How do you deal with sneaky behaviour?

[AHardDaysWrite]

Class of 30 year 11 boys. About 6 lovely ones, 7 hardcore troublemakers and the rest hangers-on who won't instigate poor behaviour but will join in/escalate once it's started. Mostly I deal with it, but this week they've found a new game which is wang a paper ball across the room when I'm not looking. They're seriously quick - I don't turn my back on them, but I can just be looking at one student for a second and one of the others on the other side of the room pings one at someone. Cue loud comments of "did you see that,Miss - it was X", X loudly denies it and blames Y, etc. I know most of the time they deliberately blame the wrong person to get a reaction. It's so frustrating as they're too clever with it to get caught. What do I do? I've tried ignoring it, but that makes me look weak. I've bollocked them all, which works for a short time before they start again. I've kept the whole class in, but I only have them before break once a week - the rest of the time they have to get to their next lesson, and I don't like keeping the whole class back anyway. So what do you do when it's impossible to know who the perpetrator is (and it's clearly more than one anyway). Should add I only started at the school in January so I haven't had time to build much of a relationship with them.

Can you set up a video camera ? Sanction the thrower post viewing.

Horrendous. It's the hangers on that make me .

I used to use utter boredom as a punishment. Silent practice exam questions every single lesson until behaviour improved. TBF I get they may not sit in silence, you need great support from TAs/HOD for this, and it probably only worked with my class because they were very needy underneath it all and hated not getting teacher feedback.

I really feel for you. Roll on the end of May!

You all deserve medals.

I never turn my back on them. If I have anything to go on the board it's on iwb and I type it on. Saying that I've got a yr 11 re cover on Monday that's always a laff riot. Phones under desks playing silly noises, random clapping all stupid, piss offy type behaviour. Ugh. The worst one was a citizenship course I taught timetabled in the sewing room. The ringleader used to let himself in and make a web of black cotton across the room.

A few thoughts (I have had this exact experience a number of times).

1. Ignore the actual paper throwing entirely. Quietly pop it in the bin as you're talking or walking around the room. If someone shouts out a comment, warn them about shouting out and DO NOT ENGAGE in conversation about who threw the ball.

1. Find a few kids who you think are generally doing the right thing in lessons. Ask them how they feel about the lessons, what they are achieving, what sort of learning styles work for them. Get them on side. It is crucial to have some of the class on side, even if they aren't brave enough to say so publicly.

1. At some point during each lesson, step outside the classroom with one of the students you think may be involved in the disruption. Do it quietly and not in a "you're in for a bollocking" sort of way. Give them a positive sandwich bollocking, eg: "you made a witty comment, you're clearly bright" then "the behaviour I'm seeing in this class is not ok and I'm going to have to talk to everyone's parents" (make sure this bit is not personal or confrontational) and finally "I think you can achieve a lot but only if you're making good choices. I look forward to seeing what you can do." Keep dripping relentless positivity into the worst ones while making clear that you know what's going on.

1. If it continues, phone all of the parents in the class. Seriously. It'll be a long job but explain the situation and ask them to support you. Whether their child is involved or not, they will be annoyed at the disruption which will trickle down to the students.

1. If you're feeling particularly resilient. After trying all of these, as a plenary get the students to write on post-it notes what would help them learn better in class. Some of them will say something rude about you, inevitably. If they do, don't be defensive but keep turning it round to what THEY can do about it.

1. If all else fails, have a large bottle of gin sellotaped to the underside of your desk.

I have been there, honestly. It is awful but surmountable, I promise.

I once had a class who somehow got a bird onto the room and they spent the time flapping and laughing.

Then the farting. McDonalds straws, paper and spitting. Ughhh

Then, during one IT lesson, one boy got Miss Piggy and Kermit to DTD ???

I laugh now, but I used to bust my backside planning and marking. Cried most nights. Glad I got out.

As a non teacher, all I can say is I have the utmost respect for you and all the posters who have contributed here. It sounds really challenging.

Feel for you OP, I've experienced similar behaviour (and worse) many times, after 10 years.
Letter home to every parent- to avoid any 'who got a letter' confrontation. Don't phone, it'll take all of your ppa to look up numbers and leave answer phone messages etc.
The good ones get praise in their letter (they won't mention this in class), the naughty ones get a warning that parents will be called in if it continues. Keep bombarding parents until they get fed up and the message filters through. Most kids do care what their parents think, no matter what they say.

MyPreciousRing, I really like the sound of the 3 part review. Our lessons are extraordinarily long so 3 chances to start being good would work really well and make the length of the lesson seem more manageable. Thank you for the idea, I'll be using it Monday.

Is there a supportive HOY, OP? It's hideous - I've certainly been in similar positions: it was whistling for me once and drove me bananas.

Thanks for the ideas everyone. I really appreciate it and am going to be trying lots of them.

MyPrecious the problem with "write in silence" lessons is that the school is in SM so we have regular drop- in obs, often accompanied by HMI. If I'm not doing something whizzy I'll get graded inadequate (this has happened to several colleagues, and to me before half term when they dropped in as my year 7s were completing an assessment). You know and I know that lessons shouldn't be graded any more, but that message doesn't seem to be filtering through to schools and HMI.

