- [Narrator] In this video, IT instructors
were asked seven interview questions
about how they deal with student behavioral issues.
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- I simply try to talk with the student
outside of class to get to the bottom of something.
- It's important to deal with the student one-on-one
outside of class time,
in your office or away from the other students.
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A seating chart can go a long way.
- I try to look at my own management of class time.
If I'm going too quickly between activities
or not giving students enough time
to understand instructions,
sometimes that's when I see students talking
when they should be listening.
- If you're asking one student to speak
and another one is trying to,
as long as you sort of acknowledge,
"You'll have a moment, wait your turn,"
students, if they know that you recognize
they have something to say,
oftentimes they'll wait to say it.
And so that's a strategy I recommend using.
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- I simply just mark them tardy
on a sheet of paper that I have every day in class.
- Drives me crazy.
- I want students to visually see
that I'm marking them tardy,
but I don't need to interrupt class
to tell them that they're tardy.
They should know.
And they should know my procedure for doing that.
- I always have a participation grade
and that grade includes, of course,
attendance and timely attendance.
And so when a student comes in late, they see me,
even if I'm talking or if other groups are doing something,
I walk right over to my attendance book and I mark it.
So they know that I noticed when they come in late.
And that goes a long way towards cutting down that behavior.
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- In my classes, I allow students to use cell phones.
- Now, I personally don't allow the use of cell phones
or any electronic devices in my class.
- I actually don't have a policy on cell phones
and I don't take them away.
- I try to have students help me
come up with rules for the class
for appropriate cell phone usage.
- It's a little different for adults.
If you've got working professionals,
they might need to use that phone
and I tell them, "If you're going to need to use your phone,
please step out of the classroom."
But for adolescents or younger, if they have a cell phone,
they get one warning.
If I see them using their phone,
I'll tell them to put it away.
If there's a second warning, I take it
and I'll put it in my shirt pocket,
or I'll put it on my desk
for them to pick up on their way out.
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Our tendency as humans,
when someone is speaking very quietly
is to come closer to them,
"Sorry, what's that? What's that?"
I would encourage you to walk away from them.
Say, "I'm sorry, can you say that a little louder?"
Touching the ear like this.
Walking away from them encourages them to throw their voice
and make sure everyone in the classroom can hear them.
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- One thing I think increases student motivation
is connecting what language you're learning
to how they're going to use it in the real world.
- I try to make the class feel
as student-centered as possible.
I do simple things like have students be in charge
of writing the date on the board each day in class
or different students in charge
of erasing the board after class.
These are simple things, but they help students feel
like they're part of a community.
- I think the single biggest thing that a teacher can do
to increase motivation is to be motivated themselves.
Students see that you wanna be there,
generally that'll make them want to be there more as well.
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- One simple thing to do
is always refer back to your syllabus.
- Is referencing a syllabus or a school policy.
- You should have those rules
listed in your syllabus on day one
or have the students help you generate them on day one.
- That has been preset,
which is why I need to have them clear beforehand.
- So if you always go back to that contract
that you have with your students,
it will help it feel less personal and more professional.
- Really the best thing that you can do
to enforce your rules in a professional way
is to be consistent, strive to treat everyone equally.
You're not there to make friends,
you're there to run an efficient classroom,
run an active and fun classroom.
And if anyone's interfering with that,
you need to let them know that you're going to treat them
the same way you would treat anyone else.
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- Hold on, let me do that again.
- Oo, good question.
What did the other two say?
- Um, sorry, I'll do that again
so there's more time in between.
- Or I'll just, that's Betsy's policy.
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