Behavior Management Suggestions
Since I have only worked at the elementary level and someday may move on to the middle and high school levels of art education, I was wondering what works at these different age levels when it comes to behavior problems. What has worked for you?
As of right now I am not in the teaching field, because I do not have a job; but there are some things that I did during student teaching that worked for me. One of the things I did to work with students who were behavior problems was move them away from their friends and put them towards the front of the classroom. If they continued to talk I would take them outside and ask them what was going on and why they were being a distraction. Usually they would straighten up after that, because I did everything out of respect and respected them the way I handled it.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest thing when it comes to the respect of secondary level students is just respect. Yes you will have students who are considered "problem" children but if you show you are in control and have a plan most students will do as told. Biggest thing I have noticed is calling a student out the very first time. Such as a kid is talking in the back corner and you just call out his or her name. Usually they will become quite but later on in the class they will resent you. Students have that age are trying to find themselves I would suggest to just go over to their desk and tell them you see them and its not appropriate, talk with them after class, or just ask for the entire class to remember class rules.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any formal classroom setting teaching experience, but I am familar with children and the multitude of behavioral issues. I've worked for psychologists for the last 5 years, and the majority of their patients are children. No matter the age of a child, the primary issue typically stems from self esteem. Of course there is only so much you can do, especially considering these problems exist in the home environment as well, but there are techniques you can incorporate in the classroom. For example, if a child is acting out in class, I would immediately stop the child and ask what he/she thinks the outcome of their actions will be: "Johnnie, what do you think the consequence of your disruptive behavior will have on the class?" Informing the child of their behavioral disturbances in assertive, yet calm approaches will let the child know their actions are clearly observable and unacceptable. In addition, whenever possible, use positive reinforcement! As mentioned previously, most children suffer from self-esteem issues and need a boost when deserved. This encouragement will stimulate their desire to do well, receiving more awards for their positive behavior. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI do not have any formal classroom experience, but I do work with some secondary age (although more elementary than secondary age) kids. As cparis stated, I think the biggest thing with middle and high schoolers is respect. You have to be assertive and show that you have plan and are in control, but you can still do that respectfully and in a kind of low key way. Of course that isn't always going to work for all students, but I have found it to work very well for most. For those others, you may just have to make your role a little more noticed - maybe be less low key and more assertive in making your point.
ReplyDeleteEveryone seems to agree that respect goes a long way in the classroom. I think it does too. I know belittling a child in front of their friends will only create problems for later. I expect children to talk in my classroom and when their is no talking going on it feels odd and uncomfortable. I do expect them to treat each other with respect and I don't tolerate rude disrespectful attitudes or conversations
ReplyDeleteI have been teaching middle school and now high school students for eight years. There are a variety of things that help with classroom management and I will agree with our other classmates that respect is key. Creating a good repoire with your students takes some time, but once they see for themselves that you treat them fairly then you begin to gain their respect. Being organized is very important because if you seem unorganized or confused they will feed off of that and try to start problems because they see you don't have time to deal with them. The majority of the time if I simply speak to them privately about their actions and consquences their behavior will get better, but bottom line they have to know you care enough to give them some time. Once they understand that you care for their best interests they will want to please you in most cases. Also, make sure that you call their parents and say something positive about what their child is doing in class before you ever call to complain. If they are a parent of a problem child they are generally only use to hearing the bad and never anything good from the teacher. This will help get everyone on the same team from the start. I could literally go on forever about this topic!
ReplyDeletemlietz - Organization! You are so very right about that. If you are not prepared and organized it gives students the clue that they can act in the same unorganized manner. Talking out, not paying attention, doodling etc.
ReplyDeleteI agree with mlietz. Organization is the key and example is the second key to a successful classroom. I have been out of the classroom for some time but if I could show respect and tell what I expected it worked. Taking away things they enjoy, such as playground time, separate them from their peers also worked. I always tried to find the source of the acting up and misbehavior. usually the child was facing a tough time at home and wanted attention or had bigger problems outside school that he did not want to share with others... Getting the parents to work together with the teachers seems to be the best path.
ReplyDeleteWhat has seemed to work best for me is to first compliment the student on something positive that you have noticed them doing and then to redirect the wrong behavior. For instance, a student who is talking while instruction is given, you would say "Johnny, I love how excited you seem about this new topic, but if you just hold off of talking for one minute, I would bet you would be even more excited". Always complimenting first seems to get themevery time.
ReplyDeleteA.Melo, you are so right about the problems at home. Some of the angriest children I have had in class, have had problems at home they felt they couldn't talk about. It's a very sad story with a very happy ending though. A family of six children were taken into one foster home by a teacher who knew them. Not only did she take them in, she ADOPTED them. YEA!!! I have heard that two of the oldest children have started college and all the others are doing well. I love happy endings. ( :
ReplyDeleteJlreed, Compliments do go a long way for a child's ego. I have found that they work great with bullies. Some bullies are just wanting to be leaders and don't know how to go about being a good leader. I remember one girl who was a pack leader who was picking on one girl who was not a part of her group. I took her aside and pointed out that she was a leader, but in order to be a good leader she needed to be considerate of others even if she didn't like them. I hope she is still trying to be fair in middle school, but I know it solved the bulling problem that was starting in my class.
ReplyDeleteI think that the first thing that helps is establishing a relationship with each individual student that enters the classroom. The other day, I was talking with another educator about students not focusing and becoming discipline problems. She stated that she went to a workshop that taught he little timeouts that helped students focus. One of the things that she said was that they would play like "Simon Says" for 5 minutes. She also stated that a create way for students to relax is the place the soft part of velcro underneath the table. This is for students to rub and it said to be relaxing for the students.
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