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WORKING SUCCESSFULLY� WITH �DIFFICULT STUDENTS

Dr. Nikki Boyd Rana

Mr. Marc Flatt

Raleigh, NC

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Biography of Presenter

Dr. Nikki Boyd Rana

  • Doctor of Education with specialization in Curriculum & Teaching from NCU
  • Master's Degree in Mathematics Education from WGU
  • Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from WGU
  • Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education (K-8) from WGU
  • Served as an Assistant Principal, Instructional Resource Teacher, Testing Coordinator, Social Studies Department Chair, Literacy Coach, School Improvement Committee Data Chair, MS/HS Behavioral Support Teacher, MS/HS Special Education Teacher, MS Science Teacher, and Elementary Teacher
  • Licensed and Highly Qualified in: Language Arts (6-8), Mathematics (6-8), Science (6-8), Social Studies (6-8), Special Education—Learning Disabled (K-12), Special Education—Mild to Moderate Disabilities (K-12), Special Education—Cross Categorical (K-12), Health Education (K-12), Elementary Education (K-6), and Principal (K-12).
  • Published Research: Effects of a Virtual Manipulative on Middle School African American Special Education Students’ Knowledge of Social Studies; Effects of Extrinsic Motivators on Special Education Students Test-Taking Fidelity; Effects of Virtual Manipulatives on Middle School Students Studying Fractions, Decimals, and Percent.

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Biography of Presenter

Mr. Marc Flatt

  • Currently serving as a Behavior Support Specialist in Lee County, North Carolina
  • Over 15 years working with behaviorally challenged students in New York and North Carolina.
  • Over 21 hours post graduate work in Special Education.
  • 25 years in banking starting as a teller and retiring in Senior Management as a Senior Lending Officer.
  • Retired Major from United States Army with an awarded Meritorious Service Medal.

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Objectives

  1. The attendee will learn proven strategies for creating a prevention‑based discipline system that is intended to prevent most challenging discipline issues before they begin.

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  • The attendee will learn strategies for diffusing confrontational students, avoiding power struggles, deescalating student anger, and dealing with the most challenging behavior-related issues.

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  • The attendee will learn strategies for implementing powerful consequences in a way that allows both teacher and student to preserve dignity.

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Working Successfully with Difficult Students

Agenda

  • Vital Components of Effective Classroom Discipline
    • Positive Teacher-Student Relations
    • Clearly Defined Acceptable Classroom Behaviors
    • Consistent Monitoring
    • Application of Consequences

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  • Schoolwide Discipline
    • Philosophical Beliefs
    • Prevention Strategies
    • Consequences
    • Policies for Specific Building Locations

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Working Successfully with Difficult Students

Agenda (continued)

  • Surefire Discipline Strategies
    • Relationship Strategies
    • Parameter Strategies
    • Monitoring Strategies
    • Consequence Strategies

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  • The Challenging Student
    • Dealing with Challenging Students
    • Responding to Classroom Disruptions
    • Dealing with Major Rule Violations
    • Students with Anger Management Issues
    • Students with Oppositional Defiant Disorder
    • Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

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Working Successfully with Difficult Students

Vital Components of Effective Classroom Discipline

  1. Positive Teacher-Student Relations
    • Communicate Positive Expectations

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    • Call on All Students Equitably

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    • Increase Latency Periods When Questioning Students

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    • Give Hints and Clues to Help Students Answer Questions

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    • Tell Students They Have the Ability to Do Well

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    • Correct Students in a Constructive Way

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    • Develop Positive Classroom Pride

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    • Demonstrate Genuine Caring

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    • Prevent and Reduce Frustration and Stress

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Vital Components of Effective Classroom Discipline

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    • Clearly Defined Acceptable Classroom Behaviors

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      • Discipline Plan
        • Select rules that are meaningful, specific, and enforceable

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        • Establish consequences for students who fail to comply

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        • Teach the discipline plan to the students

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        • Post the discipline plan in an easily seen classroom location

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        • Communicate the discipline plan to stakeholders

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        • Enforce the discipline plan fairly, consistently, and equitably.

