CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT Trudie Hughes

Could this problem be a result of inappropriate curriculum or teaching strategies? What do I demand and prohibit? Why do certain behaviors bother me? Is this behavior developmentally appropriate? Do I focus on a behavioral excess or a deficiency? Will resolution of the problem solve anything else? Teacher’s Reflection Kauffman, J. M. , Hallahan, D. P., Mostert, M.P., Trent, S.C., & Nuttycombe, D.G. (1993). Managing Classroom Behavior. Boston: Allyn & Bacon

Good Teaching • Instructional goals are clear • Knowledgeable of content and strategies for teaching it • Student expectations are clearly described • Provide practice that enrich and clarify content • Teach metacognitive strategies

Good Teaching • Knowledgeable about student’s abilities, adapt instruction according to their needs • Monitor student progress • Provide feedback • Accept responsibility for student outcomes • Are thoughtful and reflective about their practice

Teacher Behaviors • Provide frequent positive praise and reinforcement • Ignore minor misbehaviors • Reward positive behaviors • Avoid power struggles with students • Do students like being in the classroom? • Students are achieving academic and social gain • Provide clear expectations

Teacher Behaviors Cont. • Provide clear behavioral expectations - rules should state what students should do • Teacher expectations should be high for all students • Signal control:audible or body language to cue student • Blocking: teacher moves between two students to interfere

Selecting Rules • Allow students to give input • Base rules on acceptable behavior • State rules positively • Select 5 or 6 rules • Select rules for academic and social behaviors • Change rules when necessary • Relate rules to IEP goals • Consider cultural differences

ABC’s to Behavior Management • Antecedent • Behavior • Consequences

Defining Behavior • Describe behavior objectively and precisely (not: “he irritates me”) • Can you observe the behavior when it begins and when it stops • can you count the number of occurrences each day • can you measure the duration of the behavior • Can you observe what happens just before and just after it occurs

Identifying Antecedents • What are the events or conditions that immediately precede the problem behavior? • Can you manipulate the antecedents to avoid the behavior? (e.g. providing choices for activities)

Reading Antecedents • Facial Expressions: tight thin lips, clenched teeth, widened eyes with nostrils flared • Body Posture: head down, slumped shoulders, clenched hands, sucking or chewing • Incidental Behavior: rapid shallow breathing, sighing, kicking, mumbling, tearing paper, breaking pencils

Identifying Consequences • What does the student “get” out of the behavior? • Are students getting attention, avoiding work, receiving stimulus, or enjoy seeing adults upset?

Changing Behavior • Provide instruction with simple and clear directions • Gain student’s full attention before giving instructions • Provide one instruction at a time - do not provide too many different instructions • Monitor compliance - provide time limits • Provide appropriate consequences for compliance

Behavior Management Techniques • Positive Reinforcement • Negative Reinforcement • Extinction • Response Cost Punishment • Proximity Control • Decontamination

Positive Reinforcement • The positive reinforcement must be rewarding to the student • The reinforcers must be contingent on the behavior you want to increase • The reinforcers should be delivered immediately • Provide appropriate units of rewards for the expected unit of behavior

Negative Reinforcement • Definition: reinforcing a behavior by removing or preventing something unpleasant - allows the individual to escape or avoid a negative consequence • Not recommended as a prominent part of classroom management • negative reinforcement relies on the presence or threat of negative consequences • deliberate negative reinforcement sets the stage for coercion/intimidation

Extinction • To eliminate a behavior - you eliminate its reinforcement, the behavior no longer produces the desired effect (positive or negative) • Disadvantages: slow process and when extinction procedures are first implemented, the behavior will likely become worse before better

Response Cost • The behavior “costs” something by withholding or withdrawing a positive reinforcer contingent on a specific misbehavior • Example: students receive 10 tokens at the beginning of class, every time a problem behavior occurs, the teacher gets 1 token back. The tokens can be exchanged at the end of the day or class for free time.

Proximity Control • Visual - visually monitor student activity from any position in the classroom • Physical - teacher positions her/himself close to each student to inhibit antecedent

Decontamination • Preventive action by inspecting classroom for two types of objects • Distractors: entice students to engage in off-task behaviors (e.g. toys, slide projectors, hazards: exposed wires, broken windows • Potential Weapons: letter openers, knives, broom handle, hammer and yard stick

Informal Interventions • Attention for compliance - verbal praise • Use social praise consistently • Provide praise only to students who earn it • Ignoring: only appropriate when: • the target behavior is temporarily tolerable • the target behavior is under the influence of a reinforcer that you can control

Structured Interventions • Group Consequences • Individual Consequences • Individual Contracts • Self Management

Group Consequences • Provide a set of behavior rules or expectations • Determine the interval of time for the contingency - the longer the interval, the more valuable the reward • Provide a menu of choices to avoid satiation • Develop a record keeping system • Determine criterion for reinforcement

Individual Consequences • Surprise Tokens: reinforcers are delivered at times that are not predictable by students • Random Drawing: students place their name on a piece of paper and place into a jar when they comply to rules, at the end of the day, conduct a drawing for prizes

Individual Contracts • An agreement between the teacher and the student about a desirable change in behavior • Parts of the contract • The parties to the contract • The target behavior • The goal for the target behavior • The time period for the contract • The reward available for meeting the terms • The penalty for failing to honor the contract

Self Management • Behavioral Definition: help the student choose a behavior to monitor • Teach the student to record behavior • Event recording • Permanent Product recording • Teach the student how to plot the data • Teach the student how to apply self-reinforcement • Use contracts to provide structure

Identifying Coercive Interactions • Starts with an antecedent that is aversive and the student tries to escape or avoid the activity. • Two parties are trying to control each other. • How do these interactions start? • At what point could I avoid the process by disengaging from it? • How could I start a different interaction that does not end in a power struggle? • How could I try to replace coercive interactions with ones ending in positive consequences?

Teacher Stress • Burnout Symptoms • Feeling of boredom, overwork, emotional exhaustion, and fatigue • Development of negative, cynical, or depersonalizing attitudes toward students • Lack of sense of accomplishment from the job

Managing Teacher Stress • Time management • Student behavior • Interpersonal relationships • Role expectations • Personal concerns

Poor Time Management • Uncontrolled rushing • Chronic vacillation between unpleasant alternatives • Fatigue with many hours of unproductive activity • Constantly missed deadlines • Insufficient time for rest and personal relationships • Sense of being overwhelmed

Time Management Techniques • Self-Management • Time analysis • Goal setting • Prioritization • Delegation • Action

Interpersonal Concerns • Poor staff relations • Insufficient opportunities for professional growth • Administrative ineffectiveness • Lack of recognition

Role Expectations • Teachers often set expectations around being liked, helpful, and in control • Role ambiguity: confusion of the scope and specific responsibilities of the job • Role conflict: discrepancy between teacher’s perception of the job and the perceptions of significant others

Personal Solutions • Relaxation • Compartmentalized Thinking: separation between work and personal life • Detached Concern: do not dwell on things over which you have no control • Personal Time • Cognitive Restructuring: focus on strengths not weaknesses

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT