At six years old, Curtis is already a handful. He is often out of his seat, doesn’t do much of his work, and likes to bully others. He is at his worst in the least supervised places like the cafeteria, hallway, and playground. When told what to do, he rarely complies. Ms. Lane has called home several times, taken recess away, changed his seat numerous times, and used stars and stickers to little avail. The color-coded (red, yellow, green) system of discipline that works for most of the “good” kids does little to influence Curtis. He misbehaves his way to “red” by 10:00 a.m. most days and therefore loses privileges.
Devon, Sherry, and Latoya are older and text their friends rather than focus on the lesson. Mrs. Martin tells each of them to put away their phones. Within seconds, they are back at it. Mrs. Martin warns that she will take the phones away, but Devon tells her that she has no right to do that. She reminds him that she is the teacher and therefore has every right to take it. Unafraid, he continues his defiance, and Mrs. Martin eventually sends him to the principal. Sherry and Latoya comply for a moment, but as soon as Mrs. Martin’s back is turned, they begin texting again. Meanwhile, Julio has his head down on his desk. When called on, he has no idea what is going on and says, “This is stupid.” Carl tells him to shut up, after which Samantha tells Carl to shut up. These skirmishes go on for several minutes interspersed with an occasional reference to the day’s lesson. Just as things have settled down, Devon walks back in unaccompanied from the office. Although he seemed to see the error of his ways with the principal and promised to be good upon returning to class, he continues right where he left off. He makes noises and funny faces while waving his cell phone. Exasperated, Mrs. Martin resumes her efforts to gain control with minimal success.
Next door, Ms. Highland welcomes a new student to her special education resource class. Jermaine recently returned home after living in a group home for a year due to a number of problems, including active displays of hostility toward authority figures. On his first day, Jermaine is distantly quiet in class as Ms. Highland leads an academic discussion. Toward the very end of class, Ms. Highland attempts to engage him.
She says, “Jermaine, because you’re a new student in our class, I am interested in hearing any thoughts, ideas, or impressions you have of our class.”
Jermaine stares ahead; then, without changing expression, he looks directly at Ms. Highland and says, “I think this class sucks!” Some students become intensely quiet as they await Ms. Highland’s response, while others take on more of a “What are you going to do about it?” posture.
Ms. Highland takes a few deep breaths, scratches her head, looks directly at Jermaine, and says matter-of-factly, “Jermaine, there may be some truth to that. Maybe after class, you can tell me how you think things could get better here. Thanks for speaking your mind.” Unrattled, she deftly redirects the class back to the lesson.
After class, she meets with Jermaine, asks him a bit about what led him to his opinion, and then lets him know that, in the future, she would appreciate him sharing his specific thoughts in a more appropriate way. She gives him an example of how he could let her know in the future. She says, “Jermaine, I might be a little old fashioned, but just so you know, I am way more likely to listen when I hear words like ‘I didn’t like the class’ or ‘I thought it was boring’ rather than ‘This class sucks.’ Now what was it that turned you off?”
Jermaine shares a few details and without any prompting, he apologizes.
Although most students who misbehave and escalate a power struggle are almost always struggling with issues unrelated to the problem at hand, how we respond to the challenging moment and what we do afterward can strongly affect whether or not these problems continue, get worse, or improve. Too often, behaviors like Curtis’s and those of Mrs. Martin’s students exhaust the teacher and erode the classroom climate needed for success. While not all challenging moments end as successfully as Jermaine and Ms. Highland’s, there are many things educators can learn to say and do to defuse power struggles effectively. This book offers a variety of specific ways of doing just that.
How we respond to the challenging moment and what we do afterward can strongly affect whether or not these problems continue, get worse, or improve.
We estimate that 70 to 80 percent of challenging student behavior is primarily attributable to factors outside the school, such as dysfunctional families, unsupportive parents, inability to see how success at school will matter in life, violence in society, the effects of drugs and alcohol, a culture that too often values fast and easy solutions, and fragmented communities. While teachers are rarely the root cause of these behaviors, there is much we can do to keep these behaviors from occurring or escalating in our classrooms.
