How do you deal with difficult students?

The trick is to not punish the whole cl for something only a few are doing. Start singling out the ones that are misbehaving and usually the rest will stop also. If not, keep going for as long as it takes. Make sure to follow through on whatever you threaten. I have had half the cl miss out on part of fun day before, but the next day they were better. They REALLY don't want to miss out on the end of the year activities and they will act better if they know you will take fun stuff away. Remind them that they have been a good cl but poor behavior won't be tolerated. At the end of the year I start telling them that they should be acting like they are a grade older- "I should have a room full of 1st graders because Kindergarten is pretty much over". This should work some with 5th graders because they are a little afraid of going to middle school. Most of it is just that they are hyped up on summer and have way too much energy. You should keep in the back of your mind that they are going to be a little wild no matter what, but at the same time don't tolerate misbehavior or disrespect.