"The Battle"- Round 2

Now that you have had the chance to depersonalize the situation a bit, let's talk about your initial strategy towards eliminating classroom disrespect. First, you must come to a better understanding of the group dynamics at work in your classroom. Although there may be many students who engage in disrespectful classroom behavior, a few of the problematic students wield more influence than the others. If you are able to identify and influence those individuals, you just may stand a fighting chance of turning things around. Spend some time carefully observing the way that your students act in the classroom. Who seems to be most respected? Who do the students look to for approval? Who seems to be "calling the shots"? Who has the power to influence others? Who are the leaders?

Once you have identified these individuals, focus your energy on gaining their respect in some way. You will need to develop a customized strategy for each leader. In general, students do not respond well to being "called out" or confronted publicly. Yet, you may need to do so in order to prevent having your authority completely disregarded. The most effective way to influence the leaders is to address them in one-on-one conversations. In the beginning, you may need to be extremely firm with them. They need to know that the way they are acting is completely unacceptable. If they demand to know why they are the only ones being talked to, inform them that they are not the only ones. Explain that you prefer to deal with the issue in private rather than in front of the entire class. Although you will have to be "as tough as nails" in the beginning, never stop trying to build rapport with them. A strong rapport with your students greatly reduces the need to hand out disciplinary consequences. If you have patience, persistence, and the ability to forgive past offenses, you can steadily work yourself out of the present distress and into a new classroom culture in which you can begin to realize your full potential as an educator. If you're reading this and have any specific questions for me, please let me know and I'll do my best to help... Good luck and stay strong.