One of the biggest classroom management mistakes teachers make is that they take disrespectful behavior of students personally. Here are some sure ways to help you deal with disrespectful students and ensure that your class is not being disrupted.
Stick to your plan
When you are coming to the class, you must be having some plans about how to carry out the lesson. Your goal is to pass on some teachings and make sure that they are interpreted by the students in the same way. You cannot afford to pay attention to students who are not interested in anything but disrupting your lessons. You will realize that you are just shooting yourself in the leg by reacting to such pupils. You should treat it with complete indifference and stick to your plans for the day. The student is not going to decide the course of the class, but you will. This indifference strengthens your authority and your classroom management skills and it also acts as a deterrent for the student who can see that his acts have no impact on you. This may seem difficult in the beginning and the students may feel that they won by making you feel disrespected and still getting away with it, but as long as you donât let them get under your skin, you are on the winning side.
Set the rules
When you are taking a class, as a teacher you have plenty of responsibilities and to deal with these responsibilities, you have certain discretionary powers. These include setting up punishments for indiscipline and misbehavior in the class. You may use your powers to set certain rules for the class and then let the students know about them. Be very clear that the students are not under the cloud over this issue. Also it is important not to exaggerate, just to set up an example, simple mistakes should not earn harsh punishments. It will make you lose respect of your students and will make them think that you are incapable of dealing with them, and hence are resorting to punishments.
Be honest
One thing that will surely earn you a lot of respect is honesty and determination. You should not make any comment emotionally; anything that you say to the class should be perfectly honest. Do not make tall claims and then fall short of fulfilling them. Your students will then start taking you lightly and would not think much of the consequences before taking any step. Strictly follow what you say in the class and do not change it even for your own convenience. This will show the students that you are a man of your words and will earn you a lot of respect. This will also makes sure that misbehaving students know that you will be true to your word if they cross their lines. Do not show any kind of favoritism. Treat every student equally.
Set an example
As a teacher, you have to be the right role model for your students. None of your students will ever consider following your teachings if you yourself do not follow them. You should avoid telling students how you expect them to be or why they should not behave in a particular manner. Be pleasant to everybody, even to the misbehaving ones. This will humiliate them further and may stir their conscience. It is generally seen that a particular set of students misbehave with all teachers and are not liked by any of them. Your polite and kind behavior will surprise these students. This will endear you to them and generate respect for you.
Make allowances
It is important as a teacher to be understanding and forgiving. You cannot think about yourself without considering the student and their future. Any action of misbehavior or disrespect, no matter how big or small, should be treated without any emotion attached. Otherwise there will remain no difference between you and your student. You need to show them who is the better guy around. And also remember to make certain allowances, do not be too strict with the students and try to build a close bond with them. On certain occasions when you find that they have toed the line, treat them kindly and give them a chance to correct themselves. Keep the enmity to bare minimum and extend a hand of friendship to them. Everybody deserves a second chance, and itâs your responsibility as a teacher to correct these children.
