Get Your Students Hired
This is a general discussion forum for the following learning topic:
Class Management Strategies--> Dealing with Challenging Students
Post what you've learned about this topic and how you intend to apply it. Feel free to post questions and comments too.
I like making them the observer and giving summaries in class. I also like the idea of everyone getting 5 colored cards to raise their hand for only 5 questions/comments in class.
I have learned how to deal with disruptive students and how to document the activities for the disruption.
I learned new strategies to work with different kinds of students. Also, learned reasons for behaviors in the classroom and how to respond.
Being mindful of how my mood and what I say to them can have a major effect on my students.
Comment on Michael Mulligan's post: I move center-stage students to the front of the class and assign them more class related responsibilities. This keeps them more cognizant and attuned to the class happenings.
I mainly need to improve at dealing with the inattentive students. I feel like I need to really focus on this at the beginning of the year because once you lose them its much harder to get them back. I think if you can identify them within the first couple of weeks before they have fully checked out, there's a chance to bring them back by talking to them, giving them jobs, or noticing when they do work. Once they have moved into the part of the year where they've missed 90% of the assignments and have a 10% grade in the class, its much harder to pull them back, especially if you're holding to the no late work policy.
I have tried the meeting with the center stage students and it is not always 100% successful. The cards system seems geared at younger students not something I can use with my high schoolers. Some of the other strategies might work.
I like dealing with chatty and center stage students by moving closer to them. I have seen how it can bring their focus back onto the lecture. I also like to set them up for success by catching them paying attention and asking them questions that I believe they under stand. This gives them a bit more self confidence and engages the class.
...
The strategy's for dealing with inattentive/chatty and center stage students. Simply moving closer to them and assigning them an observer role. Good ideas I will implement.
I learned that simply moving close to were chatty students are a talking can bring their focus back onto the lecture.
Great ideas! I am going to start using the Minute papers and the Use it wisely card ideas.
Working and finding different ways to engage with a student that is inattentive and having different methods to keep them engaged.
I also have the "center stage student" and typically just start ignoring them and calling on someone else or go to them when nobody else is speaking up knowing they usually have answer. What's worse are the ones wh crack jokes when I'm on a roll. It often throws me off while lecturing.
The advice about moving to the area where the inattentive student is makes sense. I have used it repeatedly in my classes. The only issue is when you have a really stubborn or rebellious student, they go back to what they were doing when you move away. When it comes to cross-talk I address this at the beginning of every class session and we discuss how it is a form of disrespect. I then call them out when needed, but it's kind of rare. I work in a prison, and they know that they will receive a "corrective action" which can negatively affect them when they meet with their judge.
Noted the ice breaker exercise mentioned, using the matching answer test using industry tools will work well for the HVAC classes.
Dealing with the students requires one to understand the motiviation for the behavior. Are the disengaged be cause they lack cannot connect the dots between the concept and career? Do they not understand expectations?