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Educ 360 - Action Research Paper - Colin Sweeney 1

This document summarizes a student's observation of disruptive behavior in an 8th grade classroom and strategies to address it. The observer noted one student, Albert, was consistently disruptive through fake phone calls and jokes, distracting others. While the teacher sat Albert in front and engaged with him, nothing fully stopped his behavior. Research suggests punitive approaches do not work and building community expectations and respect between teacher and student can help. The observer proposes the teacher clearly communicate expectations on day 1 to prevent disruptive habits and build rapport with Albert through intervention strategies.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
102 views9 pages

Educ 360 - Action Research Paper - Colin Sweeney 1

This document summarizes a student's observation of disruptive behavior in an 8th grade classroom and strategies to address it. The observer noted one student, Albert, was consistently disruptive through fake phone calls and jokes, distracting others. While the teacher sat Albert in front and engaged with him, nothing fully stopped his behavior. Research suggests punitive approaches do not work and building community expectations and respect between teacher and student can help. The observer proposes the teacher clearly communicate expectations on day 1 to prevent disruptive habits and build rapport with Albert through intervention strategies.

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Disruptive Students in the Classroom

Colin Sweeney

School of Education, Manhattan College

EDUC 360: Language and Literacy

Sister Mary Ann Jacobs

April 22, 2022


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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the problem of disruptive behaviors in a

classroom, as well as methods and strategies a teacher can use to help prevent disruptive

behavior from happening. I examined a specific student in the classroom I was observing, as they

were consistently a disruptive force in the classroom, despite the teacher trying to get them to

stop. The teacher was only able to devote so much time to the individual student, so there was a

sense that this student was getting left behind. It is important to try to prevent disruptive behavior

before it begins, versus trying to stop it once the habits have been formed. In order to do this,

The teacher has to be able to level with the students, and clarify the expectations they have for

the students and the rest of the class.


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Looking at the Problem

This semester, I was fortunate enough to be able to complete my fieldwork hours in

person, as opposed to the online activities I’ve had to do the past two semesters. The school I

was able to visit was an all-boys Catholic school in the Bronx known as Mount Saint Michael’s

Academy. The school operates as a middle school and high school, running between the grades

of 6-12. It is a private school and has been operating since 1926. I was able to observe two

different teachers, but the class I will be addressing in this paper was one teacher’s eighth grade

class.

The eight grade teacher was a very strong teacher that was able to get the students to

engage in the vocabulary of the material, despite some student’s disruptive behavior. For

example, the students had to write a practice essay for a common core examination, and all the

students were able to identify thesis statements, write their own thesis statement and provide an

outline for how they would go about arguing their thesis statements. All the students were able to
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apply this knowledge to their own writing and essays. The students also worked with the

difference between adverbs and adjectives, and how to identify adverbs. I was surprised at how

quickly they were able to grasp the concept of adverbs, considering the fact that adverbs are one

of the more complicated and challenging parts of speech to identify. The teacher makes sure that

each student is comprehending and makes sure the students that need the extra support get that

support. There was one instance where a specific student was struggling with a specific concept.

The teacher spoke to this separately during independent work and provided him with the support

he needed. She told him she was going to ask a question she knew he could answer, telling him

she wanted him to answer it. Then, while the class came back as a whole, she asked the question

to the class, and while there were other hands raised, she called on him to answer and he

answered correctly.

The biggest problem I encountered while observing this class was the disruptive behavior

of several students, but all of the disruptive behavior seemed to stem from one particular student,

who, for the sake of protecting their identity, I will refer to as Albert. While many of the students

would be distracted at the beginning of class, they all seemed to settle in after a few minutes,

except for Albert. Albert never seemed to get into the rhythm of class each day and this was

evident by the fact that he would attempt to get the other students to engage in his disruptive

behavior. Even when other students would be disruptive, it always seemed that Albert was the

root of the disruptive behavior. For example, all the students were required to put their phones in

their respective phone cubby at the start of each class. One day, Albert brought a toy plastic

phone with him into class. During class, he would pretend to take fake phone calls and fake text

messages, while trying to get the students around him to engage with his fake phone calls. The

other students would joke with him for a minute and then return back to their work soon after,
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but Albert would continue to joke around regardless of the other student’s engagement. The

teacher would try to keep Albert engaged, and kept him close by having him sit in the front of

the classroom. However, the teacher was never able to get Albert fully engaged and was

oftentimes forced to deal with it as is, as they couldn’t waste anymore time trying to get Albert

back on track. This was a difficult decision to make, because either way something is being

sacrificed. Either the whole class would suffer, or Albert would be left behind.

