My fellow Martial arts practitioners. Those disruptive children. Every class has them. I am sure right now you can picture at least one student in mind who you would consider disruptive. Got that student in mind? Great! Now let us back up for a little bit. The first thing you need to do is evaluate. Rather than discipline the child, discipline the problem. What is the exact problem? Do you know? Lets get on top of the mountain for a moment. Rather than look inside the trees, we need to look down and see the problem. Do you know what is going on at home? Did your student have a bad morning? Did that set the motion for the rest of the day? Did the student have a bad day at school? Did they get punished right before they came to class? Are the issues with their Mom or Dad? Do they feel secure? Are they worried? Is there a stress going on? Do they understand? Does ADHD or ADD play into the problem? Are they dyslexic? Are they just hyper? Have you really stopped and thought about why the problem is occurring? Once you start to realizer there may be more going on with your student, you can begin to formulate a plan on dealing with your student in class. Not every child responds the same way, but you can achieve the desired results if you remember this key for yourself. Ready? PATIENCE! If your losing your cool because Johnny is all over the place, then you need to regain yourself first. You need a timeout. Have another staff member take Johnny to the side and work on some basic techniques for a few minutes. Sometimes the one on one will help the student regain themselves as well. Once you are calm and ready to engage, transfer the class for a little while to another staff member. Take over the one on one with Johnny. While your working on simple techniques with your student, open the lines of communication. Is everything okay today? You seem distracted? I know that your really into learning Martial arts so whats going on today? Once you start looking for the problem and not at the problem you can begin to fix the problem. If it is more severe like ADHD/ADD, Autism, or Dyslexia, you will need to bring Mom and Dad in on the problem. We are not Doctors and it is not our job to diagnose. If you dont know much regarding ADHD/ADD, Autism or Dyslexia, there are courses geared for school teachers that you can take. They are short, but full of information. I require my staff to participate in such programs. It makes a huge difference in their training and their leadership. Dont assume that the student is merely there to cause problems. Remember that you are training the future of the Martial arts. Who do you want standing on the floor years from now? Parents often bring their children to us in order to work on discipline problems. There is only so much we can do at the Dojo, but it requires a full circle. You need to include your parents in your program. They need to know they can come to you. Dont see them as an irritant on the floor, but rather a support group. Consider holding a parenting class. Give Mom and Dad the same tools you have to use at home. You have a large amount of influence over your students. Remember that you need to keep yourself in check. When the problem arises dont lash out and immediately go in to discipline mode. Remember that you are capable of great thought. Work to eliminate the problem, not the student.A well trained leadership team can help you on the floor, but remember, they need your guidance. There will be a very small percentage of students who have issues far beyond what we can work with. In these cases, you may need to dismiss the student and let the family go. It is not failure on your part. You have an obligation to the rest of your students as well.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 15:26:46 +0000
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