Class Management

Classroom Management: The Hardest Part of the Job
Unfortunately, when you teach children of any age discipline is required. If you cannot manage a class, you are in very big trouble. Children test you all the time if they do not respect you it will be extremely difficult to each. They often mistake kindness for weakness. I have heard horror stories about how some of my fellow teachers are treated.

"Teachers are paid to teach. Disruptions interfere with the job. What does a teacher do with a disrupter?

“Here are six types of disrupters, each playing his distinctive psychological ‘game.’

1) Uproar: They do various things such as knuckle-cracking, gum-popping, finger-tapping, pen-clicking, hair-combing, dress-straightening, pencil-sharpening, paper-rattling, clock-watching, coughing, whispering, pencil and book-dropping, paper-tossing, note-passing, turning around, wiggling, coming in late, acting stupid, and trying to sidetrack the lecture.

“The motivation is to use a series of small incidents to goad teachers into blowing up at them. Then they can gain sympathy from adults by saying things such as all I did was drop my pencil and the teacher blew-up at me. They only do this with those who will give them the most attention. Since teachers are surrogate parents, we are the primary targets. When they do it can be explained as the concept of ‘trading stamps.’ Many people collect them. Some go out of their way to, while others do not bother at all. Psychological stamps, like paper ones, come in regular and giant sizes.

“Children learn how to collect psychological stamps and what to trade them for them. A small boy falls and skins his knee. However, there is no one around to see it. So he runs around the house looking for his mother and burst into tears when he finds her in order to ‘cash’ in a self-pity ‘stamp.’ As he grows up, he will become more sophisticated. He will learn how many stamps fill a book and how many will get an item, such as depression or fighting.

“The only difference between paper stamps and psychological stamps is the latter can be reused. A guy flirts with a girl at a party, his girl friend gets mad. Instead of saying of something then, she can collect anger stamps. Then she cashes them in repeatedly whenever angry with him: Don’t think I forgot about how you act at parties around other women.

“There are a few ways to address it: 1) Blow up; 2) Feel hurt; 3) Suffer in silence; 4) Argue;
5) Expel student; 6) Fear student; 7) Turn game off by using the Transactional Analysis suggested in this book.

“2) Chip on the shoulder: In contrast to the Uproar, they do not want attention. They are trying to hide their ignorance/low I.Q. If you can deduce their fear and help them overcome it, they should be fine;

"3) Stupid: They want attention. Therefore, they do dumb things to get it. They do not feel very good about them selves and are a self-made martyr/victim who arbitrarily ‘label’ and manipulate people into berating or pitying them to reinforce their position;

"4) Clown: They are harmless and just want some attention;

"5) Schlemiel: They manipulate things and people to get a reaction. Then they categorize it as either permission or persecution;

"6) Make me: They manipulate people into being a tyrant or rescuer. Body language is a good example of the games they play. A girl says no with words and yes with body language and vocal inclination. This enables her to tell herself and everyone she said no and make him the bad guy.

“You can avoid getting hooked into their game by clearly defining expectations and consequences. Give frequent appraisals. In addition, consider avoiding letter or number grades and letting them keep finished work as a symbol of accomplishment.

“Summary of the Disrupter Games. All six students behaved in similar ways. They all wanted attention. To turn the game off and not turn another one on you must find the payoff. Try not to constantly say don't do this or that. It makes the act more tempting because forbidden fruit is sweeter.

“They are also six types of teachers: 1) Tyrant; 2) Martyr; 3) Whiner; 4) Scrapper; 5) Impatient; 6) Timid.” 1

When it comes to classroom management I think it is vital that every teacher be told one thing before entering a classroom: "people would be praised than punished. But they would rather be punished than ignored." (Browne) When I have my own classroom, I will post it on the wall for everyone to see. We must remember that teachers are people too. We are adults with our own lives, families, problems, responsibilities and pressures. Sadly, many children are unloved and unwanted. That does not make us surrogate parents, social workers, family therapists, or anything else. I do not mean to sound uncaring or unsympathetic. It is just that our job is to teach the three "R's". School based support team was created to deal with these problems.

Nevertheless, you must have an understanding of them in order to stay "alive" in the classroom. Part of classroom management is appropriate punishment for incorrect behaviors. However a little wisdom and desire to understand can go a very long because once you understand you can relate to and identify with the person and their motives. This will help you deal with various situations and children as they arrive. One resource is making a contract with a child. A parent, the child and a counselor must all sign. It is a way of specifically addressing the problem (s) and proposing a solution (s) to them. It also treats the child as an adult in the hopes they will rise to the occasion.

