Managing Everyday

Classroom Behaviour

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 Effective Classroom Management
Taking Control of Your Students' Behaviour to Enable Learning

Teaching can be difficult in today’s society when students are more and more
disrespectful. Through your positive tone, clear rules, and consistent
consequences and rewards, most students will begin to respect you and your
classroom rules. A behaviour plan may help those students who still have
difficulty, and help you find your way to the end of a successful school year.
Set a Positive Tone
Student smell fear. They also smell disrespect, uncertainty, and insecurity.
When setting the tone in your classroom, you need to be confident, respectful
and quick on your feet. Greet each day with a smile, act like you want to be
there, and are excited to see each and every one of your students. Excitement is
contagious, so be excited about learning, about good behaviour, about weekends
and about snow falling outside your classroom window! If the students are
distracted by something, draw attention to it, acknowledge it, and
then bring the focus back to the topic at hand.
Set Clear Expectations for the Students
Ensure that the rules you have posted are positive. Tell the students what you
want them to do and how you want them to act, instead of telling them how to
not act. If you have clear expectations for students’ actions, then you are more
likely to have them follow the rules
Consistent Consequences and Rewards
Consistency is one of the key elements in any discipline or behaviour plan. Set
the expectations clearly, and expect them to obey those expectations. When a
student deviates from the expected behaviour, remind him of the rules. If the
students expect a reward for a certain behaviour, be sure to give them that
reward each time. If the students are expecting a consequence for
misbehaviour, do not give repeated warnings or reminders without following
through. Students will quickly learn that you will not back your own words up,
and that they can get away with anything. You may have to send notes home to
parents or follow through on your other consequences several times in the first
weeks of school before the students realize that you mean what you say and that
you will not back down. Once this happens, your students should start to listen,
and follow the rules.

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Behaviour Plans
If you have a specific student in your class who is consistently disobeying a
rule, acting out, or otherwise behaving badly, a behaviour plan may be an
effective option. Chose that specific action that you want to see that student
change (stay seated, keep hands to himself, etc), and develop a list of rewards
that the student can earn as he follows that rule. Through setting a positive tone,
having clear expectations, and being consistent, you will be able to begin taking
control of your classroom so that your students will be able to learn

Disruptive Behaviour in the Classroom

What to Do with a student Who Continually Acts out in Class

If you notice unusual behaviour from a student in your class, there are several
things you should do. Documenting what you see, and what you do in response,
will help provide vital information to the guidance counsellor or special
education teachers who will help you gain control of this student.
Document the Behaviour You See
Document the behaviour that you notice. Is the Student mimicking those around
her? Document what the Student mimics, and how often you notice the
behaviour. Does the Student act out aggressively? Write down what happened
immediately prior to the aggressive act each time it happens. Documenting
exactly what you see will enable those who are specially trained in special
education to be able to better understand what is going in on your classroom.
The most helpful information includes what happened directly prior to the
action (the triggering event) and exactly what the Student did or said in response.
Document Your Reaction to the Behaviour
So the Student threw a fit and ripped up his paper, flinging the pieces on the
Student sitting next to him. How did you handle the situation? Documenting
your verbal and nonverbal reaction to the Student will help special educators
know what interventions have already been tried. Some verbal interventions
include verbal redirection, time outs, having the student apologize, missed
recess, conference with the teacher, notes or calls home, or conference with the
parent. Nonverbal interventions including ignoring the behaviour, proximity to
the student, shaking your head and a warning look. You can also try a behaviour
plan to control the behaviour.

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When to Go Directly to Your Guidance Counsellor
Throughout the process of documenting unusual behaviour in your classroom,
you should be in communication with your guidance Counsellor or special
education teacher. There will be some instances where you need to go directly
to your guidance counsellor.

