So you have this student, or maybe several, who during instructional time try to make their classmates laugh.
Sometimes it’s just a look or whispered comment, but it can be a major disruption.
It can also be hard to know how to handle.
Should you hold all students who laugh accountable or just the student who started it?
Also, if nothing was said, is it fair to follow your classroom management plan?
In the moment, it can seem as if there is no good answer. Darned if you do and darned if you don’t.
You’ll either have students angry at you—“Oh my gosh, I didn’t do anything. I just laughed. Is laughter against the rules?”—or you’ll open the door to more of the same behavior.
So what’s the solution?
There are two keys to handling the situation in a way that is both fair and effective.
The first is to set parameters beforehand. In other words, because laughter falls into a gray area, you must sharply define what is and isn’t against the rules ahead of time. In this way, there are no surprises, hurt feelings, or anger towards you.
Doing so is simply a matter of explaining that any behavior that attempts to make other students laugh during instructional time is a disruption and therefore transgresses rule #1 – Listen and follow directions.
You’ll also want to model specific examples using the exact behaviors you’ve seen in the past. The idea is that once defined any student who engages in such behavior will be doing so by choice.
The second key is to only enforce a consequence on the instigator, which attacks the misbehavior at its source and avoids the perceived unfairness of holding accountable those who, sometimes against their will, laughed.
What the student did or said may in fact have been funny.
It’s even okay for you to smile as long as the humor wasn’t inappropriate. Just follow your classroom management plan as promised and be on your way.
It’s important to mention that when students repeatedly try to make others laugh, it’s a sign that you’ve been less than consistent in the past. There is a subtle but sure indication of disrespect when they know it will interrupt you, your teaching, and what you’re trying to accomplish.
This underscores the importance of keen observation and supervision. If your back is turned and you don’t know who misbehaved, then you’re out of luck.
It’s your job to catch them in the act and follow through.
To sum up, first eliminate the gray area by defining the behavior and what rule it transgresses, then hold only the instigator accountable.
With these two keys, plus your vigilance, this and other similar disruptions will rarely if ever happen again.
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Thank you – this is very timely and helpful!
I needed this advice a few days ago, when I punished the instigator and the accomplices.
Michael,
This is perfect and exactly what I do. I had a student (2nd grade) question me on this. I asked him if I gave the direction to say or do something to make someone laugh. He said no. I replied with, then you aren’t following directions. Turned around and walked away. I have not gone over this as a clear expectation (but will this week) and felt a quick explanation to his question was in order. He hasn’t done it again.
I would like to address all the people who ask for a substitute version of this plan. I was a guest teacher for nearly a decade and this is my first year back in my own room full time. With some modification this works for guest teaching too. I subbed in a K-5 school. Very transient, 100% free breakfast and lunch, 510 students, 80 different nationalities, 54 different languages. We are the most diverse school in our state and #18 in the country. It’s not for the faint of heart!
I was fortunate to sub only at one school so I was able to make a bond with most of the kids. I followed the teacher’s rules, however, most of the time they weren’t posted. If that happened started each class with my own rules, told them it might be different than usual but we would all survive. Then I held them accountable. It got to the point that I was requested the most, teachers planned days off (including surgery) on days that I could be there, I was offered numerous full time positions and was sent in to rooms with the teacher there to teach the teacher how to manage their class. Students would walk in and whisper to each other, “We have to behave today, She’s here.” I’d just smile to myself and say, “You got that right!” All of that to say…it works. Give it some tweaks, be consistent and true to your word. It works!
Now in my own classroom at the same school I have put this plan into place 100% plus my own 2 cents. As a result I have Admin occasionally “hiding” in my room to get work done because my room is peaceful and calm. My team (the other 3 don’t use this plan) have the lowest number of school referrals in and out the classroom and the highest rate of student growth academically. I’ve had 2 seasoned teachers ask me this week what I do for classroom management because they are struggling. I pointed them to this plan immediately. My principal brings principals from other schools through my room just to see the atmosphere. We are a PBIS school but I just do it my way that fits in the plan.
One thing that my team (except 1) does that is a personal choice is we NEVER EVER turn on our overhead fluorescent lights. I have 3 floor lamps with 5 heads on them and that’s all we use. It’s very dim but keeps the students very calm. The other 2 teachers have a different way of using lamps, but it’s still all by lamplight and it makes a complete difference.