I was chatting about this with a colleague about this and he told me a story I will use when disciplining students: “When my daughter was in high school she got into a fight. The dean wanted to suspend her for a week. I thought about it and decided that sitting home for a week and watching TV wasn’t a very suitable punishment. So I called the dean and asked if he could find a more suitable punishment that would send a more appropriate message to her and the others. He agreed and put her to work in his office where everyone could see her... That was over twenty years ago. And she still remembers it.” (Mike)

I was also reminded of an article I read profiling a young Mexican girl named Yolanda Piedra. She came here with her family a few years ago. And has done a suburb job of mastering her second language. It has been a very rough road for them, but she is doing very well in school, despite it all. She’s wise and said “suspending students for a week is really a 'vacation'.”2

She's right. Most parents must work in order to pay the bills and are too busy working to take off to watch their child. So the child winds up sleeping late, watching a museum of modern decadence on television all day. In addition to being desensitized to all the "garbage", they see on Jerry Springer they will probably go out and get into more trouble. Ultimately, they will get so "drunk" on freedom they will not want to go back to school.

While researching I decided to interview my friend, Peter although he is not a teacher for a few reasons:

1) I thought an outsider’s perspective might be interesting;
2) He is a part–time pharmacist seeking full-time employment;
3) Pharmacists need a lot of math and science to obtain their degrees;
4) There is such a need for math and science teachers in NYC they are recruiting Europeans.

Therefore, I suggested that he become a teacher.
He instantly refused profoundly and profusely. He said, “Teachers are diplomatic 'wardens.' Not to mention the verbal and physical abuse they must endure from students. And parents.

I heard about the mother who came up to school last year and held the teacher down while the daughter hit her and then switched places. I don’t want have to eat that 'crap' to make a living, especially for the money they make. It’s not worth it. Teachers should receive hazard pay. I’d never be a teacher! I can make a lot more in the private sector."

Unfortunately, he is right. It a skill that some of us are fortunate enough to acquire over time. Mine came primarily through "Baptism-by-fire." There is only so much you can learn from books. You must get in the "trenches."

However, alternative schools and programs can help save children such as Ron Morris, a boy I read a profile on. In it, he said things such as, "When a teacher becomes a teacher, she acts like a teacher instead of a person. She takes her title as mechanical, somebody running it. Teachers shouldn’t deal with students as if we’re machines. I’m a person. You’re a person. We come to school and we all act like people."

I interviewed the Principal of the Off-Site Education because it is an alternative high school program with many sites in drug rehabilitation centers and he taught in their Coney Island site, a tough neighborhood in South Brooklyn. We agree that idle hands and minds are the Devil's workshop. He said, "Prevention is number one. You can do this by being prepared. That means engaging the students with meaningful work.

"There will still be some disruptive students. The first goal in dealing with them is to avoid public confrontation and eye contact. Deal with the situation afterwards. Reprimand the child in private. Never embarrass him in public and seek positive reinforcement." (Bob)

It is interesting to see what is going on in a student's mind when he comes to class and disrupts, especially since I am a new teacher. I wonder how many teachers know that many students act up in class because they are bored. The work is beneath a person of their intellect and does not challenge them. I never heard this until I took a United Federation of Teachers Children and Youth Special Education course last year.

To begin with, we must be gregarious if we want to be a good teacher. I sometimes think we are artists. Managing a class full of children is no easy task. We are expected to be entertainers as well as educators. I used to have a friend who taught high school social studies in a rough area of Brooklyn. He said his students love him because he put on a show for them: wore a costume, climbed on top of his desk, etc. He was a terrible communicator. Therefore, he had to do something to attain and maintain their attention.

It helps if you were a tough child or not so good academically because you can relate to and identify with the children so much better than when you were one of them, as children do not change. It gives you an insider's perspective on all the stuff they do. You cannot kid a kidder. Most of all it takes time to bond with them. You must win their hearts and minds. It will help you develop a friendship with them.

Teaching has been a major adjustment for me. If you are not an authoritarian you are going to be in very big trouble, unless you are fortunate, enough to get honors classes or a great school where you do not have to be one. Ironically, if you had told me that I would be a teacher a few years ago, I would have said you're crazy. However, once again man plans while God laughs and truth is stranger than fiction because now I enjoy sharing my knowledge with the next generation. And feel that I was born to teach.
Works Cited
1. Games Students Play (and what to do about them.) Ernst, Ken. Ph.D. The Classic T.A. Work for Parents and Teachers.
2. Bloom, Micheal. Personal Interview 11 July 2000.
3. Moreo, Peter. Personal Interview 10 July 2000.
4. Morris, Ron. A profile.
5. Zweig, Robert. Personal Interview 18 July 2000.
6. Piedra, Yolanda. A profile.
7. Browne, Joy, Ph. D. The Dr. Joy Browne Radio Program, WOR, 710-AM. 13, July 2000.