What Happened to Tony.pdf

What I find funny is how the terms `amygdala` and `prefrontal cortex` now naturally seep into our conversations. Has that happened to you?

Last year I referred to those 2 students mentioned in my post on the edmodo page as students from hell!! There was a girl and a boy (20 years old! not children). When they were in class the dynamics totally changed because the would start talking to everyone around them. I think this story is interesting and it helps me see misbehaving students in a new light. However, I still don't know how to deal with them. I remember that sometimes even the other ss in the class asked them to be quiet.

Oh, how I wish I had some of this knowledge last semester. I did have 2 or 3 "students from hell" (I really don't like that term, sorry), but didn't know exactly how to deal with them and still make the classes fun and interesting for everybody else in the classroom. Oh, well, I'm glad I'm learning this now and will plan to apply this knowledge from now on.

I really enjoyed reading this outcome and analysis of what happened to Tony. Both a fascinating and enlightening read ! As we understand more and more about the brain, its workings and how it changes, we can also account for certain behaviours. We still have a long way to go and need to take a huge amount of unfamiliar information on board - not being scientists by trade.
What you, Diana Fahey, say is true - how can we deal with these situations? We might have a better idea about what's going on now and hopefully in future find out ways of adapting our behaviour, but what about other students in the class? Now that's an interesting challenge!!! :)

What I found interesting was that actually, the teacher did nothing in the situation! It's not clear how much she actually tried to 'control' Tony or whether he just perceived it as her trying to control him. The impetus for Tony to reconsider his reaction/behaviour to her came entirely from another student, and not even of the 'Shush, we're irritated with you getting in the way of our learning' comment that sometimes happens. Tony was able to process an objective comment from a peer and it made a change so that he was able to learn in the situation. So we can understand what's going on in a student's brain (maybe - although I'm not sure that I'm quite up to the analysis myself particularly in a stressful situation), but is it possible for us as teachers to make the sort of neutral comment that his classmate did and it be taken in a useful manner? Would a different student behaving similarly react to the same comment in the same way? Everyone's buttons are pushed in different ways, I suspect.

Something that called my attention in Tony's processing of the situation is how he had seen his teacher as a threat, and how it took a peer (not the teacher) to realize that. Sometimes we are able to establish this bridge with our students. Some other times we will need someone else. I have already posted in another comment how it made me connect this situation with the peer observation practice and how it helps us teachers become more aware of our doings in the classroom 'with a little help from a friend'.

As some of you have mentioned, I feel I have now some more knowledge about the brain and how its functioning can explain our Ss behaviour. However, I still lack tools to manage these situations in the classroom. Thinking about what Karen points out (about the T´s and the other Ss´s role) I think that a way in which we could implement some of this in the classroom is by organizing tasks in which Ss share and reflect upon their feelings/commitment/attitudes in class. This could be done in small groups and it may help Ss monitor and perceive their own emotions as well as their mates´.What do you think?

We cannot control other people's emotions or reactions. However, the understanding we have of how certain reactions are triggered, may help us control/guide OUR own actions and reactions and, by doing so, avoid some unwanted Ss' behaviour.