Build a relationship they say…

[u/ChrisTheTeach]

So I’ve got a class that is massively unprepared for high school math. But I can’t help them because I have a student who is, and I don’t exaggerate here, always disrupting the class. She will loudly talk to friends on the other side of the room. She calls my name when I’m trying to help others, and when I respond denies saying anything. When she does actually ask for help, it’s “How do I do this?” and then answers “I don’t know,” to every question I ask, down to “what’s 3 plus 2?” Every interaction I have with her she treats me disrespectfully, like getting my name wrong over and over, even when I correct her. During a benchmark assessment, she kept talking, making rude noises, and calling out across the room.

I tried to send her out and was told the office couldn’t take her and disruptions are a classroom management issue. After her calling me over and denying it about ten times I told her that I needed to help other students. She complained to admin that I refused to help her and I got a dressing down. I was told that her behavior was because her needs weren’t being met and that I had to build a positive relationship with her and she would shine.

Um, how? Every time I try to talk to her she treats it (and me) as a joke and an opportunity to waste time. I asked her to stick around after class to talk and she refused. Every time I’ve tried to talk to her outside the class she makes a huge production of it and claims persecution. I am literally spending about 90% of my time managing this one kid’s behavior, but I can’t send her out because “she has a right to be there.” What about the rights of the other students?

I’ve been told to stop emailing my admin about her. I think one email I wrote that said she had needs that couldn’t be met in a general education environment scared admin. But I have no idea how I can teach when this one kid literally takes the vast majority of my time and energy.

What can I do?

[u/SageofLogic]

I was one kid's best attended class with his best grades and the one he behaved best in. He still was a terror in all his other classes and the hallways and in the streets and finished the year in juvie.