A number years ago I had a very difficult student who possessed a huge temper. His volcanic-type eruptions usually came with a tirade of expletives, threats and thrown classroom items. In short, the class and even some teachers were intimidated of him.
One day, in my first year of Primary teaching, I made him upset. I can not recollect what I did, but you can be rest assured that it was very minor. He was extremely livid with me and let me know all about it in a letter in which he threatened to beat me up. In this letter he also cursed repeatedly, claimed that I treated him worse than the other students and it also contained other threats.
He left the note on my desk to read, which I did soon after he placed it on my table. Although a bit shaken by the emotive language and violent imagery, I maintained my calm and instantly decided that he was looking for a reaction from me. I figured that he wanted me to be angry or emotional in some way, and if I was, he would get some satisfaction from that response.
Instead, I pinned his letter on a noticeboard behind my desk in the company of thoughtful cards and messages I’d received from students. There, front and center, amongst all these colourful “Thank You” cards, was his malicious letter.
I’m not certain how long it took him to notice the letter up there, but what I do know is that the next time I looked up at my noticeboard the letter had disappeared. In its place was a new card, written by the same kid, thanking me for teaching him and helping him with his work.
Clearly this method wont work every time. But I still think there is great value in keeping calm, avoiding the emotional payoff of getting angry or making threats of your own.
Tags: Anger, Behaviour Management, Education, life, Psychology, Teacher, Teaching, Temper
Topical Teaching 
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