A common scenario:
A student disrupts your class and you deliver a consequence. All good. But the moment you finish, another student laughs at the disruptor.
Laughter in this situation is infuriating because it makes light of the sacredness of uninterrupted learning. It also mocks the dignity of a classmate, borders on bullying, and invites other students to join in.
It can even feel as if it’s done at your expense.
So what should you do?
This is a key question because how you respond determines whether it will . . .
Happen again.
Cause a larger interruption.
Raise your stress level.
Years ago I came up with a solution that removes all three possibilities.
Here’s how it works:
1. Be ready.
This situation is so common that it’s naive to be surprised when it happens. So be emotionally ready. Visualize it unfolding and see yourself handling it perfectly and calmly.
Anticipate its possibility every time you give a consequence, especially at the beginning of the year when your students don’t know you or your staggeringly consistent follow through.
Know exactly what to do when it happens and proceed as if it were a foregone conclusion.
2. Model it.
Laughing in reaction to another’s consequence is a smart thing to model when you’re first teaching your classroom management plan. Let your new class experience this exact scenario before it happens.
Explain why it’s wrong and how it affects others by interrupting learning.
Then let them see your practiced response and how there is no benefit for them to even try it. Remember, whatever you model in the form of “how not” to behave is less likely to happen.
3. Follow through again.
First things first. Should the laughing student receive a consequence? Yes, absolutely, because it’s disruptive. It clearly breaks rules two and three.
But here’s the key, the most important part.
After you give a consequence in response to the initial disruption, pause. Wait a beat. Allow a moment of stillness and silence before returning to your lesson.
By doing this you’re all but challenging another student to disrupt. Stand poised and ready to follow through yet again in the same calm manner.
A mere beat is all you need, but it’s remarkably effective. If there isn’t a laugh or interruption from others immediately, then there won’t be. You can then turn back to your lesson or whatever you were doing without concern.
Edison, Not Pollock
A big part of keeping your cool is knowing how to respond in every possible situation. Teaching with uncertainty is terribly stressful in a way that never leaves you.
Hope isn’t a classroom management strategy. Nor is using your wits.
The natural human instinct in response to misbehavior is nearly always wrong. It will only cause you misery and more misbehavior.
Effective classroom management is more science than art. Student behavior is predictable if you know the secrets, motivations, and leverages that drive it where you want it to go.
If you’re reacting, best-guessing, and allowing your inner Jackson Pollock to take over, you’ll make a mess of your classroom.
There was a time when you could fly by the seat of your pants and survive. But that time has long since past. In this day and age, especially post-Covid, you have to know what you’re doing. It’s the only way to be an effective teacher.
The good news is that we’ve done the thousands of iterations for you. All you need to do is follow the SCM approach and reap the rewards.
If you haven’t done so already, please join us. It’s free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.
This was a relevant topic. Thanks.
Thankyou for discussing this topic. However I want more clarity on what kind of consequences would be effective for adolescents who indulge in such conduct.
When 1 does this unacceptable behaviour, there is hardly any time before there are more who encourage the initiator either by joining in or by visual cues. And this is a recurrent situation in all the subject classes.
So pls share some consequences or strategy to get this classroom disruption behaviour.
Hello,
Michael has an e-guide available for his high school plan, and it is good. I have modified the particulars of it in my own practice to suit my own priorities, but Michael has said before that there is no magic in the consequences. What works is clearly explained rules with well-defined consequences that you follow through on with 100% consistency like a referee at a soccer match. This allows you to impose your consequences with an automaticity that gets your students on board because they see your management is not personal and benefits them in the long run. There are tons of articles on this blog to help you get started. Buckle up – your career as a teacher is just going to get better from here on out!
So how do we actually respond? What do we say?
I like this question, too. I love that Michael always tells us how to prevent it from happening, but what would be an appropriate consequence if it DOES happen? I realize that schools have different discipline practices, but I would love to know how others have handled this.
I went through this BEFORE I began subscribing. I relied in my wits and hoped daily it wouldn’t happen but it did. Sometimes I managed well, a few times the students “got my goat”.
