Effective Strategies for Classroom Management

Effective Strategies for Classroom Management Angela L. Snyder, Ph.D. Kevin S. Sutherland, Ph.D. Problem Behavior Research Center Virginia Commonwealth University

Basic Rules of Thumb • You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar • Behavior is • a function of its environment • strengthened or weakened by its consequences • Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior • You can only know if a behavior has changed by observing future behavior

Guiding Principles of Effective Classroom Management • Explicitly defined desired behaviors • Integrated management strategies within instruction • Students are active participants in the learning environment • Being proactive, not reactive

Proactive Behavior Management Involves: • Clearly communicated rules and expectations for student behavior • Ongoing positive and corrective feedback • Fair and consistent treatment of students • Developing and maintaining a schedule or routine • Monitoring peer interactions • Modeling desired behavior

Positive Reinforcement • Behavior change generally occurs when consequences are attached to behavior • The idea behind positive reinforcement is that a reward is given when a desired behavior occurs, thus increasing the likelihood of that behavior occurring again

Reinforcement Do’s • Contingent • reinforcement received only after performing the target behavior • Pair tangible reinforcement with verbal praise • Consistency • Immediacy • reinforcement must be presented immediately after target behavior • if not, may inadvertently reinforce intervening behavior

Promoting Academic Engagement • Edwards & Chard (2000) • Teacher engagement = student engagement • Recommendations • Plan instruction with high levels of teacher engagement • Actively work with students on whole class or group projects • Monitor independent work • Cue appropriate behavior • Frequent Opportunities to Respond (OTR) to academic requests

Strategies to Limit Behavioral Acceleration (Walker, Colvin, & Ramsey, 1995) • Avoid escalating behaviors • Maintain • calmness • respect • detachment • Crisis-Prevention Strategies • Establish negative consequences beforehand • Follow through

The Good Behavior Game(Barrish, Saunders, & Wolfe; 1969) • What is it? • A behavior modification program that improves teachers’ ability to define tasks, set rules, and discipline students • Allows students to work in teams in which they are responsible to the rest of the group.

What is it? (Continued) • The Good Behavior Game is a group-contingency classroom management strategy that aims to reduce disruptive, aggressive, off-task and shy behaviors • Good behavior is promoted by rewarding teams that do not exceed maladaptive behavior standards.

Team Competition • Students compete for special privileges and rewards. • When problem behavior of any team member occurs, check marks are recorded for that team. • If the check marks for a team remain at or below a pre-set number (ie. 4) by the end of the game, the team wins. • All teams may win if their check marks do not exceed the pre-set number (4).

Implementing the GBG Materials: • Scoreboard and Timer: • Blackboard for Game Winner Scoreboard • Timer • Rewards: • Tangible items such as stickers or candy • Enrichment materials such as arts, crafts, or games • Special activities in the classroom

Getting Started • Define rules and behavioral expectations • Determine who the team members are • Assign a Team Leader

Behavioral Expectations and Rules Talking out/verbal disruption: talking without being permitted by the teacher, whistling, singing, yelling, or making other sounds. Rule – We will work quietly.

Rules, continued Aggression/physical disruption: physical contacts such as hitting, kicking, pushing, making someone stumble, hair pulling, pinching, throwing objects, pencil fighting, intentional pencil breaking, taking or destroying property of others. Rule – We will be polite to others.

Rules, continued Out-of-seat: getting out of the seat without permission. Includes standing up, jumping, or walking around the room. Rule – We will get out of our seats only with permission.

Rules, continued Noncompliance: breaking rules, disobeying the teacher. Rule – We will follow directions.

Rules, continued Concentration problems: not staying on task, easily distracted, not paying attention. Rule – We will pay attention.

Good Behavior Game Teams • There should be 3 teams for each classroom with 4 – 5 members per team • The teacher will assign each child in the class to a team, making sure that teams contain equal numbers of socially withdrawn children, aggressive/disruptive children, and children with concentration problems.

