1. Classroom Management
and the
Disruptive Student
A Pro-Active Approach
July 20th and 21st 2009
Hunterdon Central Regional High School
Adapted and Prepared by David M. Berger, MA, M.Ed.

2. Picture Time….
Now close your eyes and….
● Picture the student with whom you have
had the greatest difficulties in your
classroom…
● Picture the behaviors that student
exhibited….
● Picture how you reacted to those
behaviors….
● Please turn to the person next to you and
describe that student in terms of behaviors

3. Videos about Classroom
Management Techniques
● YouTube - How To Maintain Classroom
Discipline - Good And Bad Methods2.flv
● Dangerous Minds _ There is no victims in
this planet.flv
● Conscious Discipline® Composure.flv
● The Substitute Movie (Tom Berenger).flv
● Teachers (1983) Nick Nolte
● Sleeping Teacher (1983)

4. What is Classroom Management?
● It’s effective discipline
● It’s being prepared for class
● It’s motivating your students
● It’s providing a safe, comfortable learning
environment
● It’s building your students’ self esteem
● It’s being creative and imaginative in daily
lessons
● And . . .

5. . . . It’s different for EVERYONE!!
WHY?
● Teaching Styles
● Personality/Attitudes
● Student population
● Not all management strategies are effective
for every teacher
● Try different strategies to see if they work
for you

6. Why is Classroom Management
Important?
● Satisfaction and enjoyment in
teaching are dependent upon leading
students to cooperate
● Classroom management issues are of
highest concern for beginning
teachers

7. Principles for successful classroom
management
● Deal with disruptive behaviors but also manage
to minimize off-task, non-disruptive behaviors
● Teach students to manage their own behavior
● Students learn to be on-task and engaged in the
learning activities you have planned for them
● It is more natural to be off-task than on

8. Techniques for Better
Classroom Control
● Focus attention on entire class
● Don’t talk over student chatter
● Silence can be effective
● Use softer voice so students really have to
listen to what you’re saying (Paradoxical
Response)
● Direct your instruction so that students
know what is going to happen

9. Techniques for Better Classroom
Control
● Set the tone when they walk through the door
● Monitor groups of students to check progress
● Move around the room so students have to pay
attention more readily
● Give students non-verbal cues
● Engage in low profile intervention of disruptions
● Make sure classroom is comfortable and safe

10. Techniques for Better Classroom
Control
● Over plan your lessons to
ensure you fill the period
with learning activities
● Come to class prepared
● Show confidence in your
teaching
● Learn student names as
quickly as possible

11. Transition vs. Allocated Time
● Allocated time: the time periods you
intend for your students to be engaged
in learning activities
● Transition time: time periods that exist
between times allocated for learning
activities
● Examples
● Getting students assembled and attentive
● Assigning reading and directing to begin
● Getting students’ attention away from reading
and preparing for class discussion

12. Transition vs. Allocated Time
● The Goal:
● Increase the variety of learning activities
but decrease transition time.
● Student engagement and on-task
behaviors are dependent on how
smoothly and efficiently teachers
move from one learning activity to
another

13. Dr. Fred Jones’ study of off-task
behaviors
● 99% of off-task behaviors take one of
several forms
● Talking out of turn
● Clowning
● Daydreaming
● Moving about without permission
● Antisocial, dangerous behaviors make up a
fraction of the time students spend off-
task
● http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjSOmyFLKWA
● http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mcl1x4BrQ1g
● http://www.fredjones.com/Positive_Discipline/Discipline_Intro.html

14. Proximity and Body Language
● Eye contact, facial expressions, gestures,
physical proximity to students, and the
way you carry yourself will communicate
that you are in calm control of the class
and mean to be taken seriously.
● Be free to roam
● Avoid turning
back to class

15. Cooperation through
communication
● Verbalize descriptions of observable behaviors and never
value judgments about individuals
● Verbalize feelings but remain in control – Use “I”
statements.
● Speak only to people when they are ready to listen
● DO NOT USE SARCASM
● Do not place labels (good or bad)
● Do not get students hooked on praise
● Praise the work and behavior – not the students themselves

16. Classroom Rules For Conduct
● Formalized statements that provide students
with general guidelines for the types of
behaviors that are required and the types that
are prohibited
● A few rules are easier to remember than many
rules
● Each rule in a small set of rules is more
important than each rule in a large set of rules

