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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Tip #5 is very encouraging. I love teaching but I seem to hate each passing day because of my “class from hell” Everyday, this class bothers me. By the time I arrive, they will start to run around the classroom and talk and talk until the whole time allotted for our Math subject ends. Sometimes, the whole period is wasted on me scolding the kids. I have 40 students i this class and almost half of them are running around the room and talking. I really don’t know what to do anymore. I hope you can help me. Thanks!
Hello Angela
I LOVE your book on classroom management and your website. I believe many schools of education and school districts should have new and prospective teachers study them.
I am a first year second grade teacher in an inner city district in which I spent some of my childhood years in. I started teaching March of this year. My first class was from the outer surface of hell and now my second class, from month of September, is from the pits of hell.
I do feel bitter at times but what bothers me the most is how critical second grade is. I don’t want to be the reason why my students may fall further behind in Literacy and behavioral development. I have at least two students classified for special needs who receive pull out
support from the special education teacher. The problem is I feel she is not servicing well or at least support me with some advice on what to do when they’re in my class.
I also have a boy who is soon being evaluated for a learning disability and an unclassified student who has the worst behavior in the classroom.
Therefore I have four male students disrupting the flow of instruction and the whole class talks incessantly and fails to listen to the simplest instructions. I often ask myself what are
my students learning and question my role in this profession.
I sometimes do not see the difference between the little children and teenagers at my school
I have a class
I have a class that is wearing me down and I am in desperate need of a solution. I already have a second teacher assistant who also experieences difficulty with the students like my former teacher assistant who was switched to a first grade classroom. I pray a lot and sometimes wonder if the LORD is putting me to the test in my spiritual journey.
I ask all my fellow educators on this blot to help me be a better teacher for these young feisty children.
And Angela, you have open the right blog at the right time.
I teach second grade as well. First of all, my heart goes out to you. It can be very, very rough. I’ve taught for 16 years and each year has had its ups and downs. I want my students quiet and focused. I try to provide lots of positive reinforcement (earning free time, weekly drawing for small prizes, etc.) but it doesn’t work all the time. Sometimes I must do negative reinforcement (recess taken, calls home, counseling, etc.) Yes, it’s exhausting. You can’t change the kids. You can’t change their families. What you can do is change how you deal with all of it. And yes, you might be teaching in a really rough place where very few could ever be able to perform major results. You could request help from your principal and see if there might be some training available. Perhaps you could ask to observe other teachers at your school (you’d need to get a sub, of course), and see how they handle misbehavior . Also, do you have any beginning teacher support? Let them know you are having it rough and need help right away.
This year I a few difficult ones and I try to keep them very busy. I offer them incentives to correct papers. We do a timed math facts sheet each day, so I tell them that if they correct a stack of papers I’ll reward them with something. It doesn’t need to be big. You’d have to work every angle on this and see how it works for you, but the main goal I have is to keep them engaged so they can’t keep the others from learning. I know all children should be learning, but that is sometimes not a reality.
Thank you for that piece of advice. I have literally been submitting my resume to companies for the past month, trying to get out of teaching because of the year I am having. It’s not just the kids–we are transitioning to Common Core Standards, and the work is much more time-consuming and demanding. The parents are mad, the kids are stressed, and the planning time is doubled. I’ll give it one….more…..year…….
Thank You Tracy,
My students have very short attention spans and I think I’m going to incorporate music for us to sing together each morning to get us pumped up for learning. I also need to rethink the sorts of learning activities that I provide them. A good number of them are still not adjusted to independent work and needs support for their learning. Some are far behind in terms of literacy skills and so it is tricky for me. However, I will need to get in contact with my literacy coach this weekend and create some sort of a game plan that will help my students move forward with better self-control and more independence of their learning.
If you have any other suggestion feel free to share with me.
Thank you, once again.