Sorry this is so long, but I’ve been thinking about sharing all of this all week.
Thank you so much for sharing this. I have several students who are constantly saying things to make everyone laugh and it’s extremely disruptive.
Thank you for sharing your experience. My class is still struggling with classroom management and I’ve been using this system since the first day. Which shows, that I need to be more consistent and keep myself calm. I have a group of rowdy boys and one VERY tough kid in my class. I also have a lot of adults coming in and out of the room. I’m going to try what you said about keeping the florescent lights off and using more floor lamps.
I have a very rowdy group of boys this year too! One main ring leader. I’ve never thought of using lamps. I’m in a portable and some of the lights just aren’t very bright anyway, but this is an interesting idea!
Karen,
What are your consequences? Some students don’t respond to anything. I have 10 kids come from another teacher so parts of my day are really tough.
I use Michael’s consequences warning, time out, letter home. I do have a 40 minute time period that we mix kids up and the majority of that class are from the 3 other teachers. I let them know the expectations of my classroom right away and have only had one student act up. When we decided to mix our kids up for intervention we also decided to handle the behaviors in our own class but to also let the classroom teacher know so they can enforce it to. Having everyone in board and in agreement is key here.
Question about warning, timeout, letter home.
In my class this past year I realized quickly that kids catch on quickly – if everyone knows they get a warning first, that’s up to 30 disruptions or distractions in a single day—way more than what I want.
So next year I decided to take the metaphor of an NFL referee. I plan to ask the kids, “when a penalty happens, do the refs give a warning to the player? No- they just throw the yellow flag.” In other words, is there a problem with no warning at all? demanding immediate following of the rules (like Michael does with the phone on day one)?
I’m inclined to say no- that kids will shape up quickly if the rules are clearly stated and then immediately enforced. My school has something called a “yellow card” which means an email home to parents and detention.
Karen – I appreciate the info you’ve shared, especially regarding subbing, with which I struggle with classroom management. I’d like to have a strong plan in place to follow that would work for me. I’ve been following Michael Linsin’s info but it’s very helpful to hear from someone who has lived it and succeeded. I’m near the end of a K-6 MAT degree, have to find my own teaching position for my internship semester which will be this fall, and classroom management for me is a big work in process. I wish there was a boot camp! Anyway, thanks for sharing!
This is awesome, thanks for sharing all your thoughts and strategies!!!
Excellent Karen! Thank you for sharing.
Share your plan please!! (Rules, Reinforcement/consequences?)
So are you saying that it’s the light that makes the dfference?
This is very timely! I have a student just like that. He is funny and I tend to not know how to handle him because he makes me laugh also. Thank you!
I think one issue to address is to determine the root of why a particular student chooses to be the class clown. My experience over 30 years of teaching is that the child generally has some self-esteem issues and it makes him feel good to make others laugh. They also may have an issue with academics and may feel inadequate because they don’t get positive attention by parents/teachers/classmates for this. Negative attention from a teacher is better to a child than no attention at all in many cases.
Thank you for this! This, and other gray area issues such as low motivation (not exactly against the rules to be droopy, but so frustrating!), are where I still struggle. I’ve been reading this blog for several years now and have found it extremely helpful, and mostly hear the feedback that my management is one of my strong points as a teacher, but it’s still hard sometimes! “Listen and Follow Directions” is my rule #2, and I often find myself unsure where the lines are on this rule in particular. Disruptive behavior is clearly a violation, while choosing to observe sometimes if you’re not ready to fully participate is OK with me (I’ve clarified this for my students– I teach music, and I don’t want to enforce warnings every time I notice a kid isn’t singing). However, half-hearted or silly participation can be harder for me to know what to do with, and it’s easy to take it personally and go into self-doubt when they do this. This article reminds me that I can clarify what I expect from students, and go ahead and enforce when they aren’t following my directions correctly. It doesn’t mean I’m a tyrant who doesn’t allow laughter, or needs to control their body language to prevent them from expressing how they feel– simply that if I ask them to try something a little uncomfortable, or not their favorite activity for any reason, I still expect them to try it sincerely without making a joke of it, and that is fair to ask.
