Behavior Management

Behavior Management - Transcript

Behavior Management
“Nip it in the bud!”
Developed for Jefferson County Schools from Middle School Diaries by Ellen Berg, Turner Middle School, St. Louis, MO

What is Behavior
Management?
 Behavior management is a
larger concept than discipline.
Discipline is implemented after a
problem occurs whereas
behavior management seeks to
prevent problems in the first
place.

Determine Your Beliefs
 It's not my job to discipline.”
 “I'm here to teach.”
 “In my day…"
 "That kid is just bad.”
 “He'll never change."

Behavior Management
Truths
 Lasting change takes time.
 You cannot make anyone do
anything.
 Behavior is a symptom of a
larger issue.
 Reacting to a problem generally
escalates the problem, while
being proactive usually helps to
de-escalate or avoid the
problem in the first place.

Behavior Management
Truths
 Consistency is the key!
 If students are engaged, they
are not causing trouble.
 You can win the battle but lose
the war.
 Choose your battles wisely.
 Parents can be allies or
enemies.
 Assigning blame is ineffective.

Behavior Management
Truths
 Children need structure.
 Students rise or fall according to
our expectations.
 If you fail to plan, you plan to
fail.
 Do unto others, as you would
have them do unto you.
 We all make mistakes.

GIVE IT TIME
 Lasting change takes time.
Behavior is a habit.
* Think of a bad habit you have
overcome, or one you still have.
* How long did it take you to
break that habit?
* Did you "relapse?"
* What finally helped you
change?We must find some value or purpose for changing before we attempt or desire to change.

GIVE IT TIME
 Implications for the Classroom
* Be patient with students as
they begin to work toward
change.
* Assist students with designing
and implementing a plan to
improve.
* Give private praise if
appropriate for positive
changes.
* Understand that behavior will
slip sometimes and don't give
up on the child.

Choices
 You cannot make anyone do
anything unless they choose
to cooperate.
* Children allow us to do what
we do in our classrooms.
* We can manage the situation
by what we choose to do and
say in response to a given
situation.

Choices
 Implications for the Classroom
* Admit to students you cannot "make"
them do anything, but that they may not
like what you choose to do in response.
Use student choice statements when addressing students about their inappropriate behavior:
Ex: "You can choose to get on task and
work with your group, or you can choose to
sit over here by yourself, fill out a reflection
sheet, and take an F on the assignment for
the day. Of course, I will have to inform
your parent if you choose the latter, but it's
still your choice. You know what is best for
you."

Behavior
 Behavior is a symptom of other
issues.
A response to something inside
the classroom: Other students,
Teachers, Assignment/classwork
(content or structure)
A response to something outside
of your classroom: Home, Other
classes, Other teachers, Hallway
issues, Neighborhood

Behavior
When a problem occurs, the FIRST
question you should ask is:
Am I doing something that is
creating or contributing to this
problem?
Is there something I can change?
If not, then:
What is causing this problem, and
how can I help?

Behavior
 Implications for the Classroom
There is always a reason for what
is occurring. There is always a
goal behind every behavior:
Attention, Power, Revenge,
Avoidance of failure
Address the behavior, but
investigate to figure out the
cause. If the cause is not
addressed, the problem will
continue.

Reacting
 Reacting to a problem generally escalates the problem, while being proactive usually helps to deescalate or avoid the problem in the first place.
Reaction is filled with
emotion, NOT thought. It is a
human physical and
emotional reaction to a
stimulus. Our reactions are
not always productive.

Reacting
What do the following
common teacher
reactions accomplish?
* Yelling
* Arguing with students
* Criticizing the student
* Throwing students out
of the room

Reacting
* Students' behaviors are
generally NOT personal, but
we often take it personally.
* If it IS personal, aren't we
the grown-ups in the
situation?
* Reaction interprets and acts
upon the problem as a
personal attack.
* Proactive people view the
situation as a problem to
solve.

Consistency
Consistency is the key!
* No one wants to live in
chaos.
* We rely on many things in
our lives to be consistent: what
to do at traffic lights, what
products are safe to eat, etc.
* What if those everyday things
you take for granted changed
randomly and frequently?
* How would you begin to act?