While some students seemed to enjoy Albert’s jokes and comments, it seemed to be only

a select few that were sitting near him. The rest of the class seemed uninterested in his behavior

and seemed exhausted and fed-up by the behavior. The teacher also saw Albert’s behavior as an

inconvenience, but was unable to get him to engage no matter how often they attempted to. The

teacher obviously has the most power in terms of trying to get Albert to pay attention, but

nothing they did ever seemed to get through to Albert. The other students, specifically those that

engaged with Albert’s behavior have the power to get Albert’s behavior to stop, by not engaging

with the behavior. However, to their defense, it is difficult to not engage when the behavior was

as constant as it was, and to Albert’s credit his behavior could be very humorous at times,

making it even more difficult to ignore, especially for eighth grade students. This problem has

not been solved for a number of reasons. The first is that the teacher is unable to get through to

Albert. The second is that Albert receives the attention and validation he is seeking from several

students. The third is that Albert seems to have no interest in school or learning, and so has no

desire to change his behavior because he is getting exactly what he wants out of the class; which

is to make jokes until the bell rings.

Research
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The problem that I observed in class is not a new or unordinary issue that teachers have

to face. Students' level of engagement will always vary from student to student, and there will

always be students that have no desire to engage with the class or the material. However, there

are misconceptions about how to handle the student and how to attempt to solve the issue.

Despite what many people believe and practice, “scare tactics, authoritarian approaches, and

punishment do not produce the [desired] outcomes (Gregg, 1999).” These methods oftentimes

have the reversed outcome, as the student would feel targeted, alienated, and would lose any

remaining respect for the teacher because the teacher is making themselves out to be a villain in

the student’s eyes. What may work instead is to build a stronger sense of community for the

student, a community that is oriented towards “strong emphasis on the academic mission of the

school (Gregg, 1999).” If there is a sense of community that has clear-cut goals for what they

want to achieve, students who are disruptive are more likely to feel that their behavior is

unacceptable and negatively affecting the class, as opposed to feeling that their behavior is

entertaining for their fellow students.

It is also important to try to have an understanding of why students engage in disruptive

behavior, in order to try to prevent that behavior. Every teacher has a different idea of what is

considered acceptable behavior, so if the acceptable behavior is not clarified, students will not

understand their expectations. This has to be clarified as early as possible, so the expectations

should be “clearly and firmly communicated to students on the first day of class (Harrell &

Hollins, 2009).” The first day is when the ground rules should be set, because that is when

students first begin to establish habits within the class.

However, what is arguably the most important aspect of trying to get disruptive students

to engage in the material, is to be able to level with them as a human and gain their respect. One
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way to level with the student and gain mutual respect is through intervention. Some methods of

implementing intervention are “rule posting, teacher movement, mystery motivators, and token

economy with response cost (Musser et. al, 2001).” These forms of intervention allow for the

student to understand not only what the teacher expects from them, but what the student can gain

from displaying acceptable behavior. None of these methods would be effective if the student

does not already have respect for the teacher, and an understanding that the teacher is looking to

maximize the student’s potential, rather than operating in a way that makes the student believe

they are out to get them.

Devising a Plan

The first thing to do to stop a student from engaging in disruptive behavior is to work to

prevent that behavior. Students formulate habits within each individual class based on the class,

what it expects from the students, and who the teacher is. What this means is that right from the

jump on day 1, a teacher has to clarify what the behavior that they will tolerate is, and what

behavior they will not tolerate. However, it is important to deliver this in the right tone, or you

will immediately paint yourself as a tyrant. Along with this on the first day, you should try to

create a connection between you and the students. This can be done by letting the students see

your personality, so they can humanize you, as oftentimes students don't see their teachers as

people. However, this should go both ways as you should allow your students to reveal their

personality to you as well. This helps to create a sense of community as well, something that will

also promote acceptable behavior. If there’s a sense of community with an established goal,

students can help to keep their fellow students on track and not engage with disruptive behavior.

Students can hold each other accountable, and some students will be less likely to be disruptive if
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they understand their fellow students are working towards a goal. They may also feel a stronger

urge to keep up with their peers, allowing students to elevate each other. It also should be made

clear what students will get out of the class if they behave appropriately. This could large-scale

like skills that are applicable to real life, or smaller incentives that the students will be enticed by.

The best way to stop disruptive behavior is to prevent it, so much of the work to stop disruptive

behavior has to be precautionary and done before a problem has been established.

Conclusion

Prevention is the best way to stop disruptive behavior, so the teacher has to be in

command of the class from the first day. The teacher has to try to create mutual respect between

the students and themselves, as well as creating a community that is goal-oriented so the students

can work to elevate each other as well. The teacher has to display the perspective that they are

trying to maximize the student’s potential. The students should have a clear idea as to what they

will get out of the class, so they will actually work to accomplish that goal. However, that goal

has to be enticing for the students, or else the students will not care. The most important aspect is

leveling with the students so that everyone is on the same page and working together instead of

in opposition with each other.


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References

Gregg, S. (1999). Creating effective alternatives for disruptive students. The Clearing

House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 73(2), 107–113.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00098659909600160

Musser, E. H., Bray, M. A., Kehle, T. J., & Jenson, W. R. (2001). Reducing disruptive

behaviors in students with serious emotional disturbance. School Psychology Review,

30(2), 294–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2001.12086117

Working with disruptive students - ed. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2022, from

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ833920.pdf

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