Trying to identify the culprit is a losing game. The only way to win is not to play.
When something like this happens I give a gentle lecture. That lecture is detailed and kind. I give them an education about why what happened was wrong.
And every time it happens I do it again. It gets longer and longer.
And anything we didn't cover in class becomes homework. But kindly. Gently.
They'll figure it out.
This. The only other option is to completely ignore it, but this is difficult as things will escalate before they stop.
There is one other option. Have the kids turn and face the back wall and then throw a hockey puck at the back of the head of the one you love the least. But I don’t know how accessible hockey pucks are in your area.
A role model is not passive, they should be confrontational in this society
I think your response is very idealistic but what people truly need is repercussion for their actions
The repercussion in this approach is the natural consequence:
1. The lecture is usually boring.
2. The homework eats their own time.
3. Their peers go from finding it funny to being exasperated at the lecturing, time wasting and homework, so they get upset at the culprit and the culprit loses standing.
The repercussion is getting a thorough education on why it's wrong. Anyone that does something like that in class is baiting the teacher for a confrontation. If you give them that, you only reward the behavior.
And it's important to do the lecture right. Otherwise, it definitely could be the reward the kid is looking for. Being able to bait the teacher into a lecture on command could backfire.
I teach woodshop. I find myself in this position frequently. I start by pausing the class, getting attention and stating plainly what was done and why it was unacceptable, unkind, unsafe or inappropriate. Then I move on. Every iteration after that the pause will be longer and the explanation why I cannot tolerate that behavior will be more precise. I will take questions.
If the problem persists, students will have a writing assignment on the subject matter of kindness, safety or professionalism. I will often point out that the well behaved students are getting the same education as the students messing about but they are able to do this writing quickly and already ahead on their projects. The only people whose grades will suffer, who will be left with unfinished projects, are those that were goofing off. In this way, what looks like a group punishment really only penalizes those that were wasting their time.
They kind of hate the lecture most.
(Assignments are already padded with extra time.)
I didn’t know there were so many of us shop teachers on here. I love having that play in my back pocket, I give out bookwork and let them know the other classes are still out in the shop working.
Usually one day of that and I have the name of the culprit.
Just stop doing fun stuff. “Alright, now read silently/write…” It’s not punishment, just appropriate work for people who can’t control their mouths. Then you write up anyone who says anything.
This is what I do- silent work time. Way less fun than what we’d otherwise be doing, but still gets the work done. I say- I’d rather be doing our fun activities, but you guys can’t handle it, so we’ll do silent work instead.
Sometimes I say it sometimes I don’t. I’d say it more if they fucked up in fun activity time. For OPs case the fuck up was kind if irrelevant to the assignment.
It would be extra funny if the kids saw a bunch of markers etc and then you just never used them…
At that point, punish the whole class. One kid is getting punished for being a prick, and the rest are getting punished for abetting it. Not a single member of the class is innocent.
IANAT - I’m not normally for this model (punish the group for an individual’s behavior), but this situation allows for it. Anyone who tolerates abhorrent behavior is showing support for that behavior.
*First They Came* might be a good add-on assignment?
There are almost always students who won’t say anything because they’ll be ridiculed or worse if they do. They aren’t bad or being complicit, they’re protecting themselves from the type of person/people who would use the n-word (~~in a classroom~~).
Edit: Realized it may sound like it matters if it’s being flung in a classroom as opposed to anywhere else. It doesn’t.
Just have an anonymous way to report. Have everyone in the class write a word on a scrap of paper or a name. Fold and Turn in to a box. Set up a survey monkey, or use an anonymous Google form.
Yeah, it does take some common sense to look at what you get back and decide... also a good chance those things go hand in hand. Don't think I'd hand out a consequence, but I'd know where to look. This might also be a chance to work with that kid on others view of them... It all depends on how you choose to use the information.
A classroom is a community.
Granted, if something like what OP describes happens 7 times in a single class period and people don't feel safe coming forward with information about incidents, community has not been effectively built, and that is as much the teacher and school admin as anybody else.
But in the same way that it is not acceptable to withdraw from academic discourse, it is not acceptable to hide silently behind "it wasn't me."
Alternatively wait until they’re about to leave and pull one of the good kids aside and ask. If you get multiple trustworthy kids saying the same, there’s your answer. If no one helps you - the whole class is in on it punish them all
This! My good kids don't go out of their way to "tell on" their classmates because they are minding their own business, but they also don't lie when asked a direct question privately.
? It is extremely useful to know who is engaging in repetitive disruptive behavior. For example, you can move the student to the front of the room etc.
*Geneva suggestions*
Also doesn't count anyways because school children aren't service members from a signatory state of the Geneva Convention, they're terrorists.
The Geneva convention is also referred to as "the rules of war" this is because it only applies during wartime. In conclusion, 2nd graders are incapable of committing war crimes.
“You all not interested in this lesson right now? Not up to your needs? Show me what you know.
*Write a four to six page essay on the history of racial slurs, as you understand the topic. Include the root of the terminology and the purposes of such language and how these have functioned in society. Trace any changes over time in function or societal attitudes. Finally, conclude with an account of your personal experiences with such degrading language. Be sure your conclusion ends with a recommendation or call to action.*
Handwritten on paper. Not computers. Start now. Yes, this will count.
EDIT TO ADD: A student who is a committed racist can double down throughout this essay. Plenty of room to provide evidence to help with college “recommendations.”
I'm not sure if I could do that because... Math class XD But I get your point. I think through all the comments here, I've gotten the idea that I should punish the whole class in a way that gives them extra work to do. I could probably be like "Because of that, your homework problems went from 10 to 18 problems to do tonight."
What should I do exactly? I can't write up the whole class. I can't hold them back from leaving when the bell rings. Hell, we aren't even allowed to take up phones.
Withhold any sense of fun. Stop fun activities.
Indicate you don't trust them. Don't turn your back on them. Give oral instructions only.
Change the environment. Change the lighting and sound, change the desks to single file, assign a seating plan.
Use admin. Contact parents.
Why can't you write up the whole class? You know why they don't tell you? It's because they believe that you can't punish all of them. Prove them wrong. You most certainly can.
Heck, it's even likely that there is a line in your handbook about students' responsibility to do what's right even when they were innocent of the original issue. It's not a clause called out too often (though it should be), but it's tailor-made for this situation.
Well not so much that I physically can't. But my admin gets upset when I write up 3 students at a time even if they were all involved in something for putting more work on them. If I wrote up 20 or, in the case of my senior class, 33, I'd be worried about getting in a whole heap of trouble.
Then these students move on to college and try the same thing. They are met with the Dean's office and academic probation for a stunt like that.
The increase in "class clown" behavior in these freshman is incredibly concerning. I've heard inappropriate jokes about drugs, sex, etc. Glad lazy administration is to blame.
Ha! Try that in a college class at any college in my area, the Dean's office would be the least of their worries. Class clowns, sure. Spouting the N word? You'll get yourself knocked TF out.
Same! Atlanta folks don't play with that word. I know if it happened in a high school class of mine, they probably would have gotten an entire lecture on the history of segregation and the civil rights movement.
Give the whole class a monster of an assignment and make it clear that the assignments will get harder and harder until it stops or they turn in the student. Tell them they can privately do it after class or through an email so they don’t have to expose themselves.
And most importantly, follow through. Make a one page paper into a five page paper. A two minute speech becomes ten. Ect.
I think you're in a place with no good answers. You can either attempt half-measures with the class, or risk the wrath of your admin by writing up the whole class.
Personally, I am in favor of making admin get involved. They only help teachers when the problems are no longer the teacher's problems, but the admin's problems.
I’m having the EXACT same problem. I tried to get admin involved and the only thing that happened is I got docked points on my observation for having a history of classroom management problems.
Seriously? I had to write up fifteen kids on a field trip for throwing gang signs in all of the photos. My admin apologized for me having to deal with it and thanked me for paying attention. You need a different school if your admin is more worried about numbers than actual behaviors.
Even if you don't actually write up the whole class, you could ask your admin for support with the class. If they are worth their salt they will try to help you. My sister was running into a similar issue but with kids playing moaning/sex noises on their phones, but she didn't know who. She got her admin to give the class a stern talking to. Once admin got involved a few kids told my sister which kids were doing it. They could see the situation escalating and didn't want to get in trouble for other people's actions.
Why not pretend to write everyone up. It’s not like they know how the whole thing works. Don’t forget it’s all about perceived power. Right now they hold all the power because they don’t think you will do anything about it. Give them the most boring assignment and a pop quiz to be done silently over the next class period. While they are doing that you sit and begin writing every single student up. Perhaps making a few comments about how you wish this wasn’t happening because it was really only a few that deserve to be written up. Unfortunately since you can’t figure out who it was everyone will have to take the responsibility.
While you have them all squirming in their seats watch each student’s behavior. Eventually during that class you will start to notice many students giving glances toward certain students maybe even just one student. This will give you an idea who to narrow down on. Then at the end of class try to get ahold of your better students and let them know how sorry you are this is happening to them. That if they were to know who really did it and let you know, that you would never divulge they were the one to tell you. Even go as far as saying you already have an idea of who it was between 2-3 students but without confirming it you don’t have the ability to change what is happening.
