There are only two types of toxic behaviors that have disrupted my class’s ecosystem so far this quarter.
For one, my students have a bad habit of doing their homework or other class work while I am talking. I begin each class with a general agenda powerpoint slide and run-down for the day’s activities. These agendas often start with me overviewing project feedback and corrections or other homework assignments. This leads to several of my students pulling out their laptops, while I’m talking, to log onto Canvas and fix whatever corrections I’ve just went over. While I appreciate their efforts in wanting to immediately fix the problems with their work, I sometimes need to remind them that while I am going over important information for the day, or when I’m talking to the class in general, they really should not be fiddling with their laptops. Typically, when I call them out for doing this, they cease their movements completely, but it’s still a frustrating process trying to direct their attention back to me. This behavior also leads to multiple students emailing me or asking me questions about topics that I had already covered; they are so concerned with fixing their revisions as quickly as possible that they miss out on other critical class information at times.
The second toxic behavior that I’ve noticed in my class occurs when partner work has been finished early by some, but not by everyone, and then a couple partner groups will begin to talk about off-topic discussions, or dick around, and prove distracting to groups that are still working. To curb these distractions, I always tell the groups who have finished early to first check their work and ensure that every aspect of the assignment has been completed fully, and then, to use their extra time quietly. If this means they want to listen to music or play on their phones, or study for their psychology exams while they wait for the rest of the class to finish working, I’m complacent with that, I just dislike when they start talking to each other boisterously and distracting people on the opposite side of the room. I must admit that this is a rare toxic behavior in my class though, many of my fast workers are usually very respectful and good about not being distracting!
I think it is important to mention however that while these student behaviors in my class can be unfavorable, neither of these actions have truly caused a “toxic” environment in my class. I think the word “toxic” is a bit dramatic for the kinds of behaviors that I mentioned above. “Annoying” or “disruptive” would probably be more fitting, because these actions by my students are annoying and disruptive, but there are never so far gone that they can’t be immediately corrected. These behaviors are like speedbumps, annoying and a bit of a drag, but they don’t cause the havoc or mania that truly toxic behaviors might lead to in the classroom.