How "Disruptive" Students Can Become Your Favorite Students

Hey, Teachers!

How do you reach a tough group of learners? The ones causing you to feel angry and possibly, defeated?  You want a thriving classroom. But you're unable to teach because of behaviors that are off-task, dismissive, apathetic, or even violent and threatening.

Parents may or may not be supporting you.

Administration may be criticizing you or leaving solutions completely up to you.

Common labels we give students who aren't willing to work, not trying their best, enjoying derailing instruction, and interrupting the flow of the teaching and learning dynamic:

• disruptive
• bad students
• class clowns
• troublemakers
• instigators 
• hecklers
• deviants
• thugs or punks

It's easy to label students. It's easy because we get frustrated and discouraged, especially when the majority of the class isn't paying attention and won't do the work, and we're tired, we've tried everything, and it doesn't matter how many times students are reprimanded, sent to the office, or home contacts have been made: nothing's changing.

But that's just it.

What we're allowing ourselves to do in negative situations affecting the flow and harmony of classroom instruction is to sit with a set of beliefs that perpetuates those problems. That doesn't mean the problems aren't real or that we created them. What this means is that our beliefs about what's possible and the way we see our students' motivation affect how motivated they will be in our classroom under our direct guidance and supervision.

• If we've given up, they will give up.
• If we think they are "X", they will think they are "X".
• If we aren't motivated, why should they be?

The experience of disconnect between teacher and student is that unique valley in our individual teaching landscapes that teacher prep programs (if you even went through one) can touch upon but can't fully cover. Because every classroom is different and every school year is unique. And our students are individuals. 

And so are we.

So, how do we combat the belief that learning is "doomed" in a classroom of students who resist our efforts and the curriculum? The belief that kids can't be reached? That there's little hope? That this is "just what we're working with" these days?

👉🏼Following are two ways we must change as educators, if we want to "reach and teach" students who are telling us they could not care less about our class, school, or being "good students". Before we can begin a lesson, we must get behavior under control.

👉🏼This can be a real challenge, but it's the stuff that refines our teaching skills and becomes our achievements as educators.

1. Mindset

The first thing we need to do when trying to reach students who are off-task and "disruptive" is to get in touch with our own teaching beliefs. This includes what we want to see, what we believe is possible, and what beliefs about the current group need to change for us to envision a bridge to reach them.

👉🏼What beliefs might be roadblocks to your own motivation and your students' motivation?

The second thing we need to do is recognize that students in today's classrooms are anxious. Although our students are negatively affected by digital media, increased threats to safety, and may feel more marginalized than in years' past, our students still crave structure, nurture, even more so than ever before, an explanation so they know the "why" behind our instructional objectives and goals.

Where can we place our "objective lens" to underscore the disconnect? Where can we scrutinize the problem space in our classroom? How many students are truly off-task, and who are those individuals? Have we bothered to discover why those individuals are making these choices? Are we fun to annoy? What are our reactions or responses?

The third thing we need to do is ask ourselves what we're willing to change about (a) our perspectives; (b) our attitude; and (c) our demeanor.

How do we behave when students are misbehaving? How emotional do we get? Are we sarcastic? Do our rules and regulations send the message that we expect students to be disruptive? 

And most importantly: How do we see our students? Are they flowers in a garden with no weeds? Are they the most dreaded group of people we have to deal with in a day? Are they burdensome? 

Or are our students an opportunity? 🌱

Food for thought: The greatest innovators of this world are all disruptors. Disruption doesn't have to be negative. We can channel that energy into something good.

If our students remain an opportunity in our current teaching mindset, no matter how bad it's been, we can create breakthroughs. Because we want those breakthroughs. For them. Think of some of the most iconic examples of teacher-student breakthroughs historically (Anne Sullivan, Jaime Escalante, Erin Gruwell), and countless other names who've made headlines, movies, or books over the last few centuries...

No, you don't have to make headlines, movies, or books, but yes, discovering creatively how to build a bridge between resistant learners and where you want them to arrive at the end of the semester or school year is paramount.

And you're the guide. You always will be. It's a day-by-day process.

2. Teaching style and approach

The first thing we need to do when trying to reach students who are off-task and "disruptive" is to take inventory of our own teaching limitations (could be bans and difficult policies, stifling or traditional teaching methods, lack of resources, or relationship deficits). This includes the politics of your state and local governance, decisions parents are making about what you can and can't do, archaic models of instruction, reduction in supplies, training, or staff, shorter class periods, overcrowded classrooms, administrators who are waiting to catch you doing something wrong, unsupportive colleagues, poor building infrastructure, being a roving teacher, and so much more...

