Kindergarten Classroom Behavior

Help!  I am a 4th year full day Kindergarten teacher and this year, I have 8 out of 21 children who cry every day, are oppositional, won't follow directions, won't listen, are mean to others, hit, scream and are constantly disruptive no matter what I do.  I have modified the classroom environment, tried many different behavior modification plans, and still, the disruptions persist.  As a result, I am not able to teach and give all that I have because 3/4's of each day is spent dealing with behavior.
Today, alone, I had 2 children cry, scream and kick until they made themselves throw-up!
For most of them, they are like a light switch, turning on and off their behavior.  Nothing seems to motivate them.  I have never seen so many like this at one time in one classroom.

[indigo39]

It sounds like they are feeding off of each other's behavior, and copying what they see. Is there any way to isolate them when they throw a fit, maybe a head office or anything?

[jdtm]

How many assistants or aides are there in this classroom - in addition to the one teacher and 21 students?

[musicmama]

I completely understand what you are going through.  First, remember this too shall pass.  2.  Our school district has an alternative campus for children that need behavior modification (more so than the regular classroom).  Does your district have anything like this?  3.  It helps to have a buddy.  When a child is stopping the class from functioning, I send my students to a "buddy room".  It could be any teacher located close to you.  It doesn't have to be the same grade level.  In fact, it is best if it is not.  My buddy is a tough teacher that most of the students hate to go to for this purpose.  She tells them how disappointed she is in them and goes over how they should be behaving.  Most buddies will let them sit quietly in the back of the room.  If they make a peep, then they go to the office.  4.  A friend of mine had a class like this her first year of teaching kinder.  She kept a point chart on each child.  If they did not stop the behavior, they got a mark.  Each mark represented 5 minutes taken off of recess and centers time.  She also writes everything in each parent's folder.  5.  Lastly, but sometimes the most effective are M&M's.  At the beginning of the year, I carry them with me when we are walking somewhere and give them to all that are following instructions.  

Hang in there!  Good luck and God bless.

[LRM1021]

Sounds like you have had one of those years! Statistically, you should probably get a break next year!!!

I love that buddy system idea above-- that's awesome.