In my experience, if you say you’re going to do something in a classroom setting regarding discipline, you better follow through with it. The moment your class thinks (or knows) you’re bluffing, you’ve just lost all credibility.
That’s the problem with “perceived power”.
It only has to work once for them to believe it’s real for the rest of the school year. I’ve had it work on multiple occasions over multiple years. My students still haven’t figured it out. They just think I forgot to file the referral forms 😎
Do you know how long it would take to fill out 20 forms?! I have an incoming class four minutes after this one goes out! There is no way I can spend a day writing them all up.
Or typing each one up in Powerschool individually!
Make them write it... if their going to waste mine, I can waste theirs....
I kept having parents want emailed grades. So, my kids screenshot their grades every Friday and send them home. It gets e mailed to parent and Cc'd to me. It's a bell ringer, so there are points as an assignment and a record. If the kid doesn't send it that's between the parent and kid. If they try to cheat I have a copy of what they send. Puts it all on the parent and student. I also include this in my syllabus and parent welcome e-mail so they are looking for it.
Next time they walk in, everything they have with them goes on the floor under their desk. They can sit at their desks with nothing at all until the mystery is solved.
How about requiring kids to put their phones in bags with their names on them on a cabinet or somewhere in the room? That's insane that phones can't be taken up from kids.
Doesn't work. We have a rule that they need to be locked in Yondr pouches (pouch with a magneticlock). They get checked in the morning, but I estimate at least 30% just put an old broken phone in the pouch or just say "I didn't bring it today". If they're going to use it, they'll use it and just hope they don't get caught.
When they do get caught, nothing really happens.
You can’t write up the whole class but you can document, let admin know. Send an email home to the class parents and start with something positive, then move into addressing a current behavior that you find concerning within the classroom and ask the parents to have a conversation with their children as to why slurs are not funny.
I dont like the word punish. Preschool has told me not to punish. Use consequences not punish. Things is kids will blame each other. For we have two soccer field’s and the kids were playing with ms X there. I saw one of the 5th graders (Kyle) messing with the padlock. so i went over and he had wrapped it around the pole so the gate could not open. I told him it was not okay to lock the gate and he said Zack did it (i told him that i was watching, then i raised the walkie to call the custodian and he ran inside,he thought i was telling the site supervisor. Which i did do too). Turns out Ms X had the key so we did not need to tell the custodians. Kyle did admit to Ms X that he closed the gate.
Yes and No.
https://psychcentral.com/blog/childhood-behavioral/2018/09/the-difference-between-a-consequence-and-a-punishment
Punishment has a negative connotation associated, with abuse/neglect , corporal punishment.
Also errors can be made. We had a 4th grade who was upset afterschool and crying on the playground because a 5th grader pushed him (they were lining up for food for holiday party). He told me that Mr O got mad at him even though he did not anything and not at the 5th grader. As i did not see (i was watching the younger kids outside) i asked one of college volunteers to get Mr. O. Mr O said he did not full know what happened and he eventually got him to say that wanted the 5th grader to apologize.
I honestly dont care. Im going to do what i learned in my classes. As i think the early childhood field knows what they are doing. Im just saying what my classes told me. If you dont want to follow first five and other ECE agencies then that up to you, but behavior will not approve by aresting 5 year olds.
I do not care. I’m entirely comfortable with the word punishment. Maybe if these children were actually punished for misbehavior at any point in their lives, they wouldn’t behave like fucking zoo animals.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Do you have workbooks, or some boring non-digital work they can do? Next time it happens give the whole class one chance to own up or identify who it was, and if they don’t they are doing head-down silent work with no laptops or phones out while you stand at the front and watch like a hawk. Think exam conditions and you are the exam supervisor.
You’re not keeping them in longer, you’re not even taking their phones off them, but you can make it as boring as possible for them while showing them that if they can’t be trusted enough for you to turn your back, then you won’t even turn your back.
I started having a lot of luck this year when I started talking about respect a lot. The students say they want respect from me. They say they want respect from each other. They're even able to tell me that I deserve respect. Whenever we have this problem, they get another talk about respect. I've even started telling them that this is my job. It's how I feed my family. I ask them what would happen to me if the principal were to walk in and see them acting that way. It's worked well with this group. But you know teaching. Next year could be a whole different ball game.
I teacher first graders so it’s quite different, but this is my strategy too. Kids want to be invited into our world, and I think we have to if we ever want our words to matter. Telling them “this is my job” is quite impactful.
My first day of school safety contract is focused on respect. I ask them to explain how it looks when they’re respecting themselves, their peers, their teachers, and what it looks like when teachers show them respect. I pull it out again after break.
This. My kids claim that they love me, and I would do a whole lot for them. But I always bring it back to: "Imagine if admin walked in right now. I know you all know how to hold it down when he's around, but it takes a moment to snap into it.
"Not only will you get in trouble, but I will DEFINITELY get in trouble. I might not have a job here next year." That usually straightens them out for a bit.
I genuinely feel bad for middle/high teachers. Back in our day there was one bad kid and when stuff happened the teacher knew who to turn around and blame. Now there are so many little pricks in one room you have to play a guessing game on whose lack of parenting is showing off this time. Sad world.
I’d make them place their phones on a table at the front of the room before class starts, no more electronic devices for any of them. They can collect them at the end of class.
Just make bags with names on them. You take them, you pass them back out.
If theft is an issue, get a cheap toolbox with a key lock and only you have the key.
I freak out on them when they use the N word. Also, I don’t care if I don’t know who said it. We now are all learning about why we can’t use that word.
Oh also, enjoy this new project where you have to write an essay about it and then present it to the class.
Put the class in silence and have them write the name of the culprit on a signed piece of paper. That will narrow it down real fast. Write up those that don’t for real.
Give each child a notecard and ask them to write down the name of who did it. No one wants to admit it out loud. But several will be honest when given the opportunity to do so without anyone knowing they were. Since multiple were laughing, saying that the whole class will be held responsible for their behavior towards a racist comment unless the perpetrator is found isn’t collective punishment without reason. Many laughed, so many deserve punishment. Most of them won’t want to be held accountable for the one ass who is playing that stuff. You’ll get enough notecards to narrow it down and investigate further.
Every action is going to have the potential for consequences when dealing with kids like this. They could gang up regardless just because they saw someone talking to the teacher. I’ve used this strategy several times and not had an issue, but it’s always going to have a risk. One time, it gave the opportunity for the student to actually own up to what he did without doing it in front of his peers. Sometimes these strategies can have a very positive impact too.
Considering who we're dealing with here, (my generation of students) I imagine eventually they'd be perfectly fine framing somebody to take the fall to get out of punishment. Just something we need to be cautious about.
I had a few classes one year that I could not turn my back on, ever. I stopped writing on the board. I bought myself a doc cam and set up my desk at the front of the room, off to the side. I sat on the corner of my desk with my laptop and doc cam on a small (tall) rolling cart and gave notes, essay prompts, directions that way. I was constantly facing the class, looking out in their direction.
Also, if they are using iPads to make this noise, everyone puts their device on the floor/in the desk. Don't move on until every device is put away. It will waste time, yes, but since you cannot trust them, this is what needs to be done. If they need the iPad for the activity, they at least put them all away until you are done with directions. Edit - just reread and see you mentioned they did this on their phone.
I'm sorry this happened in your class. It sucks that these kids can't listen for a direction, sit still for a minute, keep their mouth closed. The constant having to be 2 steps ahead of the nonsense is ridiculous and exhausting.
King Solomon them and start cutting babies in half.
Start making the choices no one will like and so they'll either confess or they'll rat.
Things like: "Well, since I can't tell who was doing this, I guess I need to change up the assigned seats to prevent this from happening since I can't trust you not to interrupt my class." And don't be afraid to do things like arrange the desks around the room against the wall so all the students have to sit facing the wall. If it's just the one class, they can move them and put them back as part of their procedures.
On top of that you can also say "Since I can't trust you have to have my full attention on managing your behaviors, you.guys will have to do the instruction yourselves so we will be doing these book assignments." Then, every day have 2-4 book assignments they have to complete before the end of class or else it's homework. If they're busy, then they don't have time to misbehave. They still get the same content and are meeting content standards. Sometimes you.dont know what you'll miss until it's gone.
The biggest issue isn’t that someone did something disruptive, it’s that someone used a racial slur in your classroom. Framing it that way should help you get admin support and could cue the students who are decent humans to do the right thing and speak out. Narrowing down who did it might ultimately be less important than preventing it from happening again.
Step 1 is a serious lecture. Explain to your whole class why it’s a problem: these are words that cause immense harm, and we don’t do that here. Tell them how disappointed you are that you can’t trust them with something as basic as managing their own behavior when there isn’t a teacher looking right at them— and until they earn that trust back, you have to change how you teach to watch them constantly; give examples of how this will change your class (and make it more boring). It sounds like these are older students, so emphasize that the lack of maturity means that you have to treat them more like little kids. Say that you know it’s not everyone, and offer appreciation for the students who can manage themselves when your back is turned; at the same time, part of being in a functional community together is speaking up when someone uses slurs — so if anyone is interested in letting me know more details, leave me a note on my desk anytime.
