Strategies for students who refuse to work

Know the best way to respond when a student disrespectfully poses a question meant to trip you up and get the class to turn against you.

Throughout my years teaching middle school, I have had the experience of seeing many "work refusals". These are the situations when kids, for a variety of reasons, just refuse to start the work you give them. They might shut down and rest their head on their desk or lash out in anger, shouting about

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES FOR LITERACY AND WRITING IN GRADES 1-6

You've got to try this strategy for when a student refuses to work!

It’s popping up more and more in IEPs and 504s. Called Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), it’s marked by disobedient behavior toward authority. But what is it really? It’s a student who doesn’t want to be told what to do. They don’t want rules or ... Read more

Check these practical and research-based classroom motivation strategies!

More and more children are experiencing trauma. Trauma directly impacts a student's ability to learn. Here are 4 teaching strategies for traumatized students. These trauma-informed classroom strategies will help teachers to navigate behavior challenges, build nurturing relationships, and keep the classroom safe and supportive.

Learn which strategies to use with students who are engaging in escape or task avoidance behaviors in special education classes.

Throughout my years teaching middle school, I have had the experience of seeing many "work refusals". These are the situations when kids, for a variety of reasons, just refuse to start the work you give them. They might shut down and rest their head on their desk or lash out in anger, shouting about

Whether you're a new teacher, a seasoned veteran, or anywhere in between, you likely have the experience of trying to teach when a student refuses to work. In schools, it's sometimes simply called a “work refusal”. It's the scenario when a student, for some reason, just refuses to start the work you give them. Sometimes when […]