Creating the IDEAL Team for Positive Discipline in the School Library Setting
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This document provides guidance for school librarians on establishing discipline and managing student behavior in the library. It discusses establishing clear rules and consequences, using positive reinforcement, addressing the root causes of misbehavior, and teaching replacement behaviors. Specific strategies are outlined, such as making rules visual, ignoring minor negative behaviors, rewarding students for following rules, and giving students choices and a sense of control when possible. The goal is to promote appropriate behavior while developing positive relationships.
![STUDENT BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT ESTABLISHING DISCIPLINE in the school library ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Sandy Patton Teacher Librarian, National Board Certified Lakewood High School Long Beach Unified School District [email_address]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/librarybehaviormanagement-111112114525-phpapp02/85/Creating-the-IDEAL-Team-for-Positive-Discipline-in-the-School-Library-Setting-1-320.jpg)
![What isn’t taught in TL preparation programs … and expected of our paraprofessionals with no training? ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Behavior Management & Discipline](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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Creating the IDEAL Team for Positive Discipline in the School Library Setting
- 3. Sandy’s example ~ sharing things that work: 1. Make up a seating chart 2. Read Miss Nelson is missing (I wore a character T-Shirt with "Miss Viola Swamp is Watching You" on it) 3. Explain the system (stars, happy faces, and checks) tied to the citizenship grade on the report card.
Editor's Notes
- Here’s a definition from an educational point of view. A set of activities…promoting good behavior…eliminating bad behavior…through establishment of a relationship…and a positive climate…in an organized fashion. As we will see throughout the presentation, the focus remains on a plan for teaching skills, building and maintaining relationships, and creating a climate focusing on proactive interventions.
- I photocopied a couple of month's worth, and stapled all on Monday's together, starting with the first class coming.... (Use pencil on the master sheet so that you can edit the names) Tuesday, etc. Then I would have a week ready to pull, and I could see at a glance who was coming, the grade and what time!!!!
- How do you get the student’s attention (every teacher uses something different) - what will you use and how will you train students to respond? If the teacher has poor behavior management, you have even more to overcome. Catch them at the door if you know there are potential problems. (Example: have them line up outside and wait until it is quiet before you let them in) If they do something wrong, have them do it again until they get it right. Don’t get frustrated - stay positive even as they groan. Don’t become sarcastic or degrading. Let teachers know that if they stay they need to enforce the rules of your classroom (the library).
- Here are the specifics for “training and instruction.” And these benefits look pretty enticing, don’t they.
- Uh-oh. Hopefully, this is NOT your discipline plan. Look at the outcomes here. If these are the characteristics of your students and environment (and possibly your staff), then maybe your discipline plan is too heavy-handed.
- Why do so many school librarians and paraprofessionals leave the field, or if they stay, get mean and nasty? Sadly, many librarians cannot make the difference in the lives of students because of lack of skill in behavior management. Their mental photo album does not match reality. Inability to control the students during a library visit is the number one reason administrators give poor evaluations. It's also one reason classroom teachers find excuses not to bring their class, do not wish to stay during class visits, and do not wish to collaborate. The majority of school librarians and paraprofessionals are sent into the classroom with little or no training in student behavior management. Some quit. Some become Library Dragons and make visiting the library a miserable experience for students, many give up and let the library become toxic, others simply send every offender out ~ back to the classroom, up to the office, hand out detention slips.
- How do we "keep the faith" when the threat from behavior problems to career satisfaction is greater today than ever before? The reason for the increase of frequency and intensity of behavior problems is open to debate. Depending on who you talk to, it is blamed on any of the following reasons (and more).
- Explain 7: Firm means consistent. Be consistent across situations. Be consistent across time. Consistency = predictability Inconsistency promotes the belief that rules aren’t really important. Consistency helps students see the value of appropriate behavior. A variable schedule of reinforcement is the most powerful. Be mindful how you use it. Who can tell me why a variable schedule of reinforcement is the most powerful? Think about a slot machine. It’s one of the most addictive forms of gambling. Why? The possibility of a big payoff. So provide positive reinforcement on a variable schedule. You are more likely to get your students to “feed the machine,” to give you what you want. Consequences, however, must be on a regular schedule. Students may start to “gamble” if consequences are delivered inconsistently. Avoid threats or promises you cannot or will not keep. You increase the likelihood of negative behavior with inconsistent payoffs. If negative behavior increases following your “intervention,” then your intervention is backfiring. Reevaluate! You’re probably reinforcing negative behavior on a variable schedule. If you’re inconsistent on following through on consequences, the students will push the buttons and cross the line to see if they can “get away with it.” Consequences provide reassurance to every one that you are the protector of the physical, psychological, and educational well-being of ALL students. Empty threats send the message that, “I don’t really mean it,” and “I’m out of ideas. I’ve got nothing here. Explain 6. The one-up Children will always one-up you. If you raise your voice, they will talk louder. If you act angry, they will act angrier. If you are sarcastic, little children will be bewildered, and older children will get hurt feelings. You want the students to model your behavior, so be careful expressing those negative emotions. They will mirror those, too.
