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Disciplining Problem Students

Wed December 5th, 2007 by Michelle Payne

I wish every child could be an angel when they enter my studio, but it just doesn’t work out that way all the time. I have had my share of chatty kathys, bratty bettys, and sassy sams. In this blog post, I want to share a little trick I learned from a therapist friend of mine. It’s all about rewarding GOOD behavior.

The first thing you need to do is go to your computer and open up a blank word document. Create a table using some fun colors. Title it “Behavior Chart” in a fun font like “curlz”. Make 6 columns and 5 rows. Space out the individual sections so that the chart looks like a blank calendar. Leave it blank. Now make several copies. In the squares in the top row, you want to put the names of the months, starting with the current one. Of course, when you run out of room, you will simply print another one and start over.

The squares under each month’s column are the weeks of that month (assuming you teach one lesson a week). Here’s how to use the chart: Explain to little miss sassafras that at the end of each lesson, you are going to put a sticker on the chart at the end of each lesson IF she is good. You can even give her up to 2 warnings during a lesson before the sticker is denied. After 2 weeks of good behavior, reward the student with a prize, sheet of stickers, or candy. This works, I swear.
If your student continues to be a problem, you can put them “on probation”. Tell them they have month to shape up their attitude, behavior, whatever the problem is. If they don’t, you are going to quit teaching them. I did this once with an unbearable problem child, and she did shape up. It made her realize that being in my class was a privilege and that I wasn’t going to put up with her bad attitude.

Hope this helps. Please respond with your own war stories. What helps you deal with problems? What other advice can you offer other teachers?

Posted in Teaching Tips |

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5 Comments (Add Comment)

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  1. Good idea for young student classes. Rewarding good behavior instead of punishing bad behavior is a positive approach. Teaching music classes in High School, though, opens up a new can of worms and remedies.

    by Ronnie Currey — Thu Dec 6, 2007 @ 9:15 am

  2. Good point. Now that I know we have another high school music teacher here, I will post some threads on that topic. I also teacher High School and it is very different. I have tried the reward system with them in this way: All 3 of my classes compete with each other. Each class has a jar of candy and at the end of each class period they get candy put in the jar if they are good. The class to fill the jar first gets to watch a music-type movie of their choice. It worked really well for 2 of my classes. The other one---they are a discipline problem all in their own category.

    by Michelle Payne — Thu Dec 6, 2007 @ 12:54 pm

  3. P.S. If you have any other tips on High School disciplining, Ronnie, please post them and help me out!

    :)

    by Michelle Payne — Thu Dec 6, 2007 @ 12:56 pm

  4. I strongly believe that it is not my job to be a disciplinarian. Students come to me to learn and if there is a problem with behavior then that is for the parents to address. If a problem continues then I suggest to the parents that they resolve it. I am not being paid to discipline children and teach them how to behave in lessons. Parents need to address expectations on behavior before the lessons start. I am being paid to teach music. If I have to find creative ways to gets kids to be attentive to my lessons then I am way off course with my teaching.

    by Heather — Fri Jan 25, 2008 @ 11:48 am

  5. Well, you are the first teacher I have ever heard say something like this. In fact, every teacher I've ever met has had to deal with discipline issues. I think it does come with the job and it definitly does not say anything negatively about one's teaching.

    by Michelle P — Fri Jan 25, 2008 @ 2:03 pm

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