Dealing with Disruptive and Concerning Students Associate Deans Carlos Jones, School of Arts and Humanities Kathy Wood, School of Education Karen O’Quin, School of Natural and Social Sciences Rita Zientek, School of the Professions Care Team Members Charles Kenyon, Dean of Students Joan McCool, Director of Counseling Ron George, Case Manager Kim Jablonski, Case Manager Amy Rosen-Brand, Case Manager 1

Why are you here? Examples from your classes 2

General Problems--examples Yelling, disorderly behavior Drug and/or alcohol abuse Relationship arguments/domestic violence Disrespecting staff, “failure to comply” Social withdrawal Academic frustrations Students threatening to have their parents call Threatening to go “over your head” to President, Provost, Deans 3

Classroom Problems--examples Eating in class, shuffling papers, rummaging Monopolizing classroom discussions Arguing with other students, challenging authority/rules Poor hygiene Sexist, racist comments, over self-disclosure Sleeping or reading the newspaper/magazine Entering class late or leaving early Misuse of computer, using cell for talking/texting Cursing, intoxication Et cetera 4

Syllabus and Expectations Set rules and expectations for classroom behavior early during the semester and in your syllabus. This provides a base point for avoiding future confrontations with students. Consider a first class discussion where you allow students to have input in the development of classroom standards and manners. They often are stricter than you could ever be. This way, the class members take responsibility for their own behavior and for monitoring the behavior of others. 5

Minimizing Conflict 1 Seek first to understand the student and the situation Consider social or cultural factors that may play a role Reliance on the bus schedule Upstate vs. downstate Hunger Etc. Weimer (2010) in a study found conflict to be related to whether faculty members expressed care for the students 6

A= cause of stress, activating event B= belief, your interpretation C= Consequence, your reaction Based on Ellis Rational-Emotive Behavior 7

What NOT to Do A = cause of stress, activating event B = belief, your interpretation C = Consequence, your reaction A: A student doesn’t have his assignment for about the 10th time. B: You have already talked to him about coming to class unprepared and see this as a personal slight against you. C: You embarrass the student in front of the class by calling him out as “not ready for college.” 8

Minimizing Conflict 2 Try not to give disruptive behavior the energy to increase. Sometimes, behavior can be reduced by “taking the wind out of their sails.” Consider rolling with odd questions or accusations, avoiding argumentation and staying focused on the topic at hand. We can help students keep their perceptions in context, helping them to avoid maximizing frustrations and minimizing strengths. Encourage students to take responsibility for their behavior and see their behavior as something they have control over, not an “automatic response” outside of their control. 9

What Can I Do? Ideas Establishing class rules in syllabus and on the first day Remind class of rules as need arises Send an or note to individual student regarding behavior in question Invite student to office hours or scheduled meeting Invite a third party if you feel uncomfortable Develop an action plan (e.g., refer to Counseling Center) “Care Enough to Call” flyer uploads/Documents/care.pdf uploads/Documents/care.pdf Make a complaint to Judicial Affairs EMERGENCY? Immediately call UPD at Input that number into your cell phone and take your cell phone to class. 10

Campus Resources to Help Professors can make referrals: Students of Concern Care Team Counseling Center Disability Services facultyhttp://disabilityservices.buffalostate.edu/information- faculty Judicial Affairs Understand what each Student Affairs service can offer your students and how these referrals may help reduce the behavior or emotional problems in your classroom. Take the time to form relationships during times of non-crisis. 11

What Can I Do? More Ideas Professors retain the responsibility to control the classroom. Rather than have a confrontation in front of the class, ask the student to step outside the classroom for a brief discussion Professors have the right to ask a student to leave the classroom if the student is disruptive. But the student is entitled to due process. The “ejection” cannot last more than one class without some form of due process Notify the chair (or associate dean) when something like this happens Notify the student about what to do about the next class 12

Planning Ahead Establish a welcoming classroom atmosphere Use open ended questions to encourage the student to talk Explain in non-emotional terms what behaviors you are seeing. Focus on behaviors, not possible interpretations Maintain your calm. Find commonalities to build trust and connection—Build a bridge between you and the student Find the “key” or the real issue. Sometimes the student is upset about: Public humiliation Double jeopardy—punishing the student twice for the same offense 13

Resources Meyers, S. A., Bender, J., Hill, E. K., and Thomas, S. Y. (2006). How do faculty experience and respond to classroom conflict? International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 18, 180–187. Van Brunt, B. & Lewis, W. S. (2014). A Faculty Guide to Disruptive and Dangerous Behavior in the Classroom. NY, NY: Routledge Publications. Weimer, M. (2010). Conditions associated with classroom conflict. management/conditions-associated-with-classroom-conflict/ management/conditions-associated-with-classroom-conflict/ Weimer, M. (Ed.) (2010). 10 effective classroom management techniques every faculty member should know. Faculty Focus: Magna raw-facfocusclassroommanagement.pdf 14