How do you deal with troublemakers in the classroom?  Here’s a guide for dealing with discipline problems (adapted from an article by Melissa Kelly about.com).

1. Begin each lesson with a positive attitude and high expectations. If you begin negatively, expecting some of your students to misbehave, they will probably do so.

2. Be well prepared for your lessons. Make sure you have all your materials at hand.

3. Maintain a smooth flow, keeping the delays between transitions (e.g. from group discussion to individual work) to a minimum. Have your worksheets ready to go or your assignment already written on the board. Slow transitions are welcome opportunities for those who wish to disrupt the lesson.

4. Watch your students as they enter class, looking for signs of possible problems before class even begins.

5. Try to use humor to defuse potentially difficult situations before they grow worse.

6. If a student becomes verbally confrontational with you, remain calm and remove them from the situation as quickly as possible. Do not get into yelling matches with your students. There will always be a winner and a loser, which sets up a power struggle that could continue throughout the year.

7. Keep a record of major disciplinary issues that happen in your lessons. This can be particularly useful should the school consider taking disciplinary action against a student or get involved in a law suit.

8. Leave classroom management and disruption problems behind you at the end of the school day. Give yourself time to recharge your batteries before coming back to another day of teaching.

9. Try to be as consistent and fair as possible. If you are seen as inconsistent or unfair, you will lose repect and disruptions will probably increase.

10. Start the year strictly so that students see that you are willing and able to do what it takes to keep your classroom under control. You can always become less strict as the year goes on.

(The other way around – from ‘easy’ to strict – doesn’t work well.)

What do you think of these tips? Which do you consider particularly helpful? Do you have any others you think should be added to the list?

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