If the student in your class draws a disturbing picture, take the picture to the
guidance counsellor and be sure to tell the counsellor what was going on in the
class when the student drew the picture (free time, assignment, math class?).
This includes pictures of violence, pictures of a sexual nature, and anything
involving weapons or injured people or animals that seem out of place with the
lesson.

Report if the student tells you or another student about violence at home, about
someone hurting him, or touching him inappropriately. Also, any talk about
bullying or being bullied should be reported to the guidance counsellor. If a
student comes in with a bruise, if possible, have 2 adults ask what happened, if
the story is plausible and consistent, then it is probably true. If the story
changes, the student seems uncomfortable, or the story seems implausible, it
might be worth a trip to the guidance counsellor as well.

You will have students who act out in your class. The younger the grade, the
greater chance you have of the student having a disability not identified yet. If
you are concerned about a student in your class, start documenting what you
see, and then talk to your guidance counsellor or special educator to find out
what else can be done.

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 How to Motivate Your Students
Nine Motivating Ideas for Teachers
Each Student is different and requires a different motivation. What works for
one Student may or may not work for the rest of your class. Finding what
motivates each student will help increase student achievement. Here are nine
methods that may work in your classroom.
Remain Positive
Yelling and threatening students is not an effective way to motivate. Remaining
positive and focusing on achievement will motivate students and help to create
mutual respect for each individual and for learning. Consider creating a student
of the week bulletin board to focus on the positives in each student.
Provide Opportunities for Success
Struggling students need to succeed in some small ways in order to be
motivated to achieve in greater ways. Without lowering your expectations, find
ways to allow these struggling students to succeed. This may require adding
simple questions to homework assignments, or asking a few basic questions
when introducing a new topic and ensuring that the weaker students have a
chance to answer.
Be Excited
The more excited you are about something, the more excited your students will
be. If you find the topic you are teaching boring, so will your students, so find
creative ways to teach the most boring lessons. For example, when reviewing
material for a test or quiz, turn it into a game of Jeopardy, and play around the
world when reviewing math facts.
Allow Students to Earn Rewards
Individual and whole class rewards can be a great motivation, especially when
looking for appropriate behaviour. This can be as complicated or as simple as
you make it. Individual behaviour plans can provide specific motivation for
individual students while earning a handful of marbles to fill a jar can motivate
a whole class.

Teach Teamwork
Have activities that your students can work on together. Group your students for
simple projects such as finding a current event to share every week. Have your
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students work in teams on projects that enable learning through exploration.
Consider your student groupings carefully so as to motivate students to work
harder and not allow others to pick up their slack.
Public Praise
Make a habit of publicly praising students for achievement. You can even go as
far as to create a certificate of achievement, have the student stand to receive the
certificate and send it home for the Student's parents to display on the
refrigerator.
Appropriate Praise
Praise students appropriately. If you are struggling to motivate a Student, be
careful to not praise him for a non-achievement. Praise him for a job well done.
Rewards and praise should not be handed out left and right, instead, they should
be selective and appropriate in order to motivate your students.
Teach Problem Solving Skills
Teaching your students to solve problems will allow them to be naturally
interested in what they are learning. Providing opportunities for students to
make mistakes and figure out how to accomplish a goal will make school more
interesting, and thus motivate them to try.
Provide Opportunities for Varied Experiences
Different Studentren will succeed in different areas in their lives. Include
opportunities for learning each of the multiple intelligences theorized by Dr.
Gardner in 1983. This allows students to succeed in a variety of ways. The more
success a student sees in the classroom, the more motivated he will be to
continue to succeed. Motivating students takes a little effort, but the reward is
well worth the work. Be creative as you figure out what motivation works for
each student in your class. The more motivated your students are the more
learning will take place.

