How would you handle a student saying, “You are the worst teacher ever! I hate you!”
A:
I would remember to focus on the behavior rather than on the
student. I might say something like, “It
seems as though you are upset with me.
Would you care to explain further.”
I learned in my methods courses that when teachers get comments like
that, the worst response would be to put the student on the spot. Instead a conversation is more productive
when the emphasis shifts to the actual comment rather than the student’s
personality. I’ve also discovered that
sending an “I message” is a very productive way of diffusing the student’s
anger. A message such as, “I understand
that you are upset with me. I wonder if
you can tell me why.” To build up the
trust necessary for an effective conversation it’s valuable to let the student
vent and then get to the heart of the anger without assaulting the student’s
emotions.
If you were to say something like, “I’d make the student go stand in the
corner for ten minutes,” you would clearly show that you do not have the
student’s best interests in mind or that you were not aware of appropriate behavior
management techniques. Make sure you can
cite a specific technique (by name) and how you would apply it to a specific
situation.
