What should a teacher do when the whole class is a disaster?
I'd like to know your personal opinion, all the students are becoming really bad during an ESL classroom... sending SMS, using the PCs to do things like surfing social networks instead of the English exercises that teacher gave them, talking each other and some others laughing, eating chips.... a whole disaster... What should the teacher do if he or she has already asked them many times to behave and they just don't care?
21 Answers
In my classroom, I follow this same basic process:
1) If a student is being disruptive in the class, I ask for the behavior to stop. If it doesn't, I ask the student to stay after class. After class, I have a one-on-one conversation about why the behavior is not appropriate for class. I have found the line, "Have I done something to cause you to want to behave this way in my class?" is quite effective.
2) If the behavior happens again, I call home and explain what's happening. I also indicate that if the behavior continues, I will have to write a referral to the principal.
3) If it still persists, then I will write the referral. The student often loses some classroom privileges, as well.
Of course, I sometimes have to adapt this based on specific situations. If the entire class seemed to have gone mad, I would call down an administrator for support. At some point unruliness can get out of hand and it can require another adult to step in.
In a language class that is required, sometimes there isn't a lot that a teacher can do, other than the excellent suggestions given by the previous poster.
If the class is an elective (meaning that they have chosen to be there - the class is not a requirement), I have found that when students start to get "antsy", I am usually covering the material too slowly. I speed up the pace of delivery of the material. I start giving a daily quiz - nothing drastic by any means, but something that they will do well on if they have been attentive in class. These quizzes are announced.
Obviously, all of the above suggestions assume that the teacher is providing instruction in a clear manner, the classroom expectations have been made clear, and the teacher is consistently fair, calm and firm in dealing with all classroom concerns.
It is time to start one of your best stories, with a proviso that if anyone in class can
beat it they get a prize . Kids love stories, and they all have a competitive spirit.
I always made sure I had a good many stories available which were interesting
but were closely related to the curriculum. I have found that a carrot always works
better than a stick , and is easier on your hands. 
Run, Forrest, run!!
When I was in high school, they still used caning and students who continued to be disruptive were expelled. That probably isn't an option for you.
I don't know the rules in Mexico, but this would be a likely action in the US.
First, remain calm. I know you feel like exploding, but that is the worst action to take.
Second, speak with an administrator to make them aware of the situation. Request their input and direction for your next course of action. They may be able to give specific recommendations for the classroom. If not, at least they will be aware of the problem and know to prepare themselves. You will likely need their help to fully correct the problem, so they need to be ready.
Third, try to connect with the students who want to learn. Good students can be lost in an disrupted atmosphere. This may involve one-on-one contact (as Maple suggested).
Fourth, contact the parents or guardians for the students to let them know the problem. Request their assistance in having the students complete their assignments. I don't know the age of the students, so this may not be effective. Be prepared for the fallout.
If non of these correct the situation, call the administrators (in the US, that is the principal). If they will not support you, do the best you can to tolerate the situation.
You have identified one of the worst social problems in the US. We have students and parents of students who are unwilling to make a commitment to learn. They are the losers.
How old are the students?
What type of school is it? Private -paid for or free?
Why are the students in the class? Volunteers or sent by parents?
No moblie phones allowed in class.
No food or drinks allowed in class.
If you have PCs in you class what are they being used for?
Maybe disconnect them from the internet.
Am I the only person who took "What should do a teacher" to the dirty place?
"Talking to each other and some laughing" is a correct sentence, but it doesn't sound right to me. I would have removed the "some".
I like Birdland's suggestion very much. I think it is important to get an objective evaluation of the class and the teacher. Maybe the kids bring in some discipline problems, but I believe that a class that spins completely out of control possibly has something to do with the teacher as well. Maybe the class delivery is not challenging enough, or the contents are boring, or the teacher is unable to connect with the age group of the students, or a combination of all three.
I have seen the same group of kids behave very differently with different teachers, depending on how the above factors are handled.
A good, experience teacher observing the class should be able to provide some helpful pointers to improve the experience for all.
It's about 12 teenagers and young boys & girls. Private school. - AntoineFranc 2 hrs ago flag
That's an excellent class size there is so much you can do with that group.
First thing to address is you have a group, it's divisible, you can serparate them into groups of 2 4 , whatever.
with a small group like that you should be looking at classroom dynamics: by this I mean how the space is divided up.
Try to get them used to having to move. Sometimes the desks /tables are this way or that way. Get them to move furniture because now we are going to do a class -written play....oops
I think I'm sucuumbing to New Year.
Happy New Year!!!
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My wife is a practicing attorney in México, and a professor in the law school of the university. She will ask the student to stop the disruptive behavior only once . If the student persists, he or she is barred from the class and is given a zero for the course. I feel i have to add a bit more to this post. This harsh discipline is invoked simply because if an attorney indulges in any of these disruptive behaviors in a courtroom, the judge with throw the case, the client, and the attorney out of the court on their disruptive ear! So students,learn proper behavior now!
The main problem is that all those students have been already rejected from many schools and we try to help them to be "good students" and going ahead in scholar life... we've been successful with many other students but we finally decided stop teaching this group foreign languages and the class was canceled. Thanks a lot for all your advice.
Just a word about feeling like exploding. When we feel that way it is often tied to how we think the other person's behavior reflects on us. "These kids don't respect me." "Administration is going to blame me for this chaos." "How am I going to get through all this material with the kids acting like this?" By all means, look at the suggestions for doing things differently, but at the same time, work on changing your thoughts to positive ones. "I'm going to do the best I can for these kids, and it's up to them to do their part." "Their behavior isn't personally directed at me." "I'll bet they'll wish they paid more attention when they try to pick up English speaking girls."
Perhaps a quote from Dead Poet Society. "Language was invented for one reason, boys–to woo women–and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do."
I'd like to know your personal opinion, all the students are becoming really bad during an ESL classroom... sending SMS, using the PCs to do things like surfing social networks instead of the English exercises that teacher gave them, talking each other and some others laughing, eating chips.... a whole disaster... What should the teacher do if he or she has already asked them many times to behave and they just don't care?
What's the class size Antoine? Is the class compulsory ie: state run, or is it in a private school? What age group are they?
Back in the day when I was teaching we used to get other teachers to unobtrusively sit in to get a more objective picture of what's happening and why. The difference then was that our students or their parents were paying to learn. It's amazing what a difference that can make.
Here’s a little trick how to reproach people. It’s better not to say how wrong a kid is behaving (ex. “You behave really bad, you are…. you…” ), because when they are so directly criticized they become defensive. It’s more efficient to tell a kid how you (and the whole class) can’t work, how the noise is disturbing for you, how your throat hurts… just to show them that actually there’are people “suffering” from their actions (ex. I /we can’t work so please stop it, I've been working since morning so I'm really tired…)
mountaingirl’s strategy – speeding-up sounds great.
