Classroom Behavior Management

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Contents 1 Introduction 2 Post-incident Processing 2.1 Processing Scenario 3 Time Out 3.1 Purpose of Time Out 3.2 A Sample Time Out Procedure 3.3 Time Out Core Rules 3.4 Success 3.5 Crisis 3.6 Final Thoughts 4 Therapeutic Hold 4.1 Pre-Hold Checklist 4.2 The Hold Team 4.3 Takedown Procedure 4.4 Hold Maintenence 4.5 Hold Release 4.6 Post-Crisis Procedure 5 See also

[edit] Introduction

Dealing with disruptive behavior is one of the most stressful aspects of teaching (as if the responsibility of preparing a room full of children for a bright and successful future wasn't enough... not to mention the burden of preparing lessons and tests, satisfying curriculum requirements, marking papers, planning field trips, meeting with parents, and preparing for standardized student testing which could ultimately impact school funding and accreditation).

Again, disruption is stress upon an already stressful job.

In this situation, it is the easiest thing in the world to personalize the disruption, forming a dislike for the student in question, and coloring your responses and interactions with that student for the remainder of your relationship (and for that matter, predisposing yourself to deal similarly with future students who demonstrate similar behaviors). Regardless how justifiable your emotional reaction may be, the teacher, upon entering the classroom, agrees to remain an adult throughout these exchanges; that means you must focus on the issue (what was said or done), not on your feelings about it (even if what was said was intended to be hurtful to you).

It is important to consider that all behavior occurs in context. Rather than immediately feeding into the emotional response that a student's behavior evokes in you, consider what the source of the behavior might be.

Examples:

Behavior	Possible Source
Child daydreams in class	Material is too simple or too challenging
Child hoards food, eats in class	Child has past history of neglect
Child shouts at teacher when redirected	Child had a fight with his parent that morning
Child jokes when asked questions	Child doesn't understand or know the answer, makes a joke to avoid sounding stupid OR Child knows the answer but has been used to joking instead of answering
Child refuses to interact with teacher, peers	Child doesn't know how to make friends, has been rejected or ridiculed by peers and adults

Unless you are the counselor or social worker, there isn't the time to explore underlying problems as the disruptive behaviors are demonstrating themselves, but it is still necessary to deal with them quickly and effectively for the room to function.

The disciplinary tone you set in your classroom over the first couple of weeks may determine how your room operates (or fails to operate) for the rest of the year. Your handling of discipline is noted not only by the student in question, but an audience of peers, who may gauge how far you can be pushed based on your handling of this incident. That is not to say that you should make students walk the plank of your pirate ship. Rather, you should strive to have a very even-tempered, firm delivery of your requests, and proceed with ordered steps of increasing consequence for continued non-compliance.

However, even if the responsibility of redirecting students and giving them consequences lies at your feet, while the job of finding out the underlying causes go to someone else, it is urgent that the process return back to you in a complete circle.

[edit] Post-incident Processing

While this is the last step of any behavior/consequence chain involving a student, it is the most often skipped, so it will be mentioned first.

While any adult may be tempted to personalize student misbehavior as a slight against them or their authority, students are far more likely to personalize the discipline they receive and conclude that you don't like them, or that you think they are a bad child. You know why it is necessary to respond swifty and certainly to disruption from students. All that the student knows is how your reaction made them feel (even more angry, embarassed, or misunderstood than they were before).

Post-incident processing, whether it be before/after class, or in a private room during the day, is an important step in the disciplinary process because it might restore the student/teacher relationship to the point it was before the incident, and at best, increases the mutual trust and understanding. It should not be done immediately following problem behavior. Some students crave teacher attention, and if you think about it, post incident processing might be the longest most undivided time a student could get with you. You want to make sure that the student can get time with you for good behavior, not misbehavior! What follows is what is typically done in schools following problem behavior. It is helpful in many cases but may be disastrous in other cases... Keep in mind, every student is different...

[edit] Processing Scenario

Mr. Read: I understand from talking to Mrs. Beale that you were up late last night.

Daniel: (no response)

Mr. Read: I can see that you're still angry with me. Did I upset you when I sent you to the time out desk?

Daniel: Yes.

Mr. Read: Why did I send you there?

Daniel: Because I was yelling at you.

Mr. Read: Mm hmm. Well, Daniel, it's okay if you're still mad at me, but I'm not mad at you. I think you're a great kid. I understand that you were up late last night, but I still need to discipline kids who yell. If I didn't, what do you think might happen to our classroom?

