Dear Teacher Who Has “Bad” Kids

Let’s talk. As a trusted friend, we have to tell you it’s time to pause, reflect, and get your class back on track.

Those kids in the back who keep talking while you teach… this is now your issue.

Those kids who keep taking out their phones… also your issue.

The ones who keep talking back… unfortunately, your issue.

We know this is not the rosy classroom you pictured. This is the HARD work of teaching. It begins with relationships and the center of the storm is actually YOU.

How can this be possible? These kids are ungrateful, unmotivated, won’t listen, won’t follow directions, and are certainly not like you were in school, right?

Wrong. But the good news here is that the only thing you can truly control is yourself. And if you get yourself focused on what you really want based on your beliefs, you can craft the culture you want in your classroom.

Now, a few questions. 

What do you believe?

The way to lead “these kids” to success is to really think about what you believe about teaching and learning. If you believe that learning is the most important thing in your classroom, you will begin to align your expectations and actions with this. Do your processes and procedures reflect this? If students are not following the process, do you address it? By ignoring that talker in the back, you are sending the message that learning doesn’t matter today. By not assigning seats, you silently tell the kids that sitting with their friends is a good learning strategy. By not making that parent phone call, you are letting the students know they don’t need to use basic manners in your classroom.

How are you building relationships?

A funny misconception in schools is that kids are motivated by grades and/or avoiding punishment. That’s just not true. In reality, some students could not care less about the grade stamp on a paper and other kids actually enjoy conflict. So what do you do? It’s simple: talk to your students and get to know them. The more you know about their interests outside of your class, the interests inside your class, their friends, their family units, etc., the better equipped you will be to figure out who are your rule followers, who are your rebels, who lacks skill, and who lacks will. These are all keys to how you work with these students. 

If you need a little nudge to get your classroom management back on track, give yourself permission to begin a new era in your classroom.