Hello all!
I just need any advice on how to handle rude and disruptive students.
Just for context I teach at a senior highschool as an ALT. The students there are mostly really nice and I do genuinely enjoy working there.
However there is one first year class which has two really rude and sometimes disruptive students. We will call them "Mio" and "Yuki"
Mio is repeating the first year and she often does not care in class because she has covered the topics we teach already. When I am explaining a part in the textbook or explaining the rules of a game we're playing she will just interrupt and tell me to hurry up. I usually just joke back and say "Relax relax, Mio! You're way too excited!" When I give her a task to do and she doesn't like it she will sometimes even say "What the F***". My Japanese is not great so when she asks me a question in Japanese and I am trying to figure out what she is asking she will just roll her eyes and put her hand in my face and say "OKAY THANK YOU!" then go to sleep at her desk or something. In the hallways when I am walking with one of the JTE's she will say hello to the JTE then roll her eyes at me.
Yuki just doesn't listen to me at all. Whenever we are doing a part in the textbook she just stares at the blackboard. When I ask her to answer a part in the textbook she always gives me a disgusted look. When I am teaching she will just mumble to whoever is sitting next to her and just cackle and point at my face. When I ask her a simple question she will sometimes just stare at me, look at me with disgust then look away to ignore me.
I dread teaching that class, even though it is just once a week. I'm usually a really lighthearted teacher. I often play games, laugh and joke with the students. I feel because of these two students the rest of the class is starting to act like them. One of the other students in that class, who is usually really kind has started to ignore me too when I ask them a question.
Sorry if it seems like I am whining! I am a fairly new ALT and I feel like I'm at my wits end with these two students. Any advice will be much appreciated!
by Guy_in_480p
26 comments
Sounds heavenly compared to my time at a technical high school. Imagine 40 boys out of 50 disrupting each other trying to disrupt the class.
NOT ALT, but I’ve taught college/community college/private school/preschools and had my share of rude kids.
It is what it is my dude. The big thing is you can’t sink to their level and be rude back.
Your best option is to go to your principal and approach it like you’re concerned.
“Mio is very rude in class, I’m worried other students might complain to their parents, or that their ability to learn will be hurt. I hope they can do well on their tests with all the interruptions. Is there anything we can do?”
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You can also just stop the lesson, and be real with the kids. “I don’t like that. That’s not ok. Do you understand?” and just take that time. The lesson just stops. Every time she’s rude, full stop, eye contact. If she makes a joke of it, just stay there, locked on eyes and repeat. As long as it takes. No anger, just firm dislike of the situation.
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Worst case, adjust your lessons- I’ve done full blocks of just dictation. For like 45 minutes straight. It sucked because I wanted to have fun with them, but it is what it is. “Today’s game..ah..sorry, we can’t play a game today because we wasted too much time (eyeballing Mio). Let’s write some of the most monotonous shit you can imagine kiddies!” (days of the week 5x each, sentences from book)
Also, keep in mind, kids are usually rude like that because something’s going on. Their home life is probably shit, they probably don’t have really good friends, or their world revolves around being some kind of queen bee bully. Very likely it’s just she likes the attention she’s getting.
Ignore her. Focus on the others. Don’t call her name, unless she’s disrupting the other students learning. Keep it simple, though. “I can’t hear what he (the other student). Praise the others. Don’t praise her unless she is responding equally like others. It really helps if you speak Japanese, but you’ll never win an argument in a second language unless you are extremely fluent. So use simple English.
Some in here are going to tell you that you are an ALT. It’s not your responsibility. Get your JTE to handle it. But my experience over the years is that a lot of JTEs can’t do much. So you’ve just gotta focus on remembering she is a teenager, probably has issues that you know nothing about, and ignore her rolling her eyes.
Think of her as a young child. You repeat things with consistency and control. You thank her or praise her when she does what is asked or expected.
Hot take, if a student is repeating a grade of high school, it’s probably not a “you” problem and it is almost certainly not a “just happening in English class” problem.
Focus on other students and give praise when they answer, help each other, have a go etc. If Mio and Yuki do that, give them praise as well.
Given what you’ve described I’d probably just ignore them as best as possible (and avoid asking them to answer questions).
I’d also ask other teachers how they are (and how the teacher deals with them).
If you’re teaching first graders at a high school this is about the time they start being more and more difficult (they’re feeling comfortable and the caste systems have been developed).
Always smile, but kinda practice a stern look with a sharp “shh!!” if more students start yapping away.
As silly as it sounds, that’s been my most effective means of classroom control.
I’d point it out to the JTE. Especially if Mio is disrespecting you right in front of them. As an ALT you’re not a disciplinarian, you have no classroom management responsibilities and no authority to try. The reason ALTs must have a JTE in the class with them is to handle classroom management.
The concept of getting through to a challenging kid and having them radically change their attitude and behaviour isn’t really something that happens very often. There has to be a real downside so when the students make decisions the cons of behaving like a shit outweigh the pros. You’ll only get that from a figure who has the authority to discipline them.