Daniel: Everyone would yell.

Mr. Read: You're completely right. So how can we avoid having this happen again tomorrow?

Daniel: I can go to bed sooner.

Mr. Read: That's a good idea. And what if you come to school and feel angry again someday?

Daniel: I could talk to Mrs. Beale.

Mr. Read: Yes you could. You could even write me a note if you'd like, or ask to talk to me in the hall.

NOTE:

• The adult does not apologize (nor ask for an apology).
• The adult does not demand responses from the child, but asks questions likely to elicit responses.
• The adult communicates unconditional acceptance of the child, despite the incident.
• The adult lets the child describe his understanding of what happened, why, and how it can be avoided in the future.

BENEFITS OF THIS APPROACH:

• It reduces the chance of grudges being held by the child or the adult.
• The child feels both listened-to and understood, not lectured to.
• The child takes responsibility for their behavior by having to explain why the adult responded with discipline.
• An improved relationship and/or an action plan for future problems is established.

[edit] Time Out

[edit] Purpose of Time Out

Time Out is a punishment that removes the child from something that is reinforcing (being with other students, participating in class). If the child does not find the classroom reinforcing, then time out may not be a punishment at all. If you use time out, you should carefully monitor the change in the child's behavior over time since you began using time out. If the problem behavior escalates, the child may be using time out to get out of school work or your class environment. The intention of Time Out is to remove the student from an environment that he or she would otherwise receive reinforcement. Time Out is a setting or condition in which the student receives no attention, reinforcement or reward.

Time Out is best used as a second line of intervention after giving rewards or praise for correct behavoir have been ineffective, or when you think the child's problem behavior is motivated by attention from peers or from you. It is not an instructional tool. If you consult your dictionary you’ll find that discipline, is correctly defined as training, development, or instruction. Remembering this distinction will assist you in knowing when to use it, how to apply it, and how to present it to your students.

Time Out is often incorrectly used as a means of punishing an unruly student and temporarily separating them from the group. This is done by telling a student that they have a Time Out, hoping they’ll go there, not following through to ensure they go should they happen to quit misbehaving (temporarily) in response to your order, or, ignoring them or forgetting about them completely if they do go. This misapplication of time out does teach a student important information. For example:

• If I act up, I’ll get sent to Time Out, and I won’t have to work.
• If I shut up when I’m given a time out, I can avoid having to go.
• If I’m quiet while I’m in time out, the teacher will forget about me (or just be too happy with the silence to bring me out again).
• If I’m quiet while I’m in time out, I can read this comic I have (or play with this toy I have, or scribble some graffiti on the walls in here) and that’s better than working.
• If I get bored with that, I can try to make faces or obscene gestures at classmates to pass the time. If I get caught, I’ll blame someone else for starting it, and if I get blamed, what can anyone do about it? I’m already in Time Out.

You could probably make your own additions to this list.

The lessons you want to teach the student might be something more like these.

• When I disrupt the class and don’t stop when the teacher asks me to, I get sent to Time Out.
• Even if I start acting nice, or plead or bargain not to go, I have to go to Time Out once I’ve been told to.
• I’m not allowed to bring any fun stuff with me to Time Out, and if I do bring anything, it gets confiscated… even my pencil.
• Staff are monitoring me while I’m in here to make sure I don’t misbehave.
• If I do disrupt in here, they might add more time on.
• I’d better be ready to talk about what I’ll do differently after my time is up, or else they might make me stay longer to think about what I did wrong and how I’ll change.
• I’d rather be sitting at my desk than here. This is boring.

[edit] A Sample Time Out Procedure

If a student is not responding to verbal redirection. Give one warning if desired, then assign a base Time Out of 5 minutes.

If the student refuses, warn that refusing will cause additional minutes to be added the 5.

If the student still refuses, start adding minutes. You can decide to add an additional minute for every minute they delay, 1 additional minute per 30 seconds, etc. Tell the student what you’re doing (“For every 15 seconds you refuse, I’ll add another minute of Time Out.” Count out loud for every minute you add.

If the student continues to refuse, tell them that if the number reaches 10, their parent/guardian will be called. If no-one is at home, call the office. Should the same problem occur daily, refer the student to the office directly. It is also an effective deterrent to deduct time spent in time out from activities that the child desires (recess, free time), deduct points that they may be accumulating for "store", reduce their behavior level/privelges, etc. It is important to identify what the student values and provide penalties which are both appropriate to the behavior, and effective.