- You must be energetic, excited about school. Express high, but realistic, expectations for academics AND behavior. Look at the funny side. Sometimes it takes years before we see the light side of a situation. How many of you have ever said, “One day we’ll laugh about this!” Laugh now. Kids are funny. Their behavior is goofy. But if you laugh out loud and in front of the kids, make sure you are laughing with them, not at them. It’s only humorous if it’s funny to everyone involved. And don’t take things too personally. You know those things they said about your mama are not true.
- Here we are addressing one of the only things we can control - poor teaching. Students like to know what is expected and what is going to happen. Changing everything up just causes chaos. Kids can learn any routine - there is no right or wrong - but be consistent. For example … if students always hear a story then checkout … they will not do well if all of a sudden you say to check out books first & then read a story. If a class is scheduled to come … be ready. That may mean warning students that are dropping in, stopping in the middle of cataloging tasks or answering the phone or email messages. It means that you aren’t wasting instructional time for the persons or groups that have pre-booked your time. If you leave a group of students sitting idly Think through entire visits and lessons - stay late the night before if you must, but have your handouts duplicated and ready, your reading choice ready and marked, the resources pulled in advance.
- Use the school-wide Student Code of Conduct if one is developed. Post this Code of Conduct prominently so that you can refer to it when you see misbehaviors. There is a big difference between breaking a conduct rule vs. breaking a library rule. Usually these Codes cover obvious misbehaviors, but they can especially be helpful for small infractions that take minor redirection; student is standing on a stool and pulling our a heavy book that could fall on another student; student tries to get ahead in line student is not finishing assigned work student is treating library book carelessly student is talking too loudly Before going to the next slide have the audience come up with 3 to 6 rules they use now.
- Looking at the rules that we listed. Have we broken any rules about rules.
- Explaining 5. While we don’t expect you to whisper, we do expect you to be considerate of others; maintain a low conversational tone of voice while in the library. Explaining 6. Quality work is difficult to accomplish in a junky work space. Make sure the library looks as good when you leave as it did when you came in. Explaining 7. In order to ensure that everyone can find the books they need, please place any books you remove onto the carts at the front of the library so they can be reshelved properly.
- The broken record message is simple: Repeat it, repeat it again, repeat it again…same tone of voice (calm and quiet), although you might use slightly different words. Sometimes we don’t clearly convey what we WANT, especially if we state it in negative terms. When I say, “Don’t run,” is it ok for you to skip, to twirl, to hop, to somersault, to stand perfectly still? You’re not running. Did I want you to walk, walk slowly, walk on the right-hand side of the hall? Use the broken record method to continue to give information, and to clarify the information you give.
- Is one class still finishing up when another is arriving?
- Before we can talk about intervention techniques you need to understand why PEOPLE act the way they do? There are only five reasons why people (not just students) misbehave. We’ve all come to realize that negative attention is just as reinforcing as positive attention. People do some outrageous things to get attention. Why do students, in particular … although these reasons could explain the behavior of other teachers, parents, and administrators alike … act in way they do. And how can we get them to stop. Students may be angry about the treatment they get in school they are bored, they don’t understand why they have to complete these assignments that don’t teach them anything, they want to get back at teachers, administrators, adults in general, for boring them to death. Some of them need to be in charge and will take over if you let them. Others are just trying to get away from a situation where they can’t succeed. Well, and then there are the students that are tired, hungry, or need to go to the bathroom! If all they have is a basic need in mind, they aren’t going to be active and engaged in any activities.