When to Ignore Student Behaviour

Ways to Curtail Unwanted Behaviour in the Classroom

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In order to promote well behaved students, teachers must have clearly
established rules and consequences, a consistent response to misbehaviour, and
an understanding of when to ignore student behaviour. Teachers need to keep an
eye out for students who misbehave in class in order to receive attention, and
reverse that mentality through praise for positive behaviour.
Clearly Established Rules and Consequences
Less is more when deciding on rules for your classroom. Decide on three to five
positively stated rules either before the first day of school or with the students
help on the first day of school and post them in a clearly visible spot in the
classroom. These rules should state the expected behaviour, not the
misbehaviour. For example, stating that students remain in their seats is better
than stating that students are not to get out of their seats The consequences for
student misbehaviour should be clearly posted or understood. These
consequences can be established by the students, by school policy or by the
teacher. Those consequences thought up by the students are generally the most
effective consequences as many teachers have discovered. Students who know
what is expected of them and know what the consequences are for bad
behaviour are more likely to be respectful in the classroom.
Consistency is Key
On the first day of school, teachers set the tone and expectations for students.
Through tone of voice, body language and actions, you need to demonstrate that
you are in charge, not the students. When a student breaks a rule, the entire class
will be watching to see how you respond. React decisively and appropriately
when a student misbehaves, and be consistent each day to establish the
expectation that students must follow the rules and be respectful in your class.
reduce the attention seeking behaviour. Ideas of how to do this include:
1. Praising the student in front of the class
2. Quiet thanks for staying focused
3. Frequent positive comments as the teacher walks around the classroom
4. Fast paced learning environment to keep the student on his toes
5. Have the student be a special helper or run errands for you
6. Assign the student to help a classmate
7. Individual behaviour plan with incentives such as lunch with the teacher
8. Other comments such as "I like how Johnny is sitting quietly in his seat"
to call attention to positive behaviour.
Most often, students misbehave for a reason. Not understanding the
expectations, inconsistency from the teacher, and the desire for attention are
three common reasons students act up. Remind students of the expectations and
consequences when necessary. Remember to remain consistent in your response
to misbehaviour and watch for attention seeking behaviours in the classroom to
help create a positive atmosphere of respect and learning

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 Role Playing to Teach Specific Behaviour
Teaching Student Appropriate Behaviour Management
One of the biggest problems teachers face every day is effective classroom
management. Students with an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) may already
have a behaviour plan in place, but special needs students are not the only
students who benefit from a behaviour plan. The student who needs a behaviour
plan does not follow one or more of the class rules, does not listen to teacher
redirection and needs to learn how to control himself in classroom situations.
How to Write a Behaviour Plan
There are two steps to write an effective behaviour plan: Decide on target
behaviours and chose rewards for proper behaviour. First, you must decide on
one or two target behaviours that you desire to see in your student. These are
not the misbehaviours (talking out, hitting), but are the positive behaviour you
want to see (listen when teacher is talking, keep hands to yourself). Although
you may be able to come up with a long list of target behaviours, pick one or
two of the most important behaviours you want to see. Second, you must chose
rewards for the student to receive for behaving appropriately in class. In order to
do this, you should either conference with the student to find out what rewards
he or she would like to have on the plan, or put together a list of 6-7 rewards
and during the student conference, allow the student to pick 3-4 of those choices
to have on the plan. Two key points to remember when choosing rewards: The
student MUST be motivated by the rewards, and there MUST be a choice of
rewards.
How to Implement a Behaviour Plan
Once you have written your behaviour plan and held a conference with the
student to choose the rewards, you must consistently implement the plan in
order to see results. First, split your time with the student up into sections, and
then rate your student’s behaviour during each of those time periods. In order to
earn the reward, your student should behave appropriately throughout more than
half of time periods during the day. As the student behaviour beings to improve,
raise your expectations. For example, in the following sample, instead of
requiring 10 points to earn the reward, require 12 points.