17. Necessary classroom rules of
conduct
● Maximizes on-task behaviors and minimize off-
task (esp. disruptive) behaviors
● Secures the safety and comfort of the learning
environment
● Prevents the activities of the class from
disturbing other classes
● Maintains acceptable standards of decorum
among students, school personnel, and visitors
to the school campus

18. Ideas for Classroom Rules
By Melissa Kelly, About.com
<http://712educators.about.com/cs/backtoschool/a/classrules.htm>
● Come to class on time
● Begin the start up activity
within 1 minute after the
tardy bell.
● Attend to personal needs
before coming to class.
● Remain in your assigned
seat unless you have
permission to get up
● Do not eat candy or other
food in class unless you
have been given special
permission
6. Bring required materials
every day unless you are
otherwise directed.
7. Talk only when permitted
8. Use polite speech and body
language
9. Do not cheat
10. Follow the teacher's
directions immediately

19. Student Input for Classroom
Management Plan
Goals –
● These are the desirable behaviors in our
class-
● These are the rewards you can obtain
from doing these behaviors –
● These are the consequences if you don’t
follow our plan -

20. Establishing a “Businesslike”
Atmosphere
. . . Or, “Don’t Smile until
Christmas”

21. A Businesslike Atmosphere
● Take advantage of the first days of class
● Establish an environment in which
achieving specified learning goals takes
priority over other concerns
● It is much easier to establish this
environment from the beginning rather
than later
● Set up a seating chart….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQf_3_zc5Ec

22. 5 steps
● Take advantage of the new school year or term
to set the stage for cooperation
● Be particularly prepared and organized
● Minimize transition time
● Utilize a communication style that establishing
non-threatening, comfortable environment
● Clearly establish expectations for conduct

23. Disclosure Statement
● Used to clearly communicate expectations
to students and parents
● Refer back to the guidelines throughout
the term
● Not a legally binding document

24. Components of Disclosure
Statement
● Basic Course Outline
● Grading Procedures
● Include procedures for making up missed
work, extra credit, homework expected, etc.
● Attendance Policies (should be consistent with
school policy)
● Other class rules, policies, procedures
● Safety considerations as necessary
● Accommodation for disabilities statement
● Signature of student and parent/guardian

25. Room/lab arrangement
● Make sure all students can see and hear clearly
(and you can see them clearly)
● Arrangement is determined by learning activity
(lecture, class discussion, small group work,
etc.)
● Allow room and easy access for proximity control
● Think through class procedures and learning
activities and arrange the room in the best
possible way

26. Top 10 Tips for Classroom
Discipline and Management
By Melissa Kelly, About.com <http://712educators.about.com/od/discipline/tp/disciplinetips.htm>
● It’s Easier to Get Easier
● Fairness is Key
● Deal with Disruptions with
as Little Interruption as
Possible
● Avoid Confrontations in
Front of Students
● Stop Disruptions with a
Little Humor
6. Keep High Expectations in
Your Class
7. Overplan
8. Be Consistent
9. Make Rules
Understandable
10.Start Fresh Everyday

27. Top 10 Worst Things a Teacher Can Do
By Melissa Kelly, About.com
<http://712educators.about.com/od/teachingstrategies/tp/worstactions.htm>
● Avoid smiling and being
friendly with your
students.
● Becoming friends with
students while they are in
class
● Stop your lessons and
confront students for
minor infractions in class
● Humiliate students to try
and get them to behave.
● Yell.
6. Give your control over to
the students.
7. Treat students differently
based on personal likes
and dislikes.
8. Create rules that are
essentially unfair.
9. Gossip and complain about
other teachers.
10. Be inconsistent with
grading and/or accepting
late work.

28. Withitness
Withitness refers to a
teacher’s awareness of what
is going on in the classroom

29. Dealing with Difficult Students
A proactive approach…

30. Functions of Behavior
● Every behavior has a function
● Four primary reasons for disruptive
behavior in the classroom
● Power
● Revenge
● Attention
● Want to be left alone (i.e., disinterest or
feelings of inadequacy)

31. Functions of Behavior
● Many misbehaviors exhibited by students are
responses to a behavior exhibited by the teacher
● Do not tolerate undesirable behaviors no matter
what the excuse
● Understanding why a person exhibits a behavior
is no reason to tolerate it
● Understanding the function of a behavior will
help in knowing how to deal with that behavior
● Discipline Help: You Can Handle Them All

32. A Proactive Approach
● Stop! Don’t react to the behavior
● Analyze – What is really going on here?
● Identify the targeted behavior – must be
observable
● Develop a corrective plan of action
● Implement the plan
● Review the plan for effectiveness
● Modify and remain constant!!!

