You've cleared out the jungle and trimmed the hedges of your classroom. The cultivation of a well-behaved classroom environment will help you deal with extremely difficult students.

These students can ruin even the most well-tended band garden. They don't want to be in the ensemble, and the other students don't want them there either. Often they have difficult home situations as the root of their problems, requiring you to play the role of counselor or psychologist. Reaching their parents can be as difficult as reaching the student.

Every moment you spend on a problem student takes away from time you could be spending with the students who want to learn. Students who continually interfere with others doing their job must face the consequences, or they may never learn respect for others. Having a game plan requires your having laid the groundwork:

1. Be sure to have the support of your principal.
2. Reach out constantly to parents.
3. Don't let problem students sit in class--prepare assignments and a location (such as study hall) beforehand.
    

Then you can act effectively to minimize their impact. MENC member Thomas Maeck says, "When dealing with behavioral problems my colleagues and I insist on an immediate meeting with the student, then the student and an administrator with parental involvement when needed."

Very few students warrant removal from a program. However, you should be ready to exercise that option when everything else fails. Recognize your own limits and respect your ability to teach. The students who want to be there have a right to feel safe.

Related Resource—Crowd Control: Classroom Management and Effective Teaching for Chorus, Band, and Orchestra.

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Coming in January: Music Letter Basics.

-- Paul Fergus, December 18, 2008, © MENC: The National Association for Music Education (www.menc.org)