Now that we had just started the second semester of the school year 2016-17,  teachers need to focus on discipline and handling students that are troublemakers. We don’t have to go too far if they’ve been in our school for a while, They have the tendency of getting a label, and everyone knows what they’re made off. Sad but true. I always focus on the positive instead of the negative. Somewhere in that child, there’s something good.

The Plus One Rule: Make that special kid your leader. Give him the attention he’s looking for. You’ll see how fast the problems go away. If they have Learning Disabilities, work with him and any modifications you can use. Point out the good and not the bad. I know this is tough, and sometimes we just want to give up, but this child is going to be with you for a long time, and you might as well get used to the fact that starting a battle with him will get you nowhere.

Be considerate with the parents. Don’t be sending messages home when you can solve the problems in the classroom. Deal with it. Have clear rules in place. Let your students help you by making them theirs…when you own something, you appreciate it more than when you don’t. Make your students sign the contract or the anchor chart that you’ve made with them; laminate it and post it where they can see it. When you display the rules that they came up with, the other students will help you remind those who don’t abide the rules. I remember I had the worst year when I probably received more than 40 messages in a year from my son’s Kindergarten teacher. She was pregnant, and I thought she was going to lose that child with all the things my son did. We just didn’t know he had some problems that needed to be taken care of.  No problems, he didn’t end up in prison! Happily married and living a normal life. But he was the reason why I became a teacher. I had learned so much about his problems that I wanted to make sure that I would help others. My son was unjustly punished so many times just because the teachers didn’t know what was wrong with him.

Learn about ADHD, ADD, Bipolar, Autism, all those problems we have nowadays. We used to in the past, but they didn’t have names or acronyms. If they did, I didn’t know them.

Michael Linsin wrote the other seven rules in his article “The 7 Rules of Handling Difficult students. His ideas are terrific and can bring some light into our lives as we get on with our school year. The best of luck to all of you and feel free to share your ideas and experiences in the comments. See you next time!