This kind of problem seems to be on the increase; parents (or grandparents) don’t want to be bothered with discipline, so the teachers end up being the bad guy. I have several students like this and each of them presents their own challenge. One student blurts out whatever pops into his head (appropriate or not) whenever he feels like it. I took a note from Rob Plevin’s book and bought a couple of pilot’s hats (costume quality, not the real thing.) If my classes is noisy, I assign a couple of people to be “shushers.” I tell them to put on the hats and on the count of three they are to shush the whole class. Guess who gets to be a shusher on a regular basis? That’s right- they get the attention they want without drama, and if they continue to act up, I first take away their shushing privileges. It doesn’t work all the time, but it’s making a difference and I have a lot less trouble than most of the other teachers who have him.

As a student, there’s not much you can do except just focus on learning what you can & not letting yourself get distracted. It’s a tough situation….

I agree with ones who’s say we don’t need homework

That is really tough…..How old is the child? Are there any consequences that you can give that seem to make a difference?

That is tough. My advice would be twofold. 1) Determine to deal with what you DO see. Even if you feel like you don’t have the energy. Now I know how hard that is, but you have to tell yourself that the effort you put forth now will really pay off and make things way easier later. 2) I would make more effort to just look around your room during the times that it seems like you don’t notice things (like attendance). So try to make a habit of looking up every 30 seconds or so. Or, find a position that makes it easier to see. For example, if you normally take attendance at your desk, stand in front of the room and do it at the podium where you have a better view. Or walk around the room.

What kinds of behaviors are you not noticing?

Do you have any advice about how to know what’s really going on in my classroom? I feel like part of my consistency problem is me only noticing behavior some of the time. Sometimes– like when I’m taking attendance– I really don’t notice a particular behavior until my kids call me out for not disciplining it.