Consistency
 Classroom Management Guru Harry
Wong cites research stating what
students want to know on the first
day:
1. Am I in the right room?
2. Where am I supposed to sit?
3. What are the rules in this
classroom?
4. What will I be doing this year?
5. How will I be graded?
6. Who is the teacher as a person?
7. Will the teacher treat me as a
human being?
Everyone wants to fit in and know
what to do in a given situation. We all
have a comfort zone we depend
upon.

Consistency
 Implications for the Classroom
* Create, direct teach,
practice, and reinforce
clear procedures for
everything that needs to
be done by students in
your classroom.
* Establish clear routines
in your classroom.

Behavior
 If students are engaged,
they are not causing
trouble.

* Students do not interfere with
what they value.
* How can students misbehave if
their attention is focused on
something productive?
* Engaging, high-interest,
relevant lessons are the
positive to acting out.

Behavior
 Question...
If we KNOW a student is
unable to perform a task, why
do we continue to assign work
the student can't do?

Behavior
 Implications for the Classroom
* Relate the content you MUST
teach to the LIVES and
INTERESTS of your students so
they WANT to learn.
* Gear your instruction to the
level students are on, and
provide support to those who
need it.
* Use inquiry-based,
investigative learning,
constructivist based lessons.

CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES
 You can win the battle but
lose the war. Choose your
battles wisely.
* You may be able to bully a
child into submission, but at
what cost?
* Ongoing, intensified behavior
problems may result.

CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES
* Students may hold a
grudge against you and
respond accordingly.
* Students may "turn off"
and spend the remainder of
the year not learning.

CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES
 Implications for the Classroom
* Think before acting.
* Seek long-term solutions.
* Ask yourself, "Will this
action/response help or hurt
the situation in the long-
run?"

Parents
 Parents can be allies
or enemies
* Despite children's
protestations to the
contrary, parents are still the primary influence in their
children's lives.
* Our approach toward them
and their child creates an ally or
an enemy, REGARDLESS of
the guilt or innocence of their
child. EVEN if you have them
acting a complete fool on
videotape!

Parents
 Implications for the Classroom
* Make a POSITIVE contact with the
parent or guardian early in the year BEFORE any problems arise.
* When talking with parents about a
discipline problem, focus on behaviors that need to be addressed:
"Johnny's talking out is making it
difficult for others to concentrate."
NOT
"Johnny is disruptive."
* Enlist the parent's help and
expertise in solving the problem.
"What do you suggest? What works
for you at home?"

Blame
 Assigning blame is ineffective.
* Assigning blame is nothing
more than passing the responsibility on to someone
else.
* Assigning blame does not
seek to solve problems but to LABEL them.
* At the end of the blame game,
you're still faced with a PROBLEM!

Blame
 Implications for the Classroom
* Focus on identifying the root of the problem regardless of who or
what is causing it. (Even if it is
you...)
* Focus on identifying constructive solutions to the
problem.

Structure
 Children need structure.
* Children WANT and NEED
normalcy in their lives.
* CHAOS begets CHAOS.
* If children are physically
and/or mentally challenged
by an uncertain, unclear, or
unstable environment, they
feel out of control.

Structure
 Children need structure.
* If a student's energy is spent
coping with the structure (or lack
thereof) in their environment, it is
not being focused on your work.
 Implications for the Classroom
* Teach routines and procedures.
* Create order in your classroom.
* Physical arrangement of
furniture
* Organization of materials
* Traffic patterns

Expectations
 Students rise or fall according to
our expectations.
* If the teacher doesn't think
the kid can behave or do the
task, who is the child
disagree?
* WHO is supposed to have
all the answers?

Expectations
 Students rise or fall according to
our expectations.
* Students need our support,
not our criticism.
* Students need to be aware
of our expectations for them
in our environment.

Expectations
 Implications for the Classroom
* Make expectations clear
and explicit through
classroom rules, routines,
and procedures.
* Make expectations clear
and explicit through your
verbal AND nonverbal
interactions with students.

Planning
 If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.In the past, what has happened in your classroom when:
*Your materials weren't
ready?
* You couldn't find something
you needed for the lesson?
* Your students finished early
and you had nothing for them
to do?

Planning
 If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.In the past, what has happened in your classroom when:
* You didn't have anything
planned for the day and were
winging it? The old adage, "Idle
hands are the Devil's workshop,"
is true. Kids seek to entertain
themselves during downtime,
and many problems can occur
during these periods of time.

