A Very Effective Way of Dealing with the Class Clown

I didn't realize my son was the class clown until I took him out of the public school and put him in a Catholic school. My son was chosen to be in a school play - Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare.

I was amazed when the Nun told me that my son acted up in class, so she thought he would be good at acting. It was a great way to capture the essence of a human being I thought. The Nun realized my son liked acting and utilized his acting up behavior in a positive way rather than punishing him.

The next year I put my son back in the public school because it was cheaper. He was never ever chosen for a play in the public school. He always did say he wanted to be an actor. But he never got to that in real life. Perhaps he would have if they had encouraged his true behavior rather than stifling it.

This is probably not the solution many of you may think of for the Class Clown, but the Nun's idea of putting my son in a play points to some very good ideas we can get from her.

Children all need recognition. And plays bring out the actor in the child. Most children like to act up. Some are more boisterous than others such as the Class Clown.

However when working as a substitute teacher, I remember encountering a whole room full of my sons. As the old saying goes - "boys will be boys." (I had until this point thought my son was out of the ordinary, but I was quite wrong). They were all acting up, not in a really bad way, where they needed disciplining but very outspoken and cheerful with comments about things. There was also a little bit of talking out of turn.

These great kids all need encouragement. We can make them or break them by how we treat them in the classroom. It is better to ignore the bad behavior and focus on the good qualities and use activities such as plays, sports, shows, and the band, and other types of clubs to give each child something to feel good about.

I remember another class clown. He was a student I had in class when I was a student teacher. He was a big boy and very handsome. He looked more like 23 than 16. He was the class clown. You couldn't get him to stop using bad words and saying awful things in class. I don't remember how I handled the situation. He was also the leader in the classroom. I found that out by doing a sociogram. The sociogram is made up by giving a little test to the class to determine who the leader or leaders are in the classroom. Then from the answers you draw up a diagram called the sociogram. In all my other classes there was more than one leader. But in this the only leader was the Class Clown.

Here you can see how the Class Clown can be the leader. We need to find constructive things for the leader to do so that his abilities are channeled into positive rather than negative purposes.

I bumped into this leader about a year after he graduated. He was working in the County Court House at a real job and behaving himself.

My son has also become a reputable member of society, always holding a steady job, voting, and even serving on a jury once.

Learn more about this author, Colette Georgii.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Teaching tips: How to deal with the class clown?
We want to hear your view. Write now!