Behaviour management techniques are used to control or modify student responses in the classroom. Some common behavioural issues observed include answering back, bullying, incessant talking, diverse learner needs, swearing, and not listening. The document provides suggestions for managing these behaviours such as using non-verbal cues, praising positive behaviour, ignoring low-level misbehaviour, and giving clear expectations and consequences. Building rapport with students and tailoring instruction to individual needs can help address the root causes of misbehaviour.

1. : Behaviour Management

2. Behaviour management“What I wish someone would have told me before Prac”

4. What is Behaviour management? In simple terms, behaviour management encompasses techniques that are used to control or modify a response of a targeted subject or subjects – in this case, high school students.

5. Is there a purpose for these techniques?

6. There is if you don’t want to run your classroom like this...

8. ScenarioEVERYONE CLOSE YOUR EYES...and think back to your first day of prac...What are some on the Behavioural problems you observed?

9. The icing on the cake!!! Let us tell you how to try and solve these problems in your classroom...firstly, before anything else, don’t be afraid to take risks and secondly, don’t be afraid to be a professional. Your authority will shine through when you have confidence.

10. What are some of the behavioural problems that arise in the classroom?Answering backBullyingIncessant talkingDiverse learners /planning for learning/ behavioural problemsNaming is blamingPoor homeworkEthnic difficulty / lack of respectStealingSwearingWon’t listen

11. A couple Important things I learnt. On prac, there were a few basic B/M strategiesthat I picked up that made my classes 100%Better from the get go. 1. Line them up, expect them to be silent and calm from the very first day – this will settle the class before the lesson and create a habit forming routine. Briefly explain the objectives of that lesson today.

12. 2. This might sound harsh, but students, even the older ones need to be told what to do, step by step. E.g. Get your books and pens out, bags off desk, phones off, iPods away, caps off etc – these things can become distracting and time wasting. 3. You should never have to repeat yourself. Write an outline of the lesson on the board so the students have something to refer to without having 20 students ask you what is going on. If the whole class doesn't know what's going on, your instructions haven't been explicit enough.

13. 4. Students often forget pens...I learnt this the hard way. It is good to have a box of paper, pens, pencils, easers, coloured pencils and highlighters on your desk, this saves time and students can just grab a pen if they forget their own. Remember to tell them to return these after. 5. The golden hands up – From the START of day one – write your class rules or expectations you have for the class on the board. If students insist on not listening or talking while you are, raise your hand and give them the “look” till they be quiet and you have their attention, then say “everyone's eyes on me and mouths closed” or something similar. DON’T ever start talking again if a student is still talking...demand respect and follow through with your expectations.

14. 6. Praise – If someone is being disruptive, subtly praise the work of students around them and they will more often then not seek out your praise as well. 7. It is important to not only teach from the front of the classroom, but from everywhere, from the back, sides and walking in and out of rows – this makes the lesson more interesting and often, you can keep an eye on the students as a whole when you can see their work and they know you are paying attention to them.

15. Southport State High school RTC Program8. The three questions (RTC)– What are you doing ( in relation to rules and consequences)? What should you be doing? What will happen if you disrupt the classroom again?

16. 9. Listen and care – Students will warm up to you and create relationships with you when they feel like you actually listen and care about their feelings, opinions, life and dreams.

17. A few words of wisdom from others!

18. Jenny Mackay Jenny is a classroom management and student discipline skills specialist with a very practical classroom approach to skills training. Her approaches to behaviour management related well to my prac situation and here are a few of her words of wisdom.

19. Answering Back This is also what we call, back-chatting, or more commonly ‘teacher baiting’. From observations, it happens to the best of us student teachers. The point is...they want to HOOK YOU IN!!!. This behaviour is sometimes challenging and rude and often is not the easiest to resist.

20. What can you do about it?Jenny Mackay, an Education consultant has suggested that: Tactically ignore. Don’t hear it. Nothing quite like indifference to switch off a behaviour – it has no effect so it will disappear as a way of catching the teacher.Use the “I” Voice: If a student is in the habit of getting in the last word, take her or him aside and give an “I message”. “When I say something and people have to have the last word every time, it gets really irritating, particularly when people are rude. I don’t do this to you and I expect you not to do it to me. Okay?”Speaking up: Use your own words and if the student is unaware of what they are doing, just point it out to them. Remember not to name, blame or criticize. Don’t use “you”, as in “you do this … etc”. The student will immediately become defensive and you’ll find yourself in an argument. Just point our what they are doing and how you feel about it.