Never present a student with a consequence that you cannot or do not reinforce. It undermines your authority and your credibility.

If the student accepts the time out and sits down in the proper place, make sure they understand the rules:

[edit] Time Out Core Rules

• The student cannot bring anything to the cubicle except themselves (no toys, sunglasses, hats, books, pencils, etc.).
• Staff is in charge of timing the time-out.
• If the student disrupts the time out by standing, talking out, moving the chair to look at others, etc., the time starts over.
• Staff will notify the student when time is up, and will notify them when they can return to their seat.

When it’s necessary to start time over, tell the student you’ve done this, and why (the rules, above). After a few reminders, there may not be any use in saying “Time has started over” and it may just make the student angrier. In this case, just make a mental note of the new time their time out is up.

If the student starts wandering the room, begin adding additional minutes again, with a reminder about reaching 10 minutes.

Other staff in the room should be supportive and deferential to the person who set the Time Out, regardless of who initiated it. When it comes to creating uniform discipline, teachers, instructional assistants, interns, volunteers, and counselors should all have the ability to set limits and provide consequences, and have those decisions upheld by the team. If the student tries to engage or bargain with anyone, remind them that they have to do what they were asked to do by the person who gave them the time out, and do not engage them further. Don’t change the terms or modify the time out in any way. It undermines the authority of the staff member who gave the time out, and harms team solidarity.

[edit] Success

If the student completes the Time Out, take a minute to speak with them about what happened, and how they will act differently to avoid the same problem. If it is clear that the student is still angry, in denial, and still demonstrating the same behavior that prompted the Time Out in the first place, point this out to the student, and tell them you’ll check back with them in 5 minutes. Resume the procedure that you’d use for a regular Time Out.

[edit] Crisis

If the Time Out requests are unsuccessful and the student is continuing to resist and disrupt classtime, call the office. Once again, NEVER present a student with a consequence that you cannot or do not reinforce.

If the student’s behavior turns destructive, evacuate the room and notify the office from the nearest phone or emergency call button what is happening. Request that the principal call security.

If a student initiates physical violence toward a peer they should be placed in an isolated seat for the rest of the day. Write a referral, consult the office, and proceed with their plan (calling security, suspension, immediate or after-school detention by police, etc.).

Consequences from behavior should always follow the student back to school the next day after an incident in the form of a level change (suggestions: one level demotion per incident of refusing a timeout, automatic demotion to lowest level for initiating physical violence).

[edit] Final Thoughts

Apply this system uniformly to all students. Don’t change or throw out rules without considering why they were added. Don’t show favoritism. Don’t apply it more severely to some than others. Don’t allow your personal like or dislike of students confound your application of Time Out, because [a] you are pointing out and providing consequences for bad behavior, not labeling a student as bad, and [b] allowing a student to persist with anti-social behavior is tacit approval. How a student regards authority and structure in your classroom is the beginning of how they will regard it in society. Use the time you have with them wisely.

If a student prefers being in Time Out to being out, then the monitoring of their behavior is probably inadequate. Watch how they are passing the time. Confiscate anything they have brought with them immediately. Remember the core rules. Consequence continued disruption that occurs while a student is in time out – it’s continuing to harm the order in your classroom. Persistent failure to abide by the reasonable requests of staff in a classroom is called disorderly conduct, and is an arrestable offense.

[edit] Therapeutic Hold

Note: This section is for introductory purposes only, and is intended to introduce concepts and offer
considerations about the physical risks to both staff and students involved, but is not a replacement for
professional, in-person training.  It is not guaranteed that this information is completely accurate and up
to date with current techniques (which change periodically with study findings on field safety).

[edit] Pre-Hold Checklist

• Holds should be only used when the child represents a threat to the safety of himself or herself, or to others.
• Physical holds are to be used only when other less restrictive means of behavior control have been tried and have failed (e.g. redirection, time out).
• Holds should never be attempted without at least two people, so that a witness is present. Three staff is recommended.
• Holds should not be attempted if doing so puts staff at undue risk. Call the police instead.
• Holds that last for longer than 30 minutes become “restraint”. Therefore, staff is required to attempt releasing the child, even if the child’s behavior requires the immediate re-application of another hold (and another 30 minutes begins).