33. Dealing with off-task behaviors
● Remain focused and calm; organize thoughts
● Either respond decisively or ignore it all together
● Distinguish between off-task behaviors and off-
task behavior patterns
● Control the time and place for dealing with off-
task behavior
● Provide students with dignified ways to
terminate off-task behaviors

34. Dealing with off-task behaviors
● Avoid playing detective- Don’t Ask Why?
● Utilize alternative lesson plans (Increase your
bag of tricks.)
● Utilize the help of colleagues – Second Set of
Eyes…
● Utilize the help of guardians- Positive Contacts
1st !!!
● DO NOT USE CORPORAL PUNISHMENT
● A form of contrived punishment in which physical pain or
discomfort is intentionally inflicted upon an individual for the
purpose of trying to get that individual to be sorry he or she
displayed a particular behavior

35. Modifying off-task behavior
patterns
● Use the principle of “Shaping”
● Reinforce behaviors that are similar to
the behavior to be learned
● Subsequent actions that are more like
the behavior to be learned than
previous actions are reinforced
● Subsequent actions that are less like the
behavior to be learned than previous
actions are not positively reinforced

36. Attention Seeking Behavior
● Attention-seeking students prefer being
punished, admonished, or criticized to
being ignored
● Give attention to this student when he or
she is on-task and cooperating
● “Catch them being good!” – and let
them know you caught them

37. Power Seeking Behavior
● Power-seeking students attempt to
provoke teachers into a struggle of wills
● Diffuse interactions - In most cases,
the teacher should direct attention to
other members of the class away from the
provocateur

38. Behavior: Rambling -- wandering
around and off the subject. Using far-
fetched examples or analogies.
POSSIBLE RESPONSES:
o Refocus attention by restating relevant point.
o Direct questions to group that is back on the
subject
o Ask how topic relates to current topic being
discussed.
o Use visual aids, begin to write on board, turn on
overhead projector.
o Say: "Would you summarize your main point
please?" or "Are you asking...?"

39. Behavior: Shyness or Silence -- lack of
participation
POSSIBLE RESPONSES:
o Change teaching strategies from group discussion
to individual written exercises or a videotape
o Give strong positive reinforcement for any
contribution.
o Involve by directly asking him/her a question.
o Make eye contact. (Culturally Appropriate)
o Appoint to be small group leader.

40. Behavior: Talkativeness -- knowing
everything, manipulation, chronic
whining.
POSSIBLE RESPONSES:
o Acknowledge comments made.
o Give limited time to express viewpoint or feelings, and then
move on.
o Make eye contact with another participant and move toward
that person.
o Give the person individual attention during breaks.
o Say: "That's an interesting point. Now let's see what other
other people think."

41. Behavior: Sharpshooting -- trying to
shoot you down or trip you up.
POSSIBLE RESPONSES:
o Admit that you do not know the answer and
redirect the question the group or the individual
who asked it.
o Acknowledge that this is a joint learning
experience.
o Ignore the behavior.

42. Behavior: Heckling/Arguing --
disagreeing with everything you say;
making personal attacks.
POSSIBLE RESPONSES:
Redirect question to group or supportive
individuals.
o Recognize participant's feelings and move
one.
o Acknowledge positive points.
o Say: "I appreciate your comments, but I'd like
to hear from others," or "It looks like we
disagree."

43. Behavior: Grandstanding -- getting
caught up in one's own agenda or
thoughts to the detriment of other
learners.
POSSIBLE RESPONSES:
o Say: "You are entitled to your opinion, belief or
feelings, but now it's time we moved on to the
next subject," or
o "Can you restate that as a question?" or
o "We'd like to hear more about that if there is time
after the presentation."

