Unruly students

[Budderfly]

we have a different rule at my place. It seems to work especially well with the younger ones. We give one warning then take the belt away and explain your belt is something you work hard for and if you slack off then you dont deserve it. Then we give them 2 weeks to earn it back.

 

Even though I have some students that I would lke to do that too, I don't think it's very nice to publcally humiliate a kid like that. How do the kids/parents react?

[SaiFightsMS]

I think if the policy is clearly spelled out and the student is given a proper warning that could be a very effective deterrent.

[atateen007]

Actually, most of the parents agree. In every case I have had so far, the child after earning his/her belt has become more focused. The parents understand why we do this, but this is not a common activity, we dont take belts away each week, just when we see a re-ocurring problem. This also increases the behavior of the class, showing what can happen.

 

Another thing I like to do if we have multiple students acting "bad" is reinforce the positive behavior of the ones that arn't. For example- we give stars to kids for doing good deeds at home or at school. These stars are sewed onto a patch on the uniform. Sometimes ill give a star to the one kid who is acting the best.

[atateen007]

*sorry double posted

[xtremartialarts1]

Pushups never work. In fact the more you use puships in a punishing mannor, the more students will hate them. You have to make pushups a fun thing. Even sitting students out dosen't really work. I've found that the same kids were always sitting out. And when they are sitting out they move and fool around when your not looking, mainly for attention. When a student acts up look him right in the eye and say, "(name) stop because your disturbing the class." Don't try to humiliate the student, once a student is humiliated it's all over. Just be serious and say it quick.

 

As far as taking away belts, my school only does that upon a parent request. Every so often you can mention to the class and to the parents that when children don't behave at home or at school they can have their belts taken away. Make the parents "honorary instructors" at home. They love this and know that you care about their child's behavior.

[47MartialMan]

Pushups....and if that don't help, more pushups. They can keep coming back and paying dues to do pushups, or they can straighten-up and start learning. Most of the time, they just don't come back....which is also fine.

 

Pushups and "time-outs". If they don't straighten up....out they go.

[euphoria47]

i think that it's best if students do not assocaite something that they do as part of their training as part of a punishment. the worst thing that a math teacher can do to discipline an unruly student is to assign more math homework. i think it goes both ways.

 

having done martial arts for years, i think the instructors i've seen who have had the best control are those who don't treat their students like little soldiers. if they're unruly on a steady basis, i think this hurts your school. i'd rather have smaller classes, serious students, and less money than big classes with chaos and a bit more income.

[47MartialMan]

Pushups never work. In fact the more you use puships in a punishing mannor, the more students will hate them. You have to make pushups a fun thing.

 

They had worked for me. Granted, it was not for fun. It depended on the kid. Sometimes a "timeout" would do. Mainly, I do not have parents "drop off" their kids as though I am a baby sitter. If any parent did, I would give the parent a "time-limit". But this was on a rare ocassion and it depended on the student. Ninety-nine percent of the time, parents are there, so kids are on "best behavior". Parents know I want them present. I hardly have to result in disciplanary measures.

 

Even sitting students out dosen't really work. I've found that the same kids were always sitting out. And when they are sitting out they move and fool around when your not looking, mainly for attention. When a student acts up look him right in the eye and say, "(name) stop because your disturbing the class." Don't try to humiliate the student, once a student is humiliated it's all over. Just be serious and say it quick.

 

Again, the humiliation was not long. Most of the parents enrolled their kids (the problem ones) for discipline anyway. There are rules per how many infractions that are not to be broken. But, do ease their pain, if the kid had straighten up in short, I will have him/her do a specific task and give much praise for it. With parents onlooking, disciplined kids did not fool around when I wasn't looking. Which was very hard for me NOT to. Sadly, I had to expel only two, out of many years

 

As far as taking away belts, my school only does that upon a parent request. Every so often you can mention to the class and to the parents that when children don't behave at home or at school they can have their belts taken away. Make the parents "honorary instructors" at home. They love this and know that you care about their child's behavior.

 

Agreed, but I normally do not have to threaten to take belts away. My awards to my juvenile students go beyond belts. We arrange gatherings to movies, picnics, special events (car shows, dance shows-for girls, etc.). If parents could not afford to continue, if the kid was worth it, I would make special arrangements. My expertise in kid-handling was very well learned from my wife. She ran a large daycare center many years before and after we were married. She had to get many specialized certifications in accordance with local and state laws.

 

No, my juveniles are not soldiers, they are kids. If I keep the fun in it, they stay focused. I agree, I keep juvenile classes to a minimum of participants. And the MOST satisfaction I received, is when these kids grew up, graduated high school, graduated college, or some in the arm forces or individual careers. Some that continue to contact me, at least on holidays. In all, it makes me feel old, but very proud.

[Sasori_Te]

What's wrong with having push-ups for punishment. If you explain it to the kids why they are doing the push-ups (i.e... Let me help you burn some of that excess energy so that you can pay attention.) then they usually don't have any problems with it. I've also found that most people dislike push-ups whether doing them as punishment or for calisthenics. I mean really, they're boring when done in a regular fashion, not to mention thay're hard work if you do enough. Unfortunately, it's not in most people's nature these days to work that hard and enjoy doing it. I also give my kids a speech every couple of months or so and it goes something like this, "Why do you think I make you guys do push-ups when you play around? Do you think I do it because I like to watch you do push-ups or because I enjoy it just to be mean? I make you do push-ups because it's a way that I can provide consequences for your negative actions that still yields a positive result. You might not ever be a good martial artist if you screw around in class but you will be a lot stronger. But seriously, you need to know that EVERYTHING you do in life carries consequences, some good and some bad."

[scottnshelly]

In a Martial Arts school that i taught at for a while, most of the parents dropped their kids off and came back later. It was a lot easier for the kids to mess around without their parents their. so if a kid was being unruly in class, we would write him or her a 'ticket' that had to be signed and brought back by the parent. During the class, we would say 'okay, billy, you get a ticket after class'. that would usually straighten them up for the class. if not, they would be asked to sit out while the rest of the class did something fun.

 

after class we would write them up their ticket and not allow them to workout with us again until it had been returned with a parents' signature. that usually worked with ours.