How to Deal with Difficult Students: The Ultimate Guide (Part 3)

How to Deal with Difficult Students: The Ultimate Guide (Part 3)

This week I began a 3-part series that began with major categories of difficult students followed by preventative steps for managing those kinds of students. On the rare occasion it is needed, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.

Image via Flickr by stevendepolo

I consider these tricks for dealing with difficult students a last resort. Because I am generally effective managing the classroom through preventative measures, I rarely have a need for these tactics. But do not doubt it, I have used each one of these at least once.

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How to Deal with Difficult Students: The Ultimate Guide (Part 2)

How to Deal with Difficult Students: The Ultimate Guide (Part 2)

Two days ago I started this 3-part series by defining categories of difficult students. As I said in that piece, my classrooms rarely have any challenging students; my secret is stopping the behavior before it starts.

Another way to think about it is

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” — Benjamin Franklin

Adult students rarely (if ever) have a goal of being the most difficult in class. They become challenging as they start exhibiting certain behaviors, often unconsciously in response to a variety of circumstances. Classroom management for adults doesn’t have to be a challenge; by creating an environment from the beginning where those behaviors are not tolerated, they just don’t appear as often.

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