You can tape the plan to the student’s desk to remind the student of the
expected behaviour. If student does not respond well to a whole day plan,
consider splitting the plan into two sections, allowing the student to earn a
reward twice a day

Creative Discipline Ideas for Teachers

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 Classroom Discipline Methods that Work

Students respond differently to different types of discipline. One student may

respond really well to a punishment while another student may only respond to
rewarded good behaviour. It may take some trial and error, but a little effort will
result in a well behaved and focused class.
Write a Brief Constructed Response
Megan Hartman’s class decided that they should have to write a BCR for
homework upon the second warning and be asked to leave the class upon the
fourth warning. In order to return to class the student would still have to hand in
a BCR. This method provides incentive for the students to obey, as well as an
academic challenge when they disobey.
Instructional Time for Recess Time
Using a stop watch, keep track of the amount of time that your instructional
time is interrupted by a discipline problem. Then at recess time, explain to the
whole class that since they used your instructional time for their own purposes,
you get to you some of their recess time for your instructional time. Provide a
simple quiet activity for the class to complete during the amount of time you are
keeping them in, such as independent reading, or opportunity to get started on
their homework. The idea is that by keeping the entire class in, peer pressure
will convince the one or two students who disrupt the class to start listening.
Addressing Bad Language
Jody S. from New York addresses bad language in a unique way. Instead of
directly addressing a student who uses inappropriate language in class, she
effectively translates the language for the student. For example, when the
student uses poor language choices in reference to an assignment, she calmly
rewords the complaint by saying something like: this is difficult and is
frustrating me. This throws the students off guard and as she continues to
translate the language, the students get the idea, the situation remains calm, and
the students learn more appropriate vocabulary to express themselves.

Catch Students Being Good

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Crystal Alfano-Gallegos uses raffle tickets and walks around the room to catch
students being good. She then raffles off prizes once a month. Sometimes she
raffles off prizes weekly or even daily. This idea will cost some money to
provide simple prizes, but the pay off will be a well behaved class that strives to
be the best they can. Crystal uses the idea to teach her students about probability
as well.
Write an Apology Letter
When catching a student making fun of another student, require a letter of
apology written to the student. This letter then needs to go home and receive a
parent signature, then be brought back to school and read aloud in front of the
class. This punishment is very effective, and you will most likely only have to
enforce it once before students get the idea that they are to be encouraging to
one another.
Allow the Students to Decide
Many of the best ideas for student discipline, including several mentioned in
this article, were thought up by students. Allowing the students to decide on the
method of punishment for misbehaving will result in a more effective classroom
management plan as students will become the classroom police for one another
as well as ensure that the punishment is carried out. Be creative when coming
up with a new discipline strategy for an unruly class or student. What works for
one class may not work for your next class, so keep that in mind when deciding
each year how you will manage discipline problems

More Classroom Management Tips

Creative Ideas Teachers Use to Control Student Behaviour

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Teachers frequently Teachers frequently come up with new ideas to improve
their Classroom management. When one idea does not work, or quits working,
change it up with a new idea. Here are a few of those ideas that may work for your
students
Mystery Students
Some teachers will use the idea of a mystery student to encourage students to
act appropriately. A teacher can look for a mystery walker while the students
are walking in the halls, a mystery reader to encourage focus and effort, a
mystery student of the day and even a mystery piece of trash to involve all
students in the classroom cleanup process. Picking one boy and one girl to help
you choose a mystery student will involve the students in watching for
appropriate behaviour.
Think About What You’ve Done
Some teachers will have a desk set aside in their room for behaviour
modification. At the desk, students have to write down the answers to three
questions:
1. What did I do wrong?
2. What could I have done instead?
3. What will I do differently next time?

If your students are not capable of writing the answers to these questions, they
can think about the questions and answer each one verbally.
Fun Friday
Taking recess away can often back fire on a teacher who then has to deal with a
hyperactive student all afternoon who did not get to run off some of the excess
energy. An alternative to this is to have Fun Friday, or a Preferred Activity
Time. This can be as simple as a half hour of free time. The Studentren who
have not earned the right to participate must sit at their desks with their heads
down.
Turning a Card
Many teachers use a card system: starting on green at the beginning of the day,
students can receive a warning (yellow card) and a consequence (red card).
Once they have a red card, the consequence can be calling the parents, a note
home to the parents, or a consequence that the students have come up with.
Having students call home and explain to a parent what they have done in class
can be very effective in promoting good behaviour.

