- A group of students constantly act out in class. You cannot send them all outside, but they cannot work together. You’ve tried to separate their seats, but they are still disruptive, yelling at each other from across the room.
This is one of those moments when you might need to invoke the power of the masses. Even if the group is seven or eight kids, they're still going to be out-numbered by the non-goofs in the class. It takes some building, but establishing a culture in which kids actively monitor each other will take a LOT of the work out of what you do. I'd give a little bit of preface lecture on "sink or swim" - that all of them affect the success of every ONE of them, and that EVERY student is responsible for every other student in the room.
"If you're one of the kids who keeps quiet, why aren't you speaking up? If you REALLY care about getting your work done and moving forward, why aren't you trying harder to take responsibility and MAKE that happen? If you really love your buddy, consider something: are you helping him out? If you care about someone, you help them succeed - if you're cracking wise and trying to get him to laugh, you're not helping him at all: you're stabbing him in the back. Whether you realize it or not, school is all about survival ..."
It helps if you've had a lesson or moment when you've shown them the graph of income based on level of education, but if you haven't, this might be an opportune moment to do so. (This is a repeat of a script from earlier, so feel free to skim - it's handy enough that it might help to have two versions!)
"You are here for one reason: to learn the skills that will make a difference in YOUR future. You all affect each other's success - you can either help each other out or drag each other down. Right now, you aren't even CLOSE to being competitive - there are a million kids out there with more money, more education, and a million more chances than you. The question is: are you going to out-fight them, or are you going to end up on the bottom of society because you didn't have the guts to even TRY? It's about survival, and every time you waste each other, and your own time messing around, that's one more second you lie down and let everyone else walk all over you. So if you're messing around, stop stabbing other people in the back and start FIGHTING. If you SEE someone messing around, tell them to get focused and help THEM start fighting."
After that, it's all about enforcing expectations. Make penalties ones you level on the room - don't single kids out. If someone asks something like: "but why do we all have to _____ - he's the only one who ____ed!", you get to refer back to what you've taught them.
"What did YOU do about it? You knew he was goofing off - why is it only MY responsibility? Listen, I'm your teacher - and I'm not interested in being a prison warden or a parent - so stop ASKING me to be. Start taking responsibility for yourselves - if you want to be treated like you're grown, then start acting grown. You guys are incredibly smart, and you have unlimited potential ..." - throwing in a compliment in the midst of a harangue is always a solid idea (it reminds them you care and that you're upset BECAUSE you care) - "... but if you waste your time on this kind of crap you'll ALL be affected. EVERY one of you affects the success of ALL of you - you're ALL responsible for each other. If you don't like the consequence, what are YOU going to do to make sure this doesn't happen again?"
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