Good grief! You were graded inadequate because Y7s were completing an assessment in silence? Are they never supposed to practise working individually in silence then? If they don't, how do they ever cope in a formal examination situation?

Here's what I'd ry.

Just keep saying 'Yes, I know someone's chucked paper, I'm not bothered who, it's boring' in a monotone as you teach your lesson, every time they start the oooh Billy chucked that! business.

Let them go as normal.

At the end, pick it all up, make a pile & photograph it. Also photograph each student's work from that lesson, if it's not of an appropriate standard.

Print them all out & attach to a letter home to those not working (crap pile, that student's work) explaining that 'whilst your son involves himself in this childish behaviour & makes this level of effort, he is unlikely to '

They will protest furiously next lesson that you didn't warn them that you were going to do this. Shrug & say that they are treating you unfairly - you are preparing lessons, marking their work, working your bum off to get them the grades they need, & don't deserve them playing silly buggers. Their behaviour is BORING & you are bored by it.

Assuming you have at least one supportive colleague, ask them to take the biggest ringleader for a couple of lessons. Rest of class: oh, where's Billy? To which you respond: not in my lesson until he bucks his ideas up. Do not explain or justify further.

Also - & this is REALLY important - send postcards home for all the kids who are working well (effort not attainment), so they know their work is recognised, & don't decide they may just as well join in with the paper chucking etc.

Get Billy on his own & say calmly: 'Do you understand why I don't want you - yes, you - in my lesson?' Fix him with a level gaze & make him squirm. 9 times out of 10 he'll cave & agree that he's being a pain.

You are trying to create the impression that their dickish behaviour is tiresome, but it doesn't actually faze you. However, you are likely to contact home unpredictably out of irritation. Also, you see them as individuals, so you notice who is & isn't behaving as part of the herd.

It becomes a bit uncomfortable & unprofitable to be a knob in your lessons: there's no amusing tantrum or loss of control as payoff, they may be isolated from the lesson or get grief at home, & also, they can quite easily play nicely & it will be recognised.

Oh & document/refer EVERYTHING. SLG will get tired of wading through the paperwork & start supporting you, & worst case scenario, you have evidence that you asked for help & didn't get it when the results come in.

Plus - don't let the bastards grind you down!

Can you be teaching from the back so you can see everything but they can't really see you. Get them to present something to the rest of the class so they know how it feels at the front and break the habit of throwing things. How about handing out a named worksheet for each pupil. Punishment for any damaged or missing worksheets on the premise that they haven't worked though best not to warn them as they may try to get each other into trouble. I feel for you. I've been there.

AHardDaysWrite one point of view is to make 2 responsible and well behaved students the unofficial heads of the class and reward them for keeping tabs on who the main trouble makers are in the class.

I had something similar earlier this year, we ended up getting support in the class in the form of a TA who was then able to help me pick out names of the ringleaders/trouble makers and that made it easier for me to keep an eye on them and deal with them. We are desperately trying to stay out of special measures so actually the school were prepared to support me with the class very well. In the end at Christmas we split the class into two and put an extra teacher in and that has been our long term solution.

The things that helped before the class split was getting extra grown up bodies in the room, other teachers in the dept, asking staff on duty to pop in and stay for 10 minutes, I got some PGCE students just to be there - essentially the other grown up stayed at the back and then helped when they were supposed to be working. I wrote up the names of those students getting positive marks on the board every lesson - in our school they still want these higher up the school as they can buy stuff with their points. I was able to quietly tell some of the followers what they needed to explicitly do to get their names up there. I took the time to ring home at the end of each week - I tried to ring all the good ones, especially any that had made an effort that weren't always good at the first sign of a positive lesson and that worked wonders. I also phoned home the ringleaders and talked about the general behaviour and how very concerned I was about their GCSE grade.

I also managed to plan lessons that involved me at the front as little as possible and them working as much as possible - answers around the room, expectation of minimum that had to be completed with clear sanctions if it wasn't. I just kept putting them in detentions, when they didn't turn up I just escalated it up our sanction ladder.

Despite having taught for over 13 years, it was horrible, horrible, horrible though - I am glad that I told others I was struggling with that class in order to get the support, rather than have them 'find me out' I suppose. Good luck - not long to Easter....

Thank you all so much. You've given me so many ideas - I have this class again on Tuesday and I'm going to try lots of your suggestions. It helps so much to know others have been through this.

I have been there and hated it so much that I left the country to teach abroad!

I think that ravenAK's advice is very sound. Try not to think of them as 'the class from hell' or whatever, but as individuals that you can talk to individually.

That's probably not much use from me, I really just want to give you some moral support. It really is tough at times.

As a non Teacher I find some of these stories terrible. A Teacher should not have to spend time coming up with inventive ideas to keep a class ordered. The problem it seems coming from these threads are that up 20% of a class are a "Nightmare" and unteachable ,these kids are just hell bent on causing trouble and disruption. These kids are not prepared to contribute and are just "Malignant" forces destroying it for students and staff and as such should be removed from school.

The difference 25-30 Years ago is "Yes" we had a Laugh and bit of fun sometimes "Winding a Teacher up" but we knew the boundaries that would not be passed. The thread about having "Death Threats" from Students "What Kind of 15 /16 YR Old Threatens Someone who is trying to help them with Death threats"