Hello!

My last class of the day is composed of 17 freshman boys and no girls. Unfortunately, while each of these boys individually are sweet and thoughtful young men, grouped together they act like wild pack of monkeys. They engage in behavior ranging from horseplay to making rude gestures behind my back. They constantly interrupt me and one another with random and inappropriate comments. I think a lot of the problem has to do with the time of day, gender make up, and age of the group but I refuse to chalk them up as a bad class and spend the last hour and a half of my day in chaos.

Does anyone have any suggestions on proactive strategies to calm them down? My biggest complaint is the excessive talking. It is to the point where providing direct instruction is near impossible. They do their best when engaging in independent work but I feel bad giving them worksheets to do all the time. I can feel them struggling to hold their energy in but I do not know how to give them an outlet without a complete loss of control.

Any help would be appropreciated! I am bound and determined to have an amazing class with these guys!

Thank you!

Aimee

What immediately comes to mind is Project-Based Learning (PBL). This approach will appeal to most of your students because it gives them a lot of autonomy, albeit within the structured parameters that you set. If you can find a good video showcasing an outstanding group project, this might motivate your class to get on board. This is what I would do before presenting PBL to the class:

1) Develop a list of acceptable topics for students to choose from. I usually exclude music and sports only because, I personally don't think they are conducive to achieving my academic objectives.

2) Decide on the roles each member of a group. Here are some ideas: Discussion leader/organizer (must have good leadership and social skills), Notetaker (must have good notetaking skills), IT (must be able to help with whatever digital technology is to be used for the project), Photographer (must be able to take still photos of every step of the project), PR (must be able to access all community resources for the project). Groups should be no larger than 4-5.

3) Develop a timeline for groups to accomplish the main steps of the project, such as: _Date_ (1) Submit title of the project, names of group members and their respective roles (see #2 above), _Date_ (2) Submit a list of specific project goals - at least 5, _Date_ (3) Submit progress report 1 describing what has been accomplished relative to project goals, _Date_ (4) Submit progress report 2, _Date_ (5) Submit progress report 3, _Date_ (6) Group presentation.

Good luck!

[Mshope]

I have also had a few boy heavy classes that seemed a little too full of testosterone! Things I did to calm them down:
-dimmed lights/closed blinds
-music (not necessarily classical, but more calming during work time)
-chances for them to talk with a partner/work in a group
-talk to them at the start of class, then say, "Okay, time for work. If we have time at the end, you can talk to your friends."
-review games involving balls, competition, and movement (I hate these, but have done them with these classes)
-If they interrupt me, um, it might get ugly! What is your discipline plan? If you can't answer that, maybe google this! There is high energy and there is class disruption and rudeness. Don't accept this.

If it makes you feel better, the worst class I ever had, was one that was almost all girls. Think: crying, cat fights, more crying, gossip, moms getting involved, and well, screaming! I will take boy classes any day.