There's no doubt that student behavior needs have risen over the last several years. Misbehavior is a symptom of bigger issues such as underdeveloped skills, trauma, poverty, neglect, or even psychiatric disorders. 

"​One disruptive child can effectively derail an entire lesson. Surveys show that coping with disruptive students is teachers’ number one problem."

Breaking the Behavior Code -- ​Nancy Rappaport and Jessica Minahan

According to a survey conducted by the EdWeek Research Center, 70% of teachers believe that student behavior is worse than it was in the Fall of 2019. 

"Teachers report spending about 144 minutes per week on behavior management, amounting to about three weeks of the school year. " ​

Confronting the Student Behavior Crisis -- Leslie Bienen, Christina Kennedy

QUICK TIDBITS ABOUT SUPPORTING BEHAVIOR

Children must be explicitly taught how to manage their own behavior through understanding emotions and appropriate reactions.
Educators must design instructional strategies that meet ALL their students needs, no matter their behavior.
Educators must become familiar with their students, what causes student behaviors, and what strategies can be used to ensure their students are successful.

Data is ESSENTIAL! 

If you are having concerns regarding a student's behavior make sure you are collecting data regarding the behaviors of concern. You can always collaborate with a behavior analyst to create a behavior data tracker. This data is essential to track what is or is not working and to receive additional support or services. 

Positive Behavior Strategies for the Whole Class

  • Build and maintain positive relationships.
  • Explicitly teach & reinforce expected behaviors
  • Consider student background when addressing student behavior.
  • Put in place and stick to a classroom management system that gains the students buy in. 
  • Have a calm down space in the class room.
  • Don't use public forms of reinforcement so students can't see where their peers are (ex: clip charts, color cards, etc). When students see that they are doing worse or better than others it can create tension in the classroom among the students. 
  • Use behavior specific praise. Example: Instead of "good job" say "I like how hard you worked on your math today" 

Behavior Strategies for Individual Students

  • Track student behavior
  • Provide visuals such as first-then charts, timers, visual schedules, and classroom rules. 
  • Breaks
  • Fidgets
  • Check in/ Check out/ reflection with the student's emotions/behavior
  • Positive reinforcement versus consequences, provide both based on the student and how they react to reinforcement. 
  • Positive reinforcement - Token boards/charts - can do laminated sheets with dry erase markers, stick charts, stamp chart, punch cards, etc. See below for ideas
  • Consequences - repair damage, apologies, notes home, discussions with principals.
  • NEVER take away recess as a consequence for behavior in the classroom. Recess should only be taken away for behavior at recess. (California has recently passed a bill about this, CA SB291)

Photo Ideas

You can find many free resources similar to these on teacherspayteachers.com
​Search--"Positive Reinforcement Charts"
or you can easily make your own in a Word/Google Doc or Excel/Google Sheets. 

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Punch card https://www.classroomnook.com/blog/classroom-management-system
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Check in Check out. Free from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Check-In-Check-Out-Point-Sheet-For-Primary-5775240?st=64166d617e5825d5cc7ba0609d53bb83
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Reinforcer menu, providing students with the options available to earn choose from to earn. You could do visual pictures or words. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reinforcer-Menu-3677904
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Token board/charts. https://mrsbsbeehive.com/creating-an-individual-behavior-plan-that-works/
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Targets individual behavior chart. This could also be a weekly sheet that goes home daily for parents to review. https://flippingforfirst1.blogspot.com/2014/10/individual-student-behavior-mangement.html#_a5y_p=3942279
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First - Then board from Boardmaker. https://myboardmaker.com/Activity/282471

Cited resources on this page

https://childmind.org/article/breaking-behavior-code/
​https://www.city-journal.org/article/confronting-the-student-behavior-crisis
https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-lessons-from-city-planners-may-help-address-student-behavior-problems/
​https://www.illuminateed.com/blog/2022/06/how-to-set-up-classwide-positive-behavioral-support-a-guide-to-establishing-proactive-management/
​https://mrsbsbeehive.com/creating-an-individual-behavior-plan-that-works/
https://www.parentcenterhub.org/behavior-atschool/
​https://www.understood.org/en/articles/what-are-positive-behavior-strategies
Disclaimer :: Please note that this webpage was created as a project for obtaining a Masters of Education degree in California. This webpage is meant to serve as a resource to broaden educator knowledge and does not serve as legal advice. All resources used to create this webpage are noted at the bottom of each section. ​While some information is based on Federal IDEA law, it would be best practice to still check with your district regarding state laws and district procedures. 
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