How to Manage Challenging Behavior in the Classroom

Challenging behaviors can really put a damper on teaching. Even the most seasoned teachers can feel overwhelmed, and often stumped, by behaviors that seem to come out of nowhere. But as frustrating as these behaviors are, there are always reasons behind them. Students don’t engage in behaviors for fun or because they “just feel like it.”

As frustrating as some behaviors are, they are signs that a child is trying to communicate something they can’t, won’t, or don’t know how to articulate. These messages are always subconscious; children don’t know their behaviors are actually sending a message. In fact, most students don’t know why they behave poorly at all. Maybe they’re seeking attention, or fulfilling a sensory need. Or perhaps they are simply trying to avoid a stressful task. Regardless of the underlying reason, chances are, if you ask them to explain their behavior, you’ll receive a brisk shoulder shrug. They don’t know any better than you do. Let’s outline what some of the most common behaviors may translate to:

Work Avoidance

Laziness and boredom are popular explanations for students who won’t complete work. But this is hardly ever the case. Even for students who are avoiding work due to being “lazy” (or unmotivated), there is always something standing in the way of their willingness and motivation. Often, it’s actually due to confusion, paralysis, or fear of mistakes. Students who don’t do work find something about the work extra difficult. Sometimes, the insurmountable challenge is with the actual execution of the task. Other times, it’s with initiation of the task—an important part of executive functioning. Either way, students who won’t complete their work need support, not reprimand.

Verbal or Physical Disruption

We’ve all had those students who can’t help but call out in the middle of a lesson. At best, their comments are relevant but inappropriately timed. At worst, they derail the entire lesson. Either way, these outbursts are always disruptive and can stop a teacher’s train-of-thought in its tracks. Generally speaking, students usually engage in disruptive behaviors for one of two reasons. They are either seeking attention from teachers or peers, or they are trying to avoid a task. The reason they are avoiding could be anxiety, boredom, or not understanding the material. Determining the most likely triggers for these behaviors will not only help you to predict and prepare for potential interruption, but also to develop some strategies for teaching students replacement behaviors.

Verbal or Physical Aggression

The purposes of these behaviors are usually a bit more difficult to pinpoint. They are often triggered by feelings of frustration, anger, sadness, or fear. Most often, students are engaging in these behaviors for a sense of control. When aspects of their life feel out of their control, they may experience an urgent instinct to respond to triggers physically or through verbal aggression. While these students are not consciously seeking to harm another person’s body or say anything hurtful, this is sometimes the only action they can think to take to alleviate their own unpleasant feelings.

How to handle these behaviors

The best way to address behaviors is to give students another way to get whatever it is they are seeking. First, then, we must identify what it is they want or need. This takes time and observation. For those students who are self-aware of their needs, sometimes conversations with the student can help. If a student gets out of their seat frequently because they have a need to release energy, record data on how frequently they get up, and give them a tool to communicate when they feel the need to move. This could be a hand signal, a sign they hold up, or some other non-verbal means of signaling to you. It is crucial that their signal is addressed promptly, otherwise they risk regressing back to their old behavior (‘why should I wait when I can just get what I want on my own right now?’).

Teaching these replacement behaviors takes time, patience, and a lot of compassion from teachers. When you see your students engaging in undesirable behavior, try to re-frame your thinking about it. Instead of focusing on how disruptive it is, try to determine what it is that students need or want and help them get it in more productive ways.