Handling Misbehaviour in Class

Dominique Thoughts

It can be extremely torturous dealing with a hyper lot in class. The different personalities and upbringing of the 42 individuals in my class often leads to classes of opinions.

Almost daily I have to take the role of judge and jury as I try to maintain peace within the four walls.  It is really mentally and physical exhausting having to deal with the same errant children over and over again.

Through my career I have come across three main types of students who constantly misbehave in class.

The Clown

This student loves having attention on himself even though it maybe for the wrong reasons. He does silly actions and loves to have other pupils laugh at his lame jokes or behaviour.

The Elephant

This student can and does get physically or verbally abusive with other pupils in class. He enjoys playing the bully and destroying other pupils property and happiness.  He behaves like a bull in a china shop leaving a trail of destruction.

The Mad Hatter

The typical chatterbox who will talk about anything and everything. He doesn’t have an “off” switch and the volume which he talks can be extremely loud and distracting for others around him.

What I have realized is that there are similarities between these three personalities. What these students  are craving is for immediate attention and positive or negative affirmation. They may not receive “sufficient” love and attention at home, therefore they seek such “attention” in class.

To keep misbehaviour to a minimal in the class I have set  class rules since the start of the term.

The students follow a 3 strike system.

Strike 1– Verbal warning  is given to the student to stop the misbehaviour.

Strike 2– The student’s name is written on the board and he would have to stay back after class for a “talk”

Strike 3– The student’s parent is called up and told about the misbehaviour in class.

By implementing such a system it has helped me keep my cool and get less distracted by these “side attractions” in class.

How do you handle misbehaviour in class?

Giving your Child a Holisitic Education

Dominique Thoughts

Education today is focused more on educating individuals to be able to relate to themselves and society. A lot of reflection and self analysis are encouraged among students.

It is nowadays not good enough just to memorize and regurgitate what has been taught to you.  You would need to analyze and explain the rational behind your choice and support it with evidence you have researched prior to you presenting your case.

To be able to think strategically and analyze  rationally the problem laid out before you is not an easy task for an adult least a child. Getting to the crux of a problem and understanding it is already mind blogging enough.

Being able to think through and consider all possibilities plausible is quality that is expected of a great leader.

How then are we able to cultivate such a mindset in our child?

1. Give your child time and space.

   Showing signs of being  bored or irritated with your child who is struggling to find the answer will make them want to give up without trying.  Give you child ample time to source for the needed information with minimal assistance.

2. Do not spoonfeed your child with information.

   Searching for information by oneself is something that shouldn’t be robbed from a child. Information gathered through a child’s own resources is more readily absorbed than have information just placed at their feet.

   Spoonfeeding also breads laziness as they would expect everything to be given to them on a silver platter.

3. Allow your child to make mistakes and grow.

   To expect perfect results from a child every time  is simply unrealistic. As if many life lessons are learn from experience. Sometimes we do not give a child the opportunity to falter as we want to spare them the agony of failure. You may think that you are doing your child a favor
   by sparing them from the pain but in fact you are doing them an unjust as you are robbing from them a learning opportunity.

4. Teach them to think out of the box.

   There may not be a “model answer” for every question or project that one is faced with.  Different solutions may surface depending on the angle you are looking at.  It is like you looking through a prism. Light hitting the prism at a different angle will produce different colors of the rainbow.  The answer maybe easier then one had expected it to be.

5. Teach them how to reflect on their actions.

   For each action there is a consequence be it for good or bad. Being able to reflect will allow one to self assess what has been done properly and what needs to be corrected.  If the child is able to self reflect it will greatly increase their ability to understand their surroundings and how complex problems can be broken down and simplified.