What limitations impact how your students feel in your class? What limitations or burdens do your students have before they step into your classroom? And are you working with "peanuts" but expected to create miracles? How much is your own stress contributing to poor outcomes?

Understanding the limitations you are dealing with can shed light on some of the problem space and causes for student disinterest or motivation.

The second thing we need to do is consider how we're approaching the curriculum. Is your class a "canned" class? What have former students said about you? Is your class predictable? Too easy or too hard? Are you expecting students to perform at a certain level that's nearly impossible? Have you considered reteaching and omitting some of the desired curriculum to ensure student self-efficacy with the materials?

Where can we place our "objective lens" to underscore why students don't care about what we're doing or teaching? Students who are talking out, getting other students riled up, who are aggressive, or who come to class ready to derail instruction are getting something out of doing so. This requires a little (or a lot) of detective work IF we want to create potential pathways for learning. If students don't value what we're offering, they will continue the behavior. That behavior is reinforcing something.

How can you turn this around? Do something different your "misbehaving students" won't expect? Or put students in charge, as in leadership positions? Or turn "talking out" into talking about the lesson, as in a teachable moment? 

• Students may not like what they are learning.

• Students may not feel capable of what they are learning.

• Students may be preoccupied with personal hardships such as hunger, parental difficulties, bullying, self-harm, feeling like a misfit, or feeling like a failure. 

• Students may also have this idea that you don't like them. So, what better way to get the upper hand than to trip you up each day?

The third thing we need to do is ask ourselves what we're willing to do to discover the human condition in our group of learners so we can get behavior under control. This is the hardest role we have. It has nothing to do with academia or performance data. It has to do with the human heart.

• Do your students know you care?

• How are you communicating that you want to help them 1:1? Are you investing time in that effort, even if it's inconvenient?

• Are you approachable? Critical? Kind? Dismissive? Enthusiastic? How do you talk to students individually? Do you command or do you encourage? Do you yell or do you remain centered?

• In some situations, getting your mentor teacher, co-teacher, grade level or department chair, instructional coach, or supervisor involved could help, but ONLY if you've shown what you've done to rectify the situation, with documentation. Leaning on trusted staff for support might provide some insights, but appearing unable to control a class could land you low marks on the final performance evaluation. 

• Be careful how much you share with administration that is purely voluntary (not ethically mandated).

And lastly, some basic go-to strategies may be all you need to "nip things in the bud" in your classroom:

• move seats and break up friends who are chatty (off-task)

• call on students all over the classroom, not only in a few spots

• create a climate of equity related to access to classroom materials and voice 

• emphasize social-emotional learning skills such as defining what kindness is, having an anonymous dropbox for kind behaviors students are noting, with rewards

• acknowledge all the positive stuff more than you focus on the wrongdoings

• learn what your students are interested in and love to do

• teach students the procedural knowledge for steps you want them to demonstrate, including moving from one activity to the next

Some initial questions to ask:

• Have you identified the students who exhibit behaviors of "can't" vs. "won't"?

• Have you identified students who are at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Levels 1 and 2: physiological and safety needs?

• Have you made assumptions about student learning that conflict with what students, can do, want to do, or are willing to do?

• Are you applying our psychology of learning to younger generations?

• Have you investigated how younger generations are thinking and feeling given the insurgence of digital media and AI?

• How willing are you to make necessary changes in teaching style, to accommodate the learners sitting in your classrooms this school year?

When you're able to get students walking on a very unique and tailored bridge that you are constructing with them, this can be the most life-changing and inspiring teaching experience you will ever have. It will teach you how to be a better practitioner. Similar hurdles won't seem so big. 

And no, we don't reach every student in our careers. We're only human. I often liken this challenge to a puzzle or a mystery. There's an answer. There's a magical key. 

We just have to find it.

Our students need us. They want to be accepted and to belong. If we write them off, we end the story far too soon, before "what could have been" even had a chance. 

Some of the most rewarding teaching experiences in my life have come from truly turning around a classroom hardship. Imagine the students who are "disruptive" smiling, offering to assist, asking questions about the content, and teaching others. Imagine the students who are "disruptive" thanking you for caring about them. Imagine the students who are "disruptive" telling you in 10 years how because of you, they went down the right path in life.

It takes courage, energy, and perseverance to "reach and teach" students who challenge us. 

But to me, this is what teaching has always been about.