dealing with difficult students

sleeping in class

Disruptive Students: Personality Styles and Recommended Responses

In a perfect world, college students would always be eager, well disciplined, and respectful.

In the real world, some students come to class late, miss deadlines, or fall asleep during lectures. Others monopolize class time, make insulting or abusive comments, and even physically threaten or intimidate

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disruptive students

Coping with Seven Disruptive Personality Types in the Classroom

The typical college professor is bound to run into his or her share of difficult students during the course of an academic career. Some students create nuisances by engaging in annoying behavior, such as interfering with classroom proceedings, making irrelevant comments, and causing noisy interruptions.

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student discussion activity

Scenarios to Facilitate Discussion on Student Entitlement

The scenarios here can be used to explore the salient issues, starting with a deeper understanding of what entitlement involves. Most of the definitions are clear, but pretty generic. The conversation gets interesting when it focuses on what entitlement looks like when students have it

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How to Respond to Hostile, Inappropriate Comments in Class

When hot moments ignite in the classroom, it is important to engage thoughtfully and purposively in strategies that maintain a supportive communication climate. Managing hot moments is a complex endeavor, and it is our responsibility to maintain a climate that is conducive to learning by

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male professor calling on student

Embracing Tension in the Classroom

As instructors, we strive to generate thoughtful and engaging classroom discussion while maintaining a collegial and inclusive environment. In doing so, we may be tempted to avoid topics that can ultimately add to students’ learning. Hot moments in the classroom refer to discussions that become

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In a perfect world, college students would always be eager, well disciplined, and respectful. In the real world, some students come to class late, miss deadlines, or fall asleep during lectures. Others monopolize class time, make insulting or abusive comments, and even physically threaten or intimidate other students and professors. In extreme incidents, there is even the occasional student who poses a dangerous risk to the entire community. A supplement to the Coping with Seven Disruptive Personality Types in the Classroom whitepaper, this quick reference guide explains how to recognize typical styles of troublesome behavior and exactly what to do in response. #1: Explosive Style Characteristics  Response  Remember: Safety first Exceptions to free speech #2: Antisocial Style Characteristics Response #3: Passive-Aggressive Style Characteristics Form of defiance: Chronic lateness Response Form of defiance: Sleeping in class Response  Form of defiance: Procrastination Response #4: Narcissistic Style Characteristics Response #5: Paranoid Style Characteristics Response #6: Litigious Style Characteristics Response #7: Compulsive Style Characteristics Response This content is based on an Magna Online Seminar delivered by Dr. Gerald Amada, which was then turned into a whitepaper. Dr. Amada is the author of eleven books and more than 100 articles and book reviews on the subjects of mental health, psychotherapy, and disruptive college student issues.