Effective Strategies for Classroom Management

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Effective Strategies for Classroom Management

• Angela L. Snyder, Ph.D.
• Kevin S. Sutherland, Ph.D.
• Problem Behavior Research Center
• Virginia Commonwealth University

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Basic Rules of Thumb

• You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar
  
• Behavior is
• a function of its environment
• strengthened or weakened by its consequences
• Past behavior is the best predictor of future
  behavior
• You can only know if a behavior has changed by
  observing future behavior

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Guiding Principles of Effective Classroom
Management

• Explicitly defined desired behaviors
• Integrated management strategies within
  instruction
• Students are active participants in the learning
  environment
• Being proactive, not reactive

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Proactive Behavior Management

• Involves
• Clearly communicated rules and expectations for
  student behavior
• Ongoing positive and corrective feedback
• Fair and consistent treatment of students
• Developing and maintaining a schedule or routine
• Monitoring peer interactions
• Modeling desired behavior

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Positive Reinforcement

• Behavior change generally occurs when
  consequences are attached to behavior
• The idea behind positive reinforcement is that a
  reward is given when a desired behavior occurs,
  thus increasing the likelihood of that behavior
  occurring again

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Reinforcement Dos

• Contingent
• reinforcement received only after performing the
  target behavior
• Pair tangible reinforcement with verbal praise
• Consistency
• Immediacy
• reinforcement must be presented immediately after
  target behavior
• if not, may inadvertently reinforce intervening
  behavior

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Promoting Academic Engagement

• Edwards Chard (2000)
• Teacher engagement student engagement
• Recommendations
• Plan instruction with high levels of teacher
  engagement
• Actively work with students on whole class or
  group projects
• Monitor independent work
• Cue appropriate behavior
• Frequent Opportunities to Respond (OTR) to
  academic requests

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Strategies to Limit Behavioral Acceleration
(Walker, Colvin, Ramsey, 1995)

• Avoid escalating behaviors
• Maintain
• calmness
• respect
• detachment
• Crisis-Prevention Strategies
• Establish negative consequences beforehand
• Follow through

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The Good Behavior Game (Barrish, Saunders,
Wolfe 1969)

• What is it?
• A behavior modification program that improves
  teachers ability to define tasks, set rules, and
  discipline students
• Allows students to work in teams in which they
  are responsible to the rest of the group.

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What is it? (Continued)

• The Good Behavior Game is a group-contingency
  classroom management strategy that aims to reduce
  disruptive, aggressive, off-task and shy
  behaviors
• Good behavior is promoted by rewarding teams that
  do not exceed maladaptive behavior standards.

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Team Competition

• Students compete for special privileges and
  rewards.
• When problem behavior of any team member occurs,
  check marks are recorded for that team.
• If the check marks for a team remain at or below
  a pre-set number (ie. 4) by the end of the game,
  the team wins.
• All teams may win if their check marks do not
  exceed the pre-set number (4).

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Implementing the GBG

• Materials
• Scoreboard and Timer
• Blackboard for Game Winner Scoreboard
• Timer
• Rewards
• Tangible items such as stickers or candy
• Enrichment materials such as arts, crafts, or
  games
• Special activities in the classroom

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Getting Started

• Define rules and behavioral expectations
• Determine who the team members are
• Assign a Team Leader

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Behavioral Expectations and Rules

• Talking out/verbal disruption talking without
  being permitted by the teacher, whistling,
  singing, yelling, or making other sounds.
• Rule We will work quietly.

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Rules, continued

• Aggression/physical disruption physical contacts
  such as hitting, kicking, pushing, making someone
  stumble, hair pulling, pinching, throwing
  objects, pencil fighting, intentional pencil
  breaking, taking or destroying property of
  others.
• Rule We will be polite to others.

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Rules, continued

• Out-of-seat getting out of the seat without
  permission. Includes standing up, jumping, or
  walking around the room.
• Rule We will get out of our seats only with
  permission.

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Rules, continued

• Noncompliance breaking rules, disobeying the
  teacher.
• Rule We will follow directions.

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Rules, continued

• Concentration problems not staying on task,
  easily distracted, not paying attention.
• Rule We will pay attention.

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Good Behavior Game Teams

• There should be 3 teams for each classroom with 4
  5 members per team
• The teacher will assign each child in the class
  to a team, making sure that teams contain equal
  numbers of socially withdrawn children,
  aggressive/disruptive children, and children with
  concentration problems.