Power struggles develop when students refuse to follow the rules, fail to accept a consequence, or follow the rules and even accept the consequences, but do so with an attitude. Some students are actively defiant and challenge authority at every turn, while others are quietly hostile, like those who refuse to talk or do their work.
Although passive-aggressive students can be frustrating to work with, the authority of the educator is most obviously challenged by students who are verbally and actively challenging. Not only is a power struggle occurring between the teacher and student, but a classroom full of onlookers (students) usually watches every move. Most educators feel angry when students push their buttons, and they let their anger take hold by pushing back. While giving in to the fight-or-flight response is understandable, doing so only serves to escalate the situation, leading to a no-win outcome. Typically, the final move used by the teacher is to either isolate the student in time-out or send the student to the office. Rarely do these solutions work.
Unfortunately, teachers are set up on day one at a huge disadvantage in numbers. In most classrooms, there are at least twenty-five students but only one teacher. However, great discipline and classroom management can level the playing field, and every teacher can learn these skills and defuse power struggles before they begin. These skills will be effective year after year, because students are extremely predictable. The faces change every year, but the behaviors remain the same. This is a good thing! In addition, teaching is one of the most predictable professions in the entire world. Think about it. We know the exact days of the week we are going to work, the exact times we are going to work, and the exact place we are going to be. In what other profession do the customers (students) return every single day even if the product (teaching and curriculum) isn’t viewed as satisfactory? We teachers have more control and knowledge than we sometimes realize; we gain wisdom through our experience working with all kinds of students.
Knowing what difficult students are going to do before they do it helps us prepare a response to their challenges. A power struggle is similar to a bad storm—doesn’t it end up being much worse when you didn’t know it was coming? When properly prepared with food, shelter, and maybe a good book or new release, the storm can actually become a break from the daily grind. When a teacher is properly prepared with the right strategies, inappropriate student behavior can actually present an opportunity to teach and show students how and why they are expected to behave. We will provide you with strategies to help keep the storm away. Just as importantly, though, we will show you how to forecast and understand which supplies to keep with you and use in case the storm hits. Part of this prediction stems from understanding root causes of behavior.
Understanding the why behind misbehavior is key in figuring out what needs to be done to fix it. Think of the behavior (calling you names, throwing a chair, not sitting still) as a stomachache. A stomachache is usually a symptom of something else: overeating, food poisoning, flu. If you take an antacid, the symptom might go away for a short period of time, but the condition might get worse. When we understand the root cause of a behavior, we can tailor the “medicine” to fit the individual issues.
Fortunately, there are highly predictable categories that help us understand why students misbehave. They include the need for:
• Attention
• Power or control
• Belonging
Memorize these reasons, and you will quickly be able to dissect the root cause of a misbehavior, which will allow you to figure out the proper strategy to fix the problem.
There are two types of attention-seeking kids. The first type gets little if any attention at home or elsewhere. In his mind, bad attention is better than no attention. He acts out because then people notice him. Being the disruptive kid has become his identity. What do you do? Shower him with attention for doing anything well—and we mean anything. Walking into a class correctly, making eye contact, having a good twenty minutes … praise him like crazy, but be sure to do it privately. Public praising turns off a lot of difficult kids because many feel they have to act cool to save face with their peers, while others may think you are trying to manipulate them to be “good” more often. When he acts out, he needs to be ignored. This will be difficult, but remember the root of his problem is the desire for attention. Do not waver; only give attention for positive behaviors that you want to encourage.
The second type of attention-seeking kid gets too much attention at home. She usually has parents who make excuses for her. She is coddled and spoiled. She goes to bed when she wants, eats what she wants, and rarely has to share anything. Once she’s old enough, she comes to school. School is all about doing everything she has never had to do at home: wait in line, take turns, say please and thank you, raise her hand. She must learn to live without constant attention and instant gratification. Offering a positive challenge usually works better with this student. For example, a teacher might say to a student who hates standing in line, “Just about anybody can complain about not getting his or her way. Not everyone is able to take turns. I guess we’ll see if you have what it takes!” Notice how the symptom (the desire for attention) is the same, but the medicine is different.
