What advice can you teachers give me to teach an out of control class?

I am teaching at one of the roughest schools in our city and the class I am relieving for is a grade six class. The kids are horrible and feel free to abuse each other and myself whenever they feel like it. The first two teachers have given up and I am number three. My question is this, how do you think I should approach this class. I have never had discipline problems before and this is the first time that there are just 'too many' rude kids in the class for me to control them. I don't know what to do and need advice.What advice can you teachers give me to teach an out of control class?
This may or may not work, depending on the culture of the class and school you’re teaching at, however this was my approach to a class. From day one, you need to be very strict and stern, as the behavior gets better, you can start to relax. But if you give a student an inch, they will take a mile.





Have the class rules written out big on a poster board and hang them up in the front of the class. Have these rules numbered and make the class read aloud the rules. When a student is breaking one of the rules during the period, all you have to do is say their name, the number they are breaking, and point to the board. Eventually it will get to a point where you just have to say the number and they know what they’re doing wrong and how to correct it. This avoids a power struggle. Don’t give them a chance to argue with you, don’t give them a chance to say “but miss I wasn’t doing anything!” Just point to the board and move on. Don’t stop to argue, it will just escalate the situation.





Next, have ORDER in the room. Set up a system in which they must follow every day. The come in the room and know their bell work is on the board in the upper right corner every day. They know they then turn it in on the red basket in the back of the room, ect. Just having a system of order settles them down.





Also, use choice language when disciplining and have a set of known consequences, such as a warning system. They know that if they misbehave, they get 1 warning. If they misbehave again, they get a phone call home, ect. Using choice language will remind them of the consequences and give them a choice in their own fate. “You have two choices, you can continue to talk and get a phone call home, or you can stop talking.”





Make sure your communication is good with the parents; it makes a world of difference.What advice can you teachers give me to teach an out of control class?
Set your expectations from the outset, come up with rewards for doing what you want them to do and punishments for not doing it, and then stick to them. If you don't tell them from the outset that things have changed, how can they be expected to know how to behave? Also, I'd avoid thinking of them as ';horrible';. That sets them up as the enemy (and believe me, kids know if their teacher doesn't like them), and it will be you v. them from this point forward. You need them on your team. Just think of them as kids who have, in the past, not had the advantage of having had you as a teacher, and you can change the way they (and you) look at things.
You need to try and work on the relationship between yourself and the class, then they will start to respect you. You need to make them laugh, I had an awesome teacher at college, he taught one of the roughest classes there and the way he got round it was by abusing them back but in a nice way, aim for the ring leader of the bunch. Try to be firm still though, don't let it show that their bothering you, try to laugh it off. GOOD LUCK x
I'm a teacher, but I've never had a really bad class before so I don't know from firsthand experience. But one of the best books I've ever read on this subject is called ';Teaching Outside the Box'; by LouAnn Johnson. She is the teacher who inspired the movie Dangerous Minds a few years back. It is an excellent resource as she has a lot of experience with classes like yours.
Find time to study each student's problem; so you have to make one to one approach and deal with each one of them and find out the reason for their misbehavior. The main reason for the hooliganism of the children is their parents and their wrong way of upbringing. You must eradicate the reason for their misbheaviour and then find the difference.
Ride out the storm and do your best. Then, when the school year is over,


switch schools. I was in a similar situation my first half year of teaching.





I loved my new school so much that I have been there for 27 years! Don't


give up whatever you do! Just watch where you teach.Good luck.
Hang on. It will be over eventually! Once it IS over, thank God that you survived! :)





I had a class like that once. It was nearly the death of me!
Find a better place and quit the job, perhaps they may call you back.
take control yell at if necessary
First of all, if two teachers have already absconded because of these kids' behavior, I'd want a talk with the principal before I started teaching. In a case such as this, the principal must know that this class needs some special attention and direction if two other teachers have left. I would think the principal would want to sit with you and discuss the schools' rules for misbehaving and how much support you are going to receive in the event that this behavior continues. Get your support system in place first!





Then, you can do what most of the other Yahoo Community readers have recommended.





I teach middle school and very often urban students can be more demanding, loud and seemingly out of control. It takes a firm hand and someone who can talk to them - help them learn to take responsibility for their actions and take part in the class.





Most of us first try to remove the student from the environment (another class). Then we issue demerits and call parents. Or if the situation is more aggressive, we will write referrals and send the student to the office (ISS or OSS -in school or out of school suspension). Parents are always contacted and made to know their child is disrupting the class and causing problems. Many times, we insist the parent come and get their child if they don't want to calm down.





We have a full time police officer on duty in the school along with 4 security officers with walkie-talkies who will escort students out of the class.





That's what I mean - the school must have something in place for this kind of behavior. No teacher should have to put up with bad behavior and still try to teach.





Overall, we have few incidents because the students are constantly being charged to make a positive difference, to support the teachers, to do their best and to take ownership of their school.
PATIENCE!


PERSISTENCE!


....trying to think of more P's....


Oh well, anyway first and foremost don't back down, EVER. Show them that you are boss. You don't have to be a b*tch, but let them know that they will not get away with their disrespect and misbehaving. Approach them with confidence, and don't be too concerned with whether or not they are your 'favorite'...some of my best teachers were the ones that didn't put up with any crap! At the end of the day, don't let it get to you. Middle schoolers are tough! Also, don't be afraid to ask advice from other teachers at your school...they know the kids too! Try to keep them busy and give them enough activities so they wont be bored because boredom=trouble. Hope that helped!!
Reward good behaviour - it'll save your voice :P





Two strategies I've used with tough classes:





1. Get a bunch of ';good behaviour'; cards (make them on the computer, then photocopy onto coloured card). Whenever you see a student do the right thing, give them one. They are supposed to write their name on the back and place it in a bucket. At the end of the week, draw a card from the bucket and that student wins a prize.





This one works really well because you can give out as many cards as you want per week (I used to routinely give out 50-100 per week), but only have to pay for one prize.





2. Fill a jar of jelly beans and have make a chart with numbers on it. Every time a student does the right thing, they get to write their name next to one of the numbers on the chart. When the chart is full, the student who wrote their name next to the number of jelly beans in the jar wins the jar.





Hope this helps.