At some point in every teacher’s career they will encounter the ‘hard class’, and from day one the countdown to the end of the day, term and year is on in earnest. But as demanding as it may be, a difficult class does not have to dominate our day-to-day life at school. Bill Rogers, in Cracking the Hard Class, Second Edition, highlight many practical strategies that can be implemented to overcome the hard class syndrome. These include:
Identifying what makes a class “hard”
Developing a class behaviour plan
Developing discipline practices with hard to manage classes
Developing colleague support
Following up on disruptive students
Changing patterns of distracting and disruptive behaviour
Assisting relief teachers and the hard class
In addition to constructive ideas and strategies for dealing with a hard class, Cracking the Hard Class also highlights the normality of the pressures and stress felt by teachers dealing with these classes.