Hi Diana,
I’m a music teacher too. One thing that helps me with the “silly voice” situation is to have fun together trying out all kinds of voices. Then I let them know which kind of voice I’ll be expecting as we move forward.
Music can be a fun, challenging class to manage, because often we ARE asking students to be vocal and even playful.
Sounds like you’re on the right path!
This article is very timely for me, I have 6 students who think they are funny, and are oppositional, constantly pushing back. Five are on individual contracts with daily parent contact. While I we have talked about humor and how it can be disruptive, I have had a hard time navigating their random “funny” comments as I have not made the clear connection for the students which you describe in your article. I will definitely make this clear on Monday.
I spent the last month reading your articles and revamping my rules. I just moved from teaching second grade to teaching sixth grade and it is a big change in developmental stage for the children, and I did not anticipate the preteen attitudes and need for peer approval.
Coming back from the holidays I have been reteaching rules, expectations, and consequences. As the ringleader was transferred into and out of my room (2 months of chaos), I am hoping to reset the class attitude too. Many were disgruntled as privileges were pulled back.
My greatest challenge is getting ahead of these students, as there is a synergistic effect when one gets going. I am not as consistent as I need to be which definitely is causing extra strife. I hesitate as they burn through consequences so quickly. My goal going forward is to be consistent and more immediate in my follow through.
As you suggest, I have have the look, the warning, the in class quiet seats off to the corners of the room, and then arrangements for out of class time out, if necessary. My dilemma is that I hesitate to send them out of the room, which then leaves them still with an audience.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks for sharing your expertise.
Why do you hesitate to send them out of the room?
Great advises thank you so much they are so useful because I face this kind of issue almost every day in my classroom.
I teach 11th and 12th grade carpentry shop and theory classes in a school with a high rate of challenging behaviors, and have several kids that disrupt my classes with off topic comments and making others laugh. It’s been a daily problem that I try to squelch with the rules mentioned here in this blog. My problem is that I don’t have an effective consequence besides dropping their daily grade for professionalism (behavior). Sending them out of class does nothing, they miss the day’s lesson. Real, effective consequences are what I need. Any thoughts?
I had a 3rd grade classroom full of silly chuckleheads last year. Such. An. Exhausting. Year. I’m no grouch – I used to be a comedian! But the distractions were neverending. Gah. Thank you for your column. Will pass along to the 4th grade teachers who are now befuddled by the giggle gaggle (all boys, by the way).
Thank you very much for your thoughts on this topic. I am a student teacher with three classes of freshmen who have struggled to make the transition from 8th to 9th grade. Your points are well taken on being consistent, but there are some days I just need to pick my battles when laughing is the least of the behavior problems. I certainly will take your recommendations and add them to my toolbox as I approach the end of my semester. Thank you.
“You’ll also want to model specific examples using the exact behaviors you’ve seen in the past.” Can some people give examples of how they would do this part?
I had some students last year that would make me laugh almost daily with the things they would say and do in class that were appropriate but definitely a bit disruptive. In some ways this helped me build a relationship with them that helped them succeed in the high school biology class (both of them were failing the first quarter). So in some ways it can be helpful to laugh along with them as long as it isn’t a direct interruption to your teaching in the classroom. Most of the time a chuckle and a quick redirection was all I needed to get them back on track and help them feel supported in the classroom.
It was so nice and helpful thanks alot for this🤓
Could you give some examples of consequences please?
I have struggled with classroom management from time to time, despite over 30 years of classroom experience. One way I’ve flipped the conversation is to challenge kids to “pretend” to be paying attention to lessons or instructions by making eye contact and nodding, EVEN if their thoughts are elsewhere! It can be fun for them to try to “fool” the teacher. You can even insert comments about what a great job they’re doing paying attention to key points! Gives us all a chuckle.
I’ve also recently resorted to getting ahead of misbehaviour by emphasizing warnings (one or two) and then consequence so there are no surprises. The consequence for disruptive off-task behaviour is moving to another workspace or to a colleague’s classroom or even to the office. I’ll give the office a buzz and just say as unemotionally as possible that so-and-so needs a quiet workspace, like I’m doing the student a favour! The atmosphere changes once you remove the ringleader.
If I have 1 rule that is posted in my Art classroom that says -You are free to do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t cause a problem for you, myself or the world, and I give many examples is this ok or do I need to be way more specific?