[edit] The Hold Team

Staff members should, whenever possible, surround the student in an equilateral triangle formation, with one staff member in front, and two behind the student within walking distance of the student’s shoulders. This position makes it impossible for the student to watch all of the Hold Team at once. Until a hold is initiated, all staff should remain 3 feet from the student. Distances of 18 to 35 inches place staff at risk for being punched or kicked.

The staff member in front of the student is the leader. If the student changes directions to face another staff member in the triangle, then they become the new leader.

The leader is responsible for communicating intentions with the team and the student, and initiating the hold. Team communication can be non-verbal (eye, hand, or head movements) or through a short verbal prompt (“Go”, “Now”, etc). Team members should be ready to begin the hold as soon as the leader steps forward.

[edit] Takedown Procedure

1. While maintaining eye contact with the student, the leader steps forward and hugs the student around the knees with both arms. Looking at the legs in advance discloses the leader’s intention to the student, and may result in evasion.
2. Simultaneously, the two staff behind the student should step in to the student. Each of them should curl their inside arm up (parallel to the student’s body), cupping and holding the student’s shoulder. At the same time, the staff’s outside hand should hold the student’s arm (at the wrist) out and across the staff member’s chest.
3. Once arms are held, the two standing staff members step backward and support the student in a controlled descent to the floor (not a drop).
4. On the floor, the leader can use their body to hold the student’s legs firm by lying laterally over the knees. Be careful not to touch the abdomen.
5. On the floor, the staff members at the shoulder hold the shoulder with one hand, and the wrist with the other. The student’s arms should be straight out, with palms down. Staff should orient their arm holding the shoulder so as to avoid being bitten.
6. Staff members at the shoulder can also reverse their position. Instead of facing down at the feet, they may move on the other side of the arm to face the head. Again, watch out for bites. Staff members at the shoulder may also lie down on their stomachs while holding, so long as no body weight is constricting blood flow to the student’s arms.

NOTE: An identical takedown and hold procedure that placed the student on their front used to be widely taught and practiced, but is not recommended due to the elevated risk of asphyxia.

[edit] Hold Maintenence

• At all times during a therapeutic hold, the purpose is to provide the minimum resistance necessary to keep the student in place and calm. Do not use all of your strength at all times. Very little energy is required to hold a student who is not struggling against you. Using too much force tires you, and may injure the student.
• It is recommended that only one person communicate with the student (usually the leader, unless there is another team member better skilled, or with a better rapport). The topic should be restricted to what the student needs to do in order for the hold to removed (example: Step one – Stop screaming and struggling, Step 2 – Communicate feelings, Step 3 – Agree to go into time out and remain there). Steps should only be taken one at a time. Do not argue with the student. Do not judge or criticize the student’s behavior.
• Obviously, takedowns do not always go perfectly. Many factors can contribute to this, including an unexpected escape attempt by the student, evasive tactics by a student familiar with takedowns, or errors of hesitation within a team that is unfamiliar with the procedure or unprepared for the variables involved. Even if the procedure executes less than perfectly, the ideal hold position can still be achieved while the student is already on the ground, by the coordinated movement of the team, so long as team communication is effective.

Student struggles, proximity to walls or other objects, or the need to switch staff members on and off the hold will necessitate regular changes in the application of the hold.

[edit] Hold Release

• When the student has complied with the steps prescribed by the team leader, or if 30 minutes of time have passed, the hold must be removed.
• Releasing a held student may pose a threat to other students, and at the team’s discretion, it may be wise to clear the room first.
• Before release, the leader should notify the student that this is about to occur, remind him/her what behavior is expected per the verbal agreement, and warn which behaviors will result in the hold being reapplied.
• If violence or struggle occurs immediately after release, while the team is in close range (less than 18 inches), the hold can be reapplied. Otherwise, the team should step back into the safety range (over 36 inches away), clearing a path for the student to go to time out.
• Should a hold need to be re-applied, parents or police may need to be contacted. Hospitalization may be necessary for students who continue to threaten harm to themselves or others.

[edit] Post-Crisis Procedure

• Parents should be notified as completely as possible as to the precipitating incidents, and other events during the hold.
• Each member of the team should write a report detailing their own recollection of the incident, share it with supervisors, and keep a copy on file.
• A hold team meeting may be useful in discussing what was effective and ineffective during the hold, so that it can be improved in future applications.

[edit] See also

• Contemporary Educational Psychology/Chapter 7: Classroom Management and the Learning Environment--a more classroom-oriented perspective about classroom management