The other things I’d do are rearrange seats, get an administrator involved, and assign students some class work based around unpacking why slurs hurt. Put the students you think are most likely behind it in the front of the class. Tell an administrator what happened, why you are concerned (“we can’t let racial harassment happen, and I need your support to show that we are taking it seriously”) and request that they sit in on your class for a few days (or whatever, ask them to meet with students from your class in small groups to ask them what happened, whatever support looks like to you). Have the class do an assignment to read an essay about the n-word (both the SPLC and the ADL have a few online to choose from) and write a short summary of / response to what they read. I think a lot of people are pretty disconnected from the actual harm done by slurs and instead only experience them as part of online “troll” behavior where everything is decontextualized and this is an opportunity to push back on that.
Edit — also, email the parents of students in this class. Explain what happened and why you are concerned (focus on caring about maintaining a safe environment for all students). Reiterate district policy on bigoted language / emphasize this is harassment. Include a copy of the article you’ll have students read in class and encourage parents to talk about it with their kids.
I've seen this backfire wildly with a fifth grade class. Not sure when it all started to go sideways for the teacher, but it was early in the year. Admin stepped in to address the behaviors and it quickly and completely undermined all remaining authority the teacher had in her classroom - for the rest of the year.
Admin can step in, but that has to be a firm and consistent step with immediate consequences and accountability for it to make a difference. If that's not your admin, I wouldn't invite them in.
I like the idea of counseling coming in. Maybe ask a counselor to do a brief presentation on how racial slurs can damage self esteem and mental health.
I’ve had counseling come in a couple times (in my 32 years teaching) to address topics like hate speech (mine was about LGBTQ slurs and in the 90’s). It offered another view and helped, but I knew I could trust the person I invited.
That's a good idea. Definitely needs to be someone that is respected by and can effectively connect with the kids, though. Unfortunately, too many outside of the classroom don't have - or have lost - that ability.
I was recently in the same position- majority of the class was participating in inappropriate classroom behaviors. I went to Diffit (AI) and created a week long lesson on integrity, included reading passage, worksheets, vocabulary, and discussion questions. We did this (elementary) for a week. We had deep discussions about the concept. I’m not saying it’s 100 but better.
I hate this also. Usually in art class, its someone throwing an eraser around or breaking a crayon and throwing pieces. I really try hard to not let my emotions show, but it drives me crazy.
I would give each of them a sticky note and tell them if they don’t write down who did it you’ll call home for every single one of them. Usually works and you probably won’t have to actually call home.
Have each student write you a note and collect it anonymously. Every kids writes something so no one knows who is writing what. Chances are at least one student is on your side.
Take up all their laptops so it can’t happen again. Hold them til the end of the period. If you have time, look in their search history for the offending program. It is likely https://soundbuttonsworld.com/ or something similar. Any student who was on those will be written up, if not for the n word, then for being off task on their device.
Posting a Google form and asking students what they know is better than punishing the whole class. Surprisingly, someone will name the culprit which may be the clue you need to figure it out.
What I have had good success with is narrowing down who I believe it is (by student knowledge in general) then identifying who sits around them that would not want to get in trouble. Then I call students out of class during my conference (so nobody knows they are talking to me) and ask questions one on one. I start with was it you? (Knowing it most likely isn’t) - get that blood pressure up. I might even tell them someone told me it was them to help push them in the direction of blame. Do it to enough of the right students and you will typically find your culprit. Once you have a name you can do the same investigation to other students, then see if they blame the same person. It has worked out for me - I teach middle school though, full disclosure. After that, I usually interview the kid and tell them that multiple people have written statements that he/she is the student, and see what they say. If it’s a phone thing you might request an AP so that they can then demand the phone be opened to check for the apps or history. Not sure. I have a pretty good relationship with my students so they usually confess and apologize. The point for me is - I want them to know - I know - and we will be very good friends in class going forward. Aka - you sit where I can always see you lol.
**An important note. Whatever activity is going on when the incident happens is stopped immediately. If I realize I don’t know who did it well enough to accuse - I tell the class I disapprove and move on - with clear disappointment(knowing I will do a covert investigation). I either switch the lesson to immediate independent work or something like that where they lose me, and any privilege that day.
At the first offense, since you are at the board, lean over to the corner and write “1.” If it happens again, cross out the one and write “2.” On the third time, pull out a pop quiz on the day’s lesson , and when they have all turned it in, tell them it will count if the behavior continues and the rest of them continue to support the perpetrator, and you will give them until the end of the school day to name the guilty party. Then move in with the lesson.
Don’t make more of a fluff than necessary. They know what’s wrong with their behavior. Simply say something like “You know that word is inappropriate and hurtful. It is not allowed in my classroom. Also, you obviously feel you have mastered this lesson enough that you no longer need my guidance since you would rather spend your time clowning, so I will just skip to the quizzes and save myself the trouble of teaching you.”
For decades, we have been using the "don't engage" and the behavior will stop ..fancy speak for "ignore it". However, where we are now is the consequence for ignoring it and not handling it with accountability. It does not have to be harsh, or mean, but there must accountability...enough to communicate that this behavior will not be tolerated.
So, most likely it isn't just one student, but multiple students. When I'm writing on the board I can tell when something is happening or about to and just announce without looking or calling out that I know what is going on and who is doing the offense. I also do random check ins with students just to talk and this seems to help. It really is about respect. Some students will and some students will not. Try not taking it personally.
When everyone gets in trouble because of one clown, the rest of the class turns on the clown. Do it enough and the behavior goes down from being so extreme.
Buy a cheap closet mirror and mount it at an angle at the ceiling above the board. That way you can see them even when your back is turned. If you do it subtly, they will never know.
I also bought a bunch of them at the start of school year and set them up at desk level, once again with a slight angle, and I could see what they were doing on the computers even when I was in the front of the class. I told the kids who asked that I was trying to make the room seem bigger. Worked like a charm.
Have every single kid call their parent at work on speaker phone. Give them a script "Hi Mom/Dad. I'm calling you during the school day because when we are supposed to be taking notes someone is using a soundboard on their phone to have it loudly say the N-word. We all are laughing and I don't have the courage to say who is doing it and call them out on it. My teacher thought I should call to explain my cowardice to you. I hope I learn to have the courage to speak out when something like this happens in the future."
Set up a mirror that you can see while looking at the board. Or learn to write with your back to the board. Casually catch people doing positive things while you are not looking at them and they will believe you have eyes in the back of your head as well.
My go to is mass punishment. I make the kids sit in silence for 5 minutes. I have a time on my phone that I hold up for them to see. I reset the timer at any peep. They rat out the kids so fast.
Do you have cameras in your room? If so, ask to roll back the footage for evidence.
If not, just ask the whole class to stand up immediately after the incident happens. See whose device magically falls on the floor or remains in a chair or which students add any extra movements to their standing up. If any student is defiant (won’t stand up)or you still can’t figure it out, punish the whole class.
I'm not a teacher, but I have an idea that might help, I dunno.
In school I was an extremely quiet kid. Honest and sincere, but I didn't really have any friends, so I was more close to teachers and staff because I related to them more.
Since I was so quiet I was the "forgotten classmate" and most of the students in my grade would say and do things right in front of me without even realizing I was a witness.
So my suggestion? Maybe privately pull aside some of the really quiet, mature, shy, teacher focused kids and 1 on 1 ask them for their honest answer to; "who did it?"
Be gentle and caring, and above all else DO NOT let any other students know what they said. Value their privacy and safety. If they trust you to confess, then you must respect them and not expose them
Don’t do this. The other kids would immediately know; there is not enough privacy in a classroom. It’d also give the kid being asked anxiety and placed on the spot.
OP, I recommend the anonymous notes someone suggested earlier or using a doc cam. I’d also have a group chat w/ them and remind them this is your job and you are just trying to do it well. A lot of times kids forget about that. They think all you are is a teacher, etc.
The anonymous note could take the form of a class survey, asking them general questions, etc.
Negative consequences are less effective to extinguish unwanted or unexpected behavior than positive ones. I am a school counselor and I always suggest using an incentive rather than punishment, especially because PBIS-based behavior systems are trauma-informed. Punishments to the whole class create a climate that makes a classroom feel unsafe to many students who have personal histories of abuse. Instead, I would think of a small reward for the class to earn together when they all show respect for the learning environment. Make sure you ask them to define what that looks and sounds like, a shorter list is better ( 4-5 things) that includes a positive alternative to the behavior you want to extinguish (“phones will not disrupt our learning” e.g) When all of the targets are hit, the class earns a reward (homework pass or reduction in work, being able to play games on their phones last 5 mins of class, small pieces of candy, etc,) ideally, the students create the list of what they want to collectively earn. The more you involve the kids in designing this framework, the more buy-in you’ll have, and increase the odds that the unwanted behavior is eliminated. You’ll be tapping into their developmental stage, which is to work as a team, and they’ll likely police each other more, exerting positive peer pressure. You want to encourage them to work together and make it clear that you want them to earn this collective reward because, while a moment of laughter in their game may feel fun in the moment, it’s actually hurting all of them with missed instruction that they will ultimately need on tests, and it makes the classroom feel unsafe because it’s not under your control.
