This document provides guidance on classroom management techniques for teachers. It discusses identifying antecedents and consequences of student behaviors, using positive and negative reinforcement, extinction, response cost, proximity control, and decontamination strategies. It also covers selecting classroom rules with student input, defining behaviors objectively, using group and individual consequences, contracts, and self-management techniques. The document concludes with tips for managing teacher stress through better time management, addressing interpersonal and role expectations, and prioritizing personal well-being.

1. CLASSROOM
MANAGEMENT|issues
Nelly Zafeiriades
ELT School Advisor
www.zafeiriades.weebly.com

2. Teacher’s Reflection
Could this problem
be a result of
inappropriate
curriculum or
teaching strategies?
What do I demand
and prohibit?
Why do certain
behaviors bother
me?
Is this behavior
developmentally
appropriate?
Do I focus on a
behavioral excess or
a deficiency?
Will resolution of the
problem solve
anything else?
Kauffman, J. M. , Hallahan, D. P., Mostert, M.P., Trent, S.C., & Nuttycombe, D.G. (1993). Managing Classroom
Behavior. Boston: Allyn & Bacon

3. Good Teaching
Instructional goals are clear
Knowledgeable of content and
strategies for teaching it
Student expectations are clearly
described
Provide practice that enrich and clarify
content
Teach metacognitive strategies

4. Good Teaching
Knowledgeable about student’s
abilities, adapt instruction according to
their needs
Monitor student progress
Provide feedback
Accept responsibility for student
outcomes
Are thoughtful and reflective about their
practice

5. Teacher Behaviors
Provide frequent positive praise and
reinforcement
Ignore minor misbehaviors
Reward positive behaviors
Avoid power struggles with students
Do students like being in the
classroom?
Students are achieving academic and
social gain
Provide clear expectations

6. Teacher Behaviors Cont.
Provide clear behavioral expectations -
rules should state what students should
do
Teacher expectations should be high
for all students
Signal control:audible or body language
to cue student
Blocking: teacher moves between two
students to interfere

7. Selecting Rules
Allow students to give input
Base rules on acceptable behavior
State rules positively
Select 5 or 6 rules
Select rules for academic and social
behaviors
Change rules when necessary
Relate rules to EFL Syllabus goals
Consider cultural differences

8. ABC’s to Behavior Management
Antecedent
Behavior
Consequences

9. Defining Behavior
Describe behavior objectively and
precisely (not: “he irritates me”)
Can you observe the behavior when it
begins and when it stops
– can you count the number of occurrences
each day
– can you measure the duration of the
behavior
Can you observe what happens just
before and just after it occurs

10. Identifying Antecedents
What are the events or conditions that
immediately precede the problem
behavior?
Can you manipulate the antecedents to
avoid the behavior? (e.g. providing
choices for activities)

11. Reading Antecedents
Facial Expressions: tight thin lips,
clenched teeth, widened eyes with
nostrils flared
Body Posture: head down, slumped
shoulders, clenched hands, sucking or
chewing
Incidental Behavior: rapid shallow
breathing, sighing, kicking, mumbling,
tearing paper, breaking pencils

12. Identifying Consequences
What does the student “get” out of the
behavior?
Are students getting attention, avoiding
work, receiving stimulus, or enjoy
seeing adults upset?

13. Changing Behavior
Provide instruction with simple and
clear directions
Gain student’s full attention before
giving instructions
Provide one instruction at a time - do
not provide too many different
instructions
Monitor compliance - provide time limits
Provide appropriate consequences for
compliance

14. Behavior Management Techniques
Positive Reinforcement
Negative Reinforcement
Extinction
Response Cost Punishment
Proximity Control
Decontamination

15. Positive Reinforcement
The positive reinforcement must be
rewarding to the student
The reinforcers must be contingent on
the behavior you want to increase
The reinforcers should be delivered
immediately
Provide appropriate units of rewards for
the expected unit of behavior

16. Negative Reinforcement
Definition: reinforcing a behavior by
removing or preventing something
unpleasant - allows the individual to
escape or avoid a negative
consequence
Not recommended as a prominent part
of classroom management
– negative reinforcement relies on the presence or threat of negative
consequences
– deliberate negative reinforcement sets the stage for
coercion/intimidation

