Say Na Na Na Na Na told you so!!!

Well, since I teach college aged students, there is very little I can actually do if they are truly being disruptive, except notify my FAO, who then lets the students Home Room Teacher know about it.

At the begining of each semester, we go over the class rules, and I have the students copy the rules down, sign the paper, and turn it in, which I then keep on file. I explain to them that this is their "contract" with me, and by signing it, they agree to follow the rules. This has helped to make an impression that there are things acceptable and not acceptable in class.

If a student is talking to another student while I am trying to explain a lesson, I'll ask them to be quiet, and if it becomes a regular occurance on thier part, usually I'll ask them if they want to come up and teach class (in English) as obviously, what they are discussing is more important that what I am talking about. Public embarrassment seems to work pretty good at curtailing behavior. I have no problem with doing this.

Usually what happens is that if a student is really creating regular problems in class, and I get on them enough times, they quit coming to class. This hasn't happen that often, because usually they straighten up enough to where they are not a constant problem. All in all, I do try to remain flexible, and, depending on my mood and who the offender is, allow a small amount of chaos in the classroom.

That being said, it is a classroom, and not a social circle.

I work with small children.  The school has a very, very active Parents' Committee.  The Head Teachers for each grade and for each class are exceptionaly pro-active.  The school has a Discipline Department that performs remarkably well.  I operate on a progression in terms of discipline : first time, remonstrance; second time, stand; third time, come to the front, fourth time, stand against the wall, fifth time, the Head Teacher (and thus a call to the parents).  I work in a fees-based school and hence the parents react strongly when their little ones are naughty.  All-in-all, discipline problems are quite minor and infrequent.  In severe cases, such as a student beating or slapping another child, it's directly to the Discipline Department and then the parents must come to school.  The children know what this means for them.  Mostly a well-controlled lot.

I taught briefly once between jobs. One little turdball was always picking on the girls in class. My friend, an experienced teacher, said the best thing was to kick him out of class when you KNOW the parents are in the hallway waiting for class to end, cause they'll beat him to death when they get home for embarrassing them in front of the other parents.. We didn't have parents in the hall, but kicking him out and making a big show of it flushed his face down the toilet. Never had another issue.

I've watched Chinese teachers with plastic pipes whap the desk top. And a slingshot with a wad of paper. Or put something in a sealed envelope, hand it to the kid saying 'show to parents', need it back tomorrow.

We draw stars on the board to motivate Ss and remove them if their behaviour is bad. Well, we foreign teachers do. The local teachers have an aversion to punishing the kids as their parents might complain (we work in a private language training centre).

In our youngest classes, another thing that happens a lot is that the bloody parents will burst into the classroom if they see their kids misbehaving (one wall is frosted glass with peep-holes) and thrash them accordingly. I absolutely hate this for the disruptive and disrespectful thing it is.