Grrrrrrr!

I have this one class... every week I dread them coming in. I am at my wits end. They are the highest functioning class I see. Smart. Creative. Inappropriate. Disruptive. Disrespectful. Rowdy.

It's almost ten weeks into the school year and I haven't been able to work with them consistently. My other classes come in, knock out a couple exercises, and leave excited for next class. This class... with few exceptions... they trickle in, they mope around, they make inappropriate comments, they talk over each other, they run out into the hallway, and a half hour class stretches on into an eon of agony.

I plan to eventually work each of my classes into a classroom production of a short 5 -10 minute play. My other classes have proven to me that they can follow directions, complete activities, transition from one activity to the next, and may be ready for a bigger project. This one class is falling way short of my simple expectations.

So today I told them so. I told them how disrespectful they were being (to each other as well as myself), I told them how we have not made much progress in the last couple months, and I told them that I didn't feel that they were ready to move on to a bigger project.

They sat in stunned silence, threw out a few feeble attempts at a defense and then turned around and nailed the exercise. I know that their classroom staff has been run ragged by them, and every one's frustrated and looking for a way to settle the class down. I would not necessarily suggest reaming them out... but for the time being it has seemed to have a positive effect for me.