Patricia Scales

Hi George,
I have certainly used this tactic and it works for some students. I have also used the tactic where I have spoken to the angry student privately the next day, thus allowing the student to calm down. I normally try to gauge how angry the student is to determine if I will speak to the student immediately or wait until the next day.
Patricia

Joseph Rock

students will get angry if fail test so when i give results i would wait till wne od day and call each student one at a time and give grade. if the student s becomes angry i can talk to them right there and cool the small fire before it becomes to big to handle.

Patricia Scales

Hi Joseph,
I typically return my tests at the beginning of class. If a student becomes angry because of a failing grade, "I simply poise the question to the student, "Exactly who are you angry with?" It is normally the students fault due to a failing grade. I generally do not have students become angry due to a failing grade.
Patricia

Benson Bunk CHEP

I believe the key to dealing with an angry student is to remember they are not children. No "big me - little you" mentality. Treat them with respect, listen to them. Sometimes they act out in the heat of the moment, in which case the instructor may have to separate the situation from the class. Most of the time the instructor can use them as an example to build trust in the fact that we will listen and respond to them as adults.

Patricia Scales

Hi Benson,
You said it nicely, No "big me-little you" mentality. These students are adults just like we are, and they should be treated as adults, with repect, professionalism, maturity, warmth, caring, etc.
Patricia

Scott French CHEP

Students in the classes i teach are given the rubric for grading the first day of the course. They know what to expect. I have found this to eliminate students becoming angry over grade issues. Since they know when the test is given, the material was covered, and they are aware of the criteria for grading, students are not upset about their grade - except maybe with themselves.

Patricia Scales

Hi Scott,
It is great whenever instructors make students aware what to expect. I have had students that knew exactly what to expect, and because of a lack of effort on their part, they did not do well. The students were very upset, but only with themselves.
Patricia

Richard Weil CHEP

Unlike what this course says, I have had several angry women in my class too. Usually it is about something outside school, but I have had a number who were furious about having to take the class, and had terrible trouble with it (grossly unprepared academically). I have tried to sit down with them, go through the material and how to study (difficult if they have never done it), and listened to their concerns. That has helped, although I feel was a stopgap solution.

When a few times women were at the point of physical violence with each other, I have stepped between them, hoped neither had a knife or a gun, and tried to talk them down. In the worst case one left and I thought the situation was defused--until she beat up the other one in the parking lot, and was then expelled.

Extreme cases, but when you have open enrollment and people with limited self-control these things can happen, even in a "college."

Patricia Scales

Hi Richard,
Gender has nothing to do with who gets angry. I deal with angry women at my institution from time to time. In some cases, angry women are the hardest to deal with.

It is very scary whenever a fight breaks out. I am very fortunate, I have been teaching at the same instituion for 19 years, and I have never had to deal with students fighting. You must control the students.
Patricia

James Hart

I recently had a student who is known for loosing his temper literally explode in class. I let him vent his frustrations and anger on me. I calmly explained I was here to help him but he was so wound up he left class. When he came in the next day he was sincerely apologetic for his actions the day before. We had a nice long talk outside the class and came to find out his problems were do to situations outside the class. We came up with an action plan for what he needed to be doing to get on track in my course and courses to come. I am happy to say he is doing great and I feel like I grew a little at the same time. It was an awkward situation but my patience paid off for both of us.

Patricia Scales

Hi James,
I too have watched a student loose their temper. You did the right thing by letting the student vent. Generally, by the next day, the student has calmed down tremendously, and the student gets a chance to think about his or her reactions, thus allowing the student to be apologetic. Normally, the problems are always due to something personal. In the education arena, patience is a virtue.
Patricia

Brian Reeves

I have noticed that the majority of angry or disgruntled students usually have an outside influence that is causing that behavior. Alot of the college career students have families or full time jobs and that can weigh on them causing that kind of behavior.

Patricia Scales

Hi Brian,
There are a lot of outside influences that our students are dealing with to cause them to have unacceptable behavior. The unacceptable behavior can be a variety of things, such as sleeping in class, bad/negative attitude, tardiness, absenteeism, etc. We must find out what's going on personally so that we can better assist our students.
Patricia

Thomas Niggel CHEP

I useally find it is the outside things what add up to angry students. the school is what the student passion is and the stress of the world interfears.

Judy Mohammed CHEP

I also utilize this method and I often pull them into an empty office to discuss.

Patricia Scales

Hi Judy,
I feel this is an effective method to utilize when dealing with angry students. It has worked for several times.
Patricia

Michael Goddard CHEP

usually if the instructor takes the time to talk to the "angry" student, just by taking an interest the problem can usually be resolved

Meggan Hansen

That's great you were able to be patient and calm in a situation like that. Sounds like the student feels bad and hopefully it won't happen again.