Miss K could use their arguments as a debate for a topic in class. If the students like this type of thing and it keeps them engaged, use it to your advantage. Also, did the students choose what their rewards would be? Sometimes we think we have a good reward system in place, but the students are not interested in the rewards. Letting the students choose their reward will give them more motivation to do right.

I always tell my students, "I can show you better than I can tell you!" You have to remove the students causing the issues. For the others, art should be an easy subject to incorporate some of their hobbies and interests in. Use their interests to create your art activities. By making sure students interests are incorporated into your lesson, they may actually start to enjoy art which will allow them to be more engaged and focused on the tasks rather than misbehaving.

Miss K needs to evaluate the students and determine the ringleader of the misbehavior. She should start with the ringleader of the misbehavior and ask him or her to stop the negative behavior and remind him or her of the classroom rules. If the student does not stop then tell him or her that you will call his or her parents. Make sure not to respond to the student if the say, "Why are you picking on me." or the other students, "You are mean." Once the students see that Miss K is serious about her classroom management by starting with the one person at the time, the ringleader, then the followers will stop.

If things have been taken away and a reward system has been established but still is not working then the teachers need to start getting in contact with parents so that they are aware of what is going on with the students. Also discuss with the parents the best course of action for their child, because as teachers we may think we know our students but no one knows them like their parents.

One solution is to have a higher authority come in and observe the 5th graders during art time. Try and be discreet with the person being in their so they can have a true sense of what is happening. Then after class the two of you can go over what they saw and try and fix it. A second solution is to start from the basics and work your way up. We must be more strict with the upper level grades.

Once thing I have learned about motivation is that students like choice. Like there is a reward system in place, what are the rewards? Something the students will like and that will motivate them to behave? If not, ask the students. By giving students the choice to decide what they'll work for, that will motivate them.

I have been teaching for 15 years. It sounds like the problem here lies in the climate of the class. The first step would be to determine the function of the misbehavior. Are they misbehaving because of a history of failed lessons? Are they misbehaving because they are seeking attention, or are they trying to gain peer approval. In situations like these, the teacher must make some classroom changes to engage the students other than punitive actions or unattractive awards. 5th graders are getting older and might not respond to the same rewards younger students respond to. I have also found that children respond better to positives than negatives. What I would do is start praising and rewarding students who were making good choices. I would try to make at least one positive interaction with each child during the day. If you praise the student leader or group of leaders in the class (start small, like thank you so much for helping me close the door. That really helped) and help them feel seen and appreciated, behavior will slowly start to change. There has been research done on this topic. One study performed by Downs et al (2019) shows a positive correlation of praise and compliant behavior. It also shows a positive relationship between reprimands and an increase in disruptive behavior. This might sound counterproductive, but when people are praised, they feel good and want to receive more of that good feeling. When they learn that they can receive that acceptance from teachers as well as their peers, the class climate will improve and these problem behaviors will decrease. Reference: Teacher Praise and Reprimands: The Differential Response of Students at Risk of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Kade R. Downs, EdS, Paul Caldarella, PhD, Ross A. A. Larsen, PhD, Cade T. Charlton, PhD, Howard P. Wills, PhD, Debra M. Kamps, PhD, Joseph H. Wehby, PhDFirst Published October 25, 2018 Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions https://doi.org/10.1177/1098300718800824