Speak to your JTE. Don’t phrase it like a failing on their part (which it is), but rather as a request from a more senior and experienced colleague to demonstrate good practice for you to learn from. They might not be able to change the students’ behaviour but they should at least be making it clear that screwing with you means they’re screwing with the JTE. A lot of challenging students value their relationships with their “real” teachers, so it’s often enough to show them they’re putting that at risk.
Talk to their JTE and tell them exactly what you wrote here (more simplified). Most times than not, the JTE will speak to the offending students and their homeroom teacher. If the JTE is a bit of a pushover and won’t speak with them, go to the HR teacher directly and let him/her know. If both methods fail, speak to the vice principal—bring a JTE with you if you need help translating. 9/10, once it gets to that point it will be taken seriously.
Ideally, this was the way issues were supposed to be handled when I was on JET. It’s very rare, but on the off chance that neither the JTE, HR teacher AND the vice principal didn’t do anything to resolve the issue, last resort was contact our prefectural advisor/CIR and it was handled from there. I’m not sure if you’re on JET or a dispatch company though.
If you don’t wanna take any of the routes above, then the only thing you can do is ignore them and continue teaching as if they’re not there. Don’t give any extra attention because it’ll just increase the disruptive behavior. I know you know this, but do not sink to their level. Sarcasm, rolling eyes or giving attitude back is going to make it worse before it begins to get better.
Trust me, I understand what you’re going through. If you look at my post history, I went through a similar issue at my visit school when I was a JET ALT. Don’t let it eat you up. Remember, it’s more of a reflection of what’s going on in their personal lives than your teaching style/personality.
Consult with your JTE and vice principal.
They sound like they’re trying to push your buttons and it’s working. Ignore their behaviour unless it’s stopping other students from learning. Don’t indulge them with reactions. By the same token when you do interact with them keep your instructions simple and without emotion.
Back to my first point, what consequences are there for their choices? Talk with the JTE about what is possible.
You don’t. Let her squander her high school life. She puts up her hand then you also do it to move on. You don’t also have to be nice to her. You aren’t her friend. Do your best in class and the other students will appreciate it.
As an ALT, it’s not your responsibility to discipline. Have the JTE or homeroom teacher handle it
Don’t give them the oxygen of attention they crave mate. Stay true to yourself, do your best and the class, students there to learn will respect you regardless of their proficiency. Some kids especially by that point are already on a set path probably from JHS, you can only show them the door, they have to walk through. Good luck!
As much as it sucks, you must ignore their behaviour, but do not ignore them in class and let them participate. Praise them if they do it too, just like you would with other students.
This is a HRT/JTE problem, not your job and certaintly not your responsibility.
Just say back to “Mio”, “Yea, exactly, what the fuck? And what the fuck are you gonna do about it?”
If you aren’t comfortable doing that then just ignore her, who gives a shit about what she says. Stop giving her ammo to use on you because you give her attention.
“Yuki” you can also just ignore. Pandering to her teen bs she’s pulling isn’t going to do you any good.
Stop the class. Ask them, are you finished? Can we continue? Can I do my job? Do you have something you want to share? If that doesn’t work, don’t give them the attention they require.
I’ve done the getting dad angry thing, it can bring the class back, but usually for way out there kids they just don’t care.
You could ask to sit down with them and a jte and share. But don’t show weakness.
Once was given some solid advice that has stuck with me. 15% of your students will love you no matter, 5% will hate you, no matter, you need to focus on the 80%. There can be a myriad of reasons she’s acting out, the fact that she’s even interacting with you shows promise however. I’ve only ever turned around one similar student and that was by making her my assistant in class, good chance that she feels embarrassed in front of others because she doesn’t grasp the subject, being the class hard case is just a way to deflect while still keeping the respect of her peers. It’s a tough time at that age and not all kids are equipped with or have the support at home to handle the pressures of JHS/HS. Best of luck. The fact that you’re here on a Saturday rainy night, searching for answers, tells me that you’re one of the good ones.
This isn’t really the type of helpful comment you’re seeking, but if you’re White and even moderately attractive, it’s possible they have the hots for you based on the behavior you’ve described. It’s possibly attention seeking behavior directed at you.
Sorry to hear you’re having a bad time.
I try to be as generous as possible in understanding difficult behaviours. Generally, I believe disruptive behaviour is a symptom of something else. Kids have a whole lot of stuff going on that is often unreported to the school, and when it is reported, it’s not necessarily shared beyond the homeroom teacher. On top of that there’s the fact that mental health support and neurodiversity recognition is pretty abysmal in Japan, so these difficult students probably haven’t really received much support at all. They might not have even attended junior high or elementary – not sure the demographic or your kids. Complicating everything further is the fact this is the cohort that has the most disrupted schooling because of the pandemic, so they’re probably lacking key social skills.
So yeah, not sure what the expectations are at your school, but I’d try to be really flexible in lesson design and what you expect from them, and be kind to them and to yourself. If they get under your skin all the students will suffer.
Ive found visiting difficult students (not ostensibly) when studying other subjects in my free periods has worked wonders. I can see both how other teachers deal with those kids, get a perspective on them as learners in other subject areas, and hopefully build some rapport too.
