I am on a quest to figure out how checklists can simplify and improve the quality of our work in schools. If you haven’t read my first two installments of this little series, I suggest you do (they’re super quick reads!). Here’s the 1st. Here’s the 2nd.
This time I tried my hand at behavior management. How do we define a series of steps so that we can ensure that behavior management doesn’t dominate instruction? Also, how do we streamline it across a school so we have similar expectations for kids? I tried my hand at it here…what do you think?
Checklist for In-Class Behavior Management
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1 |
When a student is misbehaving, kindly ask student to replace with an alternate behavior (“Instead of _____, John, I would like you to do _____.”) |
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2 |
If behavior is not immediately corrected, then firmly ask the student to change behavior and add consequence (“John, I have asked you to _____ and you have chosen not to. I would like you to ____ right now. I do not want to have to ask you to leave the group!”) |
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3 |
If the behavior is changed and no longer an issue, find an immediate way to compliment the student on the changed behavior (“John…thanks so much for doing _____ -really nice job paying close attention.”) |
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4 |
If the behavior persists, quietly go over to the student, whisper directions to carry out consequence (Whispering: “John, please come and sit in this desk right now – I will let you know when you are free to join us again.”). Ignore the student if he acts out or tries to get other kids’ attention |
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5 |
Tell the student that he is still responsible for doing the work, just doing the work in a different spot in the room |
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6 |
If the student is not behaving in the new spot, give 1-2 calm reminders of what is expected (“Remember John, I’m looking for you to not blurt out and try to distract everyone. When you can do that, I’ll invite you back to the group, which is my #1 goal.”) |
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7 |
If the student is still not responding, then calmly move the student to the next step on the behavior chart (losing recess?) |
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8 |
If the student gets to the 4th step on the behavior chart, a note goes home with the student and the note comes to the principal’s office |
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9 |
Every new day is a fresh start for every student – we allow students to recover |
Losing recess is ineffective for kiddos with Tier II & Tier III behaviors. Also ineffective for students with ADHD , Autusm, and other concerns .
Agreed! I see a lot of teachers use this as a consequence. The point of the blog post was not what the next step was (like losing recess) but give a whole host of suggestions prior to having to even get to that step!