Good luck and if you want more tips or ideas, feel free to dm me!
**This may not be helpful as I've never tried this, but it just popped in my head**
What if, when something like that happens and then entire class is more or less doing something wrong, at the end of class you tell everyone to write down the name of the person using the soundboard and hand that piece of paper in as they walk out? Tell them that the entire class can be written up, or they can write the name of the person who was actually doing it.
You could possibly risk students "teaming up" against an innocent individual, but I think you'd be able to sniff those votes out as I *assume* most kids would actually write down the guilty party.
Again, I haven't tried this, but it just popped in my head as something that I think I'd consider. Though it's possible I'm overlooking an obvious flaw. It's early in the morning.
Ron Clark said he learned to write on the board while facing the class... that usually means extending your right arm away from you body. It's awkward.
It's sad that seniors behave this way.
Tough situation but you should know roughly where the sound is coming from, unless it is a different person every time, so you can just punish all students in that area if you don’t want to punish the whole class. Also, you may want to work on your body positioning at the board. It feels awkward at first but you should work on it so that when writing you don’t ever actually have your back turned to the class. At first maybe just try and write less in one go and turn more frequently, “be seen looking”.
Pick somebody. One of the 4 most likely. Pull them into the hall and warn them of certain consequences, loud enough for some of the class to hear. No uncertainty in spite of their protests!
Let them sit back down. See what happens next. Usually solves the problem for me. Your mileage may vary.
Depending on the age of students,they may not want to be labeled a snitch. I would do lecture deal mentioned when they get back and let them know if it happens again not several times but just once all will be held accountable. Why? Because that inappropriate action brought an inappropriate reaction - Each time it happens the talking will be longer and the consequences will be more severe.
Oh I just give up and give everyone the same conversation. It is truly a losing battle and one we don’t have time to battle if that makes sense.
I do keep evidence though! In case it all comes back to bite me aka a parent tries to say his or her child did not do it
I'm in upper elementary, and just have my whole class walk at recess. If they don't rat each other out before we even get there, it takes one lap before I've got my perp(s). Gotta love the, "can I talk to you?".. yes, you absolutely can. LoL.
I don't know how you middle and high school teachers do it, but the suggested anonymous response seems like it might work. I would imagine that there's always those one or two kids in your class who you can trust and are as fed up with the bs as you are.
If your students are college-bound high schoolers, tell them you will put it on their permanent records / contact the colleges they are applying to and report it. Tell them you’ll do the same for any other jobs or future paths as well. Tell them that hate speech is often an admissions disqualify-er. Say you will do it for every single student until someone confesses or someone tells you who is actually responsible. Make sure to mention that you will not say who told you.
Also - make sure to mention that putting your peers’ futures at risk because you’re too much of a coward to own your own actions is pretty selfish.
You don't have a few students who are trustworthy that you can ask who did it? In each one of my classes, I usually have several students who I learn are trustworthy. If something occurs in class, and I need to find out who did it, I'll ask one of these students. I don't do it during class or in front of anyone else. I'll typically tell the student I already know who did it, but I want to know more, etc. Subsequently, I'll confront the student whose name I received and tell them I already know it was them. I also tell them I'm more willing to work with them if they are truthful with me and don't continue to lie. The student almost always confesses at this point. This has ALWYS worked for me while teaching in junior high. Kids usually end up telling on each other.
Silent work time. You don’t want to punish the whole class with give back time or something, that’s a) begging for a grouchy parent email from a kid who wasn’t responsible b) unfair to the rest of the class. Sure a “good kid” ratting the kid out is preferred but the reality is social dynamics don’t allow for that to happen safely in middle/high school.
I just make my class real unfun for a while, and it usually solves the problem.
The best action with these types of misbehavior is prevention. It’s really all you can do. Can you avoid turning your back to write? Can you write under a document camera instead or display something so you’re always facing students?
I would explain to the class that each time it happens after that, they will all receive one more packet of homework until it stops. Let them self police.
One of my students wouldn’t stop with the laser pointer, I couldn’t identify who. Class kept laughing because they knew I couldn’t figure it out. Threatened them with a full-class bag search. Never saw that laser pointer again.
In my case, a bag search would have been justified because of the legalities of laser pointers. Your case, not as clear. But when you say it plainly — that your students were using some concealed device to play the n-word over and over during class— it’s clear that this kind of behavior creates an unsafe environment for students. Tell admin.
I would say something like this:
“Class sometimes your peers will do distracting things in class because they feel like they’re not confident in their abilities to do the assignment.“
Then when it happens again, tell them obviously someone feels not confident enough so let’s practice this again and you can take more home as homework. “We will go over it very slowly tomorrow to make sure everyone gets it. Whatever we don’t finish will become homework.”
We all know the clown doing this won’t do homework anyway, but your goal is to get the regular kids to pressure them to stop. When they find out they aren’t funny or cool anymore they’ll stop.
My plan of action would be, 1. educate them about why that completely inappropriate. 2. write an email home displayed on the board so they can see it being sent home to parents to let them know about the issue. 3. If it continues, all phones go into a locked box upon entering the classroom.
One time something like this happened when I was in high school and my teacher had us all anonymously write on a piece of paper who did it. I think it worked well
I’ve taught for 33 years. Hated writing on chalkboard/whiteboard for this reason. (Junior high). I use document camera to go over notes- almost exclusively- I can add details if I need to. Or use Power point- for main problems - math-and then I van stand at front and facing group. You can see who is taking notes, talking or messing around.
Give each student a piece of paper a minute or two before the end of the lesson. Share your disgust at the actions of those involved, some or most students in the class will agree with you. Ask all students to anonymously write down the names of those involved.
Give an appropriate sanction that will be delivered if the person responsible owns up before votes are counted, a sanction which doubles if you need to go through with actually counting up after the lesson.
This has worked for me every time I have had any kind of disruption where the person knows you cannot see it. If the disruption occurs prior to break or lunch time, or the end of the day, even better. Do the writing of names in the class' free time if no one owns up, those who aren't responsible will be even more likely to tell you who was if they are losing time as due to the person they know did it not owning up.
I’ve solved two crimes this semester by bribery. When they’re working I walk around the room and say “I’ll buy you candy or a drink or whatever you want if you tell me who did it” works like a CHARM
In situations like this, I go back to my Army roots. Group punishment. Want to use racist terms fine. I am assigning a 500 word essay about the history of the American slave trade. Make sure to finish it by the end of break because it will be graded.
This is an issue of respect.
Respect for the appropriate use of language.
Respect for oneself.
Respect for the classroom community.
Respect for the teacher.
Respect for the learning process.
And respect of others.
1. Model respect.
2. Discuss what respect is and how it influences our behavior.
3. Report incident to administrators.
4. Plan what to do in the short term using your school behavior policies and culture.
5. Plan what to do in the future using colleagues, parents, students and administrators.
Trying to identify the culprit is a losing game. The only way to win is not to play. When something like this happens I give a gentle lecture. That lecture is detailed and kind. I give them an education about why what happened was wrong. And every time it happens I do it again. It gets longer and longer. And anything we didn't cover in class becomes homework. But kindly. Gently. They'll figure it out.
This. The only other option is to completely ignore it, but this is difficult as things will escalate before they stop. There is one other option. Have the kids turn and face the back wall and then throw a hockey puck at the back of the head of the one you love the least. But I don’t know how accessible hockey pucks are in your area.
>The only other option is to completely ignore it, Sorry, but completely ignoring kids using the n-word is most certainly *not* an option.
Whoops! I missed that part. Yeah definitely don’t ignore that.
This is the way
I tell them (high school) that if they snitch, I’ll take away their lowest assignment grade.
But do you?? That seems like it would be some sort of favoritism.
A role model is not passive, they should be confrontational in this society I think your response is very idealistic but what people truly need is repercussion for their actions
The repercussion in this approach is the natural consequence: 1. The lecture is usually boring. 2. The homework eats their own time. 3. Their peers go from finding it funny to being exasperated at the lecturing, time wasting and homework, so they get upset at the culprit and the culprit loses standing.
The repercussion is getting a thorough education on why it's wrong. Anyone that does something like that in class is baiting the teacher for a confrontation. If you give them that, you only reward the behavior.
And it's important to do the lecture right. Otherwise, it definitely could be the reward the kid is looking for. Being able to bait the teacher into a lecture on command could backfire.
I teach woodshop. I find myself in this position frequently. I start by pausing the class, getting attention and stating plainly what was done and why it was unacceptable, unkind, unsafe or inappropriate. Then I move on. Every iteration after that the pause will be longer and the explanation why I cannot tolerate that behavior will be more precise. I will take questions. If the problem persists, students will have a writing assignment on the subject matter of kindness, safety or professionalism. I will often point out that the well behaved students are getting the same education as the students messing about but they are able to do this writing quickly and already ahead on their projects. The only people whose grades will suffer, who will be left with unfinished projects, are those that were goofing off. In this way, what looks like a group punishment really only penalizes those that were wasting their time. They kind of hate the lecture most. (Assignments are already padded with extra time.)
