One discipline problem I have come across during an internship was students refusing to do their work. I gave the students the choice of doing their work or getting a zero for the day. I thought the only reason why the students were misbehaving was because their teacher was gone for the day and it was just me and a sub teaching the class. They thought they were going to get away with it. After giving them the choice of doing the work or getting the zero they turned around and did their work.

The most difficult behavior I have ever dealt with was in a self-contained ESE classroom. One of the students got off the bus indicating he was going to have a bad day. I used all of the tricks I know to calm him down, however, they didn't work. When we walked into the classroom, he slammed his hand down on a plastic crayon box. If he found a piece of plastic he would have used it to hurt himself. So we told him to sit down and put his head down as we made sure all the pieces were picked up. We told him that we care a lot about him. I frequently checked up on him and made sure he was okay. He eventually calmed down and actually had a pretty good day.

When answering this question it is critical that the interviewer remove emotional bias from telling the story. Stick to the facts and be concise in your explanation of events. It is important that you stress your ability to maintain control of the classroom and do not engage the student(s) that are being disruptive to the learning environment. There are a number of factors at play here and the teacher must use common sense in dealing with the situation. A specific example I encountered included a student who began screaming at me and throwing materials across the classroom. At that point, it was not safe for other students to remain in the classroom. I calmly asked the students to collect their belongings and move to the empty room next door. Immediately following that instruction, I pressed the office "call" button and requested an administrator and the school resource officer. The remainder of the students followed instruction and proceeded to work on the lesson activity in a safe environment next door under the supervision of the co-teacher. I remained in the room with the student to ensure their safety until the administrator and school resource officer arrived. Eventually, the student calmed down and was able to move to the front office for administrative action.