Improve the Sounds That Come from Your Class Clowns
In almost every workshop that we hold, a participant asks for ideas on how to manage class clowns. You know the youngster. It's the student who may be the next David Letterman or Rosie O'Donnell, but unfortunately, their comedy can seriously deplete your limited contact time. Some youngsters also use humor that would make even Lenny Bruce or Richard Pryor blush, and you may question whether the contributions count as humor at all.
The sounds that come from your class clowns can "make or break" nearly any class or group activity. Because of this, it is absolutely critical that students be able to manage their verbiage and conduct. Although most schools and agencies want students to consistently manage their verbiage and conduct, very few sites have a formal, written-down plan to teach their youngsters the specific nuts-and-bolts skills that they need to comply. So, self- control skills are expected in most schools and agencies, but not explicitly taught in most schools and agencies. Not surprisingly, students who aren't taught self-control skills, quite often lack those self-control skills.
Here are the initial four skills that your aspiring comedians and "wannabe" talk show hosts need to transform show time into school or work time.
1. FREQUENCY The class clown may be dominating your group with frequent or constant contributions. It is completely unfair to expect any child to discern the number of times to talk out in your setting, so have your group establish a recommended number of times to speak per hour or class. Until given a quantifiable number of times to speak, many students will be completely unable to discern it. This will be particularly true for children with limited ability to do abstract or complex thinking who are in crisis or have serious family problems have disabilities or cultural barriers. Before you expect students to comply with a standard, it is only fair to establish and specify that standard.
You can have students track the number of contributions that they make per hour or class, then ask them to wait until the next hour before adding input once they reach the limit. If you consult the class on how to manage this issue, you will get considerably more cooperation than if you dictate the procedures to them. To motivate your class clowns to consider the value of moderating the frequency of their contributions, have them list jobs that they may wish to do. Elicit answers from talk show host to truck driver, then ask students to consider what can happen in each type of job, if an employee is dominating the verbiage so much that bosses, customers, guests and other workers can't get a word in edgewise.
2. DURATION The class clown may also keep going and going and going once started. While you may want students to limit the length of their comments, many sites have no plan to teach that skill. Again, the child is expected to comply with a nebulous standard that may not be readily discernable. Think of all the times that you have listened to an adult drone on endlessly in a meeting. You may be expecting children to use skills that some adults haven't ever mastered. So, be sure to have your group establish a concrete guideline, such as each comment is limited to 2 minutes.
You can use an egg timer or wall clock to aid students to become more aware of the duration of their comments. Studies show that without your intervention, your most talkative students will talk more and longer, and your quietest students will talk less and less-- exactly the opposite of what you wanted.
3. TIMING It may seem that your class clowns choose the most inappropriate times to make their contributions. It can take a bit of discretion to know what is the right time to make that comment or joke. You may not be able to teach discretion, but you can provide boundaries that will help. Be sure to teach students about interruptions, jokes, and side talk (unsanctioned conversation held during lecture, silence, or outside of the group discussion.) Help students to identify the right and wrong times for these activities. You can have the class members make posters to illustrate the concepts.
If your interactions with the class clown have become a bit of a power struggle, it can seem like it would be impossible to get this child to improve their timing. The child may seem to time their comments to annoy you. If your relationship with your class clown has become a battle for control, that is a big part of the problem, and you will need to end the power struggle before you get the improvement you want. If you would like additional methods to moderate the behavior of class clowns-- especially those who have been involved in power struggles-- read below:
4. CONTENT Your class clowns may make contributions that are of great concern because the content is wildly inappropriate, a guaranteed source of disruption. Prior to expecting socially acceptable content, you must first teach your students this skill. That is the first of two steps.
The second step is to work with the "audience," those students who instantly "lose their grip" when the class clown makes an inappropriate comment. It is important to teach those youngsters to maintain self-control. With less reaction, the class clown will often become less motivated to say inappropriate things. For both of these steps, you can again use potential job choices as a way to illustrate why it is important to choose appropriate content. Discuss what happens when people make inappropriate comments on the job, and what can result when co-workers become involved. Be sure to note how vigorously sexual harassment, bias, and libel laws are being applied in the work place, that it has become quite easy to say something that results in termination, sanctions or legal action.
A DIFFERENT GOAL FOR CLASS CLOWNS
Class clowns are often viewed as a disruption, a threat, a hassle. Here's a completely different outlook for you to consider. If a young person has the poise, spunk and interest in enlivening ordinary activities, that is not necessarily a bad thing. If you can help the child control frequency, duration, timing and content, then that youngster can help spice up your lecture on molecules, or generate a much-needed laugh during a difficult group counseling discussion about alcoholic dads.
I know one lively youngster who was always the class clown, but his teachers worked hard to give him the four skills listed above. Instead of squashing or fighting his natural wit and outspokenness, his teachers channeled and refined them. Now, he is in college. Every work evaluation includes effusive comments on his wonderful sense of humor. Bosses always note that no matter how grim or problematic work gets, the boss and co-workers can always count on this young man making just the right, funny comment at the just the right time, helping to defuse the tension and lighten the load. That is a gift that few of us are born with. It is a gift that you may wish to shape and enhance rather than fight and eliminate.
FOR MORE RESOURCES for CLASS CLOWNS and other students who struggle: See our books and tapes at http://www.youthchg.com/lessons.html. Free sample interventions and magazine are available at this link too.
Was this article helpful to you? Leave a Public Comment or
Question:
This Article has been viewed 2,093
times.
Article added to SearchWarp.com on Monday, February 20, 2006 View other articles written by Ruth Herman Wells(2,482)
If you found this article interesting, you may want to check out:
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
