Please help, feel intimidated by my students

[Baleena]

Ive NC.

I lecture in special needs at a university. I'm standing in for a colleague for the next few months. These students of mine are going into a caring profession and it's essential they have a good understanding of how to work with children with SEN.

Unfortunately there's a group of them in the lectures who talk, laugh, whisper throughout my entire lecture. I know this may sound pathetic, but despite being so much older than them, I find it really intimidating.

I think I may have a touch of imposter syndrome. I need your advice on how to deal with this. SEN has been my passion for 40 years now, and the majority of my students are engaged. This group is distracting to other students, but as I say, also extremely intimidating to me. Because I'm only standing in for my colleague, I don't feel I can go to their superior to discuss the issue - it doesn't feel serious enough, they're just being a pain in the arse.

I need to find a way around it, it actually had me in tears I'm embarrassed to say. Does anyone have any advice for dealing with them and giving myself a bit of confidence?

I retrained a few years ago and there was a group of students who talked/used their mobiles throughout lectures. It was really distracting and I was so grateful to the lecturers who called them out on it.

I’m sure your other students will appreciate you speaking to them. The stopping and stating approach worked well, as did one lecturer who just asked them to leave - they didn’t disturb his lectures again.

Most of these students will have recently been at school, so will be used to being told to be quiet. They'll be annoying those around them, so you need to address it.

Why don't you catch them as they come in to the lecture and insist that due to the recent chatting, which is disrupting the lecture, and, quite frankly, rude, they need to sit apart.

Posting to add support and hear how Thursday goes 💪

good luck today

How did it go @Baleena ?

DH who teaches at university says he deals with this by looking directly at the students who are talking while he lectures. He keeps doing this until they notice, which usually doesn't take too long. He says generally one of the group notice him staring at them as he is talking and you can see then squirm a bit and go quiet. Eventually the whole group notices and usually stops talking.

You need to keep lecturing/ talking AT them, don't look away until they notice and stop talking. You need to keep your nerve but he says it is surprisingly effective and does not disrupt the lecture or cause a confrontation, which asking them to leave would.