Dealing with a disruptive student in your classroom. How can you effectively manage their behavior?

When dealing with a disruptive student in the classroom, firstly interact with students with empathy and try to understand the reason behind the disruption it can be because of a lack of interest in that particular subject or the learning may be a tougher task for that student. In both cases, I think personal counseling will play a pivotal role in understanding student's expectations and students requirements from teachers and such sessions so that as teachers we can improve the interest of disruptive students in class. I think one-on-one interaction can give us better solutions for such issues in class instead of punishing and discouraging such students.

There are usually two reasons why a student is disruptive in class: the learning task is either too difficult or too easy. Both are solved the same way: by ensuring the content is at the appropriate level for the individual student. Getting to know each of your students' strengths and weaknesses, taking this into account when planning your lessons, goes a long way to creating a nurturing classroom environment that encourages students to take intellectual risks. With the advent of generative AI tools available, creating personalized lesson for students has instantaneously become significantly easier.

Behaviour is a method of communication. There is a reason the child is exhibiting the behaviour. We may not agree with the reason vit the reason makes sense to them. Avoid judgement of the reason and instead look for alternatives that are mutually beneficial.

Every day in a classroom is different. Some students are constantly disruptive, while others seem to have few off days. Whatever the situation, the best answer is always to get to the root of the problem. Some students are easily bored and, as a result, may be disruptive if you do not plan lessons to cater to their needs. The developmental stage a child is going through can bring about drastic change and needs to be taken into account. During adolescence, they are as confused as you about the roller coaster emotions that affect their behavior. Be supportive, but ensure they do not take it out on others. Other students arrive at school burdened by events at home. Teachers need to take time to listen.

Building relationships immediately and being consistent in expectations is a superb place to start. For example, including students in the development and establishment of what a classroom community looks like begins at the start of an academic year. Once these norms are established by the class using guided collaborative exercises. When a student is disruptive/disrespectful to the learning process, he/she/they ought to be directly engaged and redirected. This can be done by nonverbal cues, proximity, and one-to-one to determine if there is an issue not directly known. If persistent, adjusting roles in the classroom, engaging parents/counselors, etc. will help support teacher and pupil to define how to maximize positive behavior outcomes.

One example I did with my students was to ask students to write down their expectations at the beginning of the semester. Then, every month I ask them to check whether they achieved their expectations. This activity helps disruptive students behave well throughout the school year.

Expectations are not rules. You must communicate clearly and ensure what you said has been understood. Get them to repeat what they heard. They cannot be one way. They must be discussed with students and give them the opportunity to buy in and have ownership.

Setting clear and individualized expectations is essential for managing disruptive behavior. Establishing straightforward, consistent rules helps create a structured environment where students know what is expected of them. It's important to communicate these expectations clearly and revisit them regularly, adapting as needed to address individual needs and triggers. Providing positive reinforcement and support when students meet these expectations fosters a more inclusive classroom, where disruptions are minimized, and learning can thrive. This approach not only helps maintain order but also encourages a positive and supportive learning experience for all students.

This may not work if you have a typical teenage classrooms. Some students, with such disruptive behaviour, wants to appear cool. A tip that can work is reinforcing good behaviour coming from the “disruptive behiour” student.

Observe the baggage. Each student brings their own to class. The minute we realize the root to their problems as well as what motivates them to behave the way they do, we can tackle it from there. I’ve realized that giving my most active students responsibilities that are complementary to their personalities, causes them to respond very well. But we have to be consistent. Otherwise we can lose them so it has to be ingrained in our practices of giving jobs and assignments outside of work for extra credit points, for recognition, for rewards or other incentives if we want to see continued results.

Without Parent support it's unlikely that sustained change will occur. But remember parents have an emotional stake too. It's important to call them when good things occur as well as bad. They are probably unused to being contacted for good reasons so you have more chance of them getting on side. Also calling parents to verify information given by students should be a common thing done to provide proof of students telling the truth and not just based in distrust.

I wiah to add another approach. If there is any other situations/ occurance where the disruptive students join say sports or festival etc. I will attend there and mx with them as a general friendly person to communicate personally about their interest etc. This outside the clasroom interaction often change their behaviur towards me at least.

When dealing with a disruptive student in the classroom, it's crucial to understand the underlying reasons for their behavior from a neuropsychological and inclusive perspective. Recognizing that such behaviors can stem from various neurological or psychological conditions, such as ADHD or anxiety, helps educators approach the situation with empathy and tailored strategies. Inclusive practices involve creating a supportive environment where every student feels understood and valued, ensuring that interventions address the root causes rather than just the symptoms of disruption. This approach not only mitigates immediate issues but also fosters a more harmonious and effective learning atmosphere.

One thing I found very helpful is a weekly discussion with the homeroom teachers. We discuss and analyze the students’ situation and try to find a better way to solve the disruption.

This is a very common issue that every educator has to face once in a while. According to me the connect between the child and the teacher is most important. Just like the teachers, the students sometimes target a particular teacher. Communication is the key. Isolate the child, talk with empathy and concern with pure emotions and you're good to go.

The wisdom of the teacher lies in choosing between respond and react. Sometimes just a few words of empathy and handling the disruptive behavior with a mature approach is imperative. Everyone is fighting a battle we know nothing about. Hence, the need of the hour is a calm and poised attitude.

Stop worrying about how the one time behavior can be channelized. You should be worried about the reasons why the student started showing this behavior. Sit with them or their parents and learn what caused them to do this. There are multi-folds of untapped reasons that are shaping the personalities of individuals.

If the kids are disruptive that means the topic or the lecture which educators are conducting that is too easy or too difficult so we can easily solve this by giving them a daily life examples based on the topic and convert that topic in to the form of story. Due to this the kids who finds the topic easy will visualise the story and start involving in the topics and in other hand if the topic is difficult then kids start connecting the story and pay more attention so it might nullify the disruptive. This is not the only way but from other options this option has a good success rate.

i would like to add, reduce distractions and engage more, specially for that particular kid and other kids frankly won’t mind because the kids who got distracted because of that child will get to work better too… while i taught, my motive was to engage as much as possible, using jokes, analogies, questioning etc. etc. kids love when you put a show on…i used to make sure kids laugh atleast once in my session…all these things slowly make them excited for the experience and distractions and disruptions go down…