Planning
 Implications for the Classroom
* Always, always, ALWAYS plan
ahead of time.
* Create a file of, "If you finish
early" activities that students can
access when they complete an
assignment. (Word searches,
magazine articles, puzzles, etc.
are great and easy!)
* Start class with a "bellringer" or
opening activity for kids to do
while you take attendance and
collect your thoughts and
materials. (Quizzes, journals,
problems, etc.)

Do Unto Others
 Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
* We want to be respected
and trusted; so do the kids.
* Just because a kid treats us
with less than the greatest
respect doesn't mean we can
sink to their level. All that
does is confirm for them that
we do not deserve their
respect in the first place.

Do Unto Others
 Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
* Right is always right, even
when we're rip-roaring mad.
Really.
Implications for the Classroom
* We must remember that our
students are human beings with
feelings.

Do Unto Others
 Implications for the Classroom
* We must remember that children
pay attention to what we do more
than what we say. Are we
modeling appropriate responses?
* We must remember that as
adults, we should have greater
restraint and control over our
actions.
* In conferences with students, it is
okay and effective many times to
tell the student how their action or
words made you feel. Kids need to
see we are human too.

Adults Make Mistakes, too!
 We ALL make mistakes.Think of a mistake you have made in your life. *Does your
mistake mean you are stupid?
* Should we treat you as if you
were going to make the same
mistake over and over again?
* Should we hold your mistake
against you for the rest of your
life?
Mistakes are an opportunity to
grow and learn, and sometimes
we need help from others in that
task.

Adults Make Mistakes, too!
 Implications for the Classroom
* Don't hold a child's mistake from
September against him all year
long. Assign a natural
consequence and give the child
another chance.
* Help children understand that
you are displeased with the
behavior, not with them. Teach
them that mistakes are not
permanent, and help them learn
from their mistakes.
* Remember that students are still
children, and they have many
mistakes ahead of them in their
lives. So do we.

Procedures and Routines
 Procedures are how you want
something done.
 Routines are what the student
does automatically without
prompting or supervision.
When procedures are explained,
rehearsed, and reinforced, they
eventually become routines.

Step 1:
 Explain Classroom
Procedures Clearly
* Define the procedure in
concrete terms.
* Demonstrate the procedure;
don't just tell.
* Demonstrate a complex
procedure step by step.

Step 2:
 Rehearse Classroom Procedures Until They Become Routines
* Have students practice the
procedure, step by step, under your
supervision. After each step, make
sure that the students have performed
the step correctly.
* Have the students repeat the
procedure until it becomes a routine.
The students should be able to
perform the procedure automatically
without teacher supervision.

Step 3:
 Reinforce a Correct Procedure and Reteach an Incorrect One
* Determine whether students have learned
the procedure or whether they need further
explanation, demonstration, or practice.
* Reteach the correct procedure if
rehearsal is unacceptable.
* Praise the students when the rehearsal
is acceptable.
Don't address a student's failure to follow
the routine or procedure through behavioral
consequences.
RETEACH! REHEARSE! REINFORCE!

Procedure Worksheet
 The following situations need
designed routines and procedures
in the classroom. On the
Procedures worksheet decide
how best to apply them to your
particular classroom or situation.
At the end of this presentation, be
ready to share one of your
routines or procedures with the
group. These plans will be
collected, copied, and distributed
to the staff as a sourcebook.

Routine and Procedure
 Routine: What the student does
automatically without prompting
or supervision.
 Procedure: How you want
something done.

Procedures Sharing
1. What to do when coming
to class
2. How to enter the
classroom
3. What to do when the fire
alarm sounds
4. What to do when you finish
your work early
5. What to do when you have
a question

Procedures Sharing
6. When to sharpen your pencil
7. How to sharpen your pencil (#
at the sharpener, etc.)
8. What to do when you need to
use the restroom
9. Where to find the assignment
(homework, bellringer, others,
etc.)
10. How you will get their
attention and what they should
do

Procedures Sharing
11. How a paper is to be done
(heading, ink, rough edges, etc.)
12. How papers will be
collected/where to put the paper
when they are complete
13. Where to find assignments if
they have been absent
14. What to do at the end of
class
15. Working in groups

Procedures Sharing
16. How/when to move around
the room
17. How to use classroom
materials and where to find
them
18. Lunch tickets
19. What to do if you're tardy
20. What to do if you're absent
21. How to cross the street
22. How to walk in the hallway

Behavior Management
Tricks of the Trade
1. Use humor to address your
concerns and avoid a conflict.

