Most teachers are hyperaware of their most difficult students—and well they should be. It’s smart to know where they are and what they’re doing. But this awareness can cause you to behave oddly around them. It can cause you to glare and glower in … Read more
Teachers tend to be overly focused on their most difficult students. They stress-out about them. They strategize over them. They spend more time dealing with them than the rest of their class put together. They try this approach, then that one. They powwow again … Read more
One of the reasons difficult students misbehave is because their teacher expects that they will. They assume they will. Which causes the teacher to behave in such a way that antagonizes the student and reinforces their bad behavior. To combat this phenomenon, you must … Read more
One of the keys to handling difficult students is to hold them accountable for every rule violation, from the first day of school onward. Because if you don’t, you’ll be at their mercy. You’ll have to appease them, lower your standards, and give in … Read more
Difficult students need your leadership. They need your consistency. They need your honesty, your forgiveness, and your unwavering belief in them. They need your fixed boundaries, your steady, predictable presence, your faithful accountability, and your commitment to doing what is right by them and … Read more
Most teachers have a less-than positive relationship with difficult students—although it isn’t always evident to those around them. Indeed, the teacher may not yell, scold, or berate them in front of their classmates, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t resentment churning under the surface. … Read more
Much of your success with difficult students hinges on what you don’t do. But this is no easy task, because some of the most popular and commonly used strategies fall into this category. When seemingly everyone around you, including your closest teacher chums, is … Read more
The tendency is to corral difficult students, to limit what they can do, where they can go, and who they can be with. You keep them close. You provide a staccato of reminders and direction, of do this and don’t do that. You keep … Read more