (from everyone) decreased/subsided.
Love this! Thanks for sharing.
Well, I have 26yrs experience and this is the 2nd time I have had such a class. In certain situations, you as the teacher just lose. When you have a situation where the admin doesn’t back the teachers, the kids are jh age and know this, they can get by with almost anything and do. They aren’t afraid of In School Susp, D Halls are a joke, and please, give them a suspension because they get a couple of days off. Parents don’t care and only harass the teachers for picking on their kids. Bitter, you bet I am. I have worked hard for years. This class makes me physically ill and ruins my day every day.
I know all the teaching tactics. NOthing works when kids have no respect for anything or anyone.
Good luck with your classes. I just see more of this in the future. Praise be I am almost done. I used to love teaching. Not any more.
I understand how you feel. Thank you, pgphillips, for the many years of service. I am tired of teaching, as well. This will probably be my last year.
I took this year off after 19 years in the classroom because attempting to teach in these circumstances finally took a serious toll on my health. I’m fairly certain that I won’t be returning to the classroom. I, too, was given the difficult students because I could handle them, and administrators don’t want the task. Just because I could, didn’t mean that I should have always gotten them. I loved teaching, but only when I got to teach. That joy is dismissed when you feel like the majority of your time and energy is spent on recurring discipline issues involving the same students over and over again. I felt that wasn’t fair to the students who did want to learn, and who did want to listen and apply what I was teaching. So, I made the very difficult decision to not teach and take care of my health instead. Not all schools have serious discipline issues on a consistent basis. Maybe you need to try another district, especially if you’ve had 2 or more years in a row.