44. Behavior: Overt Hostility/Resistance --
angry, belligerent, combative behavior.
POSSIBLE RESPONSES:
o Hostility can be a mask for fear. Reframe hostility as fear
to depersonalize it.
o Respond to fear, not hostility.
o Remain calm and polite. Keep your temper in check.
o Don't disagree, but build on or around what has been said.
o Move closer to the hostile person, maintain eye contact.
(Use your discretion!!!)
o Always allow him or her a way to gracefully retreat from
the confrontation – both emotionally and physically.
(Caged Tiger Syndrome.)

45. Behavior: Overt Hostility/Resistance --
angry, belligerent, combative behavior
(continued)POSSIBLE RESPONSES:
o Say: "You seem really angry. Does anyone else feel this
way?" Solicit peer pressure.
o Do not accept the premise or underlying assumption, if it is
false or prejudicial, e.g., "If by "queer" you mean
homosexual..."
o Allow individual to solve the problem being addressed. He or
she may not be able to offer solutions and will sometimes
undermine his or her own position.
o Ignore behavior – unless threat to self or others!!! Then
Dial “0”…
o Talk to him or her privately during a break.
o As a last resort, privately ask the individual to leave class for
the good of the group.

46. Behavior: Griping -- maybe legitimate
complaining.
POSSIBLE RESPONSES:
o Point out that we can't change policy here.
o Validate his/her point.
o Indicate you'll discuss the problem with the
participant privately.
o Indicate time pressure.

47. Behavior: Side Conversations -- may be
related to subject or personal. Distracts
group members and you.POSSIBLE RESPONSES:
o Don't embarrass talkers.
o Ask their opinion on topic being discussed. Draw
them into the lesson.
o Ask talkers if they would like to share their ideas.
o Casually move toward those talking.
o Make eye contact with them.
o Standing near the talkers, ask a near-by participant
a question so that the new discussion is near the
talkers.
As a last resort, stop and wait.

48. What do you do?
● Scenarios A – F will be presented
● While working with a group of 4 or 5 discuss
how you would deal with the student.
● Have one person in each group prepare to
report out to the class as to your plan of action.
● Please use modalities presented from this in-
service.

49. Scenario A
Every day one student in class keeps
moving around the room socializing with
other students. Once redirected – the
behavior corrects until the next
transitional activity. Negative
consequences have not seemed to work.

50. Scenario B
Every day a student comes to class right as
the bell is ringing –racing through the
door- noisily taking his/her seat. After
rummaging through his/her bag, and
getting situated (which usually takes 5
minutes) the student is ready to learn –
until you ask for the homework to be
turned in – and then the procedure starts
all over again…

51. Scenario C
Several students are sub-grouping in class
while they are suppose to be working on a
cooperative project. They are socializing
with other groups and claim that they are
always on task when you ask them to get
to work…

52. Scenario D
Its Monday morning and a student enters
your class extremely agitated. S/he is
aggressively posturing with other students
around him. The students around her/him
are feeling threatened but one student
keeps coming to the aggressors aide
telling everyone to “lay off”. The behavior
seems to be decreasing but the tension in
the room is a distraction from the lesson.

53. Scenario E
Every time you have the students do in-class seat
work, one student becomes exasperated and
states that he/she doesn’t need to do it.
“What’s the point of all this anyway? We don’t
need this stuff in the real world…” When you
redirect the student’s attention the situation
escalates and becomes hostile. The student’s
grandstanding has placed a rift in the class as to
who is in charge?

54. Scenario F
A student received a failing grade. Feeling
this was unjust, he/she attempted to get
even with the teacher by sabotaging the
lessons. S/He would refuse to answer
questions or do any work. Instead s/he
would lean back in the chair, with daggers
in his/her eyes, and sneer at you. Other
students are feeling the tension in the
class.

55. References
● Cangelosi, James S. (1988). Classroom Management Strategies: Gaining
and Maintaining Students’ Cooperation. New York: Longman.
● Cantor, Lee,(1990) “Assertive Discipline and Beyond”, Santa Monica, CA
● Charles, C.M. (1989) Building Classroom Discipline: From Models to
Practice. New York: Longman
● Johnson, David, & Roger Johnson, Learning Together and Alone, (1975)
Englewood Cliffs, NJ : Prentice- Hall
● Jones, Fred, “Classroom Management”
<http://www.usu.edu/aste/ag_ed/inservice/ntafiles/unit04/classroom_mana
gement.ppt#257,2,What is Classroom Management?) 28 January 2007.