What To Do With THAT Class: argumentative

The helpless feeling you get when nothing you do seems to work with that one class can be absolutely horrible. Over the years I've had classes that leave me in tears, fill me with dread, make me want to take a sick day, or just leave me feeling like I have no idea what I'm doing. It's disconcerting at best, and can leave you completely miserable if you let it get the best of you. A few years ago I started a series sharing some strategies that have helped me improve my ability to work with some challenging classes with various difficulties- now I have another to add to the series! Today I'm focusing on classes that are constantly arguing, with each other and with you.

When I first started this series years ago I shared my advice to keep those challenging groups from making you miserable- if you haven't already, I encourage you to read that post by clicking here. Hopefully the solutions I'm sharing today will help you improve your relationship with your tough class, but that process is going to take time and you need to make sure you keep the situation manageable (for you and your students) in the meantime.

One of the points I shared in that post is to be prepared with a plan B, C, D, and E. There's a good chance the first strategy you try won't work! Remember that this is a process, and a very important one at that. Don't give up.

Argumentative

Sometimes you just get a mix of students in a class that really just does not get along, or has a lot of students in it that can very easily be set off by small annoyances. At any moment in the lesson, it can instantly go from completely calm to a full-on screaming match, seemingly out of nowhere. When you have short class periods like we do for music, this can be especially difficult because there's not enough time to really help mediate and talk through every disagreement to fully resolve it and still have time to actually teach the lesson!

tip #1: keep it moving Sometimes distraction can be enough to "power through" and keep everyone engaged and productive without even giving them a chance to get a word in! Making sure there is some type of activity that you can start immediately as students are entering (I use these student-led warmups) and having your entire lesson completely memorized so you can seamlessly transition between activities with no down time (and I mean not even a second to pause and think) can help prevent arguments from even starting.

tip #2: avoid conversation To go along with the last point, having students be engaged in active participation and giving them as little time when they are supposed to be sitting and listening to you (or another student) as possible can help prevent a lot of arguments. Limiting verbal directions/ instruction can also help a lot with avoiding the feeling of a power struggle (which can lead students to start arguing with the teacher). Model and have them copy, point to a word on the board and jump in, start with a familiar activity you've already practiced and go from there, or use silent gestures to get students doing what they need to do.

If you want a specific example of a lesson that works this way, here is one of my new favorites for upper elementary called the Team Rhythm Challenge.

tip #3: opportunity for expression A lot of times the easiest way to help students move forward when they get upset about something is for them to have a chance to tell you what happened/ what they're thinking. But if you have this type of argumentative group, letting them speak in front of everyone else will probably result in the whole lesson dissolving into an argument. Instead I have blank notecards and sticky note pads with pencils in a few different strategic places around the classroom, where they can be away from the rest of the class, that I show them to use to write down what's bothering them and give to me silently. I try to quickly skim it when they hand me a paper and follow up, either immediately if needed or I tell them I'll talk to them later and put it in my pocket. In that case I either talk to them at the end of class when everyone is lining up or, more likely with an argumentative class I'm trying to keep on task, I'll go find them in their homeroom later to talk to them. 

tip #4: catch the good This can be really helpful for a lot of different difficult class dynamics but catching them being successful and giving them positive reinforcement for that can help them want to continue working together to do well. Again, the warmups I do at the beginning of class can be a great opportunity to get them doing something simple enough that they can do successfully and I can immediately reinforce. Having something visual to recognize things the whole class does well like my letter system (see this post) is important here so you can give that positive reinforcement without having to stop and talk, which we already know we're trying to avoid.

tip #5: practice listening to each other It may take some time to get to a place where you can do this successfully, but the first step to helping students learn to interact with each other more positively is to learn how to listen to each other, and circle discussions are perfect for that. With groups that are really argumentative, I use a lot of quick, easy questions as prompts- nothing that would get too serious- to practice only speaking when it's your turn. See my discussion of community-building circles in this post for more details on how I do these.

tip #6: use catch phrases The "we listen and we don't judge" trend came in super handy for me this past school year with the couple of really argumentative classes I had. Having a catch phrase like that that you can repeat as a reminder for students not to get caught up in an argument can be really helpful. I found that, especially with one that students had already heard on social media, after I used it a few times they started saying it to themselves and to each other whenever someone would get upset at someone over a minor annoyance, and it became a strategy for self-regulation!

I hope these suggestions help you find a positive way forward together! They may not ever be the easiest class to teach, but if you continue to make it a priority to improve the class for everyone involved, you're bound to see positive changes over time!

If you have any suggestions of your own or questions you'd like to ask about this topic, please leave them in the comments below. I highly recommend taking a look at all of my previous posts in this series here for more tips on working with other types of difficult classes right here. And if you'd like to read more about how I handle "behavior management" as a whole, here are all my top posts on the topic.