Drama is fun, and unless the teacher is particularly unpopular drama has always been – and will always remain – a lesson option picked by some hoping to get an easy ride and have a bit of a muck about. You can expect a couple of students in any class in any year to take advantage of the practical nature of drama lessons, that's just the way it is, but unfortunately it only takes a couple of students to turn a great class, fully engaged in their work, into confusion – all focus lost.
Laying the ground rules
Be clear on the rules and consequences of not following them. Write a list of behaviour expectations and spend time with your class going over these, asking for student's thoughts; do they think the rules are fair? Any suggested changes? By giving students some ownership over the code of conduct they become less approving of disruptive behaviour affecting their work.
Once the rules are agreed, make a copy for each student to fix in the front of their exercise book/work folder. Although a rule sheet won't necessarily inspire good behaviour, it does mean you have something concreate to turn to – expectations were decided by all at the beginning of term if students or parents complain that you are being unfair.
In the same way, make the consequences of bad behaviour straightforward, consistent, and known by all.
Make your rules simple and concise and don't make the list too long, for example:
Classroom rules
- Wait outside the classroom quietly until asked to come in by teacher. Never walk in on other students still working.
- Listen to instructions carefully.
- Respect others’ space, ideas and performance.
- Be a good audience, that means no talking when watching other groups’ work.
- Do not disturb other students working.
- Respect all students and the teacher.
- Each student is responsible for their own learning and not spoiling other student's drama lessons.
Dealing with disruptive behaviour
Rules without consequences make no sense. Consequences for breaking classroom rules should be as little disruptive to the rest of the class as possible and should help dissuade others from misbehaving.
Always keep to a set formula when dealing with unacceptable behaviour, such as two time outs or one verbal warning and one time out, followed by a letter home. Swift consequences are best I find, as you can deal with the situation and move on. Long periods with detentions hanging over students’ heads can lead to feelings of resentment, sometimes forming an ongoing bad relationship between teacher and student – some students can bear a grudge that lasts for a very long time.
Never forget when dealing with secondary school students especially that they are in a highly emotional time of development and sometimes their tempers run away with them. Although I'd never suggest that bad behaviour should go unchallenged, there are times when one-off outbursts are better dealt with sympathetically, with the student being given a bit of time to quieten down rather than being confronted with an angry teacher – a bit of kindness can go a long way.
Keep a set area for ‘time-out's – standing outside the class is probably best, and only make these last for a short amount of time: about ten minutes should do, they are really just used as a clear indication that such behaviour will not be tolerated.
Quick tips to get a disruptive class back on track:
Spotlighting
When a class is getting too noisy during devised improvisation, tell everyone to sit down so you can ‘spotlight’ their work. This focuses attention on one group of actors at a time.
With everyone sitting on the floor in their groups, students pay attention as the teacher walks around the room: when the teacher gets close to a group they stand and immediately start their performance, but as soon as the teacher walks away they quietly sit back down and silently watch the next group's performance.
Conscience alley
Also known as decision or thought alley, this is a reliable strategy for getting a class back on track when it starts becoming rowdy.
Tell the class they are going to break away from their task for a moment to have a bit of breathing time and look at a specific point in the performance piece they're working on. The technique is chiefly used to explore a character's dilemma, and provide an opportunity to look at a decisive point in a dramatic piece in detail. For example, should Hamlet revenge his father's death? The class forms two lines with opposing views facing each other. Next, a student is chosen to walk between the two lines, and as they pass, the students call out their advice/opinion. Finish with the student having walked through the alley, making a decision on what to do about their dilemma.
Freeze Frame
An effective behaviour technique to use with younger classes is to call ‘Freeze Frame’ as a signal for everyone to freeze immediately on the spot. Make it known that when you call freeze frame you expect students to keep completely still, the challenge being not to make even the slightest movement. Younger students love the challenge of trying to keep completely still and it gives everyone space to calm and quieten down.
Persistent offenders
Unfortunately, it only takes one disruptive student to spoil the whole class dynamic. The question is; is it fair to make hard working, enthusiastic students work in the same group as a persistently disruptive student?
A lot of teachers are inclined to mix groups up themselves rather than let children put themselves with others for group work, to ensure they're not always getting all the most disruptive students in the same group. Although this does cut down the risk of those students most likely to cause a problem getting out of hand, it's really unfair on students who want to work hard, so when taking this approach at least make sure the most disruptive students are moved around groups fairly so it's not always the same students working with them. Keep a record of your groups each lesson to keep things fair.
When it comes to GCSEs and even mocks, I believe students should be grouped on merit. If you have students who consciously spoil work, make no effort and/or fail to attend rehearsals, they should be given monologues and solo pieces wherever possible. By the time students reach exam stage, they will have been given plenty of time to show the attitude they aim to bring to the exam process.
Change the dynamics
Where you have the same one or two students repeatedly being disruptive, try changing the dynamics. It's often the way that students try to make drama classes a problem because somewhere along the line they have lost favour with the other members of the class. Try giving students opportunities to integrate themselves back into the group by making them the leader in an activity. Give them the task of thinking of a theme for next lesson's warm-up improvisation; or let them take the part of leader in a game such as ‘Simon Says’ or, for younger students, let them be in charge of turning music on and off in a game of musical statues. Some students flourish after being given a little responsibility and being the teacher's ‘helper’ can completely change their outlook and behaviour.
Remember that you're the teacher
Never argue with a student, and especially never get into a battle of wits. You are the one in charge here. If the student is adamant they have been wronged in some way and your reprimanding of their behaviour was unfair, tell them they can see you at break, lunch time or the end of the day.
Students should be given the chance to talk over their grievances: maybe they have a fair point, and if you feel you may have reprimanded them unfairly say you can see their point of view and say sorry – apologising puts you in a very powerful position. By showing that you will recognise times you have blamed the wrong student and so on, you give much more weight to any time-outs or detentions that you give out. It's also a pretty rare thing for a teacher to apologise, but especially with older students it can be the one response that brings them back on track.
Suggesting that you put all the problems they've had in class behind you both and start with a clean sheet, said in the spirit of real friendship, can turn a student around for good.