Fifty Reasonable Options You Have When Students Misbehave

 

             If you are like most classroom teachers, there is a great deal that can go right in the course of your school day and there is also a great deal that can go wrong. When the something that can go wrong involves student misbehavior, there are many different approaches that you can take to make sure that the situation is resolved in such a way that the student's dignity is intact and further misbehavior is prevented. Consider a these options the next time a student does not behave in a positive way. While are some geared to help you deal with the immediate situation, you will find that others will help you prevent further problems.

 

        1.        Praise good behavior and ignore as much of the bad as you can.

        2.        Call a parent or guardian to get help.

        3.        Hold a conference with the child.

        4.        Listen to the student’s version of an incident before taking action.

        5.        Determine on a course of planned ignoring to extinguish misbehavior.

        6.        Ask the offending student what the consequences should be.

        7.        Never allow “free time.”

        8.        Ask students to tell you alternative actions they should have taken.

        9.        Move the student to a time-out area to cool off and prevent further trouble.

       10.      Reward, reward, reward.

       11.      Make students feel worthy of trust.

       12.      Post and teach your class rules, routines, and expectations

       13.      Keep your students busy from door to door.

       14.      Discuss class rules periodically—daily at first.

       15.      Smile at a student who is getting ready to misbehave.

       16.      Give a potentially troublesome student a position of leadership in class.

       17.      If a child is perennially fidgety, work out ways to channel that energy in productive ways.

       18.      Consider putting friends close together so that they can help each other (and not talk across the room).

       19.      Always have a backup plan for your backup plan.

       20.      Appeal to as many learning styles as possible.

       21.      If an exciting school event is causing your class to be out of control, go with the flow. Plan assignments that can channel that energy productively.

       22.      Arrange a lending system for those students who do not have materials.

       23.      If an infraction is caused by a student’s minor slip of judgment, offer reassurances that you now it won’t happen again.

       24.      Make sure to build motivation into every lesson.

       25.      Create a reasonable policy for students to leave the room. Enforce it.

       26.      Set behavior goals for the entire group and reward them when they reach their goals.

       27.      Offer tangible rewards for good behavior at unpredictable times.

       28.      Be emotionally accessible to your students. Grouchy teachers have more problems than positive ones.

       29.      Give a child a second chance. Sometimes a warning is all that is needed.

       30.      Remind students of their future goals to help them remain focused on what’s important.

       31.      More closer to a student who is misbehaving.

       32.      Enforce the school rules.

       33.      Model the behavior you want.

       34.      Don’t waste time in debate when an infraction is clearly an infraction. Avoid being manipulated.

       35.      There is nothing wrong with being strict or in having high expectations.

       36.      Time your students.  When you say, “You have two minutes to finish, students will work with purpose.

       37.      Use inspiring messages and mottoes.

       38.      Be so polite that your students would have problems being rude to you.

       39.      Give students as many options as you can.

       40.      After an incident has happened, examine your own actions. What did you do to cause the problem?

       41.      Control the pace of a lesson. Lessons that are too hurried or that drag cause problems.

       42.      Move students to other seats.

       43.      Use seating charts from the first day onward.

       44.      Meet students at the door and greet them. Pass out handouts at this point in the day if you can.

       45.      Stay on your feet and move around. Monitor.

       46.      Make sure your students know the consequences of their good and bad behaviors.

       47.      Accept no excuses for rude behaviors.

       48.      Make sure students understand the criteria for success on an assignment.

       49.      Teach your students the “whys” of an assignment or rule.

       50.      Consider traffic flow issues.   Keep student movement areas safe for everyone.