Misbehavior During Observation

It was my formal observation. Principal Dean was in my room taking notes. We were in the middle of a discussion. My students were mostly engaged, and I was starting to feel more relaxed. But, there was a group of three students with their heads down. Then James, a student who’s often trying to distract others, put up a piece of paper that had a curse word on it–an obvious attempt to get the attention of other students. My heartbeat quickened. Most students were still focused on the discussion, ignoring James’s curse word and the students with their heads down. I wasn’t sure what to do. The discussion was going ok, so I could have left it alone and focused on the majority of students who were diligently participating in the discussion. But I worried that if I let it slide, the students wouldn’t respect me and my principal would think I had bad classroom management. James and the students with their heads down also clearly weren’t learning what they needed to, which was also a problem. I felt uncertain about what my next move should be.