All humans want to feel like they have some influence and control in their lives. In fact, a lot of rigorous research confirms that the feeling of control—the belief that you have the power to influence and shape even small aspects of your fate—can have an enormous impact on one’s well-being. In a classic study, Langer and Rodin (1976) found that patients in nursing homes who were given small choices about such things as which nights to attend movies, what time to have their meals, and how to arrange their furniture not only engaged in more recreational activities than patients without these choices, but they had a 50 percent lower death rate at an eighteen-month follow-up. Much of our research (Curwin, Mendler, & Mendler, 2008) has shown that when students are given a voice in developing and modifying classroom rules, they are much more apt to follow those rules as opposed to rules developed only by the teacher.
School is often not set up for giving or sharing control, however. Students are told what to do, when to do it, and how long they have to get it done. Giving students a sense of control is especially important when you want to change their behaviors. After all, students make the decision to act out or not. We have seen various attempts at encouraging student engagement in changing their behaviors. When we visited a school in Arkansas, for example, an elementary teacher used a “boat system” to try to modify student behavior. Down the left-hand side of a big chart on the wall, each student’s name was written on a cardboard cut-out boat. Across the top were three different categories: your boat was smooth sailing, your boat was in rocky water, or your ship had sunk!
Giving students a sense of control is especially important when you want to change their behaviors.
The teacher asked what we thought about her system. Our first question was, “Who moves the boat?” Not who literally moves the cardboard cut-out, but who decides when the boat moves from one column to another? If the student has a say in deciding, we like the boat system much more than if the teacher decides on her own. Most kids seeking power want to have a say in what happens to them.
Our second question was, “What happens when a student’s boat sinks?” Does the student drown, or does she get another boat? Is she given another boat, or does she have to do something to earn one? Our recommendation was for the teacher to meet individually with students and try to come to an agreement about where both she and the student think the boat should be. If the boat had sunk or was in danger of sinking, she should elicit a plan from the student to “right the ship.” Students who are seeking power or control need to learn and practice better ways of influencing the events and people around them than by acting out.
The final two reasons students misbehave are tied directly to how well they perform on a daily basis in school. People need to believe they can master a challenge in order to access the effort and determination necessary for success. Kids who don’t understand what is going on in the classroom are like tourists in a foreign country who don’t know the language. Unless an interpreter is present, they feel lost and confused. School is set up for some students to succeed; many are able to sit still, pay attention, follow directions, and memorize information for tests and quizzes. Others may be very smart, but not school smart. Unfortunately, since they think they are not smart enough to succeed, they may mask their inadequacy by acting out or pretending not to care.
Most students have a strong need to feel connected. Some naturally get this need met because they connect well to the curriculum, the teacher, and other kids who do well at school. Others may belong to a sports team, musical group, or religious organization. For some students who do poorly academically or do not belong to any positive group, however, belonging is directly tied to disrupting class. They want to feel part of a group, so they seek others like them who feel disconnected—others who have given up, or are giving up, on the idea that they can succeed in school.
Preventing the storm begins with teachers telling their students what to expect before the bad weather hits. Let students know that you will respond to every infraction, but perhaps not at the moment it occurs; that you will offer private words of praise or correction on occasion, and that these are between you and the individual student; that you will differentiate instruction based on needs; and that you welcome their feedback on how you can be the best teacher they’ve ever had. Following are a number of different prevention phrases guaranteed to help significantly reduce the severity of power struggles. Many power struggles start over issues of consequences, fairness, embarrassment, and being told what to do. Unlike a script that actors might be expected to follow verbatim, these are offered as examples for handling such issues. You need to phrase things in a manner that is comfortable for you. Expect excellent results if your phrase captures the essence of the examples that follow.
