I have a student who tends to be a bit defiant. I have dealt with MUCH worse, but this child is my challenging student this year. He can behave in short bursts (about 20 mins, not bad) but for the most part he is making noises, talking, refusing to do his work or playing in his desk. I have him on a behavior contract. The behavior I want to better control is laughing or snickering. It's nearly constant. Everything is funny to him, from a classmate's wrong answer, a child who trips, a dropped pencil, a sneeze, etc. it's especially bad when he makes a poor choice. When a teacher tries to redirect or remind him of a rule he cracks up and sometimes rolls his eyes. I'm not sure how to handle this and it's very frustrating, not to mention disrespectful. I've already had a parent conference (impromptu; I called home at the very end of the day and Mom left the carpool lane to come talk to me after a particularly bad day of defiance) but Mom sees the same behaviors at home and can't manage him either. Admin is also involved. Tips?
It could be severe ADHD - impulse control issues. I was sorta similar in second grade - i'd laugh at everything, except in school, where I was scared of the teachers.
That was actually the first song that popped into my head about laughing when people trip. I think the problem is a developmental delay in the concept of empathy. I'm not sure what the answer is if discussion doesn't work.
Can you send him to a sixth-grade classroom? Sixth-graders generally do not put up with immature kids. If he has no audience to play to he may feel like a fish out of water. Basically the deal is he can stay and do his work among classmates or do it in another room by himself. Of course, this depends on cooperation, backing and planning with upper grades. Some schools use a reciprocal system of upper-lower grades helping each other.
Surprisingly, most kids ignore him or get right back on track when I give them 'the look.' To the suggestion of sending him to see a 6th grade class, my school is just k-5.
Some of the kids who laugh when are being disciplined do that to save face and not look like a 'good kid' in front of the others. Usually it works if he's being pulled aside and privately disciplined. As far as him always giggling and laughing, I'm not sure.
I have a kid with extreme ADHD who giggles all the time. I had the child in for recess the other day (I hate to do that, but it's effective) and the student sat at their desk for around 5-8 minutes before quieting down. Every time the student laughed, I would say "that's one more minute, you need to be sitting quietly." The kid finally got it, but it did take a while. One thing that does really work (even in upper elementary) for this student is a sticker chart for behavior. It's a really big deal for them.
A stamp chart with smiley faces worked for me when I was in lower elementary - so the teacher just needed a stamp
I did this with a student who wouldn't stop talking. He didn't get it. He kept talking and would spend the entire lunch with me, and he would get in trouble almost everyday. I eventually just stopped doing lunch detentions with him, because it was getting nowhere, and I was being frustrated at lunch, which is my one time to cool down. Anyway, he was a student who also did a lot of things such as laugh when being disciplined, or saying things like "I don't care, and my mom doesn't care if I get in trouble." Sadly, he was right. His mom didn't parent him at all. Eventually it just came down to, if you're going to behave in this fashion in my classroom, you won't participate in the fun learning activities of this classroom, meaning no labs, no group work, etc., until the child proved to me that he could handle it. I never really got the chance to see if it would have been effective or not, because that was by the very end of the year, but his behavior did markedly improve for those last two weeks.
I have a student just like that and I get in his face and let him know that there are no men in 1st grade, only little boys. I run the classroom and he does not. Usually wipes the smile right off his face. I had his family come to to school so I could show them exactly how I stoop down to his level and get in his face. They thanked me because they know he is tough and at 7 years old he is the leader of their household. Perhaps your student just doesn't have any respect for adults or any authority. You need to have a parent meeting to let them know the deal. You almost have to knock those kids down and bring them back up by showing them that you actually do care about them. Little by little my student is getting his act together because he realizes we ( co teacher and I) aren't kidding. If he ever gets out of hand he knows he's going to sit in a little desk in the back of the classroom blocked off by a white board so that no students can see him. I never imagined that I would have to go to such extreme measures with a child, but some of these children are out of control. A child that saves face is a child with some issues. IMO
I'm much more of a positive discipline person than negative, but I do think some kids need serious consequences as a threat in order to care whether they behave. Many schools forbid taking away recess, don't let teachers send kids to the office or into the hall... yeah, you can take away privileges, praise other kids, but sometimes when that doesn't work, another consequence is necessary, IMHO.
Not sending kids into the hall makes sense - it could be a security & liability issue. Not allowing them to be sent to the office is a bit ridiculous.
I don't think "getting in" in a child's face is ever a good idea. This child could have serious development or emotional issues. Scary.
