- Be sure that assigned work is not too easy and not too difficult.
It is surprising how often classroom behavior problems occur simply because
students find the assigned work too difficult or too easy (Gettinger & Seibert, 2002). When assignments are
too simple, the student may become bored and distracted. When work is too hard, the student is likely to feel frustrated
and upset because he or she cannot complete the assignment. As a significant mismatch between the assignment and
the student's abilities can trigger misbehavior, teachers should inventory each student's academic skills and adjust
assignments as needed to ensure that the student is appropriately challenged but not overwhelmed by the work.
- Offer frequent opportunities for choice. Teachers
who allow students a degree of choice in structuring their learning activities typically have fewer behavior problems
in their classrooms than teachers who do not. (Kern et al., 2002). Providing choices gives students a sense of
autonomy and voice in their learning. It should also be remembered that no teacher could possibly anticipate each
student's idiosyncratic learning needs in every situation. If students are offered choice in structuring their
academic activities, however, they will frequently select those options that make their learning easier and more
manageable. In sum, students who exercise academic choice are more likely to be active, motivated managers of their
own learning and less likely to simply act out due to frustration or boredom.
As an example of choice at the group level, an instructor may let the entire class
vote on which of two lessons they would prefer to have presented that day. Choice can be incorporated into individual
assignments too. In independent seatwork, for example, a student might be allowed to choose which of several short
assignments to do first, the books or other research materials to be used, the response format (e.g., writing a
short essay, preparing an oral report), etc. One efficient way to promote choice in the classroom is for the teacher
to create a master menu of options that students can select from in various learning situations. An instructor,
for example, may teach the class that during any independent assignment, students will always have a chance to
(1) choose from at least 2 assignment options, (2) sit where they want in the classroom, and (3) select a peer-buddy
to check their work. Student choice then becomes integrated seamlessly into the classroom routine.
- Select high-interest or functional learning activities. Kids are more motivated to learn when their instructional activities are linked to a topic
of high interest (Kern et al., 2002). A teacher who discovers that her math group of 7th-graders loves NASCAR racing,
for example, may be able to create engaging math problems based on car-racing statistics. Students may also be
energized to participate in academic activities if they believe that these activities will give them functional
skills that they value (Miller et al., 2003). One instructor assigned to work with a special-education classroom
of high school boys with serious behavior problems related that she had great difficulty managing the class-until
she realized that each of them wanted to learn to drive. So the teacher brought in copies of the state driver's
education manual and that became the instructional text. The students were much better behaved because they were
now motivated learners working toward the pragmatic real-world goal of learning to drive (R. Sarsfield, personal
communication).
- Instruct students at a brisk pace. A
myth of remedial education is that special-needs students must be taught at a slower, less demanding pace than
their general-education peers (Heward, 2003). In fact, a slow pace of instruction can actually cause significant
behavior problems, because students become bored and distracted. Teacher-led instruction should be delivered at
a sufficiently brisk pace to hold student attention. An important additional benefit of a brisk instructional pace
is that students cover more academic material more quickly, accelerating their learning (Heward, 2003).
- Structure lessons to require active student involvement. Here is a powerful concept in behavior management: it is very difficult for students to
be actively engaged in academics and to misbehave at the same time! When teachers require that students participate
in lessons rather than sit as passive listeners, they increase the odds that these students will become caught
up in the flow of the activity and not drift off into misbehavior (Heward, 2003). Students can be encouraged to
be active learning participants in many ways. A teacher, for example, may call out questions and have the class
give the answer in unison ('choral responding'); pose a question, give the class 'think time', and then draw a
name from a hat to select a student to give the answer; or direct students working independently on a practice
problem to 'think aloud' as they work through the steps of the problem. Students who have lots of opportunities
to actively respond and receive teacher feedback also demonstrate substantial learning gains (Heward, 1994).
- Incorporate cooperative-learning opportunities into instruction.
Traditional teacher lecture is frequently associated with high rates of
student misbehavior. When misbehavior occurs in a large-group format, it also can have a large negative impact:
one acting-out student who gets into a power-struggle with the lecturing instructor will interrupt learning for
the entire class. There is evidence, though, that when students are given well-structured assignments and placed
into work-pairs or cooperative learning groups, behavior problems typically diminish (Beyda et al., 2002). Furthermore,
if a behavior problem should occur while cooperative groups are working together, the teacher is often able to
approach and privately redirect the misbehaving student without disrupting learning in the other groups (Beyda
et al., 2002).