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Vital Components of Effective Classroom Discipline

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    • Clearly Defined Acceptable Classroom Behaviors

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      • Rules of Conduct
        • Expectations for participating in class discussions

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        • Expectations for seat work activities

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        • What students should bring to class to be prepared

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        • How to seek the teacher’s assistance

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        • When, where, and how to turn in completed work

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Working Successfully with Difficult Students

Vital Components of Effective Classroom Discipline

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    • Clearly Defined Acceptable Classroom Behaviors

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      • Teach Discipline Plan and Rules of Conduct
        • Begin with a set

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        • Explain the logic and rationale for each rule

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        • Model the behavior that is expected

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        • Allow for questions and answers

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        • Direct students to demonstrate their understanding

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        • Reteach the discipline plan and rules of conduct

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Vital Components of Effective Classroom Discipline

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    • Consistent Monitoring
      • Maintain Proximity
      • Invoke Silence
      • Provide Response Opportunities
      • Practice “The Look”
      • Use All These Skills Simultaneously

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Vital Components of Effective Classroom Discipline

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    • Application of Consequences
      • Teacher reaction

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      • Tangible recognition

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      • Direct cost

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      • Group contingency

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      • Home contingency

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Schoolwide Discipline

    • Philosophical Beliefs
      • Chaos outside the classroom will spill into the classroom
      • Pay now or pay later.
      • A chaotic school environment is destructive to the school climate
      • Strategies that work in the classroom also work outside of the classroom
      • Creating a structured building environment is not easy
      • Everyone must do his or her part

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      • Discipline Assessment
      • Support of the Policies
      • Staff Visibility
      • Parent Communication
      • Compliance with Instructions from All Staff
      • “It Takes a Village” Approach

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      • Communicate and Teach the Building Rules
      • Citizenship and Academic Recognition Programs
      • Schoolwide Pride
      • Rules off Campus
      • Building Blind Spots
      • Angry Parents

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Schoolwide Discipline

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2. Prevention Strategies

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Schoolwide Discipline

    • Consequences
      • Processing

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Benefits

Drawbacks

Criteria for Effective Implementation

  • Immediate and easily implemented

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  • A powerful warning

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  • Gives the student a chance to calm down

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  • Often prevents the need for an office referral
  • The receiving teacher must monitor the processed student.

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  • A processing form must be used that meets the student’s needs.

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  • The processing form must be checked.
  • Receiving teachers must accept students when they arrive.

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  • There must be a place for students to sit.

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  • There must be an effective consequence for those students who fail to go to processing or who disrupt the processing room.

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  • Staff must work together to set up the processing system and clearly identify which infractions should result in processing.

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  • Often there is more than one processing form used in a building

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Schoolwide Discipline

    • Consequences
      • Lunch Detention

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Benefits

Drawbacks

Criteria for Effective Implementation

• A powerful consequence

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• Immediate and easily implemented

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• Doesn’t require the principal’s approval

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• An excellent consequence for minor issues

  • Teachers could abuse the practice if not closely monitored.

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  • It takes some effort to set up on a schoolwide basis.

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  • It requires adult supervision.
  • Provide a sack lunch so that students don’t get to wait in the lunch line.

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  • Do not allow talking or movement during detention.

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  • Have stronger consequences, such as after-school detention for students who misbehave.

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  • Have a system in place that makes skipping detention impossible (e.g., walking students to detention keeps them from skipping).

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Schoolwide Discipline

    • Consequences
      • After-School Detention

Benefits

Drawbacks

Criteria for Effective Implementation

  • Very powerful interventions because students want to go home after school

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  • Get the parents’ attention because they need to give permission and pick up the students

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  • Used for serious issues

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  • Immediate
  • Parent contact and permission is required.

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  • Staff coverage is needed.

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  • Students will try to skip if transition is not closely monitored.
  • Have a more serious consequence, such as suspension, for students who skip or misbehave.

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  • Allow no talking or unnecessary movement.

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  • Require parent permission.

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  • Have clear criteria regarding which infractions warrant these interventions.

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  • Have a system that makes skipping impossible (i.e., require teachers to walk students to the detention room and use a detention form to record attendance).

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Schoolwide Discipline

    • Consequences
      • Office Referrals

Benefits

Drawbacks

Criteria for Effective Implementation

  • Immediately removes disruptive students from the classroom

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  • Gets the attention of parents

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  • Adds power to a teacher’s directives
  • Potential for abuse by some teachers

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  • Can have a negative impact on office atmosphere

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  • Administrators may be unavailable
  • Use office referrals for serious infractions, such as cumulative violations, violence, insubordination, gang activity, and sexual harassment.

