How to deal with the 'clown of the class'?

You walk into the classroom all organised and ready to teach your students and you have hardly even started and there is - a loud yawn, or books falling suddenly when the classroom is quite, or a kind of a made-up funny voice mumbling and making other students laugh. You might even encounter paper rockets aimed at you and hilarious one-liners thrown at the sentences you use while you teach.

What are you up against? These students are termed as "Clowns of class".
They have an irritable habit of interrupting the class at odd times.

Why do they do it?

* They might have been trying hard to "fit-in" with the others.
* They might have been having an issue at home that they are so stressed out about , that they are taking out the frustration in this manner.
* They do not know they are doing wrong and don't realise when to stop being funny (because of the obvious attention they are getting from their peers).
* They are no leaders, perhaps they are loners.

How to deal with the 'clown of the class'?

How to deal with them?

*Learn to accept the fact that the student cannot be taught in the harsh manner, it will make them do more of their "being-funny".
*Laugh if you must.
*Have a word with the student and inform how you feel about being interrupted like that.
* Inform the student that you would like him/her to stop being humorous in class when the threshold is reached, keep a sign that would let him/her know that they are not realising that they have to stop it. Wink, show a hand movement, or use a particular code word, communicate with the student and inform that when the signal is given they are supposed to stop it.
*Do not react to this becoming sarcastic or angry.
*Do not ignore the problem.
*Speak to the student's parents about the behaviour, try and find out why and what is the cause of this.
*Inform the class that you want to share with them a knowledge but will be able to do so if everyone would behave appropriately.
*Inform the class that you would like the "fun" part in the class, but only if the students behave in a matured manner and know when to have the "fun" thrown into the session.

With a proper communication with the clown of the class, you could have a better control over the student and on the entire class on the whole. You could ask the class clown to walk up to the podium to crack a joke or two when you think the students are loosing interest .This way both of you are at benefit. If you have more ways to deal with the clown of the class share it with us here: https://www.facebook.com/careerindia.com