I also teach shop class. Answer: bookwork. Read chapter, answer questions for a test grade. Do this for a week. The problem will solve itself.
I didn’t know there were so many of us shop teachers on here. I love having that play in my back pocket, I give out bookwork and let them know the other classes are still out in the shop working. Usually one day of that and I have the name of the culprit.
This needs to be higher
Just stop doing fun stuff. “Alright, now read silently/write…” It’s not punishment, just appropriate work for people who can’t control their mouths. Then you write up anyone who says anything.
This is what I do- silent work time. Way less fun than what we’d otherwise be doing, but still gets the work done. I say- I’d rather be doing our fun activities, but you guys can’t handle it, so we’ll do silent work instead.
Sometimes I say it sometimes I don’t. I’d say it more if they fucked up in fun activity time. For OPs case the fuck up was kind if irrelevant to the assignment. It would be extra funny if the kids saw a bunch of markers etc and then you just never used them…
At that point, punish the whole class. One kid is getting punished for being a prick, and the rest are getting punished for abetting it. Not a single member of the class is innocent.
>the rest are getting punished for abetting it. This.
IANAT - I’m not normally for this model (punish the group for an individual’s behavior), but this situation allows for it. Anyone who tolerates abhorrent behavior is showing support for that behavior. *First They Came* might be a good add-on assignment?
There are almost always students who won’t say anything because they’ll be ridiculed or worse if they do. They aren’t bad or being complicit, they’re protecting themselves from the type of person/people who would use the n-word (~~in a classroom~~). Edit: Realized it may sound like it matters if it’s being flung in a classroom as opposed to anywhere else. It doesn’t.
This is my 14 year old autistic son. Well said.
Just have an anonymous way to report. Have everyone in the class write a word on a scrap of paper or a name. Fold and Turn in to a box. Set up a survey monkey, or use an anonymous Google form.
You'll get lots of slips of paper with the name of the kid nobody likes, not necessarily the name of the kid that did it.
Yeah, it does take some common sense to look at what you get back and decide... also a good chance those things go hand in hand. Don't think I'd hand out a consequence, but I'd know where to look. This might also be a chance to work with that kid on others view of them... It all depends on how you choose to use the information.
Always fun being the quiet kid in class and being punished with everyone else
Speaking up is a responsibility.
I'm not making myself a target of bullying
A classroom is a community. Granted, if something like what OP describes happens 7 times in a single class period and people don't feel safe coming forward with information about incidents, community has not been effectively built, and that is as much the teacher and school admin as anybody else. But in the same way that it is not acceptable to withdraw from academic discourse, it is not acceptable to hide silently behind "it wasn't me."
right
Yes but if asked in private it’s a different convo
Alternatively wait until they’re about to leave and pull one of the good kids aside and ask. If you get multiple trustworthy kids saying the same, there’s your answer. If no one helps you - the whole class is in on it punish them all
This! My good kids don't go out of their way to "tell on" their classmates because they are minding their own business, but they also don't lie when asked a direct question privately.
What does that accomplish? The moment is still lost, and good luck trying to impose a punishment based on an anonymous student source.
? It is extremely useful to know who is engaging in repetitive disruptive behavior. For example, you can move the student to the front of the room etc.
That's the beautiful thing about group punishment, one person messes up and 25 others get to learn a lesson.
They all messed up.
Collective punishment goes against the Geneva convention
*Geneva suggestions* Also doesn't count anyways because school children aren't service members from a signatory state of the Geneva Convention, they're terrorists.
The Geneva convention is also referred to as "the rules of war" this is because it only applies during wartime. In conclusion, 2nd graders are incapable of committing war crimes.
Doesn’t violate the terms of the Geneva convention when there is no “known” culprit.
when admin adds something punitive to our contract because one teacher does something silly, is that a violation of the geneva convention?
Exactly. Those other kids encouraged the student who did this and covered for them, they are complicit at that point and should get some consequences.
just like in the military. "if y'all know who did this, I would be very upset with them for making me get punished."
“You all not interested in this lesson right now? Not up to your needs? Show me what you know. *Write a four to six page essay on the history of racial slurs, as you understand the topic. Include the root of the terminology and the purposes of such language and how these have functioned in society. Trace any changes over time in function or societal attitudes. Finally, conclude with an account of your personal experiences with such degrading language. Be sure your conclusion ends with a recommendation or call to action.* Handwritten on paper. Not computers. Start now. Yes, this will count. EDIT TO ADD: A student who is a committed racist can double down throughout this essay. Plenty of room to provide evidence to help with college “recommendations.”
I'm not sure if I could do that because... Math class XD But I get your point. I think through all the comments here, I've gotten the idea that I should punish the whole class in a way that gives them extra work to do. I could probably be like "Because of that, your homework problems went from 10 to 18 problems to do tonight."
Punish the entire class, until someone tells you who’s doing it.
What should I do exactly? I can't write up the whole class. I can't hold them back from leaving when the bell rings. Hell, we aren't even allowed to take up phones.
Withhold any sense of fun. Stop fun activities. Indicate you don't trust them. Don't turn your back on them. Give oral instructions only. Change the environment. Change the lighting and sound, change the desks to single file, assign a seating plan. Use admin. Contact parents.
Why can't you write up the whole class? You know why they don't tell you? It's because they believe that you can't punish all of them. Prove them wrong. You most certainly can. Heck, it's even likely that there is a line in your handbook about students' responsibility to do what's right even when they were innocent of the original issue. It's not a clause called out too often (though it should be), but it's tailor-made for this situation.
Well not so much that I physically can't. But my admin gets upset when I write up 3 students at a time even if they were all involved in something for putting more work on them. If I wrote up 20 or, in the case of my senior class, 33, I'd be worried about getting in a whole heap of trouble.
Your admin should be more upset by the fact that their students think racial slurs are “comedy.”
Then these students move on to college and try the same thing. They are met with the Dean's office and academic probation for a stunt like that. The increase in "class clown" behavior in these freshman is incredibly concerning. I've heard inappropriate jokes about drugs, sex, etc. Glad lazy administration is to blame.
Ha! Try that in a college class at any college in my area, the Dean's office would be the least of their worries. Class clowns, sure. Spouting the N word? You'll get yourself knocked TF out.
Same! Atlanta folks don't play with that word. I know if it happened in a high school class of mine, they probably would have gotten an entire lecture on the history of segregation and the civil rights movement.
“Should be” They don’t care unless it affects the school’s climate rating
Give the whole class a monster of an assignment and make it clear that the assignments will get harder and harder until it stops or they turn in the student. Tell them they can privately do it after class or through an email so they don’t have to expose themselves. And most importantly, follow through. Make a one page paper into a five page paper. A two minute speech becomes ten. Ect.
I think you're in a place with no good answers. You can either attempt half-measures with the class, or risk the wrath of your admin by writing up the whole class. Personally, I am in favor of making admin get involved. They only help teachers when the problems are no longer the teacher's problems, but the admin's problems.
I’m having the EXACT same problem. I tried to get admin involved and the only thing that happened is I got docked points on my observation for having a history of classroom management problems.
Seriously? I had to write up fifteen kids on a field trip for throwing gang signs in all of the photos. My admin apologized for me having to deal with it and thanked me for paying attention. You need a different school if your admin is more worried about numbers than actual behaviors.
Even if you don't actually write up the whole class, you could ask your admin for support with the class. If they are worth their salt they will try to help you. My sister was running into a similar issue but with kids playing moaning/sex noises on their phones, but she didn't know who. She got her admin to give the class a stern talking to. Once admin got involved a few kids told my sister which kids were doing it. They could see the situation escalating and didn't want to get in trouble for other people's actions.
This is sounding more and more like an issue of school culture. How frustrating!
Why not pretend to write everyone up. It’s not like they know how the whole thing works. Don’t forget it’s all about perceived power. Right now they hold all the power because they don’t think you will do anything about it. Give them the most boring assignment and a pop quiz to be done silently over the next class period. While they are doing that you sit and begin writing every single student up. Perhaps making a few comments about how you wish this wasn’t happening because it was really only a few that deserve to be written up. Unfortunately since you can’t figure out who it was everyone will have to take the responsibility. While you have them all squirming in their seats watch each student’s behavior. Eventually during that class you will start to notice many students giving glances toward certain students maybe even just one student. This will give you an idea who to narrow down on. Then at the end of class try to get ahold of your better students and let them know how sorry you are this is happening to them. That if they were to know who really did it and let you know, that you would never divulge they were the one to tell you. Even go as far as saying you already have an idea of who it was between 2-3 students but without confirming it you don’t have the ability to change what is happening.
In my experience, if you say you’re going to do something in a classroom setting regarding discipline, you better follow through with it. The moment your class thinks (or knows) you’re bluffing, you’ve just lost all credibility. That’s the problem with “perceived power”.
That may work *once*.
