Case
Disrespectful Students

I am interning in an ESOL classroom and many students are disrespectful and do not listen to the teacher's pleas for them to cooperate. They are constantly playing games on their laptops or phones, playing music, and not listening to the teacher at all. If she asks them to stop or move seats, they simply ignore her or talk back and she does not punish them for their disrespectful attitude towards her. It is very frustrating to see the way she is treated. Is there anything I can do?

Solution #1
Is there a current behavior management plan in place? If not, the teacher should seek to implement one in the classroom to help alleviate the number of misbehaviors and their occurrences. I would suggest you help the teacher in finding appropriate behavior management strategies to ensure there is a good level of classroom management. In addition, assigned seating should be established. Students should not be allowed to sit wherever they want because it leads to misbehaviors and shows that the teacher is not in control of the environment.
Solution #2
A behavior management plan needs to be developed. However, given you are just the intern it is kind of out of your hands. Maybe ask the lead teacher what her management strategies are so you can start the conversation. Without any type of consequence, of course they will continue the inappropriate behavior.
Solution #3
Find the ring leader (trust me, there is one kid who all others follow after) and start incorporating punishments. Lunch detention, loss of privileges, and so on. If the class behaviors dont stop, pick out another student who is being disrespectful and start incorporating punishments. Do this with all students who are misbehaving until the behavior ends.
Solution #4
I definitely suggest politely speaking to your teacher. As an intern it is out of your hands what goes on but you can offer some suggestions as well as your support in supplementing the action plan that she is willing to apply.
Solution #5
I understand discussing this issue with the teacher may be difficult but it can be simple. You could start by talking with the teacher about their classroom behavior management plan. You could bring up how you are learning about them in your class and how important having and implementing one is.
Solution #6
You should speak to the teacher, it is difficult but if you go about it in the correct way it could be beneficial. You could research some ideas and suggestions for them. The teacher should create a behavior management plan and you could give ideas and work together to implement.
Solution #7
The teacher needs to start becoming firm & strict on the students at this point. Also needs to develop a classroom management/behavior plan.
Solution #8
It is clear that this teacher does not have a relationship with these students so that would be the first thing I would do as an intern. Try to form as many relationships as you can so they respect you and maybe they will work with you better.
Solution #9
I agree that a behavioral plan may need to be made. I think enforcing more rules, not necessarily more discipline but structure to the class could give it some manners towards the teacher. I think the first step is to speak up the teacher to show her how you feel on this.
Solution #10
A conversation with the teacher is certainly necessary. I can imagine how this might be uncomfortable or feel out line, but you are ultimately doing the students a major service. This is not a situation you should find yourself in, and it is unfortunate given that you are a professionally developing intern. As far as a solution goes, I would work with the teacher in coming up with a plan to communicate with parents and get them involved. If they become aware that their children are disrespecting the teacher and using class time in this manner, a good majority would bring this to the attention of their child and mitigate the issues moving forward.
Solution #11
I would suggest implementing a system where students put their electronics into a bin when they walk into class, this should eliminate the distractions of phones and laptops. I would have a conversation with the class that the disrespectful behavior will not be tolerated, it may be helpful to have someone from the administration come in to have the conversation with the class so they know that it is serious. If the behavior continues, I would suggest something like a tally system. Each time a student is misbehaving, talking back, or not listening, mark a tally by their name. If students have any tallies by their name at the end of class, put some kind of punishment into place like calling home, etc, each tally has a different meaning and level.
Solution #12
I would suggest going to the teacher and talking to them about how you feel. Especially if you are an intern, this will be a great learning experience for you. However, do not just express all the bad; give some positives and offer suggestions and solutions to what you see.
Solution #13
The teacher should set rules and not let them walk over her. Threaten the students with something they love, or find a way for the students to feel inspired. Student need structure, but they also need motivation.
Solution #14
just give a review to her boss