Even positive teacher practices can be more effective when used in cooperative-learning
settings. When instructors teaching in lecture format take the time to give extended feedback and provide coaching
to individuals, other students can become disengaged and off-task. If students are working in pairs or small groups,
though, teacher feedback given to one group or individual does not interrupt learning for the other groups.
- Give frequent teacher feedback and encouragement. Praise and other positive interactions between teacher and student serve an important
instructional function, because these exchanges regularly remind the student of the classroom behavioral and academic
expectations and give the student clear evidence that he or she is capable of achieving those expectations (Mayer,
2000).
Unfortunately, in most classrooms, educators tend to deliver many more reprimands
than they do praise statements. This imbalance is understandable: after all, teachers are under pressure to devote
most of their class time to deliver high-quality instruction and tend to interrupt that instruction only when forced
to deal with disruptive behavior. A high rate of reprimands and low rate of praise, however, can have several negative
effects. First, if teachers do not regularly praise and encourage students who act appropriately, those positive
student behaviors may whither away through lack of recognition. Second, students will probably find a steady diet
of reprimands to be punishing and might eventually respond by withdrawing from participation or even avoiding the
class altogether. A goal for teachers should be to engage in at least 3 to 4 positive interactions with the student
for each reprimand given (Sprick, et al., 2002). Positive interactions might include focused, specific praise,
non-verbal exchanges (e.g., smile or 'thumbs-up' from across the room), or even an encouraging note written on
the student's homework assignment. These positive interactions are brief and can often be delivered in the midst
of instruction.
- Provide correct models during independent work. In virtually every classroom, students are expected to work independently on assignments.
Independent seatwork can be a prime trigger, though, for serious student misbehavior (DuPaul & Stoner, 2002).
One modest instructional adjustment that can significantly reduce problem behaviors is to supply students with
several correctly completed models (work examples) to use as a reference (Miller et al., 2003). A math instructor
teaching quadratic equations, for example, might provide 4 models in which all steps in solving the equation are
solved. Students could refer to these models as needed when completing their own worksheets of similar algebra
problems. Or an English/Language Arts teacher who assigns his class to compose a letter to their U.S. Senator might
allow them to refer to three 'model' letters while they write.
- Be consistent in managing the academic setting. Picture this (not-uncommon) scenario: A teacher complains that her students routinely yell
out answers without following the classroom rule of first raising their hand to be recognized. She invites an observer
into the classroom to offer her some ideas for reducing the number of call-outs. The observer quickly discovers
that the teacher often ignores students who have raised their hand and instead accepts answers that are blurted
out. Because she is inconsistent in enforcing her classroom rules, the teacher is actually contributing to student
misbehavior!
As a group, students with challenging behaviors are more likely than their peers
to become confused by inconsistent classroom routines. Teachers can hold down the level of problem behaviors by
teaching clear expectations for academic behaviors and then consistently following through in enforcing those expectations
(Sprick et al., 2002). Classrooms run more smoothly when students are first taught routines for common learning
activities--such as participating in class discussion, turning in homework, breaking into cooperative learning
groups, and handing out work materials-and then the teacher consistently enforces those same routines by praising
students who follow them, reviewing those routines periodically, and reteaching them as needed.
- Target interventions to coincide closely with 'point of performance'.
Skilled teachers employ many strategies to shape or manage challenging
student behaviors. For instance, a teacher may give a 'pre-correction' (reminder about appropriate behaviors) to
a student who is about to leave the room to attend a school assembly, award a 'good behavior' raffle-ticket to
a student who displayed exemplary behavior in the hallway, or allow a student to collect a reward that she had
earned for being on time to class for the whole week.
It is generally a good idea for teachers who work with a challenging students
to target their behavioral and academic intervention strategies to coincide as closely as possible with that student's
'point of performance' (the time that the student engages in the behavior that the teacher is attempting to influence)
(DuPaul & Stoner, 2002). So a teacher is likely to be more successful in getting a student to take his crayons
to afternoon art class if that teacher reminds the student just as the class is lining up for art than if she were
to remind him at the start of the day. A student reward will have a greater impact if it is given near the time
in which it was earned than if it is awarded after a two-week delay. Teacher interventions tend to gain in effectiveness
as they are linked more closely in time to the students' points of performance that they are meant to influence.
Students who are confrontational or non-compliant
frequently have poor academic skills, a low sense of self-efficacy as learners, and a very negative attitude toward
school (Sprick, et al., 2002). Misbehavior often stems from academic deficits. Educators who work with these behaviorally
challenging learners, however, often make the mistake of overlooking simple academic strategies that have been
shown to shape student behavior in powerful and positive ways (Penno et al., 2000). Here are ten research-based
ideas on academic management that no teacher of difficult-to-manage students should be without!
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