21. Peer acceptance: Another reason for this kind of behaviour can be the need for peer acceptance. There’s nothing quite so “great” for the young as being able to get one-up on their teacher because it raises their peer profile. The trick is to avoid getting hooked-in.Control: Some children only feel okay when they are in control or when they can challenge you. Don’t get caught in a power struggle, nobody wins! You might seemingly be the victor but you won’t have built any kind of relationship with your student, and you would have just set the scene for more power struggles. If this is the case: when you are feeling more in control and calmer, take the student aside and give an “I” statement, as above.

23. What is Bullying?Bullying is a form of abuse. It comprises repeated acts over time that involves a real or perceived imbalance of power with the more powerful individual or group abusing those who are less powerful. The power imbalance may be social power and/or physical power. The victim of bullying is sometimes referred to as a target.Bullying consists of three basic types of abuse - emotional, verbal and physical

25. Some ways it can happen in your school....

26. In the playground

27. When no one is looking...

28. Verbal abuse in the classroom...

29. Cyber Bullying: msn, facebook, email, twitter, myspace etc...

30. What is cyber bullying?Cyber bullying is the use of email, instantmessaging, chat rooms, pagers, mobile phones,or other forms of information technology todeliberately threaten, harass or intimidatesomeone.

31. MentalityOften, students who are bullies have either been bulliedthemselves ( physically, mentally/emotionally) or feel a lack ofself-worth and inadequacy. They have experienced a strongsense of hurt and on an empathic level, be aware that bullieshave a strong unconscious need for others to feel as they do.This makes them feel better and okay about themselves.

32. Bullying and victimising is not acceptable in schools and must be stopped

33. Managing bullying requires that the bullying behaviour be firmly admonished and controlled

34. Counselling is essential and should be compulsory

35. Children who bully / victimise need to see themselves differently, with opportunities to behave differently

36. The victim also needs to learn to act differently and be given opportunities to shine and show strength

37. Bullying and victimisation require that the school, the teacher, the parent, the peers, but most importantly the child (bully and victim), take responsibility to learn to act differently Incessant talkingThis one we all know about, especially with yearnine girls. All male teachers out there...talkingfor year 9 girls is a prerequisite for socialgain, a public form of orally blogging their ‘private’life (we all know most of them are talking aboutsex...but you didn’t hear that from me).This inturn, maintains their connection to their in-group...or so they think.

38. Does this look familiar?

39. Talking in class, constant whispering, giggling, laughing, off the topic conversations and dis-interaction with group activities leads to the disruption of others.

40. The fact is, that teenagers like to talk. In theplayground, at home, school, texting, typing,singing, note passing etc, they all talk, anytime,anywhere, any way they can. It’s natural for them to talk about their bodies, life,school work, relationships, family and thedepressing and less attractive experiences they gothrough.But there is ways to monitor this amazinglyinsightful but yet tragically somewhat annoyinghabit that teenagers display when they are supposed tobe listening to the very insightful you! You just need toknow how...

41. How can you do this?Plan for misbehaviour - Look at your classroom seating. Should it be changed? – Arrange desks so that you can walk around the room - have easy access to all students.Take control - Try to ensure mobility around the room, give bits of your lesson from where they sit, also from the back - not obviously (over-control), - move around a bit. Or from time to time just move around the classroom and just stand near your students.Catch them doing it right - discipline from the positive not the negative. Take away their need to act out in class. Acknowledge something they’re doing well e.g. “I see you’ve got that maths problem right – Great!”. Be smart - Give them no cause to disrupt your lesson, rather to come back on task because they feel okay about you.Least intrusion into the lesson - Don’t make a big deal out of it. Remember they’re not doing it to get at you – they’re just doing it because they feel like it. (Although if you go over the top in your response – they’ll continue as its fun to get such heavy reactions to something minimal).

