Dealing with the Difficult Child

If you've been a teacher for more than a day, you've probably had to deal with a difficult child. 

When you're little and dream of becoming a teacher, you never imagine having a behavior problem in your class.  However, then comes the real world and you quickly realize that there's no such thing as a "perfect" class.  You will always have some type of behavior issues to deal with.  Here are some tips that will help you to be successful:

1. Focus on the Positive in Your Classroom

Just having a good system that rewards the good behavior in your class can be enough to get many students to step it up.  Plus, it's a lot more fun to focus on the positive!

2. Always Make Your First Contact with Parents a Positive One

 Even if you have the most challenging student in the world, deal with it until you send home at least one positive note or make a positive phone call.  You can always find something positive to say about each child.

3. Find something you have in Common

Show them that you are a human being and enjoy what they also enjoy, both of us love holidays.

4. Recognize EVERY Little Thing that the Child Does Correctly
 For a child that is a behavior issue, you need to take notice of every single thing that they are doing right and make a big deal of it.
It can be a long road for some students, but eventually you will start to see some improvement for a longer period of time

5. Practice

 Students need tons and tons of practice and modeling of good behavior.  It seems so repetitive sometimes, but it's totally worth it.  We have tons of discussions about how we should behave the right way, even when no one is watching.