Any primary teachers here tonight?

[oxocube]

Could you PLEASE share with me your strategies for dealing with difficult kids in your class? You know, the ones who are constantly disruptive, sometimes aggressive towards other kids in the class, who need constant sitting on to produce anything and even then, they achieve less than their peers and who take up a disproportionate amount of your day.

All ideas very welcome

Not a teacher but bumping for you as a parent who has felt so guilty for her DS putting teachers through what you are experiencing....

Short achievable targets, using a mini egg timer for things and giving little reward when achieved. Also lots of praise, catching being good, etc. Re-adjusting my sights as well so I am not being unrealistic in my expectation of them, Being as consistent as possible (eg. 3 warnings about being disruptive on the carpet leads to filling out a 'what did I do, what different choice did I make' sheet)
and failing all that, moaning to colleagues and tearing hair out in staffroom fantasizing about a gin and tonic!

like the egg timer idea. I'm doing/ have tried quite a few 'strategies' including some of the ones you mentioned jennifersophia (esp the G&T!). Child in question is only Year 1 and is, I think, due to be tested early next year for attention problems. He's one of those kids who changes the whole dynamic of the group . Thing is, I really like him but find him SOOOO hard in class

Agree with Jennifer:

short achievable tasks
tons of praise & encouragement (for whole class)
noticing & complimenting good behaviour realistic expectations
Consistency
Asking if they need help
Talking to parents to see if they are like this at home and what helps

Also, I found giving them some responsibility eg "If it is hard for you to sit there and complete your work, why don't you a) come and sit by me b) "go and sit on that quiet table over there (a small empty table) so you can concentrate. When you have finished you can go back to your table. It's up to you. What would help you most?" etc

Depending on age, pick your battles. If they are Y5, give them all a choice of whether they sit on the carpet or at their desk during story time.

and I agree, moaning to colleagues in staffroom & fantasizing about a G&T

My stepson is like this. I find that giving him something to do that he is good at is very very effective for keeping him quiet and happy. He had various learning disabilities that kept him from being able to do the regular school work (couldn't do the letters at all) and it took forever (6 years) for him to get a statement. However, he was really talented at drawing (and figuring out mechanical things). I "recruited" him to make my christmas card one year. It kept him occupied for days and he was truly happy. And when he realized that I was copying it and sending it out to all my friends, he was in seventh heaven for months.
So for children like you are describing, I would try to find something that they are good at and try to give them something related to that as a task on a daily basis, even if it's not what you are doing for curriculum with the rest of the class. I bet that before too long that child will be diagnosed with a statement anyway (like my stepson was) when the system finally catches up with them making the fact that they are not following the curriculum to the letter a moot point. I would focus less on what they are achieving relative to the rest of the class, and more on what they are achieving relative to their abilities.

Really good last sentence from SofiaAmes.
I really feel for you oxocube - I am Y1 and I had a girl like this earlier in the year, it is so so hard.
We also did things like give her a 'wobble' cushion for her to sit on while on the carpet, and a sticker chart that was in a place that she could see with her targets on it.
Also gave her small jobs (only given when she was doing the right thing!) to give her (and me) a break from the strain of trying to sit still and listening for more than 5 minutes.

I find a kitchen timer with a 'ding' is good too especially for time out time.
lots of prais when they are doing good things, which is always easier said the done bt I found 'good sitting, good talking, good listening' etc works well.
Getting eye contact when giving instructions and if necessary getting the child to repeat the task back to you.
Using ' first- then' as in first you read then you use the computer

I find he responds really positively to praise but needs constant one on one attention to keep him on track and out of trouble. Today, I chose him to come with me to get the key from the head's office to unlock the bike/outdoor toy shed and he was in charge of getting the toys into the playground. He handled it beautifully and really took on board the responsibility, but its baby steps! And (not my decision) he's going to yr 2 next year where I really fear he will flounder as academically, he will find it very hard

It is hard. .. I know.. I work in MLD SEN. have you talked to the next teacher about him??
what support do you have from the LEA/ Psychologists?

Hard in year one as they are still so young!
We do all the things described so far in Year one but get really tough in KS2 especially year six.
One warning, 5 mins time out in class, on second warning, 10 mins in parallel class on third warning plus letter home detailing rule broken. Violence is exclusion.
I often feel KS1 has to put up with a lot more than we do.
We use Lee Canter's Assertive Discilpline stuff.

egg timer
structure
informing of changes before they happen
close liaison with parents so coming from the same point
smiley face chart
how to describe this one.....a laminated card with one third red, one third yellow, one third green with a little arrow attached - teacher moves it according to behaviour (red being unacceptable, green being excellent) helps with self monitoring (talking top end of ks2 here)
yellow card/red card ala football for behaviour

erm..will keep thinking
how old a pupils are we talking about

just read year 1.....
smiley face scale with arrow instead of red amber green?

In my experience (as a parent and stepparent, not as a teacher), punishing and timeouts is relatively useless with children like you are describing. Their problem is not conscious disobedience and therefore the threat or actuality of punishment isn't going to change their behavior.

As a less extreme example, my ds' (6) teacher has complained constantly about his behavior all year long. In his 6 years of school and group childcare this is the first person who has found him to be anything but perfectly behaved. And she keeps doing things like confiscating things that he is fiddling with or keeping him inside at recess. Silly thing is that by the time he gets home, he's completely forgetten that he was even punished. I stopped a long time ago giving him timeouts because he sits on the naughty chair or stair or whatever it is and daydreams (current fave is watching Scooby Doo in his mind). Much more effective is to let him do his fiddling or daydreaming in a way that isn't disruptive to the rest of the class.

So, in the example of your student, it seems that giving him responsibility makes him behave well. Can you give him sorting or other simple tasks to do for you when he gets disruptive or regularly spaced throughout the day. It's so sad to hear that they are planning to move him up. My stepson was moved up every year until he got to middle school (year 6) and still couldn't read or write!!! That's when he finally got his statement that we had been asking for since Year 1. And then was permanently excluded from school....I mean what do they expect from a child at a new school in Year 6 who can't read or write and is the smallest kid in the school!?