Positive and Negative Behaviors

Encouraging Positive Behavior

There are several ways to encourage and respond to positive behavior in the classroom, and school as a whole, but I have found certain ideas to be more to my liking and comfort-level as a primary school teacher.

• Positive reinforcement through verbal praise making sure to be consistent in my positive reactions. If one student gets praise for getting 100% on an assignment, or listening closely, make sure the rest of the students receive the same praise. I will also use verbal reinforcement to encourage good behavior. When I seen good example of student behavior, I will verbally recognize it using phrases like: “I appreciate that Megan is sitting quietly”, or “Leslie and Alexandra are doing a good job showing me they are ready for spelling”. I enjoyed receiving this kind of attention when I was a student, and my class now likes it when I recognize their effort.

• Volunteering at Children's Memorial Hospital gave me the idea of an Applause Slip for students who demonstrate good behavior. The idea behind the Applause is that a student accumulates points for good behavior, which can then be traded in for rewards like:

• A pass on homework
• Special one-on-one tutoring with teacher
• First choice of class jobs
• Sitting in the comfy-chairs during silent reading

• Students can get get Applause Points for:
• Exceptionally good lunchroom behavior
• Two weeks without reprimand (checklist to keep track)
• Playing inclusively during recess
• Consistent quiet behavior while in lines in the hall, and during transitions
• No missed homework for a month
• Nothing below a B grade for two weeks

I will keep track of the Applause a student receives in my own student record book, though I won't hide the information from a student who wants to know how many applause points they have. While I don't want to dole out applause points too freely, I do want to make sure that all of my students have the opportunity to receive them, and and equal opportunity to get a reward.

• A note home to the parents, that a student can present, sharing the good behavior I observed in class, and why I appreciated it.

• Small things, like a "good job" on an assignment can help bolster a students self-esteem and reinforce good behavior. I can implement a policy that students who get 100% on a test or assignment will get a sticker, but I will also make sure that students who show a significant improvement over time are also given positive reinforcement, even if it's just a hand-drawn smile on their work.

Rewarding good behavior, no matter how it is done, encourages good behavior in students. I am loathe to bring up B.F. Skinner, because he seems so inappropriate for any classroom discussion, even though he is discussed in Classroom Management, but the Skinner Box did show that rewarding expected behavior encourages students (or, in his case, rats) to repeat the behavior to get a reward.

The key to my rewarding good behavior, though, is that it has to be earned. I won't reward students for doing what they should be doing in the first place. I will certainly show appreciation if they are sitting quietly, but I won't allow my students to think they deserve a reward for expected behavior.

Responding to Negative Behavior

Like I discuss in my Classroom Rules and Expectations entry, I have a sequential plan on consequences for rules that are broken and misbehavior in my classroom. At the same time, teachers deal with minor occurrences of misbehavior every day, and there needs to be some sort of plan to express displeasure without going through formal reprimand.

In my class I witness several examples of slight misbehavior every day, none of which deserves strict response. I see students talking out of turn, zoning out for a few moments, reading the wrong book, doodling, sitting down or eating during the National Anthem. While sometimes misbehavior can be ignored, occasionally these infractions should be acknowledged as inappropriate behavior. However, I don't need to disrupt class time to do that. There are several ways I can express displeasure without openly drawing attention to the behavior, or needing to sit down for a formal discussion.

Responses to minor misbehavior:

• Making eye-contact with the misbehaving student a.k.a. The Look
• Moving towards the misbehaving student
• Saying the students name in the context of the lesson "Let's say Andrew was going to the store . . . "
• Calling on the misbehaving student
• Call on a student and then ask a question. That way the student won't feel "picked on" and won't need the question repeated, which might cause unnecessary embarrassment.
• Standing near the misbehaving student.

These actions let the student or students know they are behaving in a manner I don't appreciate, and want them to stop. If, over time, these methods don't work, then I will warn the misbehaving student that I will have to move onto more serious consequences, and follow that sequence as the behavior dictates.