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Assign a Team Leader

• Each team will have one team leader. The team
  leader will be in charge of handing out prizes,
  and helping the teacher with activities for
  his/her winning team.
• If the team has a socially withdrawn child as a
  member, the teacher should choose him/her as the
  leader of the team. If the team does not have any
  members with withdrawn behavior, the teacher
  should rotate leadership among the members of the
  team.

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Teams, continued

• If one child is responsible for a team repeatedly
  losing, the teacher should create a 4th team (for
  that child) for several weeks in order to prevent
  rejection of the offender and low team morale.

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Procedures

• 1st Week
• Divide the class into 3 teams. Try to arrange
  classroom seating according to the 3 teams.
• The classroom rules (mentioned previously)
  should be constructed with the class and read out
  loud every morning.
• Decide how long the game should be played each
  day, starting with short intervals (ie. 15
  minutes)

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Procedures, continued

• 2nd Week
• Determine a start and stop time for each day,
  and if you will play multiple times in a day.
• Explain how the game works and tell them the
  consequences for breaking the rules.
• Explain that teams with 4 or less check marks
  during the play time wins a daily prize, and that
  all teams can win.
• Tell them that, in addition, at the end of the
  day the winning teams will get a star placed on
  the scoreboard next to their team, and at the end
  of the week, the team(s) with the most stars, get
  a special reward.

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Begin the Game

• First Day of the GBG
• Set the timer for 15 minutes and announce the
  beginning of the game.
• During the game, each time a team member violates
  a rule, stop what you are doing and place a
  checkmark on the board for that team.
• Tell the class what the rule violation was, who
  did it, and then praise the other teams for
  behaving well.

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Playing the Game

• When the timer goes off, review with the class
  the number of check marks per team and announce
  the winning team(s).
• Immediately hand out the reward (tangible, such
  as stickers or candy) to the winning team(s) and
  offer praise to the winning team(s). The
  non-winning teams should do quiet seatwork with
  no special attention from the teacher.

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Playing the Game, continued

• Second Day of the GBG
• Erase the blackboard of the previous days check
  marks before the students come in.
• Announce that the class will again play the game
  for 15 minutes, repeat that the teams are the
  same, review the classroom rules and the 4 check
  marks or less criteria for winning the game.
• Remind the class that the game will be played
  throughout the week, and the team(s) that won
  most often will be the Weekly Winner(s) and will
  be given a special privilege.

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Weekly Winners

• At the end of the week, the Weekly Winner
  Team(s) will get a star with a happy face at the
  right-hand side of the GBG score board. The
  reward should be a little more special (e.g.,
  popcorn party). Again, non-winners should engage
  in quiet seat work with no special attention from
  the teacher.

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GBG Procedures Throughout the Year

• Continuing After the First Week
• On the first day of Week 3, review the progress
  of the class and solicit their opinions about the
  game. At this point, the students should choose a
  special privilege for Weekly Winners that week.
  This gives all the students a long-term goal to
  work toward.
• In the early weeks of the game, begin with
  tangible rewards that are distributed immediately
  following the game. When all 3 teams are winning
  consistently, begin to include intangible
  rewards.

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Throughout the Year, continued

• If all 3 teams continue to win consistently with
  both tangible and intangible rewards, start
  lengthening the time the game is played.
• When all 3 teams are winning consistently with a
  longer game time, begin altering the reward
  delivery time. For example, if the game is played
  from 900am to 1000am, the students should be
  told at the end of the game that rewards will be
  distributed after lunch. If the teams continue to
  win consistently, the teacher may play the game
  early in the morning and distribute rewards at
  the end of the school day.

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What to do if all 3 teams are not consistently
winning

• If too many disruptive children are on one
  team, you may need to rearrange your team
  composition.
• If all 3 teams are losing, you may need to give
  different tangible rewards immediately following
  the game and/or shorten the game time.
• If several students are consistently responsible
  for a team losing, you may consider forming a 4th
  team or using individualized behavior management
  strategies.

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What to do, continued

• When you split into the 4th team, do not make it
  appear to be a good thing or a privilege. Explain
  that the students are being moved so that their
  team can win the GBG and that they must remain on
  the 4th team until they win the GBG for 3
  consecutive sessions. When the 4th team has won 3
  consecutive games, the students may return to
  their original teams.