There are a handful of ways to go about this, and I’ve seen some good (and also outright terrible) advice in the comments…
But just gonna go with the:
“You don’t handle it” approach.
You do your best to ignore and tune out their shittiness in class.
ESPECIALLY if you’re either new to ALTing in general or if you’re new to the school.
You’re not a licensed teacher. While it is your job to “instruct” in English and try to engage students…. Discipline and getting the class under control is the responsibility of either the JTE or whatever other teacher they have in the room with you (in the past I’ve also worked at schools that had non-English teachers in the room instead of English teachers. Some of those schools were amazing because of it, some were not, lol).
The textbook approach (to keep your job and not risk creating a problem because of miscommunication and language barriers) is to contact your company. Tell them the school, the class/grade and teacher (but not the student names) and the problems you are having.
Let the company do the talking to the school, principal and teachers, who in turn may or may not have a meeting about it with the students and the parents.
Will anything good come of it? Will things get better? Probably not.
Will things get worse? With the school and class? Probably not. With those problem students? Most definitely.
… … …
However, despite having said all of the above, if you wanna approach it as a human being and not an emotionless zombie…
If you’ve been at the school for awhile now and have an overall good reputation with the majority of kids and get along with the teachers, you can ask the JTE for some time to sit down and talk about how to co-manage the class when you’re teaching.
It can be a huge risk though, especially if the JTE is one of those prehistoric prideful tenured old farts who still teaches the way they learned it 50 years ago… I find that younger teachers are more open to new ideas and working together (obviously) than older teachers who just sit back and sleep thru class.
Also. If you don’t wanna rely on the JTEs or your company to “fix” things for you, my number one most helpful advice is to try engaging the students OUTSIDE of the English classroom.
Let’s be honest. Most kids here hate English, or at the very best, are indifferent to it. However, almost every kid has another subject they like and excel at. It’s a lot of work, and not a failsafe plan, but trying to find out what students enjoy and actively engaging them outside of the English classroom can help create stronger bonds and “respect” between you.
If your school(s), principals and other teachers are fine with it, i always highly suggest visiting a different class during your off/break periods every now and then. Whether it’s Art, Science, PE or whatever, the students will freak out seeing you in a non-English class and i guarantee they’ll talk about it. Some might not like it, but some will. Hell, some students who don’t make a peep in English class may even try to ENGAGE YOU and tell you something/try to explain what’s going on in the other class in English as best they can.
Basically, show the kids and school there’s more to you than just an “English ALT” and some will in turn open up to you making your life and job easier.
Again. It’s not gonna work for everyone, but you’re never gonna please everyone no matter how hard you try anyway, so just take whatever small victories you can. They really add up in the end.
And who knows, maybe in time this Monstrous Mio or Yucky Yuki may end up growing on you and becoming your favorite students. (Or maybe not lol, but I’ve had plenty of experiences where kids who gave me shit for an entire year or two ended up becoming super friendly and buddy buddy years later–even to the point where they actually started putting effort into and studying English).
Hot take: Fight their Dad in the school yard. If you win, they have to listen to you. If you lose, they become the teacher.
Do nothing! At that age they’re learning how their negativity towards those around them will affect the different dynamics relationships that they will have with people. You don’t have to care if they listen, like you or not. Just say thank you or basic greetings but don’t go out of your way. They might actually pick up on it and improve or change.
This thread is a fantastic ode to why Reddit’s blocking system makes absolutely no sense.
Fck Mio!….. and continue teach your class as you see fit. The Japanese teachers couldn’t save her, so why do you want to? Ignore her, let me repeat that, IGNOR her. Don’t give her any parts to read and don’t put her in pairs. Ignore her.
Pretty much agree with a lot of these comments- that these kids are human and have complex lives sometimes involving trauma that can affect their behavior in class. Mio is bored. Why don’t u demo everything with her in order to introduce a game. Or if another kid has a problem get them to ask Mio (asking her if it’s ok to do so before hand) Basically give her more responsibility and so things maybe won’t feel so boring for her. As for Yuki, I think give her something really easy to do then praise her. I think ignoring her would create more friction. Include her but make it easier for her to participate and be nice like ur doing now
she is a write off, a cancer that could spread. ignore her and let her sleep, be very strict on her, or send her out. don’t give more attention like you have been. it is possible to be fun and firm.
This is when you pull your gaijin card – give them a stern look, until they feel uncomfortable, be silent and within seconds, the entire class will feel that tension. You can also ask them once they go silent, “できた？”
Chances are they behave like that with other teachers, but you let them know they cant do that to you because youre not Japanese. It works all the time for me. Whenever they come up with new shit to try and make ME feel uncomfortable IN MY OWN CLASS, I always sort with “Are you okay? Do you wanna go out?” be passive aggressive, like them 😂
you’ll find that in most cases these type of students act like this with almost every teacher in every class, I have had classes were the odd student is just asleep or even just assiting a JTE and literally half the class is asleep but we push on lol.