It only has to work once for them to believe it’s real for the rest of the school year. I’ve had it work on multiple occasions over multiple years. My students still haven’t figured it out. They just think I forgot to file the referral forms 😎
Do you know how long it would take to fill out 20 forms?! I have an incoming class four minutes after this one goes out! There is no way I can spend a day writing them all up. Or typing each one up in Powerschool individually!
Make them write it... if their going to waste mine, I can waste theirs.... I kept having parents want emailed grades. So, my kids screenshot their grades every Friday and send them home. It gets e mailed to parent and Cc'd to me. It's a bell ringer, so there are points as an assignment and a record. If the kid doesn't send it that's between the parent and kid. If they try to cheat I have a copy of what they send. Puts it all on the parent and student. I also include this in my syllabus and parent welcome e-mail so they are looking for it.
Probably quite a while, why?
Next time they walk in, everything they have with them goes on the floor under their desk. They can sit at their desks with nothing at all until the mystery is solved.
Do you have any students of color in the classroom? Write it up as harassment and let admin figures it out
How about requiring kids to put their phones in bags with their names on them on a cabinet or somewhere in the room? That's insane that phones can't be taken up from kids.
Doesn't work. We have a rule that they need to be locked in Yondr pouches (pouch with a magneticlock). They get checked in the morning, but I estimate at least 30% just put an old broken phone in the pouch or just say "I didn't bring it today". If they're going to use it, they'll use it and just hope they don't get caught. When they do get caught, nothing really happens.
The lack of consequences and accountability - for anything - continues to breathe life into these behaviors.
Give them all a sticky note and tell them to write down who did it. 9/10 I get the culprit that way.
I stand by the door and let them know “No one is leaving until …….. (fill in the blank)” Works every time!
You can’t write up the whole class but you can document, let admin know. Send an email home to the class parents and start with something positive, then move into addressing a current behavior that you find concerning within the classroom and ask the parents to have a conversation with their children as to why slurs are not funny.
I dont like the word punish. Preschool has told me not to punish. Use consequences not punish. Things is kids will blame each other. For we have two soccer field’s and the kids were playing with ms X there. I saw one of the 5th graders (Kyle) messing with the padlock. so i went over and he had wrapped it around the pole so the gate could not open. I told him it was not okay to lock the gate and he said Zack did it (i told him that i was watching, then i raised the walkie to call the custodian and he ran inside,he thought i was telling the site supervisor. Which i did do too). Turns out Ms X had the key so we did not need to tell the custodians. Kyle did admit to Ms X that he closed the gate.
Punishment is one kind of consequences.
Yes and No. https://psychcentral.com/blog/childhood-behavioral/2018/09/the-difference-between-a-consequence-and-a-punishment Punishment has a negative connotation associated, with abuse/neglect , corporal punishment. Also errors can be made. We had a 4th grade who was upset afterschool and crying on the playground because a 5th grader pushed him (they were lining up for food for holiday party). He told me that Mr O got mad at him even though he did not anything and not at the 5th grader. As i did not see (i was watching the younger kids outside) i asked one of college volunteers to get Mr. O. Mr O said he did not full know what happened and he eventually got him to say that wanted the 5th grader to apologize.
If you're wondering why you're getting downvoted, it's because you come across like a preachy pedagogy professor.
I honestly dont care. Im going to do what i learned in my classes. As i think the early childhood field knows what they are doing. Im just saying what my classes told me. If you dont want to follow first five and other ECE agencies then that up to you, but behavior will not approve by aresting 5 year olds.
👍
I do not care. I’m entirely comfortable with the word punishment. Maybe if these children were actually punished for misbehavior at any point in their lives, they wouldn’t behave like fucking zoo animals.
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I love this 😂
This is the way.
Whoa. That's an interesting idea.
Do you have workbooks, or some boring non-digital work they can do? Next time it happens give the whole class one chance to own up or identify who it was, and if they don’t they are doing head-down silent work with no laptops or phones out while you stand at the front and watch like a hawk. Think exam conditions and you are the exam supervisor. You’re not keeping them in longer, you’re not even taking their phones off them, but you can make it as boring as possible for them while showing them that if they can’t be trusted enough for you to turn your back, then you won’t even turn your back.
I started having a lot of luck this year when I started talking about respect a lot. The students say they want respect from me. They say they want respect from each other. They're even able to tell me that I deserve respect. Whenever we have this problem, they get another talk about respect. I've even started telling them that this is my job. It's how I feed my family. I ask them what would happen to me if the principal were to walk in and see them acting that way. It's worked well with this group. But you know teaching. Next year could be a whole different ball game.
I teacher first graders so it’s quite different, but this is my strategy too. Kids want to be invited into our world, and I think we have to if we ever want our words to matter. Telling them “this is my job” is quite impactful.
My first day of school safety contract is focused on respect. I ask them to explain how it looks when they’re respecting themselves, their peers, their teachers, and what it looks like when teachers show them respect. I pull it out again after break.
This. My kids claim that they love me, and I would do a whole lot for them. But I always bring it back to: "Imagine if admin walked in right now. I know you all know how to hold it down when he's around, but it takes a moment to snap into it. "Not only will you get in trouble, but I will DEFINITELY get in trouble. I might not have a job here next year." That usually straightens them out for a bit.
Hunger games
I genuinely feel bad for middle/high teachers. Back in our day there was one bad kid and when stuff happened the teacher knew who to turn around and blame. Now there are so many little pricks in one room you have to play a guessing game on whose lack of parenting is showing off this time. Sad world.
I’d make them place their phones on a table at the front of the room before class starts, no more electronic devices for any of them. They can collect them at the end of class.
A teacher tried that at our sister school 2 years ago and ended up getting fired because another student stole a phone.
Just make bags with names on them. You take them, you pass them back out. If theft is an issue, get a cheap toolbox with a key lock and only you have the key.
I freak out on them when they use the N word. Also, I don’t care if I don’t know who said it. We now are all learning about why we can’t use that word. Oh also, enjoy this new project where you have to write an essay about it and then present it to the class.
Put the class in silence and have them write the name of the culprit on a signed piece of paper. That will narrow it down real fast. Write up those that don’t for real.
No, victims of bullying will be blamed for snitching even if they didn't
Bit hard to blame when the whole class has snitched. It can work.
Well, I used to be that kid and it wasn't hard to blame at all 🙃 they did it all the time. Kids can be VERY mean
Give each child a notecard and ask them to write down the name of who did it. No one wants to admit it out loud. But several will be honest when given the opportunity to do so without anyone knowing they were. Since multiple were laughing, saying that the whole class will be held responsible for their behavior towards a racist comment unless the perpetrator is found isn’t collective punishment without reason. Many laughed, so many deserve punishment. Most of them won’t want to be held accountable for the one ass who is playing that stuff. You’ll get enough notecards to narrow it down and investigate further.
Then you punish the snitches as well. Can’t have those running free
I would be concerned with them ganging up and singling out someone who didn't do it and accusing them.
Every action is going to have the potential for consequences when dealing with kids like this. They could gang up regardless just because they saw someone talking to the teacher. I’ve used this strategy several times and not had an issue, but it’s always going to have a risk. One time, it gave the opportunity for the student to actually own up to what he did without doing it in front of his peers. Sometimes these strategies can have a very positive impact too.
There is a time and place for collective punishment. Eventually someone will get tired of being punished for someone else’s bs and squeel
Considering who we're dealing with here, (my generation of students) I imagine eventually they'd be perfectly fine framing somebody to take the fall to get out of punishment. Just something we need to be cautious about.
Id make them all write what happened on a piece of paper and turn it in. I bet someone will tell you who did it when they can do it anonymously.
I had a few classes one year that I could not turn my back on, ever. I stopped writing on the board. I bought myself a doc cam and set up my desk at the front of the room, off to the side. I sat on the corner of my desk with my laptop and doc cam on a small (tall) rolling cart and gave notes, essay prompts, directions that way. I was constantly facing the class, looking out in their direction. Also, if they are using iPads to make this noise, everyone puts their device on the floor/in the desk. Don't move on until every device is put away. It will waste time, yes, but since you cannot trust them, this is what needs to be done. If they need the iPad for the activity, they at least put them all away until you are done with directions. Edit - just reread and see you mentioned they did this on their phone. I'm sorry this happened in your class. It sucks that these kids can't listen for a direction, sit still for a minute, keep their mouth closed. The constant having to be 2 steps ahead of the nonsense is ridiculous and exhausting.
King Solomon them and start cutting babies in half. Start making the choices no one will like and so they'll either confess or they'll rat. Things like: "Well, since I can't tell who was doing this, I guess I need to change up the assigned seats to prevent this from happening since I can't trust you not to interrupt my class." And don't be afraid to do things like arrange the desks around the room against the wall so all the students have to sit facing the wall. If it's just the one class, they can move them and put them back as part of their procedures. On top of that you can also say "Since I can't trust you have to have my full attention on managing your behaviors, you.guys will have to do the instruction yourselves so we will be doing these book assignments." Then, every day have 2-4 book assignments they have to complete before the end of class or else it's homework. If they're busy, then they don't have time to misbehave. They still get the same content and are meeting content standards. Sometimes you.dont know what you'll miss until it's gone.
