We have four major ways of neutralizing defiant kids:
- Circling with Balls – by engaging the child first in discussion about him or her, the child cannot act out because they are the focus of the discussion. Whenever the child acts out, blurts, disengages, etc. we return to the discussion about him or her. Adding the Annoying Orange technique here adds to the clear message from the teacher that oppositional behavior will result in the attention coming back to the offending child.
- The Word Chunk Team Game engages two or three oppositional kids in one activity and often turns the corner on their behavior in favor of everyone.
- The Classroom Rules must be enforced at every infraction, with a smile as described in the posts here about their use.
- The Student Jobs are supremely effective in maintaining a well managed classroom.
For new people, all of the above powerhouse techniques and strategies are described in detail in various posts here which can be found via the search bar or the categories.