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  • Excellent communication system must be in place.

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  • Students receive immediate and meaningful consequences.

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  • Staff members must not refer students to the office for issues they should handle themselves.

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  • The office must not be a holding area for students.

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Schoolwide Discipline

    • Consequences
      • In-School Suspension

Benefits

Drawbacks

Criteria for Effective Implementation

  • Immediate

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  • Doesn’t require parents to be available

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  • Removes the student from school activities and visibility

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  • Ensures the student is monitored by school staff
  • Requires staff supervision

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  • Requires a private location

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  • Doesn’t always get parents’ attention as much as out-of-school suspension
  • Use sparingly.

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  • Establish clear criteria for in-school versus out-of-school suspension.

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  • Have a viable location.

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  • Assign work to the student.

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      • Assemblies
      • Lunchrooms
      • Hallways
      • Recesses and Intramural Sports
      • Student Restrooms

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      • Fighting
      • Drop Off and Dismissal
      • Dress Code
      • Gang Issues

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Schoolwide Discipline

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4. Policies for Specific Building Locations

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Surefire Discipline Strategies

    • Relationship Strategies

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      • Don’t Be One of the Kids
      • Never Use Humiliation or Sarcasm
      • Start Parent Conferences with Positive Statements
      • Start Difficult Conferences with the Student Outside of the Room
      • Let the Parents Get Their Message Out First
      • Make Some Concessions
      • Talk About the Future

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Surefire Discipline Strategies

    • Relationship Strategies

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      • Call Parents Before a Disciplined Student Gets Home
      • Actively Encourage Parents to Call the School
      • Increase the Power of Praise
      • Smile and Greet the Students
      • Learn Students’ Names

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Surefire Discipline Strategies

    • Parameter Strategies
      • Teach the Discipline Plan and Rules of Conduct
      • Teach and Enforce a Classroom Signal
      • Get the “Junk” Off the Desks
      • Teach the Logic Behind the Rules
      • Post Classroom Rules
      • Post School Rules
      • Establish a Schoolwide Signal
      • Provide Support for Substitutes

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Working Successfully with Difficult Students

Surefire Discipline Strategies

    • Monitoring Strategies
      • Move Around the Room
      • Call on Students at Any Time
      • Eliminate Blind Spots During Classroom Transitions
      • Go to the Students When They Need Help
      • Maximize Wait Time
      • Correct Nondisruptive Off-Task Behavior
      • Take Roll Silently
      • Use Sponge Activities

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Surefire Discipline Strategies

    • Monitoring Strategies
      • Remember the Three “Make or Break” Times
      • Change Hall Passes
      • Encourage Students to Leave the Building
      • Stagger Transition Periods

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Surefire Discipline Strategies

    • Consequence Strategies
      • Tolerate No Exceptions
      • Pay Attention Even to Little Problems
      • Keep Your Physical Distance When Disciplining
      • Refrain from Punishing the Whole Group
      • Don’t Let Students Become “Attorneys”
      • Take Notice of Misbehavior
      • Assign Lunch Detention for Tardies

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The Challenging Student

    • Dealing with Challenging Students
    • Relationship/Climate Strategies
    • Gradually Assign Responsibility and Leadership

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    • Display a Personal Interest Daily

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    • Drop All Grudges

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    • Limit Negative Faculty Room Talk

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    • Open Parent Conferences with a Positive Statement

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The Challenging Student

    • Dealing with Challenging Students
      • Academic Strategies

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      • Keep the Class Moving

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      • Unleash the Power of Appropriately High Expectations

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The Challenging Student

    • Dealing with Challenging Students
    • Disciplinary Strategies
    • Bargaining Is Not an Option

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    • Criticize the Action, Not the Student

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    • Have an Emergency Response Team in Place

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    • Have a Buddy Teacher Available to Help Out

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    • Apply Immediate and Meaningful Consequences

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    • Judge Students’ Actions Fairly

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The Challenging Student

    • Dealing with Challenging Students
    • Disciplinary Strategies
    • Make the “Death Penalty” the Last Option

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    • Never Intervene Physically with a Student

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    • Provide the Student with Choices

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    • Quiet Corrections Are the Most Powerful

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    • Reward Students for Accomplishments, Not Promises

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    • Saving Face Is Everything

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The Challenging Student

    • Responding to Classroom Disruptions

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    • Always protect the safety of all students, including the disruptive student.

