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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OK, so it’s February, and I just went back and re-read this entire thread and decided to take some time to reflect on both my teaching practice and value of an on-line community, or as Angela points out, a Professional Learning Network.
1) After this original post and reading the immediate replies, I went back to school and asked my administrator for help in such a way that she couldn’t ignore it. Because my school is so…new/charter/experimental/understaffed/under-administrated, I didn’t get resolution, but my concerns have been appropriately documented, and I did manage to get an aide in my room for about 3 hours a week.
I don’t think I would have been brave enough to ask for help without the encouragement of this community.
2) I have learned to mostly love the kids even if I don’t like the work environment. I taped the “Kids who need love the most ask for it in the most unloving ways” quote in my desk, where no one but me can see it. It helps.
3) As part of my PD plan, I decided to keep a journal about what was working, similar to Angela’s idea of keeping record of my success, not just the pages and pages of ABC (antecedent-behavior-consequence) records and daily behavior plans that I am drowning under.
4) I was grading papers today- a drawing/connection activity using vocabulary like culture, heritage, and values, and I came across “Mrs. C values hard work” as an example. It’s not much, but I’m going to hold on to it all week, because small successes turn into big ones.
5) I decided that one part of my life, riding my bike to work, was missing because of the distance and bike parking and having to wear nice clothes to work. That had to change. I asked my husband to help me rearrange my classroom and get rid of my grotesquely oversized desk, made a place to park my bike, put my clothes, and I recommitted to riding most days. I feel more like myself and therefore more like the teacher I want to be. That self-care advice that everyone tells new teachers can’t be said loudly enough.
So, while I still feel like quitting, I’m less convinced that teaching isn’t right for me and more convinced that with supportive, available administration and sustainable school structure, I could really enjoy this job.
I think most teachers have a class from hell and it is usually in the first years of teaching. Kids often don’t respond the way you expect because you don’t know what to expect. Also, I think you sometimes have to work with their natural inclinations rather than fight them. For example, if you have a chatty class change the structure so they can work in cooperative groups. Kagan Learning has a lot of good ideas and it really helped me ‘set myself up for success’ with cooperative learning ( no, I don’t work for their company. I’m a fourth grade teacher at a barrio school in So Cal). Their training is pricey but for me it was worth it. Build fun breaks into your day. I like gonoodle.com. Really try to stay on top of everything- grade their work quickly and be super prepared each day. If they sense you are on top of things they will respect you more. Also, it is not normal for all students to do all their work all the time. Expect stragglers. Put their names on the board as a reminder and find time at school for them to finish their work- recess, after school, while the rest of your class does something fun. Notify parents every time this happens. Occasionally you get a child with oppositional defiance disorder and that is truly tough. Do your research when that happens. Ordinary methods usually don’t work. Collaborative problem solving often helps with these types of kids but it is a slow process. The bottom line is have realistic expectations. They are not you . Earn their respect by working hard, staying on top of things, and staying calm. Try to have a little fun with them everyday. Good luck!
In reading through this, I think it is very important to admit that we are getting the residue of a society that has let these kids down and it is SYSTEMIC. Go to Finland and observe their schools…and you see NONE of this. What I worry about is that we will decide that students that
yell at us, throw things at us, interrupt us during class, and are just plain monsters is “normal” and
we just have to “try and get through it”. As a few posts have said, THIS IS AND SHOULD NOT BE NORMAL IN OUR COUNTRY. This is a question of producing kids with even the tiniest modicum of social skills and they do not have it. Then they get dumped on us. Then we beat ourselves up over it that we cannot undo 20 +- years of NO parenting, bad parenting, or no parents at all!! We are supposed to be able to undo ALL of this in our classes. Yea. Right.
I personally am now getting terrible kids in beginning community college courses. I have decided
to retire from teaching. Until society starts acknowledging that we are doing a shtty job raising our kids, I am refuse to let this tear me up anymore and ruin my life.
No one deserves to be treated with disrespect and I will NOT make excuses for these little monsters anymore. You want ’em? Go ahead, take ’em. I’m done.
Well after reading all the above comments and comisserating with all of you I feel I need to offer what has worked for me. I am a 2nd grade teacher and have been teaching for 24 years. I think I know what I’m doing. But when I got a class from hell last year, I ran through all of my tricks of the trade and still came up on the loosing end of the classroom. I went to my Literacy Coach and asked her to observe me and be frank. I knew I needed to revamp my management style, learn some new engagement strategies, and not be too proud to ask for help. With her help I concentrated on 3 simple changes until I mastered them(lol, who am I fooling, I’m only just figuring it out). I focused on 1. Making my directions simple and explicit 2. Take the time, even midyear, or even all day long to repeat procedures until they are performed according to your expectations. Repeat, Repeat, and Repeat again. Don’t accept ‘good enough’. And 3. Praise, Praise, Praise.
GREAT advice, Patricia. I love that you focused on what YOU could do differently instead of blaming the kids. That is the mark of a master teacher. I’m proud of you.
I’ve been teaching for 15 years and this is my third class from hell. I have 19 boys and 10 girls. Three of them have serious psychological issues- autism, ADHD, ODD. I feel very discouraged right now. In addition, our school was closed and moved to another city for three months because of construction issues (asbestos). Teachers in portables have returned to our original site but the main building is still shutdown so primary teachers are scattered across 4 schools in our district. With all of the change and disruption my class just hasn’t gelled and I feel exhausted and burned out. Thank you for the reminder that it is just one year and you can bear anything for one year. I listened to the audiobook The Levity Effect and am trying to maintain my sense of humor. A lot of it is about trying to set a positive tone. I appreciate the comment about each day being a new day. I also needed to hear that.
Thanks for sharing that, Leigh. I’m sorry you’re having such a tough time. Have you read my book Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching? I think that might give you some more strategies to try. Hang in there! You can do ANYTHING until June!