17. Extinction
To eliminate a behavior - you eliminate
its reinforcement, the behavior no
longer produces the desired effect
(positive or negative)
Disadvantages: slow process and when
extinction procedures are first
implemented, the behavior will likely
become worse before better

18. Response Cost
The behavior “costs” something by
withholding or withdrawing a positive
reinforcer contingent on a specific
misbehavior
Example: students receive 10 tokens at
the beginning of class, every time a
problem behavior occurs, the teacher
gets 1 token back. The tokens can be
exchanged at the end of the day or
class for free time.

19. Proximity Control
Visual - visually monitor student activity
from any position in the classroom
Physical - teacher positions her/himself
close to each student to inhibit
antecedent

20. Decontamination
Preventive action by inspecting
classroom for two types of objects
– Distractors: entice students to engage in
off-task behaviors (e.g. toys, slide
projectors, hazards: exposed wires, broken
windows
– Potential Weapons: letter openers, knives,
broom handle, hammer and yard stick

21. Informal Interventions
Attention for compliance - verbal praise
– Use social praise consistently
– Provide praise only to students who earn it
Ignoring: only appropriate when:
– the target behavior is temporarily tolerable
– the target behavior is under the influence
of a reinforcer that you can control

22. Structured Interventions
Group Consequences
Individual Consequences
Individual Contracts
Self Management

23. Group Consequences
Provide a set of behavior rules or
expectations
Determine the interval of time for the
contingency - the longer the interval,
the more valuable the reward
Provide a menu of choices to avoid
satiation
Develop a record keeping system
Determine criterion for reinforcement

24. Individual Consequences
Surprise Tokens: reinforcers are
delivered at times that are not
predictable by students
Random Drawing: students place their
name on a piece of paper and place
into a jar when they comply to rules, at
the end of the day, conduct a drawing
for prizes

25. Individual Contracts
An agreement between the teacher and
the student about a desirable change in
behavior
Parts of the contract
– The parties to the contract
– The target behavior
– The goal for the target behavior
– The time period for the contract
– The reward available for meeting the terms
– The penalty for failing to honor the contract

26. Self Management
Behavioral Definition: help the student
choose a behavior to monitor
Teach the student to record behavior
– Event recording
– Permanent Product recording
Teach the student how to plot the data
Teach the student how to apply self-
reinforcement
Use contracts to provide structure

27. Identifying Coercive Interactions
Starts with an antecedent that is
aversive and the student tries to escape
or avoid the activity.
Two parties are trying to control each
other.
– How do these interactions start?
– At what point could I avoid the process by disengaging from
it?
– How could I start a different interaction that does not end in
a power struggle?
– How could I try to replace coercive interactions with ones
ending in positive consequences?

28. Teacher Stress
Burnout Symptoms
– Feeling of boredom, overwork, emotional
exhaustion, and fatigue
– Development of negative, cynical, or
depersonalizing attitudes toward students
– Lack of sense of accomplishment from the
job

29. Managing Teacher Stress
Time management
Student behavior
Interpersonal relationships
Role expectations
Personal concerns

30. Poor Time Management
Uncontrolled rushing
Chronic vacillation between unpleasant
alternatives
Fatigue with many hours of
unproductive activity
Constantly missed deadlines
Insufficient time for rest and personal
relationships
Sense of being overwhelmed

31. Time Management Techniques
Self-Management
– Time analysis
– Goal setting
– Prioritization
– Delegation
– Action

32. Interpersonal Concerns
Poor staff relations
Insufficient opportunities for
professional growth
Administrative ineffectiveness
Lack of recognition

33. Role Expectations
Teachers often set expectations around
being liked, helpful, and in control
Role ambiguity: confusion of the scope
and specific responsibilities of the job
Role conflict: discrepancy between
teacher’s perception of the job and the
perceptions of significant others

34. Personal Solutions
Relaxation
Compartmentalized Thinking:
separation between work and personal
life
Detached Concern: do not dwell on
things over which you have no control
Personal Time
Cognitive Restructuring: focus on
strengths not weaknesses