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    • Use the technique requiring the least intervention that will still be sufficient to address the problem rather than go overboard in your response.

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    • Be sure that your response doesn’t cause more of a disturbance than the student’s disruption does.

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    • Encourage students to examine their behavior and make an appropriate choice.

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    • Speak about the situation and not the student.

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    • Give specific directions.

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    • Intervene in a timely manner.

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Working Successfully with Difficult Students

The Challenging Student

    • Dealing with Major Rule Violations

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    • Power Struggles

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    • Student Honesty

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    • Determining Guilt

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The Challenging Student

4. Students with Anger Management Issues

      • Approaches for Working with Anger
      • Consequences for Inappropriate Student Anger

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The Challenging Student

    • Students with Oppositional Defiant Disorder
      • ODD Factors
      • Misconceptions Regarding ODD

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The Challenging Student

    • Students with Oppositional Defiant Disorder
      • Strategies for Working with Students with ODD
        • Redirect the Student’s Behavior
        • Ask Questions That Provide Acceptable Alternatives
        • Help with Time Management
        • Avoid Surprises
        • Watch for Initial Signs That the Student Is Becoming Upset
        • Build Relationships
        • Adjust the Academic Schedule
        • Meet the Ability Level of the Student
        • Have Preset Procedures for Classroom Removal

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The Challenging Student

6. Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

      • Teaching and Management Strategies
        • Selectively Ignore Misbehaviors
        • Redirect with Prearranged Signals and Nonverbal Gestures
        • Avoid Classroom “Down Time”
        • Provide an Alternative Activity
        • Display Desired Behaviors on Charts and Graphs
        • Teach Step-by-Step Behavioral Expectations
        • Schedule Breaks and Activities

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The Challenging Student

6. Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

      • Teaching and Management Strategies
        • Select a “Buddy” to Help
        • Establish a Non-stimulating and Quiet Location
        • Ask the Student to Repeat Directions
        • Allow the Student to Hold Something During Teacher-Led Instruction
        • Set Clearly Defined and Marked Classroom Boundaries

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The Challenging Student

6. Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

      • Teaching and Management Strategies
        • Encourage Participation in Extracurricular Activities
        • Adjust Homework Expectations
        • Use Auditory and Visual Cues to Help Focus Attention and Emphasize Critical Points
        • Consider Letting Students Use Headphones
        • Teach Appropriate “Help Needed” Strategies
        • Select Assignments at the Correct Level of Difficulty
        • Place the Student’s Desk in a Non-distracting Location

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The Challenging Student

6. Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

      • Teaching and Management Strategies
        • Assign Jobs
        • Use Stretch Times
        • Use Findings from Time Studies
        • Build on Incidental Learning Capabilities

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Thank you for attending.

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If you would like further information, please use the contact information below:

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Dr. Nikki Boyd Rana email: nikkirana@rocketmail.com phone: (910) 797-7037

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Mr. Marc Flatt email:marcf0703@yahoo.com phone: (518) 291-2671

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References

  • Adelman, H. S., & Taylor, L. (2002). School counselors and school reform: New directions. Professional School Counseling, 5(4), 235–248.
  • Boynton, M. & Boynton, C. (2005). The educator’s guide to preventing and solving discipline problems. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
  • Canter, L., & Canter, M. (1997). Lee Canter’s assertive discipline: Positive behavior management for today’s classroom. Santa Monica, CA: Lee Canter and Associates.
  • Kohn, A. (1996). Beyond discipline: From compliance to community. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
  • Marzano, R. J. (2003). Classroom management that works: Research-based strategies for every teacher. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
  • Tauber, R. T. (1999). Classroom management: Sound theory and effective practice. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.

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References

  • Thompson, J. (1998). Discipline survival kit for the secondary teacher. West Nyack, NY: The Center for Applied Research in Education.
  • Walker, H. M., & Walker, J. E. (1991). Coping with noncompliance in the classroom: A positive approach for teachers. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
  • Wang, M., Haertel, G., & Walberg, H. (1993, December–1994, January). What helps students learn? Educational Leadership, 74–79.

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