CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
• Dealing with Angry Students
• Dealing with Hot Topics in the Classroom
• Dealing with Upset Students
Dealing with Angry Students
Periodically, you will encounter students who are rude, sarcastic, disrespectful - or worse. Here are some practical
suggestions about how to best deal with angry students.
1. Try not to take things personally.
Don't become the student's adversary.
2. Stay calm.
If necessary, ask for a cooling off period-some time for you to collect your thoughts or get some advice.
3. Try not to attribute the student's anger to malice.
Stress, a lack of sleep, an outside of class problem-all can contribute to the student's misbehavior. Put yourself in the
student's shoes. Remember: Some behavior that is inappropriate at college was tolerated in high school. You might
need to educate the student to the standards in your class.
4. If possible, handle the problem outside the classroom.
Meet with the student in person, but choose the location with care. It's best if other people are nearby. Don't meet
with the door closed.
5. Open the meeting with the student with a positive remark.
Mention something that the student does well in the class. The student is most likely prepared to hear something
negative. To talk about something positive is disarming.
6. Listen carefully.
Don't interrupt. Demonstrate, through your body language, that you are listening. Repeat what the student says.
Tell the student you understand her or his feelings. Validating a student's feelings isn't the same as apologizing, but
it has a powerful and positive effect. (E.g. "This feels like it's really important to you."
Ask questions that indicate your interest in the student's thoughts: "I
want to be certain I understand what you are saying...." Or "Is this
what you mean?" Or "What I'm hearing is...."
7. Use "I" statements.
Express your concern. These are the opposite of "you" statements (e.g.
"You should come to class on time."). They provide information about
your feelings. "I" statements make your position clear.
Make it clear what you can and can't do.
8. Avoid side issues.
Focus exclusively on the issue at hand.
9. Give the student an opportunity to save face.
It's essential that students be able to maintain their dignity. Think "win-win." Ask the student how she or he would
resolve the situation. Give the student options.
10. Keep a record.
Contact the student's academic adviser. Keep notes on your conversation with the student. And feel free to indicate
that the student can take the complaint to someone else in a position of authority.
11. Debrief.
It is important to speak with someone if you are going to defuse your own anger or anxiety and effectively deal with
the stress. Please feel free to contact the Teaching Center.
Dealing with Hot Topics in the Classroom
Virtually every discipline deals with potentially controversial topics: race, politics, class, gender, citizenship, sexual
orientation, evolution, and many others. Intense exchanges of opinion can make your class livelier, but also produce
rancor and polarization.
How can you best handle these hot moments? Here are some practical steps you can take.
1. Establish ground rules for a civil discussion at the beginning of the semester.
Inflammatory language, name-calling, personal attacks, and sarcasm do not contribute to productive discussion or
rigorous analysis.
2. Anticipate potential problem areas.
Try to foresee problematic topics.
3. Concentrate on the issues—not personal opinions
Instead of asking students for their opinions, ask how various groups of people might think about the topic.
4. Avoid treating an issue in a “pro-con” format.
Most issues are too complex to be treated as simple binaries. Rather than presenting students with two opposing
viewpoints, encourage the students to see the issue from multiple points of view.
5. Provide students with short texts to guide the discussion.
By presenting students with the words of others, you can treat the controversy from a more detached perspective.
6. If a discussion becomes overly heated:
a. Call a “time out”: give students an opportunity to calm down.
b. Describe what is going on: You might say something like this--“Our discussion has become
uncomfortably hot.”
c. Refer to the class’ ground rules.
d. Rephrase the points of view in less emotional language.
e. Make the discussion more academic: You might say: “This is the kind of disagreement that causes fights
in bars. Let’s see if we can figure out why this topic arouses such passions.”
f. Call for reflection: Have the students talk about what happened in the class and describe the
disagreement.
Sources:
“Handling Hot Topics in the Classroom”
http://hrs.humber.ca/downloads/HandlingHotTopics.pdf
Nels P. Highberg, “Leading Effective Classroom Discussions on Controversial Issues”
http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Leading-Effective-Classroom/23834/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Dealing with Upset Students
Don’t be surprised if you encounter a student who is upset and highly emotional, perhaps over a grade or a personal
problem. Stress, frustration, and anxieties over matters in a student’s personal life can easily boil over, especially at
the end of the semester.
How, then, should you react?
-- Do your best to be calm and to maintain a quiet atmosphere.
-- Let the student discuss her or his feelings and thoughts.
-- Listen attentively.
-- Try to understand the student’s feelings and fears.
-- Reassure the student when appropriate.
In terms of grades:
1. Impose a “cooling off” period before discussing grades.
This helps insure that the student has an opportunity to calm down and process your comments before discussing the
paper or exam.
2. Let the student know what’s reasonable to expect.
For example, you might say that you’d be willing to review your grading if the student can offer compelling reasons
why the original grading seemed incorrect. But don’t commit yourself to raising the student’s grade.
3. Refer to your grading rubric.
A rubric spells out your grading criteria and should be shared with your students before the essay or exam is due.
4. Consider suggesting an action plan.
It’s essential that the student look forward rather than dwell on the past.
5. Let the student know when the meeting is over.
Feel free to say something along the following lines: “Excuse me, but I need to take care of other responsibilities
now.”
If the student is upset over a personal matter:
1. Listen closely, carefully, and compassionately.
Don’t assume that a student is trying to manipulate you.
2. Don’t minimize the student’s feelings.
For example, don’t say: “Don’t worry” or “Things will be better tomorrow.”
3. Get the student to someone who can help.
Columbia, Barnard, and Teachers College offer a host of support and advising services. If the problem is urgent,
you can walk the student over to the counseling center, where a counselor will see the student immediately.