- Treat behavior deficits the same way you would reading or math deficits. Tell it, show it, practice it, score it, reteach it, reinforce it. Teach it in context, not in isolation. Every behavior is a tool to get something we want. Some people have a well-equipped, well-organized tool box. They keep their tools bright and shiny. They know where they are, what they are for, when to use, how to use them safely…Others have a roll of duct tape and a can of WD40. If it doesn’t move and it should, use the WD40. If it moves and it shouldn’t, use the duct tape. Duct tape and WD40 are pretty good quick fixes, but not for the long haul. Fixing skill deficits takes time and practice. You’re not going to be able to do this when you see a student once a week or once a month.
- When is caution is the better part of valor? Provide a safe environment. Avoid opportunities for disaster. Keep potential weapons locked away. If necessary, clear the room. Property can be replaced. People cannot. Physical intervention can escalate behavior. Touch only when absolutely necessary to avoid further harm. Logistically, this can be difficult to allow in a school. Other students and personnel perceive that the student has “gotten away” with something. Not true. You can have consequences without throwing gasoline on the fire. Wait until the crisis cycle has passed. Again, assigning consequences during the crisis cycle will likely escalate, not de-escalate, the situation. Applying consequences is not an emergency measure. It can and should wait until you are sure the child is ready to accept the consequences without a “flare up.” Remember, a physical confrontation is usually more aversive to the “intervenors” than to “intervenees.” The angry student has far less to lose than the teacher or administrator. Be mindful of the possible effects of gender, size, race, and numbers when deciding whether to seek assistance from other individuals. Touch only when absolutely necessary to avoid further harm.
- We make the mistake of equating “loud” with aggressive. We think that inappropriate language constitutes a threat. A person who is loud and using inappropriate language is giving valuable information. They are expressing a feeling. Verbal aggression does not naturally lead to physical aggression. In fact, sometimes venting will relieve the pressure. An inappropriate intervention at this time could lead to physical aggression. Children with language problems are more likely to act out physically. If a person can express their feelings verbally, and are allowed to do so, you can sometimes avoid physical aggression.
- The students will know if you genuinely care about them. This is how you build relationships. We know from our research regarding cultural diversity that relationships are one of the primary values of the African-American student. In almost any relationship, you can better obtain cooperation if you first establish a level of trust and caring. If you need to have a difficult conversation, let the other person know in advance. Give them time to prepare. The situation is less likely to become volatile if they have time to think and plan than if they have to “think on their feet.”
- Think about your job - would you do it without a paycheck? Aren’t the extensive vacation and time off an incentive to stay in your job? Do you enjoy everything about your job - do you procrastinate on doing those tasks you struggle with? Do you enjoy eating lunch with your colleagues? Do you like it when the principal singles you out for a good job in front of the rest of the faculty? What keeps you focused on learning better ways to do your job? Is it important to you to develop a good reputation as an exceptional librarian? We ALL gradually move from tangibles to social rewards. We pair the two and eventually the good feeling we get from inside ourselves becomes enough reward.
- Research says that teachers are 12 times more likely to pay attention to negative behavior than to positive behavior. And for every negative interaction, it takes 18 or so positive interactions to rebuild the relationship. You do the math! 18 x 12 = 216 ….
- Why do I have to give them stuff for what they should be doing anyway? They’re going to expect to get something all the time. Make sure you praise the action (behavior) of the child and not the character. Instead of, “You’re such a good boy for cleaning up,” try “I really like the way you cleaned up your area.” Because, conversely, if they don’t engage in the desired behavior, they might surmise that they are a bad boy for leaving a mess. Ask students how they think they did. They are their own toughest critics. Give them an opportunity to find the problem and responsibility for making it better. Instead of being a critic, you are now the support. The students learn self-evaluation and problem-solving through this process. You become the facilitator of the process, instead of the meanie. Some people have problems taking a compliment. Tell them, “I’m about to give you a compliment that you really deserve. When I’m finished, you should say, ‘Thank you. I DID do a good job, didn’t I?’”
- We treat every negative behavior like it’s an emergency! We pay attention to it immediately. Not every negative behavior needs immediate attention. The behavior we want to attend to immediately is positive behavior. So pay attention to those students first. Get them busy, reduce the audience, and handle the negative behavior in private. Now, even though the negative behavior is getting attention, it’s not immediate, and there’s an audience of one, instead of 26.
- Sometimes adults need a time-out, too. Never admitting that you are wrong is a power struggle in and of itself. It tells the students to “give up.” It’s a dictatorship…and that can lead to disaster. Let the kids know it’s ok to mess up occasionally as long as you recognize your mistakes, apologize for your mistakes, and learn from your mistakes. The kids don’t have to be perfect, and neither do the adults.
