At some point in every teacher's career, they will have that one class or even that one pupil who makes a knot of dread build in their stomach.

It was exactly the same for me. My first year of teaching was at a notoriously difficult school. Out of all of my classes I had one group that made me wonder if I was ever going to construct a positive relationship with them.

Within the group there was a small cluster of boys whose behaviour was atrocious. Throughout the course of the year I instigated several strategies, some of which worked well, some not so much. The ones that didn't work for me however may well for you.

Seating plans

Most teachers set out a seating plan straight away for new groups or for a group they are having difficulty with. The main objective of my seating plan with this particular group was to separate the pupils who I was having difficulty with, without punishing the students who were working well.

When I moved the pupils, or attempted to, I was met with much hostility, (no surprise there) but I insisted and eventually the students sat where I wanted. Instantly this calmed two of the boys down and they were then able to focus on their work.

Reward system

There was no set reward system within this school and so I created one in my classroom. 10 stickers for one reward. This group was a year 10 group and to my utter amazement they loved it! Suddenly they were answering questions, reading aloud and following instructions.

Sharing responsibility

With the most difficult of students in this group I would give them a role. One student would give out the reward stickers, one to collect homework and so on. If these jobs were done well they would gain an extra sticker for being helpful. I found this helped them to remain on task and prevented them from causing large distractions.

Ignoring low level disruption

Tapping pens, swinging on chairs, repeating instructions whistling... the list goes on. And although low level disruption is annoying and frustrating I don't challenge it in pupils who struggle to focus so long as it is not preventing others from learning.

Isolating persistent poor behaviour

This I only use in extreme circumstances. When coursework deadlines are looming or the threat of an exam is around the corner, I would create a large study area and make my expectations clear. Everyone must be focused, anyone who chose not to work was asked to leave the group and sit in the corner of the room to work independently. Two students chose to do this initially, thinking that it was a good way to get out of doing work.

I followed through with the threat and totally ignored all their poor behaviour once they were removed. The students attempted to lure others, but by praising the others and trying to keep them focused, the two who left the group seemed to realise that they had little hope of achieving disruption and quite quickly asked if they could come and work back within the group. Once they were allowed to do this they remained on task.

You can eliminate behaviour problems in any classroom. Learn more about classroom behaviour management at http://managementclassroom.com