Behavior Management

1
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

2
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.

3
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."

4
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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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
  behaviorEx "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."

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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

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Behavior

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

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Behavior

• Implications for the ClassroomThere is always a
  reason for what is occurring. There is always a
  goal behind every behavior Attention, Power,
  Revenge, Avoidance of failureAddress the
  behavior, but investigate to figure out the
  cause. If the cause is not addressed, the problem
  will continue.

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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.

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Reacting

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

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

20
Behavior

• If students are engaged, they are not causing
  trouble.

How can students misbehave if their attention
is focused on something productive?
Students do not interfere with what they value.
Engaging, high-interest, relevant lessons are
the positive to acting out.
21
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?

22
Behavior

• Implications for the Classroom

Use inquiry-based, investigative learning,
constructivist based lessons.
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.
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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.

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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.

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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?"

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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!

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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?"

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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

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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?

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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.

34
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.

35
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?

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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.

37
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.)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

42
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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.RETEAC
  H! REHEARSE! REINFORCE!

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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.

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Routine and Procedure

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

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Procedures Sharing

• 1. What to do when coming to class2. How to
  enter the classroom3. What to do when the fire
  alarm sounds4. What to do when you finish your
  work early5. What to do when you have a question

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Procedures Sharing

• 6. When to sharpen your pencil7. How to sharpen
  your pencil ( at the sharpener, etc.)8. What to
  do when you need to use the restroom9. Where to
  find the assignment (homework, bellringer,
  others, etc.)10. How you will get their
  attention and what they should do

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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
  complete13. Where to find assignments if they
  have been absent14. What to do at the end of
  class15. Working in groups

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Procedures Sharing

• 16. How/when to move around the room17. How
  to use classroom materials and where to find
  them18. Lunch tickets19. What to do if you're
  tardy20. What to do if you're absent21. How to
  cross the street22. How to walk in the hallway

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Behavior Management Tricks of the Trade

• 1. Use humor to address your concerns and
  avoid a conflict.

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Behavior Management Tricks of the Trade

• 2. Eye contact

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Behavior Management Tricks of the Trade

• 3. Teacher proximity

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Behavior Management Tricks of the Trade

• 4. Call home

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Behavior Management Tricks of the Trade

• 5. Ignore the behavior (attention-seeking,
  especially)

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Behavior Management Tricks of the Trade

• 6. Mention the student's name while
  teaching7. Send a secret signal

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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

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Behavior Management Tricks of the Trade

• 11. Distract the student (ask for assistance
  with something, ask a question, etc.)

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Behavior Management Tricks of the Trade

• 12. Time out in a teammate's classroom

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Behavior Management Tricks of the Trade

• 13. Table the matter until later14. Agree
  with the student
• (Example "You can't make me!""You are
  absolutely right!")

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Behavior Management Tricks of the Trade

• 15. Change the subject16. Sing17. Get to
  know your students

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Behavior Management Tricks of the Trade

• 18. One put up for every put down19. Make
  mistakes okay20. Recognize positive behaviors

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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

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Techniques that Backfire

• Using degrading, insulting, humiliating, or
  embarrassing putdowns
• Using sarcasm
• Attacking the student's character
• Acting superior

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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

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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"

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Techniques that Backfire

• Preaching
• Making assumptions
• Making unsubstantiated accusations
• Holding a grudge
• Nagging

70
Techniques that Backfire

• Throwing a temper tantrum
• Mimicking the student
• Making comparisons with siblings or other
  students
• Commanding, demanding, dominating
• Rewarding the student

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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.

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The Challenge

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

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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.

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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.

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Resources

• Behavior http//cpt.fsu.edu/tree/behavior.html
• The Behavior Homepage
• http//www.state.ky.us/agencies/behave/homepage.ht
  ml
• 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.h
  tml
• 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