Give me your best tactics for dealing with teens!

[Rhubarb]

I'm being assessed at work tomorrow, I'm a Learning Support Assistant at a Secondary School and I deal not just with children who have special needs, but also those with behavioural problems.

The age range is usually 14-15.

I'm just brain-storming ideas around, we do have set ways of doing things but they are not always effective for every situation. So, what would your tactic be for the following situations:

You approach a boy who is chatting and not working, as he sees you approach he yells "GO AWAY" - what is your reaction?

A boy is texting on his phone, you ask him to put it away and he refuses, so you threaten him with detention and he just laughs.

A boy refuses to do any work and when you go to talk to him, he point blank refuses to look at you or even acknowledge that you are there - perhaps even chatting over you with another boy.

Any input much appreciated!

On being told to go away i would explain i am not paid to go away . I would ask the other children next to the child to move away and sit next to the child and discuss his rudeness .

The phone well i would give the detention and also confiscate the phone until a paarent can collect it.

The child who ignores again separate so its you and him and talk until they have to acknowlege you.

good luck

Bloody good advice that! Bloody good. Am printing it off.

Just one thing though, what if you ask a pupil to step outside the classroom for a quiet word and they refuse. What do you do then?

I should also say that you can't manage the most difficult pupils on your own. Your teacher should in all cases back your authority and those pupils that are continuously difficult should have a whole school approach that is co-ordinated by the tutor or head of year. This should be discussed with you by the class teacher before the lesson.

Ah, now I'm the one responsible for finding that out, no-one tells me. In fact, in that English class I discussed earlier, the teacher isn't even sure what an LSA is supposed to do.

Ok. If they don't go then you say ok thats your choice but I will have to deal with this later. Then you MUST chase it up...

Find them in tutor or ask the teacher to call them up later in the day. When you do see them then you explain that to refuse to do as you ask means that you have had to come to them and that wastes your time so that means a detention. Oh and don't forgat to talk about why you asked them to go out in the first place. This then says to them next time it's far less hasstle to go out if I'm asked to at the time...

In that case help your self and go to the HOD off your own bat. Some teachers aren't so good at class control. As I'm sure you know...

You are a star, I'm gonna put your MN name to my memory if you don't mind! You've just taught me more than they have in the past 6 months!

Cheers matey!

No worries.... hope it goes well.

quiet word outside class offered if refused ask the rest of the class to listen up and go public let the other kids debate what the rights and wrongs of what is being said are.
get the child to own his or her actions and if they get humiliated in the process good perhaps they will leave the class for quiet chat next time

good luck rhubarb