What do you do when your admin refuses to acknowledge the intent of the students? I’ve decided to leave the only middle school in my rural division bc the admin is replete with toxic workplace decisions. I feel I will have no trouble getting snapped up by another school as a math teacher. I’m not worried about that, and I am here to help middle schoolers become the best versions of themselves AND use math in their daily lives. I’m either too stubborn or stupid to leave the profession. How do we protect our own selves from higher ups making POOR decisions?
Very good point. I had the same situation where my P would not acknowledge the misbehaving student’s intent. The only thing I can think of is to document and track the misbehaving student’s behavior: time and place, impact on the learning environment and teacher response, regular contact with parents-asking parents to follow up with the student’s behavior at home and have a clear classroom management plan in place with a ladder of clear consequences.
Follow up: I moved to another school, reluctantly. All summer, I worried would this happen again, to what extent is it true that “this” is the current state of education? During my interviews, I noticed one new principal-vice principal team who were more interested in my beliefs about educating than the lesson plan samples I brought. I NERVOUSLY went with them. That former situation is NOT the current state of education, I’m so happy to report! If I hadn’t give through the awful experiences, i would have stayed there suffering. Now I’m at a school where respect and learning, pride in students and school are valued by everyone involved, and yes it’s a public school. Michael Linsin is correct, sometimes you must leave the school. Thank you Michael for your excellent support!
Maybe continue my anonymity…
How would you respond if multiple students respond by laughing? I teach in a computer suite with a strange layout and it can be difficult to identify every student responsible for the laughing response.
Is there a way to change the layout? If you can’t identify students then how can you see what they are doing on their computers?
This happens every day at all age levels. This is relevant for every teacher, and I can definitely see how it will work. Thank you for all your info – it is so helpful.
What consequences do you recommend for elementary grade levels?
Would you recommend any consequences for kids that smirk after telling on others and seeing them receive a consequence?
I use a tally system on a clipboard. There are columns for interruption, out of seat, touching, other, and so on. I write their names and a mark under what they did. This is good evidence for when they argue with you later. I teach specials but used this for 4-6. I also had recess duty so I would make them talk to me for about the same number of minutes they had tallies. Pretty much torture when all their friends are playing soccer. So for 6th grade I did not have recess duty with them but I would find them at lunch and bring them in the library to talk to me and fill out stop and think forms about what they did. They don’t like to be away from their peers or to be different . Alternatively, if they weren’t able to get it together during class they would go in a “time out” behind my library desk or in the hallway. Once again, away from peers who give them attention. Did you notice I didn’t rely on admin for this? Sure it’s a pain but I had no issues with these kids after awhile. They know to listen when you warn them and they hate that you are tracking them on a clipboard.
Thank you for this strategy! I’m definitely using it next year!!!
I really appreciate the topics you take on. However, I find that what I need is more of a step-by-step explanation or a clear example of you modeling what words to say or actions to do in a situation like this would actually be. Can you please possibly share more of the specifics in
your posts or can you tell me if your books get into the details? The general overview is a great reminder, but I really would appreciate (and need) the “how to” as well. Hope you’ll consider this humble request from a teacher that needs a hand. Thanks!!
If you search keywords like “modeling” or “giving consequences” I believe you will find what you are looking for.
Hi! Thank you Michael. I’ve been following you for three years and thank goodness because this is one of my top most challenging classes in 30 years teaching. I’ve used so many of your strategies to get through this year with success. And I agree, it’s not an art but a science.
As a pre-service teacher is there any tips on how to stop students (teenagers ) grade 7ers from moving out of their, as a pre-service teacher I ask the students to go back to their seat, the students response is I want to help and discuss the topic with my friend?
Any suggestions on this scenario or misbehaviour, would be most helpful and appreciated.
Does their teacher allow this? If not they are defying you and taking advantage of you. They get consequences. Talk to your cooperating teacher and come up with appropriate consequences.
They should be raising their hands to ask the question, and you should be helping them.
I thought you aren’t supposed to call a student out nor announce a consequence. I read your book, did you change the procedure?
I believe you mean one of the e-guides. The confusion may be the difference in the high school and elementary plans.
Where can we find access to the high school plan? And is this what you would recommend using in a 7th/8th grade music classroom?
Hello! I read above that the student broke rules 2 and 3. Are there a specific number of rules that I would post in the classroom? I also wanted to know if the High School Plan is different than what I just purchased, The Total Classroom Management Makeover.