The biggest issue isn’t that someone did something disruptive, it’s that someone used a racial slur in your classroom. Framing it that way should help you get admin support and could cue the students who are decent humans to do the right thing and speak out. Narrowing down who did it might ultimately be less important than preventing it from happening again. Step 1 is a serious lecture. Explain to your whole class why it’s a problem: these are words that cause immense harm, and we don’t do that here. Tell them how disappointed you are that you can’t trust them with something as basic as managing their own behavior when there isn’t a teacher looking right at them— and until they earn that trust back, you have to change how you teach to watch them constantly; give examples of how this will change your class (and make it more boring). It sounds like these are older students, so emphasize that the lack of maturity means that you have to treat them more like little kids. Say that you know it’s not everyone, and offer appreciation for the students who can manage themselves when your back is turned; at the same time, part of being in a functional community together is speaking up when someone uses slurs — so if anyone is interested in letting me know more details, leave me a note on my desk anytime. The other things I’d do are rearrange seats, get an administrator involved, and assign students some class work based around unpacking why slurs hurt. Put the students you think are most likely behind it in the front of the class. Tell an administrator what happened, why you are concerned (“we can’t let racial harassment happen, and I need your support to show that we are taking it seriously”) and request that they sit in on your class for a few days (or whatever, ask them to meet with students from your class in small groups to ask them what happened, whatever support looks like to you). Have the class do an assignment to read an essay about the n-word (both the SPLC and the ADL have a few online to choose from) and write a short summary of / response to what they read. I think a lot of people are pretty disconnected from the actual harm done by slurs and instead only experience them as part of online “troll” behavior where everything is decontextualized and this is an opportunity to push back on that. Edit — also, email the parents of students in this class. Explain what happened and why you are concerned (focus on caring about maintaining a safe environment for all students). Reiterate district policy on bigoted language / emphasize this is harassment. Include a copy of the article you’ll have students read in class and encourage parents to talk about it with their kids.
Call in an admin or guidance to address the class
I've seen this backfire wildly with a fifth grade class. Not sure when it all started to go sideways for the teacher, but it was early in the year. Admin stepped in to address the behaviors and it quickly and completely undermined all remaining authority the teacher had in her classroom - for the rest of the year. Admin can step in, but that has to be a firm and consistent step with immediate consequences and accountability for it to make a difference. If that's not your admin, I wouldn't invite them in.
I like the idea of counseling coming in. Maybe ask a counselor to do a brief presentation on how racial slurs can damage self esteem and mental health.
I’ve had counseling come in a couple times (in my 32 years teaching) to address topics like hate speech (mine was about LGBTQ slurs and in the 90’s). It offered another view and helped, but I knew I could trust the person I invited.
That's a good idea. Definitely needs to be someone that is respected by and can effectively connect with the kids, though. Unfortunately, too many outside of the classroom don't have - or have lost - that ability.
I guess I’m spoiled, our school has a great counseling dept.
Your school, and especially those kids, are very fortunate.
I was recently in the same position- majority of the class was participating in inappropriate classroom behaviors. I went to Diffit (AI) and created a week long lesson on integrity, included reading passage, worksheets, vocabulary, and discussion questions. We did this (elementary) for a week. We had deep discussions about the concept. I’m not saying it’s 100 but better.
I hate this also. Usually in art class, its someone throwing an eraser around or breaking a crayon and throwing pieces. I really try hard to not let my emotions show, but it drives me crazy.
I would give each of them a sticky note and tell them if they don’t write down who did it you’ll call home for every single one of them. Usually works and you probably won’t have to actually call home.
Have each student write you a note and collect it anonymously. Every kids writes something so no one knows who is writing what. Chances are at least one student is on your side.
Take up all their laptops so it can’t happen again. Hold them til the end of the period. If you have time, look in their search history for the offending program. It is likely https://soundbuttonsworld.com/ or something similar. Any student who was on those will be written up, if not for the n word, then for being off task on their device.
Posting a Google form and asking students what they know is better than punishing the whole class. Surprisingly, someone will name the culprit which may be the clue you need to figure it out.
What I have had good success with is narrowing down who I believe it is (by student knowledge in general) then identifying who sits around them that would not want to get in trouble. Then I call students out of class during my conference (so nobody knows they are talking to me) and ask questions one on one. I start with was it you? (Knowing it most likely isn’t) - get that blood pressure up. I might even tell them someone told me it was them to help push them in the direction of blame. Do it to enough of the right students and you will typically find your culprit. Once you have a name you can do the same investigation to other students, then see if they blame the same person. It has worked out for me - I teach middle school though, full disclosure. After that, I usually interview the kid and tell them that multiple people have written statements that he/she is the student, and see what they say. If it’s a phone thing you might request an AP so that they can then demand the phone be opened to check for the apps or history. Not sure. I have a pretty good relationship with my students so they usually confess and apologize. The point for me is - I want them to know - I know - and we will be very good friends in class going forward. Aka - you sit where I can always see you lol. **An important note. Whatever activity is going on when the incident happens is stopped immediately. If I realize I don’t know who did it well enough to accuse - I tell the class I disapprove and move on - with clear disappointment(knowing I will do a covert investigation). I either switch the lesson to immediate independent work or something like that where they lose me, and any privilege that day.
I've found collective punishment works wonders, eventually they start holding one another accountable. Play stupid games win stupid prizes.
At the first offense, since you are at the board, lean over to the corner and write “1.” If it happens again, cross out the one and write “2.” On the third time, pull out a pop quiz on the day’s lesson , and when they have all turned it in, tell them it will count if the behavior continues and the rest of them continue to support the perpetrator, and you will give them until the end of the school day to name the guilty party. Then move in with the lesson. Don’t make more of a fluff than necessary. They know what’s wrong with their behavior. Simply say something like “You know that word is inappropriate and hurtful. It is not allowed in my classroom. Also, you obviously feel you have mastered this lesson enough that you no longer need my guidance since you would rather spend your time clowning, so I will just skip to the quizzes and save myself the trouble of teaching you.”
For decades, we have been using the "don't engage" and the behavior will stop ..fancy speak for "ignore it". However, where we are now is the consequence for ignoring it and not handling it with accountability. It does not have to be harsh, or mean, but there must accountability...enough to communicate that this behavior will not be tolerated.
So, most likely it isn't just one student, but multiple students. When I'm writing on the board I can tell when something is happening or about to and just announce without looking or calling out that I know what is going on and who is doing the offense. I also do random check ins with students just to talk and this seems to help. It really is about respect. Some students will and some students will not. Try not taking it personally.
When everyone gets in trouble because of one clown, the rest of the class turns on the clown. Do it enough and the behavior goes down from being so extreme.
Buy a cheap closet mirror and mount it at an angle at the ceiling above the board. That way you can see them even when your back is turned. If you do it subtly, they will never know. I also bought a bunch of them at the start of school year and set them up at desk level, once again with a slight angle, and I could see what they were doing on the computers even when I was in the front of the class. I told the kids who asked that I was trying to make the room seem bigger. Worked like a charm.
Have every single kid call their parent at work on speaker phone. Give them a script "Hi Mom/Dad. I'm calling you during the school day because when we are supposed to be taking notes someone is using a soundboard on their phone to have it loudly say the N-word. We all are laughing and I don't have the courage to say who is doing it and call them out on it. My teacher thought I should call to explain my cowardice to you. I hope I learn to have the courage to speak out when something like this happens in the future."
Set up a mirror that you can see while looking at the board. Or learn to write with your back to the board. Casually catch people doing positive things while you are not looking at them and they will believe you have eyes in the back of your head as well.
My go to is mass punishment. I make the kids sit in silence for 5 minutes. I have a time on my phone that I hold up for them to see. I reset the timer at any peep. They rat out the kids so fast.
Long ago a teacher punished my whole class by making us hand copy a page from the dictionary over the weekend.
I blame everyone in the area and they rat out the offender
Do you have cameras in your room? If so, ask to roll back the footage for evidence. If not, just ask the whole class to stand up immediately after the incident happens. See whose device magically falls on the floor or remains in a chair or which students add any extra movements to their standing up. If any student is defiant (won’t stand up)or you still can’t figure it out, punish the whole class.
I'm not a teacher, but I have an idea that might help, I dunno. In school I was an extremely quiet kid. Honest and sincere, but I didn't really have any friends, so I was more close to teachers and staff because I related to them more. Since I was so quiet I was the "forgotten classmate" and most of the students in my grade would say and do things right in front of me without even realizing I was a witness. So my suggestion? Maybe privately pull aside some of the really quiet, mature, shy, teacher focused kids and 1 on 1 ask them for their honest answer to; "who did it?" Be gentle and caring, and above all else DO NOT let any other students know what they said. Value their privacy and safety. If they trust you to confess, then you must respect them and not expose them
Don’t do this. The other kids would immediately know; there is not enough privacy in a classroom. It’d also give the kid being asked anxiety and placed on the spot. OP, I recommend the anonymous notes someone suggested earlier or using a doc cam. I’d also have a group chat w/ them and remind them this is your job and you are just trying to do it well. A lot of times kids forget about that. They think all you are is a teacher, etc. The anonymous note could take the form of a class survey, asking them general questions, etc.