Pay Day for Good Behaviour

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You can come up with your own class currency and pay students for good
behaviour in the classroom. The students should also have to pay the teacher
when they have poor behaviour. A store filled with little trinkets for the students
to purchase will teach not only good behaviour, but provide excellent
opportunities to teach money skills.
Your Age
For older elementary level students, having them play on the younger end of the
playground during recess can be a huge deterrent to Studentish and immature
behaviour in the classroom. If the playground is not divided in this way, you can
always assign a specific area that the students can play on without talking to
students from other classes.
Earning Free Time
Using a time bank, so to speak, you can encourage Studentren to demonstrate
appropriate behaviour all day long. Start off with a set amount of time, for
example, twenty minutes. Students can then earn additional time or lose time
based on their behaviour throughout the day. Coming up with creative methods
to keep the entire class in line may seem difficult, but with a little effort, you
will be rewarded with a well behaved class. The better your students behave for
you, the more instructional time you will have with them, resulting in better test
grades, and more respectful students.

Classroom Management for Substitutes

Managing Classroom Behaviour as a Substitute Teacher
substitute teaching, there are several things you can do that will make your day
go more smoothly. Through clear expectations, plenty of work to keep the
students busy and a positive attitude throughout the day, you will be able to
enjoy your day while keeping student behaviour under control.
Reinforce Class Rules and Expectations
By familiarizing yourself with the class rules set up by the regular classroom
teacher, you will be able to reinforce these expectations with the students. Most
classrooms will have the rules posted somewhere. Look at them, and learn the
wording. This will help you during the day as you remind students of the rules.
Common expectations you should enforce include mutual respect, listening
when the teacher is talking, and keeping hands to self.
Set Your Own Class Rules
Although you need to have students follow the set expectations of the regular
teacher, it is important to have your own set of rules and expectations that the
students will follow. This will provide

you a way to handle situations that come up when the students say but our
teacher lets us…” Explain to the students that your rules are for them to raise
their hand before answering a question, or whatever happens to be the issue at
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the moment. While you are the teacher in the class, the students must listen to
you and respect your rules. Some ideas include:
 Walk
 No name calling
 Raise hand to talk
 Respect one another
 Follow directions

Keeping Students on Task

In order to prevent wasted moments and prevent behaviour problems, it is
important to keep the students on task. In order to do this, you need to begin
instruction as immediately as possible. If you finish before time is up, use a
quick filler activity in order to prevent down time. Walk around the class to
monitor student behaviour. This will also provide you an opportunity to learn
student names. If you cannot remember a name, walking to the student’s desk
and quietly redirecting the student allows you to look at the nametag on the desk
discreetly.
Remain Positive in Class
Modelling a positive behaviour for the students is important as a substitute
teacher. If the students know that you do not want to be there, they will be more
difficult to manage. Never let students smell fear. Find opportunities each class
period to reinforce student responses and provide praise for good behaviour.
Not only will this help the students behave better in class, but it will help to
create a safe atmosphere for the students to learn in.
Lecture as little as possible and use questioning strategies as you teach. Student
led investigations may not be easy depending on the lesson plans left by the
regular classroom teacher, but whenever possible, resort to a questioning style
of teaching instead of a lecture style. Ensure that all students have the
opportunity to participate as well.

When substitute teaching, behaviour management is one of the more difficult

things to get the hang of. Creating a learning environment where all students
feel safe and desire to learn is possible, though, with a little effort. Remember to
reinforce the class rules, and set a few of your own, keep the students on task
and set a positive tone in everything you do.

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