People Are Sharing The Most Badass Responses From Students (30 Stories)

To find out more about what goes on in the classroom, we contacted Larry Ferlazzo, who teaches English, Social Studies, and International Baccalaureate classes to English Language Learners and mainstream students at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, California.

"I know that the word 'discipline' is often connected to punishment or correction," Mr. Ferlazzo told Bored Panda. "If you go to its word roots in Latin, though, you'll see that it's mainly related to 'teaching, learning, knowledge.' I think teachers are likely to be far more effective in creating a positive classroom environment if they focus more on the latter definition than the former."

"This kind of positive classroom environment includes respect for a few simple rules but also allows for flexibility. It's based on strong relationships, both between teacher and students and between students themselves. It recognizes that we all have bad days, none of us are perfect, and that we all are part of a classroom community of learners and not just a room full of students. With that kind of focus, I think we're much more likely to create a safe and mutually respectful situation where students want to concentrate on learning instead of feeling like they are being forced to comply. Compliance does not equal engagement," Mr. Ferlazzo explained.

Before they respond to disrespectful student comments, Mr. Ferlazzo said teachers need to reflect on a number of issues, including:

• Is the comment truly disrespectful, or am I letting my privilege and lack of knowledge make me feel defensive, or am I demonstrating a lack of a sense of humor?
• Are student comments reflecting a lack of respect that I am showing my students, and are they just reflecting back on the way I treat them?
• Is this student generally respectful and, if he/she is, what might be going on for them that is making them have a bad day?

Assuming the teacher has a good relationship with the student (which, in most cases, teachers should have worked very hard at achieving), Mr. Ferlazzo said they could:

• Go to the student and whisper a request for them to go outside so the two can have a conversation ("I didn't feel respected when ____ was said" and/or "Are you okay?" and/or "It sounds like you are upset. Can you tell me what's going on?"
• Ignore it and proceed with the lesson, and find the student later in the day (perhaps during the teacher's free period) to have a similar conversation.

"It's important to not get into a power struggle with the student because a teacher will never win one," Mr. Ferlazzo explained. "It may feel like a victory, but it will only be temporary."

"It is never okay for teachers to make [cheeky] comments," Mr. Ferlazzo said. "Does that mean we never make them? Of course not. If we make them, a public apology is always required. We have to model the importance of righting a wrong."

"I think it might be worth teachers developing flexibility about what student comments they consider disrespectful, and what could, instead, be insightful, humorous, or just a failed attempt at humor because of a lack of student maturity.  Then, it's not a matter of letting remarks 'slide.' Rather, it can demonstrate to students that you don't see the world just with a clear-cut vision - that ambiguity is okay."

Mr. Ferlazzo believes that even with all these ideas on how to "de-escalate," however, there may be times when a comment is genuinely disrespectful, and "that it could be the first sign of a situation that could get dangerously out of control. In those situations, a call to the office for a campus monitor to remove the student from your classroom may be the least bad option." However, if teachers do that, they have polarized' the situation — once you polarize a situation, it's essential that you de-polarize it, perhaps by a conversation the next morning before class.

"By far, the best way to reduce the chances of disrespectful comments from students is to build relationships so that students know and feel like the teacher truly cares about them as people, is interested in their hopes and dreams, and wants to help students achieve them," Mr. Ferlazzo concluded.