Behavior Management
Tricks of the Trade
2. Eye contact

Behavior Management
Tricks of the Trade
3. Teacher proximity

Behavior Management
Tricks of the Trade
4. Call home

Behavior Management
Tricks of the Trade
5. Ignore the behavior
(attention-seeking, especially)

Behavior Management
Tricks of the Trade
6. Mention the student's name
while teaching
7. Send a secret signal

Behavior Management
Tricks of the Trade
8. Give an I-message (When
you_______ I feel _____
because _________. Please
stop.)
9. Do the unexpected (talk to the
wall, lower your voice, change
your voice, etc.)
10. Change the student's seat

Behavior Management
Tricks of the Trade
11. Distract the student (ask for
assistance with something, ask
a question, etc.)

Behavior Management
Tricks of the Trade
12. Time out in a teammate's
classroom

Behavior Management
Tricks of the Trade
13. Table the matter until later
14. Agree with the student
(Example: "You can't make me!"
"You are absolutely right!")

Behavior Management
Tricks of the Trade
15. Change the subject
16. Sing
17. Get to know your students

Behavior Management
Tricks of the Trade
18. One put up for every put
down
19. Make mistakes okay
20. Recognize positive
behaviors

Techniques that Backfire
 Raising your voice
 Yelling
 Saying "I'm the boss here"
 Insisting on having the last
word
 Using tense body language,
such as rigid posture or
clenched hands

Techniques that Backfire
 Using degrading, insulting,
humiliating, or embarrassing
putdowns
 Using sarcasm
 Attacking the student's
character
 Acting superior

Techniques that Backfire
 Using physical force
 Drawing unrelated persons
into the conflict
 Having a double standard --
making students do what I
say, not what I do
 Insisting that I am right

Techniques that Backfire
 Backing the student into a
corner
 Pleading or bribing
 Bringing up unrelated events
 Generalizing about students
by making remarks such as
"All you kids are the same"

Techniques that Backfire
 Preaching
 Making assumptions
 Making unsubstantiated
accusations
 Holding a grudge
 Nagging

Techniques that Backfire
 Throwing a temper tantrum
 Mimicking the student
 Making comparisons with
siblings or other students
 Commanding, demanding,
dominating
 Rewarding the student

The Challenge
 SO...What's the challenge?
* We are human, and it FEELS
GOOD to let loose on a kid who is
giving us grief.
 Unfortunately, after we have gone off,
the problem still exists, is probably
worse, and we have provided a poor
example of how to handle problems
for our students.

The Challenge
 HOWEVER, when you remain
calm, you are in control. It
diffuses the behavior of the
student.

The Challenge
 Implications for the Classroom
* Learn to identify the goal(s)
behind the behavior.
* Suppress your natural urge to
react, and remember that you
are the adult in the classroom.

The Challenge
 Implications for the Classroom
* If the
situation
becomes, "too
hot to handle,"
table the
matter for later
or send the
child to a
colleague's
room for a cool
down.

Resources
 Behavior http://cpt.fsu.edu/tree/behavior.html
 The Behavior Homepage
http://www.state.ky.us/agencies/behave/homepage.html
 Behavior, Motivation, and Self-Control
http://mentalhelp.net/psyhelp/chap4
 Behavior, Research, and Teaching
http://brt.uoregon.edu/
 Can Teach: Classroom Management
http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/classman.html
 Classroom Discipline Resources
http://7-12educators.miningco.com/msub49.htm
 Classroom Management
http://www.temple.edu/CETP/temple_teach/cm-intro.html
 TeachNet Classroom Management
http://www.teachnet.com/how-to/manage/
 Classroom Manangement
http://www.geom.umn.edu/~dwiggins/plan.html
 Classroom Management and Cooperative Discipline
http://pdts.uh.edu/~freiberg/cm/index3.html
 BehaviorAdvisor
http://maxweber.hunter.cuny.edu/pub/eres/EDSPC715_MCINTYRE/715HomePage.html
 Middle School Diaries
http://www.middleweb.com/msdiaries01/MSDiaryEllenB46.html