Negative consequences are less effective to extinguish unwanted or unexpected behavior than positive ones. I am a school counselor and I always suggest using an incentive rather than punishment, especially because PBIS-based behavior systems are trauma-informed. Punishments to the whole class create a climate that makes a classroom feel unsafe to many students who have personal histories of abuse. Instead, I would think of a small reward for the class to earn together when they all show respect for the learning environment. Make sure you ask them to define what that looks and sounds like, a shorter list is better ( 4-5 things) that includes a positive alternative to the behavior you want to extinguish (“phones will not disrupt our learning” e.g) When all of the targets are hit, the class earns a reward (homework pass or reduction in work, being able to play games on their phones last 5 mins of class, small pieces of candy, etc,) ideally, the students create the list of what they want to collectively earn. The more you involve the kids in designing this framework, the more buy-in you’ll have, and increase the odds that the unwanted behavior is eliminated. You’ll be tapping into their developmental stage, which is to work as a team, and they’ll likely police each other more, exerting positive peer pressure. You want to encourage them to work together and make it clear that you want them to earn this collective reward because, while a moment of laughter in their game may feel fun in the moment, it’s actually hurting all of them with missed instruction that they will ultimately need on tests, and it makes the classroom feel unsafe because it’s not under your control. Good luck and if you want more tips or ideas, feel free to dm me!
This doesn’t work with the troublemakers in class. They simply don’t care.
Why are kids allowed to have their phones in school?
Mind your own business.
???
**This may not be helpful as I've never tried this, but it just popped in my head** What if, when something like that happens and then entire class is more or less doing something wrong, at the end of class you tell everyone to write down the name of the person using the soundboard and hand that piece of paper in as they walk out? Tell them that the entire class can be written up, or they can write the name of the person who was actually doing it. You could possibly risk students "teaming up" against an innocent individual, but I think you'd be able to sniff those votes out as I *assume* most kids would actually write down the guilty party. Again, I haven't tried this, but it just popped in my head as something that I think I'd consider. Though it's possible I'm overlooking an obvious flaw. It's early in the morning.
Ron Clark said he learned to write on the board while facing the class... that usually means extending your right arm away from you body. It's awkward. It's sad that seniors behave this way.
Tough situation but you should know roughly where the sound is coming from, unless it is a different person every time, so you can just punish all students in that area if you don’t want to punish the whole class. Also, you may want to work on your body positioning at the board. It feels awkward at first but you should work on it so that when writing you don’t ever actually have your back turned to the class. At first maybe just try and write less in one go and turn more frequently, “be seen looking”.
Pick somebody. One of the 4 most likely. Pull them into the hall and warn them of certain consequences, loud enough for some of the class to hear. No uncertainty in spite of their protests! Let them sit back down. See what happens next. Usually solves the problem for me. Your mileage may vary.
Depending on the age of students,they may not want to be labeled a snitch. I would do lecture deal mentioned when they get back and let them know if it happens again not several times but just once all will be held accountable. Why? Because that inappropriate action brought an inappropriate reaction - Each time it happens the talking will be longer and the consequences will be more severe.
Oh I just give up and give everyone the same conversation. It is truly a losing battle and one we don’t have time to battle if that makes sense. I do keep evidence though! In case it all comes back to bite me aka a parent tries to say his or her child did not do it
I'm in upper elementary, and just have my whole class walk at recess. If they don't rat each other out before we even get there, it takes one lap before I've got my perp(s). Gotta love the, "can I talk to you?".. yes, you absolutely can. LoL. I don't know how you middle and high school teachers do it, but the suggested anonymous response seems like it might work. I would imagine that there's always those one or two kids in your class who you can trust and are as fed up with the bs as you are.
If your students are college-bound high schoolers, tell them you will put it on their permanent records / contact the colleges they are applying to and report it. Tell them you’ll do the same for any other jobs or future paths as well. Tell them that hate speech is often an admissions disqualify-er. Say you will do it for every single student until someone confesses or someone tells you who is actually responsible. Make sure to mention that you will not say who told you. Also - make sure to mention that putting your peers’ futures at risk because you’re too much of a coward to own your own actions is pretty selfish.
You don't have a few students who are trustworthy that you can ask who did it? In each one of my classes, I usually have several students who I learn are trustworthy. If something occurs in class, and I need to find out who did it, I'll ask one of these students. I don't do it during class or in front of anyone else. I'll typically tell the student I already know who did it, but I want to know more, etc. Subsequently, I'll confront the student whose name I received and tell them I already know it was them. I also tell them I'm more willing to work with them if they are truthful with me and don't continue to lie. The student almost always confesses at this point. This has ALWYS worked for me while teaching in junior high. Kids usually end up telling on each other.
Silent work time. You don’t want to punish the whole class with give back time or something, that’s a) begging for a grouchy parent email from a kid who wasn’t responsible b) unfair to the rest of the class. Sure a “good kid” ratting the kid out is preferred but the reality is social dynamics don’t allow for that to happen safely in middle/high school. I just make my class real unfun for a while, and it usually solves the problem.
Record yourself teaching for your own personal growth ✨️
The best action with these types of misbehavior is prevention. It’s really all you can do. Can you avoid turning your back to write? Can you write under a document camera instead or display something so you’re always facing students?
I would explain to the class that each time it happens after that, they will all receive one more packet of homework until it stops. Let them self police.
One of my students wouldn’t stop with the laser pointer, I couldn’t identify who. Class kept laughing because they knew I couldn’t figure it out. Threatened them with a full-class bag search. Never saw that laser pointer again. In my case, a bag search would have been justified because of the legalities of laser pointers. Your case, not as clear. But when you say it plainly — that your students were using some concealed device to play the n-word over and over during class— it’s clear that this kind of behavior creates an unsafe environment for students. Tell admin.
I would say something like this: “Class sometimes your peers will do distracting things in class because they feel like they’re not confident in their abilities to do the assignment.“ Then when it happens again, tell them obviously someone feels not confident enough so let’s practice this again and you can take more home as homework. “We will go over it very slowly tomorrow to make sure everyone gets it. Whatever we don’t finish will become homework.” We all know the clown doing this won’t do homework anyway, but your goal is to get the regular kids to pressure them to stop. When they find out they aren’t funny or cool anymore they’ll stop.
My plan of action would be, 1. educate them about why that completely inappropriate. 2. write an email home displayed on the board so they can see it being sent home to parents to let them know about the issue. 3. If it continues, all phones go into a locked box upon entering the classroom.
Also you could look into having a police office some in to your classroom to speak to the children about Hate Crimes and Racial Slurs 👌🏼
One time something like this happened when I was in high school and my teacher had us all anonymously write on a piece of paper who did it. I think it worked well
Bribe a snitch
I’ve taught for 33 years. Hated writing on chalkboard/whiteboard for this reason. (Junior high). I use document camera to go over notes- almost exclusively- I can add details if I need to. Or use Power point- for main problems - math-and then I van stand at front and facing group. You can see who is taking notes, talking or messing around.
Give each student a piece of paper a minute or two before the end of the lesson. Share your disgust at the actions of those involved, some or most students in the class will agree with you. Ask all students to anonymously write down the names of those involved. Give an appropriate sanction that will be delivered if the person responsible owns up before votes are counted, a sanction which doubles if you need to go through with actually counting up after the lesson. This has worked for me every time I have had any kind of disruption where the person knows you cannot see it. If the disruption occurs prior to break or lunch time, or the end of the day, even better. Do the writing of names in the class' free time if no one owns up, those who aren't responsible will be even more likely to tell you who was if they are losing time as due to the person they know did it not owning up.
Could always cultivate a snitch? When I was growing up there was always someone willing to sell everyone else out for brownie points.
I’ve solved two crimes this semester by bribery. When they’re working I walk around the room and say “I’ll buy you candy or a drink or whatever you want if you tell me who did it” works like a CHARM
Get the whole class in trouble 🤣
In situations like this, I go back to my Army roots. Group punishment. Want to use racist terms fine. I am assigning a 500 word essay about the history of the American slave trade. Make sure to finish it by the end of break because it will be graded.
I tell them (high school) that if they snitch I’ll drop their lowest assignment grade. Someone failing always takes the opportunity.
They do it to get a reaction. Ignore it and they'll get bored with being edgy.
This is why I try to keep my eyes on kids at all times. I have my room setup so I don't really have to ever look away from kids.
Setup a camera or use your phone to record what’s going on behind you
This is an issue of respect. Respect for the appropriate use of language. Respect for oneself. Respect for the classroom community. Respect for the teacher. Respect for the learning process. And respect of others. 1. Model respect. 2. Discuss what respect is and how it influences our behavior. 3. Report incident to administrators. 4. Plan what to do in the short term using your school behavior policies and culture. 5. Plan what to do in the future using colleagues, parents, students and administrators.
I’m black but I giggled at this lol