As an instructor I sometimes have to play the role of a therapist. Observe, Listen to their concerns and then reafirm my position. I am here to help you.
Good tips and tricks for dealing with challenging students.
If a student is upset, it is important to hear why they are angry. This allows a teacher to be able to accurately address the student's concern while also understanding what that student needs in order to learn and suceed.
I have learned that I must consider that a student issue may stem from my own inadequacies as a teacher or a bias that I might not be aware of. I must be sure to assess my own performance when my students are struggling. I also realize that many students may try to manipulate my sweet nature and use my trust to gain favors or try and cheat on the assessments. I know that I must clarify all expectations at the beginning of class and be responsible on my end for timelines and grades so that the students don't get the idea that homework and reading assignments don't matter if I never take them up or look at them in class.
Being a psychiatric nurse helps when it comes to managing difficult people, but it is still good to have the opportunity to learn additional input and strategies on how to do so.
Remembering to remain calm and allowing the student to say his/her piece before speaking and asking what type of resolution they are wanting/expecting. Sometimes all they needed to do was get their frustration out and had not even thought about what an appropriate resolution might be. Sometimes venting is enough.
I learned that assessing your students ability to learn is challenging. Perhaps someone that is quiet, loud, aggressive, disruptive can contribute to class dynamics. Acceptable dynamics in the class setting is important for class learning experience.
I realize that not all students are equally ready to approach the class in the most productive way, but this module helped highlight some of the ways in which I can address any disconnects between myself and a student or a student and the class itself. The idea about listening before responding aligns with my policy of always allowing students to voice their concerns or any disagreements so long as they remain civil, and the conversation doesn't derail the class unnecessarily.
Taking away the opportunity for cheating and having a rapport with the students have been the most successful ways to thwart cheating for me.
I have had to deal with angry and cheating students. I feel consistency and empathy go a long way without allowing them to try to make excuses for their unprofessionalism.
The biggest takeaway for me in this section was documentation when it comes to difficult students, a disruptive student, angry student, and cheating student all need to have measures of documentation to navigate the situation for yourself, the student, and possibly a third party if it comes to that. I also liked the ways to incorporate your silent students, a lot of times those are your best students so finding ways to include them like the small group setting for example is a great way to bring out their potential and keep them involved.
I found that when you set clear expectation for how a student should behave and the possible consequences that it helps keep the classroom setting active and it also helps keep the environment positive.
Student dismissal is a delicate situation and should be handled properly.
The silent student is one to always keep in mind and think about engagement.
Great ideas! Many of them I already use, but some new ones are always helpful. Today’s learner can be challenging and the way you manage them can make the classroom effective or not.
Disruptive students should not be tolerated as it affects other's learning.
Good information and advise to help an instructor recognize the tatics and challenges he/she may be facing from a students way of manipulating authority and challenging an instructors abilities to maintain focus in a classroom.
It is with making a difficult decision which must be made if the instructor has to have a disruptive student removed from the classroom. However, an instructor must demand respect and maintain control of his/her classroom.
Asking a student to leave my class sounds like a very difficult day.
Oftentimes, as an instructor, we can see something fishy is happening but will ignore it out of fear of retaliation from the student. It can be a slippery slope when accusing any person of something. So we must be very careful to make sure we are 1. not compromising our own or other students' safety. 2. we don't cause strife in an innocent person's life. Be sure to know you are right when making accusations and always document everything.
