what to do when they just keep saying no? - reflections

What can you do when a student just continually says no? How can you keep the rest of the class on task while dealing with his behavior in a discreet, professional way, while also maintaining the respect you have built up for yourself as a teacher in your classroom? A child in my class has proven to have some difficulties this first week, showing stubborn and oppositional behavior that can sometimes turn violent. His peers have shaky relationships with him, and as a teacher, I struggle to remain positive in the face of his defiance. The student has ADHD, and his parents are unsure about medication at this particular time. We can’t get him to concentrate on any academic subject or activity, and he will not sit still for more than ten seconds before he gets up and walks around the room. I wonder how I would manage this situation if I were the sole teacher in the classroom. To call the principal each time there was an issue would mean that he/she was in my classroom all day long. Discussions with the parents would, of course, be necessary, but tact would make it difficult to describe the depth of the difficulty of his behavior. I don’t know what to do in this situation, or what I would do if this were my own classroom. Hopefully as my relationship with this student grows, we will be able to come up with a behavior plan and work with each other to make the classroom environment more conducive to learning.