Dealing with difficult children is part of being a teacher, but that does not mean it is easy. In fact, it is one of the most challenging aspects of the job, and sometimes you can feel like you are at a dead end. You have run out of ideas. If this sounds familiar, read on to discover some great advice on improving your classroom management skills.

Talk to your colleagues

Often, difficult children have one teacher that they seem to click with. Ask yourself: is the difficult student well behaved in any other subject? If so, it is worth talking with one of your fellow teachers for some insight. They have clearly got a handle on things and it’s likely they will be able to provide you with some valuable advice.

Be a mentor

In some cases, the toughest kids to teach come from an extremely difficult home situation. This could be anything from violence and lack of resources to absent parents and inconsistent housing. It’s not uncommon for children to act out at school when they are neglected. They are looking for attention, whether good or bad. They want someone to take an interest in them. This is why it is important to be a mentor. A teacher’s job is not only to develop children academically, but socially too. If you show children you care about them, it will go a long way. You may be interested in taking a training course to improve your knowledge and skills in this area. You can take an online Master Degree in School Counseling, meaning it won’t interfere with your job. Not only will this help you to manage challenging situations, but it will look good on your CV too.

Don’t ignore misbehaviour

It can be easy to ignore misbehavior. But it won’t make it go away. In fact, it is only going to make things worse. If a rule is broken, no matter how trivial it may be, you need to enforce the necessary course of action. Being consistent is paramount. If you start operating via one rule for someone and another rule for someone else, you will only end up with bigger problems on your hands.

Don’t give false praise

False praise does not work. If you give a student praise for something that is minimally expected, they will know that your comments aren’t genuine. After all, they only have to look around and see that their classmates aren’t getting praised for the same thing to realize that this is the case. Instead, give heartfelt and meaningful praise based on genuine accomplishments.

Don’t feel the need to question all of the time

It can be very tempting to try and force an explanation from a difficult student as a form of accountability. However, resentment can often arise when you ask the question ‘why’ and demand a response. You need to know when to press the issue and when it’s going to be counterproductive.

Use classroom management as a solution

Hopefully, you now feel more prepared for managing difficult children and handling challenging classroom environments. All teachers recognise just how difficult this can be, but by employing the strategies mentioned above you can come to a resolution.