Assign a Team Leader • Each team will have one team leader. The team leader will be in charge of handing out prizes, and helping the teacher with activities for his/her winning team. • If the team has a socially withdrawn child as a member, the teacher should choose him/her as the leader of the team. If the team does not have any members with withdrawn behavior, the teacher should rotate leadership among the members of the team.

Teams, continued • If one child is responsible for a team repeatedly losing, the teacher should create a 4th team (for that child) for several weeks in order to prevent rejection of the offender and low team morale.

Procedures 1st Week • Divide the class into 3 teams. Try to arrange classroom seating according to the 3 teams. • The classroom rules (mentioned previously) should be constructed with the class and read out loud every morning. • Decide how long the game should be played each day, starting with short intervals (ie. 15 minutes)

Procedures, continued 2nd Week • Determine a start and stop time for each day, and if you will play multiple times in a day. • Explain how the game works and tell them the consequences for breaking the rules. • Explain that teams with 4 or less check marks during the play time wins a daily prize, and that all teams can win. • Tell them that, in addition, at the end of the day the winning teams will get a star placed on the scoreboard next to their team, and at the end of the week, the team(s) with the most stars, get a special reward.

Begin the Game First Day of the GBG: • Set the timer for 15 minutes and announce the beginning of the game. • During the game, each time a team member violates a rule, stop what you are doing and place a checkmark on the board for that team. • Tell the class what the rule violation was, who did it, and then praise the other teams for behaving well.

Playing the Game • When the timer goes off, review with the class the number of check marks per team and announce the winning team(s). • Immediately hand out the reward (tangible, such as stickers or candy) to the winning team(s) and offer praise to the winning team(s). The non-winning teams should do quiet seatwork with no special attention from the teacher.

Playing the Game, continued Second Day of the GBG: • Erase the blackboard of the previous day’s check marks before the students come in. • Announce that the class will again play the game for 15 minutes, repeat that the teams are the same, review the classroom rules and the 4 check marks or less criteria for winning the game. • Remind the class that the game will be played throughout the week, and the team(s) that won most often will be the Weekly Winner(s) and will be given a special privilege.

Weekly Winners At the end of the week, the Weekly Winner Team(s) will get a star with a happy face at the right-hand side of the GBG score board. The reward should be a little more special (e.g., popcorn party). Again, non-winners should engage in quiet seat work with no special attention from the teacher.

GBG Procedures Throughout the Year Continuing After the First Week: • On the first day of Week 3, review the progress of the class and solicit their opinions about the game. At this point, the students should choose a special privilege for Weekly Winners that week. This gives all the students a long-term goal to work toward. • In the early weeks of the game, begin with tangible rewards that are distributed immediately following the game. When all 3 teams are winning consistently, begin to include intangible rewards.

Throughout the Year, continued • If all 3 teams continue to win consistently with both tangible and intangible rewards, start lengthening the time the game is played. • When all 3 teams are winning consistently with a longer game time, begin altering the reward delivery time. For example, if the game is played from 9:00am to 10:00am, the students should be told at the end of the game that rewards will be distributed after lunch. If the teams continue to win consistently, the teacher may play the game early in the morning and distribute rewards at the end of the school day.

What to do if all 3 teams are not consistently winning • If too many disruptive children are on one team, you may need to rearrange your team composition. • If all 3 teams are losing, you may need to give different tangible rewards immediately following the game and/or shorten the game time. • If several students are consistently responsible for a team losing, you may consider forming a 4th team or using individualized behavior management strategies.

What to do, continued • When you split into the 4th team, do not make it appear to be a good thing or a privilege. Explain that the students are being moved so that their team can win the GBG and that they must remain on the 4th team until they win the GBG for 3 consecutive sessions. When the 4th team has won 3 consecutive games, the students may return to their original teams.

Effective Strategies for Classroom Management