Making faces to entertain his fellow classmates is one way the class clown gets attention.
The class clown is a source of stress in the classroom for many teachers. Rather than a student who passes notes or whispers, the class clown demands attention on a nearly constant basis. She does this in a loud, disruptive way that is genuinely amusing, often making her popular among her classmates. There are ways to handle a class clown without derailing your lesson plans or making yourself the "bad guy" by reprimanding a class favorite.
Instructions
1. Understand the motivation behind class-clown behavior. This will allow you to treat the situation with compassion rather than anger or frustration. Your typical class clown is often neglected at home or comes from an abusive situation. He can be a gifted student who is bored easily with lesson plans at the level you are teaching them. He may also be a student who has learning disabilities and is frustrated with trying to understand lessons, and so acts out by distracting the other students. He is not a "bad" kid, but one who is struggling internally with home or classroom issues.
2. Do not ignore, openly discipline or reprimand your class clown. Ignoring this student will encourage him to act out further. Public displays of frustration with him will sacrifice the respect the other students have for you.
3. Acknowledge a joke with the class (as long as it isn't harmful to other students) and put up your hand as a signal that the joke needs to be short-lived, temporary and not repeated. If the class clown will not stop at your first attempt, continue to use the hand to signify to the other students that his behavior needs to be under control.
4. Explain to the class that you want to have fun with them, but it's important for a class to be mature. Explain that a mature classroom understand there are times for work and time for play. (Reference 1.)
5. Meet privately with the class clown and ask him how he's feeling about your current lessons. Find out if he's struggling with the material or bored. Take appropriate actions to get him help where he needs it or give him advanced course work.
6. Consider publicly recognizing the student as the resident "class clown" in the classroom. This will give him the attention that he demands and positive recognition he may not be getting at home. Explain to him privately that there is a time and place for his humor and it is not in the middle of lesson plans, but that his personality is appreciated by you and his classmates. (Reference 2.)
7. Make sure to notify your student's parents about his behavior in the classroom. Explain why students act out as class clowns, so the parents have compassion for the behavior rather than anger. If your student has parents who are uninvolved or disinterested, take a special interest in the student's progress and nurture his personality -- by implementing guidelines, rather than suppressing it.
