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No matter if you are an inspiring teacher getting ready to enter the field, a first year teacher, or a Veteran teacher with many years behind you. Some things your students may say or do will affect you in some way, and how you react to it sets the tone for the class. While, the rules that we put in place for our classroom or those put in place by the school set the precedent for the environment, its how the individual teacher reacts to those who chose to not follow the rules that sets the tone for the class.
Some of us if not all of us have been in a classroom where we witnessed a teacher yell, because they were tired of all the Disruptive Behaviour that was occurring, and they just had enough. Then after the initial shock from the class it just continues because the class now knows the Teacher’s limit on what they can get away with. Children are crafty, because when they are told they can’t do something they will find a way to do it.
When it comes to finding success in disruptive behavior, teachers need to be held accountable for how they react. If a student is being disruptive or is off task while you are teaching, and you stop teaching the class to correct the behavior, all other students are missing out on the opportunity to learn, not only that but it not only puts your attention to that student but also every student turns to see what they are doing. That reaction only reinforces the disruptive behavior. Instead of calling the student out you can talk to the student during a time of transition, or walk over to them without saying anything and just stand there and continue teaching.
Another important detail with accountability is knowing what you need to be held accountable for. A great way to ensure that you are being held accountable (and your students) is the creation of an accountability agreement that both you and your students create. Much like the creation of a class mission statement it gets both parties are involved in what it contains. However, with the accountability agreement you can see what the students expect from you, and what they want you to be held accountable for. The accountability agreement should be done twice a year once at the beginning and then after Winter Break, because students may move away or move into the class this way everyone can be included and you can revisit things that worked well or things that didn’t.
Taking ownership of your behaviors and reactions, allows you to grow as a person and that is what finding the success in disruptive behavior truly is. The behavior becomes something you can learn from, and with learning comes growth.
