Managing Student Behavior

Monitoring student behavior:

I will monitor student behavior in two ways. First, I will look for target/goal behaviors of one or more students and note when they are seen and when they are not seen. Second, students can monitor their own behavior, noting when they are making the mark. Behaviors like attendance, participation, and attention can be monitored by both students and myself. These could be a part of a check-in/check-out system that I establish in my room to help students meet behavior goals. Students check in at the beginning of the day to create goals, and then follows themselves across the entire day to see whether or not they make the goals.

Responding to student behavior:

My first plan of action to respond to student behavior is to, in a calm manner and quiet setting, ask the student if anything is going on. This gets at the antecedent of the problem: what does the student need? What are they looking to fulfill?

If that doesn't work, I will try various positive reinforcement systems like token economies. Another option is to move a student in closer proximity to you. I prefer not to draw attention to the student or immediately dismiss a student from the class. Dismissing a student from the class to the Principal's office will only happen in extreme situations, such as violence.

Documenting student behavior:

I will document student behavior in a notebook. I will use the notebook to note when students looking to improve their behavior are doing better, or when certain students begin to act up. I can then transfer the notebook material into an Excel spreadsheet. From there, it is easy to make a graph and see whether or not a student is improving.

Self-management strategies for students:

Target behavior: paying attention in class.

In order to achieve the goal of helping a student pay more attention in class, we must implement a self-management system. In this scenario, we will use a time management log. The student in question will log when they are on-task and paying attention in class. This could mean paying attention to their group work, or when the teacher is talking. The student can keep this log for as long as necessary. They have to mark off at what times they are doing the correct behavior. At the end of class, they can turn it in to the teacher, who can enter it into excel to monitor progress.

Target behavior: increased class participation.

In order to help a student participate more in class, we can implement a self-monitoring system. To begin, set a goal with the student. This should be an attainable one for the amount of time given. In this scenario, the student and the teacher decide that participating out loud five times a week is a good first goal. Next, we decide how to self-monitor that goal. For example, we can use a checklist. Every day, the student will keep a checklist attached to their desk and check a box when the participate in class. When the end of the week comes, the student will know how many times they have participated in class. The monitoring will happen every period that the student is in this teacher's class. If you'd like, you can offer a reward to the student, such as a fun snack one day or a piece of candy.