6 effective behavior management
strategies.
Handling bad behavior in the classroom is a given for teachers,
regardless of what level they teach. The below strategies are essential to the
effective management of any classroom.
1. Remain calm.
It's hard not to take it personally
when someone doesn't follow our rules. But the first step to managing someone
else's behavior is first to manage your own. Take a deep breath and remember this isn't, really, about
you. And that yelling at someone isn't very effective.
2. Model the behavior you want to see.
Staying calm serves a purpose beyond
just keeping you sane. Your own behavior and attitude teach your students how
to really behave. If you break a few rules here and there,
like losing your temper and not apologizing for it, you're teaching them that
they can do that, too.
3. Establish a quasi-democracy
Involving the entire classroom in
creating some of your rules or determining punishments and rewards gets kids
invested in the overall behavioral health of their classroom. Introduce a need,
such as "we need a rule about how to behave in line," and then lead a
discussion.
4. Follow the rules, consistently.
Layout what is and isn't okay, and
then stick to that. Enforcing a rule one day but not the next paves a quick
short road to confusion. Just as your behavior needs to be clear and
consistent, so too does your adherence to the rules.
5. Dole out rewards and punishments.
Effective behavior management involves
instilling an understanding of actions equaling set consequences. Misbehavior
in the morning is not offset by good behavior in the afternoon, at least not in
terms of punishment. If someone earned having a few minutes taken away from
recess time, then that's what needs to happen. Same, too, with rewards.
6. Isolate truly disruptive behaviors.
Some kids struggle with tantrums or
other outbursts. These can escalate quickly, and often the only way to diffuse
the situation is to move the child to a different area. Create a quiet space,
like a time-out area, and use it as a zone for kids to chill out.
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