Picture this: My class is (mostly) quietly working on a test. A student (we'll call him Charlie) is rocking back and forth in his chair so vigorously that his desk is banging against the wall. I give him the eye and he stops for a second, but only a second and then he's back at it. I walk over to his desk and tap on it lightly and he pauses for a few more seconds this time before he continues. Students are noticing the sound now and they're annoyed (which is a little hypocritical of them when their own noises bother me literally always, but whatever). "Ms. Teacher, can you please make Charlie stop that noise?" Charlie just laughs at the attention and continues. I walk over to his desk and quietly let him know that if the banging doesn't stop he is going to have to take his desk out in the hall and work on the test there. He stops for a full minute this time, and then resumes banging his desk against the wall. My students are frustrated, I'm frustrated, I say loudly "Charlie, do you want to go bang in the hall?!"
It took me a few seconds to realize why the entire class was snickering. Once I realized, all I could do was laugh. It worked though, Charlie stopped the banging.
