“Who was that?”
The name that the class chorus back to you is not the one that you were expecting.
The only time that this name is usually regaled in the class is alongside congratulatory superlatives!
You’re a bit thrown, because now you have to act. Everyone is waiting with baited breath, especially your in-class serial offender (who you feel guilty about now as you assumed the crime had been committed by them).
But the pupil who is currently derailing your lesson has never done it before, so now what?
Behaviour management tips
Go in strong, so they won’t repeat? Ignore (it can’t possibly have been them, could it?) Give the benefit of the doubt? We all have our off days, after all…
While all of these are viable options, they all may lead to negative repercussions. So my advice would be to weigh up all the possible outcomes in the moment and choose the path likely to cause the least chaos.
As I see it, here are your options.
1. The quick response
We’ve all seen it, that turning point in that child’s life where they’ve decided now’s the time to rebel. The problem is, they’ve chosen your lesson for their debut performance.
So if your gut tells you attention is what they are craving, take the attention element away.
Try not to skip a beat and ask them to wait for you outside the classroom so that you can have a quiet word.
2. The hedge
If you’re unsure of the reason behind the behaviour, and unsure whether there was any intimidation involved, then you can hedge. And you do that by communicating in a clear way why you might not be as hard on this pupil as others.
You can say: “This is the first time I’ve had you disrupt the learning. Please make it the last.”
Or if the class needs it, a more instructional tone: “This is the first time I’ve had you disrupt the learning. If I have to speak to you again, there will be a sanction to follow.”
Make sure you follow up afterwards to explore the incident.
3. Rely on the culture
If your students know your classroom is somewhere in which every incident will be dealt with, regardless as to whether they see it being dealt with, then you can afford to ignore the incident and deal with it later.
It gets you out of having to make a decision on that pupil’s first transgression within that moment.
4. Play it by the book
If you have your rules and routines in place from the get-go, and you believe that every student, including your newbie offender, understands those rules, then no one will be surprised when you follow through with your behaviour management strategies.
This ultimately means that it doesn’t matter if it is a pupil’s first or fiftieth offence; you have the tools and ability to deal with it calmly and consistently.
Nikki Cunningham-Smith is an assistant headteacher in Gloucestershire