Frequency: Preferably said on the first day of school or early in the school year, and repeated regularly until students understand.
Prevention Phrase:
Unfortunately, some of you in this class might do and say some rude, nasty, inappropriate, or mean things. I know this because it has happened almost every year I’ve been a teacher. I just want to let you all know right now that if and when it happens, I will not always be stopping our lesson to deal with it. It doesn’t mean I didn’t hear or see it, because I probably did. There isn’t too much I miss. It also doesn’t mean I am going to ignore it, because there is a very good chance I will address it. I believe in consequences, and there will be consequences in this classroom this year. Sometimes I just think teaching is more important in that moment, so I will continue with the lesson, and I will expect you all to continue to learn. I might decide to wait until later to deal with the student, because I will usually not allow one inappropriate behavior to get in the way of my teaching. But I am not ignoring these behaviors. I usually wait until I can have some private time with the student and will deal with it then. By the way, one last thing: if I decide a consequence is warranted, it will be between the individual student and me and nobody else. I will not be sharing individual consequences with the entire class. Is there anything you don’t understand?
After questions, give the students an example:
Here is an example of what I mean. I might drop by someone’s desk [pick a student] and tell him to knock it off. As I am walking away, he might roll his eyes, deny doing anything wrong, or mumble something under his breath that is just loud enough for me to hear [It will never be “thank you for correcting me”]. Some of you might wonder if I heard him and what I am going to do about it. Trust me, yes, I heard it, and yes, I am going to do something about it—it just might not be at the exact time you all think I should.
Frequency: First day of school, early in the year, and repeated until they get it
Prevention phrase:
There are going to be many times this year that I drop by your desk, table, or workstation to deliver a message that is only for your ears. It might be something positive, or I might be correcting a behavior I do not like. After I do this, some of you might wonder what I said to the individual person. I just want to let you all know right now that I will not be sharing that message with the entire class. More than likely, I will drop by your desk this year just as often as I drop by everyone else’s. Don’t worry about what I said unless I was talking to you.
Frequency: Often—especially early in the year
Prevention phrase:
Being fair means that every individual will get what he or she needs in order to be successful. Being equal means everyone gets exactly the same thing. I promise you I will always do my best to be fair to each and every one of you in this classroom this year. This means I guarantee you all right now I will not always be treating you exactly the same way. For example, you might get ten problems to complete, and your best friend in the whole world might only get five. I am not saying this will happen. I am just saying it might happen. And if it does, I do not want to hear anyone complain that I am not being fair. You might complain that I am not treating you equally, but I am not promising to treat you equally. I am promising to be fair.
Frequency: As often as you would like
Prevention Phrase:
Hey, everybody, I just want to let you know that I have been your teacher now for _____ [two weeks, six weeks, two months, and so on], and I really, really, really hope you are enjoying my class and learning a lot. If you are not enjoying my class, if I am not being a good teacher for you, if there are ways I can make this class better for you, I want to share how you can let me know directly. My door is always open for you to tell me exactly what I can do to make this class better for you. Five to ten years from now, when someone asks you who one of your best teachers was, I want you to say me. Right now is the time to make that happen. I am not saying I will completely change the way I teach because some of you may not like my style. However, if you come and talk to me privately, there is pretty much nothing you can say to me that will get you in trouble. You can even tell me my teaching sucks [naturally, use age-appropriate language]. Of course, I might ask you to pick a more appropriate word. I might also ask for specific suggestions about how I can be better. But please do not hesitate to talk to me privately. If I do not hear from you, I will assume you are enjoying the class, are satisfied with how you are doing, and have no suggestions for how I can make things better!
Many power struggles can be prevented by letting your students know how you will handle misbehavior if and when it occurs and assuring them that you will listen to and learn from them if they are unhappy with something you said or did. Since most kids who regularly invite power struggles are actually trying to have one or more of their basic needs fulfilled, prevention is primarily about implementing classroom practices that make students want to behave.