42. Use nonverbal messages – firm eye contact at times, raised eyebrow, gesture, :- so they know that you know what they’re up to. Send a non-verbal message of disapproval but also one of no fuss.Don’t get hooked-in - unconsciously they’re either seeking attention, checking out if they can take control here, – would love a power struggle, maybe they want to impress their peers – all unconscious goals of misbehaviour, – gives them a sense of belonging. – I’m the cheeky one, the naughty one and any such response to these will reinforce the goals of misbehaviour. Just refuse to play their game. You’re the teacher. All kids push the limits. Acknowledge this and refuse to get hooked-in. You have no intention of getting hooked-in to such behaviour but keep your response low key.Managing attitude. If some concern on your part, take one aside, preferably the leader and send a clear “I” message e.g. “When people mess around in class, I am concerned. No attention = low marks. I don’t want that to happen to you. OK!

44. Diverse learners From what we have discussed at the Mid- year conference, some behavioural issues can be monitored with the use of acquired information about learners who are gifted and learners who have learning disabilities. Diverse learners in your classroom can often

45. Suggestions to help these learnersGive them more time with group and individual work and activities.Try and tailor assessments tasks to their needs e.g. coloured paper, bigger fonts, extra time etc.I know this is hard – but extra one on one time every now and then is important.Get parents involved – Regular contact is vital.Keep a diary of diverse learners progress and efforts.

47. swearingSet ground rules for class behaviour. Ask any class and swearing will come up every time as one of the most important classroom issues – to treat people with respect. Discuss how you convey respect; what is disrespectful and what isn’t allowed. You can mention bad language. How you speak conveys respect or disrespect, care or disdain etc. State the rule: In our classroom we have a rule about respect and I expect you to use it.Refuse to get hooked in: Student may counter with “Oh but we use this kind of language all the time.” My Mum and Dad don’t mind etc.Teacher’s response: Maybe that is so but when students enter this class, they change their language. We do not speak like that.

48. Managing attitude: Take aside and state expected behaviour. “I don’t use that kind of language with you. I don’t expect you to use that kind of language here in this classroom. Okay? Thank you”.Don’t make a big deal about it at the time. Non-verbal messages can be quite powerful – raised eye brow. Or “I don’t think I heard that … I know you don’t use that kind of language…!” A little humour can send the message while defusing a situation. Follow up – take aside a little later as in “Teacher’s response”, above.A little values clarification exercise can be helpful. If the opportunity allows suggest to a language teacher that a discussion be held on e.g. swearing – what message is it sending? How should we speak? How can we convey respect through language?

50. Won’t listenWe always say that children who don’t listen generally aren’t listened to. Listening is a skill and often children need to have the experience of being heard before they will hear others. Teachers have so much to give that they tend to talk too much! We need to listen more. And remember the little: saying 2 ears – 1 mouth. Another aspect of listening which is given little attention is that occasionally a child cannot handle a lot of noise and will switch off. If your classroom tends to be noisy, then organise quiet times when people agree not to speak. The other skill we mention is Keep It Short & Simple or KISS. Try not saying anything, – write your instruction up on the board and point to it. When they have read it, repeat it and then let them follow. The more you repeat yourself they less students listen.Talk about listening! How they remember things they hear, what helps them, – listen to their ideas on listening, – you may find what they say very helpful. I believe in this world there are many children who never get the opportunity to be truly heard and therefore are just modelling on those around them. As teachers we need to teach children how to listen and what to listen for. Jenny Mackay

51. Naming is BlamingThe Blame Game – Not using names (or identifying the person in some other way!), enables people to bring up even very sensitive and worrying problem behaviours and obtain support and new ideas .. · Without responses being coloured by name or title. Remember, no name = no blame.· Allow people to put a real problem on the table.This enables teachers to be supported and given coping skills without feeling vulnerable - feeling judged, inadequate etc.- these can be unconsciously conveyed through simple body language, facial expression and gesture.The whole group relaxes into a safe environment and people become more open. (This sense of trust in the group is an interesting corollary to the whole process. It is teachers using the same skills in the group that they use in the classroom)Jenny Mackay

52. Remember – what is learnt in a lesson is what is valuable. Become skilled in not losing out on lesson time by being well planned not just in your content and materials but in your behaviour and discipline management. You get twice as much done when you are effectively skilled in managing a class’s behaviour.