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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So many great comments here, but as a recently retired math teacher from a high school with a 70% poverty rate and many intentional non-learners, I’d like to share a few tips that helped me:
1. Be careful about writing up too many students. Administrators don’t like to deal with difficult students either; too many discipline notices can raise a red flag, especially if you have not called parents, assigned detention, and talked to their current teachers in other subjects. (Yes, it’s not fair, especially for a new teacher. This is one of the reasons we lose 50 percent of new teachers within the first five years.)
2. Use rewards liberally–they work. I spent quite a bit of money on Jolly Ranchers, but it was worth it to keep the peace and motivate kids to work. For example, I distributed a Jolly Rancher to every student who had their notebook out at the start of class. (Miniature Snickers work well, too.) Later, I would reward students who could work out a problem on the board. As I checked students’ work, I gave candy to those who had obviously tried. Eventually, the bad kids will get hungry. (You can also use other rewards, such as bonus points and privileges. Preview this reward system at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reward-System-for-High-School-or-Middle-School-Students-079889400-1384406161
3. With-hold privileges such as bathroom, etc., unless said student can show you his or her work.
4. Set a timer for 30 or 45 minutes. If there is no misbehavior during this time, give the students a five minute break. (Warn students that their behavior during the break will determine if there will be additional breaks in the future. For my absolute worst classes, I gave two five-minute breaks–one at the middle of class and one at the end.)
5. Learn to like them. This was a tough one for me…my students weren’t very likeable. When I told my mom (also a teacher) about the hell I was going through, she was sympathetic but she also said, “You don’t like them. They can probably sense that.” She was right. I made a concerted effort to be friendlier and more approachable, laugh more, tell a few jokes, and listen to individual student’s stories. I didn’t win over every student, but my class was much better.
6. Sometimes the guidance department can be helpful…talk to someone you trust about your worst offenders. (There’s probably a history. And, sometimes, a caring guidance counselor will transfer a student out of your class. It pays to be nice to guidance counselors…they have the power to take kids out of your class!)
6. Polish your resume’. You may be stuck in this school for now, but next year you can transfer to a better place. (You may still have unruly students, but the principal may be more supportive, or the kids may be nicer.)
Hope this helped. And play hard during your off time!!
Oops, listed number six twice!
Great advice – thank you- especially “learn to like them” – a few of them I am really struggling to like because they have meltdowns or tantrums when they get frustrated or disappointed.
Thank you for this post! This is my first year as a teacher and I had a minor melt down yesterday after my students left. I am teaching 7th grade math in a low income inner city charter after the first teacher quit in early Nov. Not only am I dealing with a “class from he!!” but I am flying blind. The privios teacher left without notice and didn’t leave previous lesson plans or unit plans, so I have no idea of what needs covered and what has already been covered. I am dealing with lack of communication on every front from admin to SPED to parents and even my team. Somedays I feel like the students are just pushing to see how long it takes to run off another teacher. I know people are trying to be encouraging and boost me up when they say “I would never have stepped in like you did” but it just makes me doubt myself like I made a huge mistake. But I try to keep telling myself I am more stubborn than they are and I will stick it out, if anything just so I can say that I am made of sterner stuff.
I am an experienced teacher with ‘that class’. I am also a mom. I try to picture each of my students as my own child. What kind of environment would I want them to spend most of their day in? How would I want another adult to talk to them? This turned things around for me. I choose to see the best in each student and hold great expectations for each one. We are slowly but surely seeing progress. I’m still a pretty tough teacher, but they are beginning to trust me and want to please me!
Also, let people observe you! It’s very scary, but if I was doing something wrong, I wanted to know. Plus, it shows your colleagues, administration and parents that you are invested in this group’s improvement.
Great advice! I have just finished a year with the kindy class from hell. I learnt to love these children and tried to look past the challenging behaviors (often not their fault, a result of appalling diet, home circumstances or additional needs). I feel a real sense of achievement and know that next year can’t possibly be worse! Onwards and upwards!
I’d add one more piece of advice: find the positives (no matter how small). I had a class from hell last year, and everyone kept telling me how important it was to document the poor behaviors of individual students, so I had notebooks full of them, and it was pretty depressing to see it all laid out on paper. I decided to keep a separate notebook listing any small success. It helped me gain perspective and see that I had a lot of good students and that not everything I did was a failure (even when it may have felt that way).
Love that advice – thank you.