- (Take a bag of potato chips. Put half in a clean, attractive bowl. Put the other half in a garbage can. Throw in the empty bag, dump in a glass of water/soda…Walk around the room and offer the participants a chip. Keep going until you get one or two people to take a “soggy” chip. Someone always does.) The soggy potato chip vs. the crisp potato chip principle is this: If you can’t get a crisp potato chip, would you take a soggy one instead? Or if you had a choice, which would you take? Many students will take a soggy chip b/c that’s what they are used to and they’ve come to enjoy those soggy chips. Or maybe they think they only deserve the soggy chip. Do you know what “extinction burst” means? It means that when attention has been sustaining a behavior and attention is withdrawn, the student will frantically exhibit the behavior to try to get your attention. If you’re strong and ignore the first 25 times, then “give in” on the 26 th try, the student gets the message that he now has to try 26 times instead of 3 times to rattle your cage. Remember, this works for negative and positive behavior. Wouldn’t it be nice for the student to be appropriate 26 times in exchange for one reward. The bottom line is this: Don’t offer soggy chips. Offer plenty of crisp ones and change the tastes of those who previously preferred the soggy ones.
- Here are the benefits of encouraging effort. These are the characteristics of successful, life-long learners.
- Instead of letting students escape, keep them there. We often send students away--out of the room, to the office, In-School Suspension, out of school suspension, expulsion—for behaviors whose function was to ESCAPE. And that’s what we give them—an escape, essentially a vacation. Some vacations are brief, some are longer. Administrative leave with pay. If I’m not bothered by the long term effects, this is a pretty good deal in the short go-round. How do we make the problem behavior irrelevant: Set kids up for success. Give them material on which they can achieve some level of success. Give them attention for the behavior we would like for them to continue.
- We take for granted that all kids have the same behavior skills at the same age. They don’t. You can’t walk until you crawl. When a baby starts to push up, you get on the floor and clap and coo and encourage them to get on their knees. When they get on their knees, you hold out your hands and beg them to crawl. When they crawl, you prop them up against the couch so they can stand. You take their hands and walk them around the room. It’s a gradual process. You encourage and reward all along the way. Tell them, “When you finish my activity, you can work on your activity.” How many of you are “working for the weekend?” Isn’t that a song title. What about this one: The three best things about teaching are June, July, and August! Dangle the carrot in front of the students. Then give them carrot and let them enjoy it.
- You don’t need many skills to teach a dead man certain things. They sit still really well. They hardly ever run. They are great at being quiet. I’m pretty sure I can teach a dead man these things with no formal education and no license. But we spend hours teaching dead man behavior.
- “If” can sound threatening. It also opens the door to “maybe-maybe not” conditions. “If” sounds like “we’ll see,” and everyone knows that “we’ll see” means different things to different people…and from different sources. “When” puts the child in control. It conveys a firm promise.
- Win-win is not a compromise. It means everybody gets what they want. This is accomplished by offering choices that are acceptable to you and likely to be chosen by the child. Even if they don’t particularly like the choices, they enjoy the process of choosing. Students feel more in control of themselves and happier about the outcome if they have some say-so. Make them think it’s their idea!
- Build your rep: Display concern. When they ask, “Why did you call my parents?” answer, “B/C I care about you.” Talk with them outside of class. Use humor and create joy.
- Effective discipline is an ongoing practice that takes place in the classroom. When a disciplinarian is brought in to handle the situation, you are into a punitive mode. Research indicates that proactive/preventive practices are the most effective; immediate intervention at the outset of the problem behavior chain is less effective; and punishment after the fact is not at all effective for long-term behavioral change.
- Try using soft background music without lyrics, such as classical music as “white noise” to mask other distracting noises, such as the air conditioning blowing, florescent lights buzzing…noises that students with ADHD symptoms hear with their “super” hearing that we don’t hear. To keep attention focused, use cardboard “telescopes.” Students watch you or a section of the board through an empty paper towel tube. The other eye automatically closes, blocking out distracting stimuli. Another benefit is that you know exactly where the attention is directed. Make card windows to use for text. Cut out a piece of cardboard the same width as the textbook. The text window can be the size of a typical line of print, a paragraph, or a row of math problems. Customize card windows for each textbook.
- If you use two new rolls of pennies each day, you’ll have $22 at the end of the month. Reward yourself or your class!
- This directive…”If your horse dies, dismount!”…is supposedly in the Calvary handbook. Basically it is the same message that you got at the beginning of this presentation: “Stop the insanity!”