What to do when: A child refuses to engage at all
Managing students in your classroom is challenging, even under the best circumstances. You prepare your lesson plans, organize the material, and make the most of some increasingly limited resources. Managing students with behavior difficulties can derail your efforts, and can also affect the rest…
What to do when: A child is consistently disruptive in the class
When a student is consistently disruptive, they present a disturbance to you and the rest of your class. Disruptive students can interrupt you or their classmates with both verbal and nonverbal disturbances. Verbal disruptions can include talking with others, grandstanding and monopolizing…
What to do when: A child often throws fits of anger
Students are people, and like all humans, they can get frustrated and angry sometimes. The challenge, when it comes to effectively managing classroom behavior, is teaching students appropriate ways to process and express that anger. The problems come when they don’t, or can’t, handle anger in…
What to do when: A child is distracted and fidgety
When a student is distracted or fidgety in class, they’re presenting a problem behavior that you need to address. Students can sometimes be naturally wiggly, and that alone may not be a problem. Some students may also have a hard time focusing for long periods of time. But, when those wiggles come…
What to do when: A child is sullen or withdrawn
When a student is sullen or withdrawn, they can develop behaviors in your classroom that need to be addressed. The student might not be ready to productively engage with the material, and you may not be able to hold their attention for long as they sink back further into their reserve. Their…
What to do when: A student just told me about their mental illness
Your day starts off like any typical school day: collecting homework, passing out worksheets, and teaching the day’s lesson. Then at the end of class, one of your students stays behind to tell you that they’ve been struggling with mental illness. Perhaps they tell you that they’ve been feeling sad…
What to do when: A child returns from their inpatient treatment – ways you can help
When a student leaves to attend an inpatient mental health care program, you’re likely to have some questions and concerns about how to best help when that student returns. The whole experience can be overwhelming for everyone involved -- whether you’re an educator, faith worker, or other youth…
What to do when: A student has an eating disorder
When a student who is normally engaged and motivated suddenly has trouble paying attention and seems withdrawn, teachers are often quick to notice. It might be tempting to write this off as just laziness or a passing “phase.” Yet this might be a sign of a larger problem that is disrupting the…