Positive Classroom Strategies

Students who engage in oppositional, confrontational or non-compliant behaviors do so because they frequently have poor academic skills poor self-concepts as learners, and usually do not like school (Sprick, et al., 2002). Often these students will be caught in a negative cycle of academic underachievement and misbehavior. Educators will often overlook simple academic strategies that have been shown to shape student behavior in powerful and positive ways (Penno et al., 2000). Below, you will find several research-based strategies that have proven to be effective.

• Be aware of the instructional level of the work. Make sure the work is not too difficult or too easy. 95% of all behavior problems are due to a mismatch in student’s level of learning and the instructional level of the material presented. Many behavior problems occur simply because students find the assigned work too difficult or too easy (Gettinger & Seibert, 2002). Too simple, the student may become bored and distracted. Too hard, the student is likely to feel frustrated and upset because he or she cannot complete the assignment. A mismatch between the assignment and the student’s abilities can trigger misbehavior. Teachers should be aware of each student’s academic skills and adjust assignments as needed to ensure that the student is appropriately challenged but not overwhelmed by the work.

• Engaged students do not have time to act out. This is a very powerful concept. Students that are actively engaged in academics do not misbehave According to Heward (2003) 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. You can encourage students to be active learners 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. Heward (1994) stated that students who have many opportunities to actively respond and receive teacher feedback demonstrate substantial learning gains.

• The illusion of choice. According to Kern et. al. (2002) teachers who allow students choice in structuring their learning activities typically have fewer behavior problems in their classrooms. 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 particular 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. A major issue with this technique is that the choices that you make available to your students need to be maintained in the parameters of your class. Here are some examples of choice: a teacher may let the entire class vote on which of two lessons they would prefer to have presented that day. In independent seatwork, 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.

• Positive Reinforcement Does Work. Praise and other positive interactions between teacher and student is very powerful. According to Mayer (2000) praise serves an important instructional function by reminding 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. Most classrooms, teachers tend to deliver many more reprimands than praise. Dr. James Dobson discusses the “Emotional Bank Account”. You need to ensure that you have a positive balance before you are going to make a withdrawal. 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.

• Be consistent. 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.

• Provide consequences (positive or negative) immediately. It is important 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.

Some of the material adapted from http://www.interventioncentral.org.

References

Gettinger, M., & Seibert, J.K. (2002). Best practices in increasing academic learning time. In A. Thomas (Ed.), Best practices in school psychology IV: Volume I (4th ed., pp. 773-787). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

Heward, W.L. (1994). Three ‘low-tech’ strategies for increasing the frequency of active student response during group instruction. In R.Gardner III, D.M.Sainato, J.O.Cooper, T.E.Heron, W.L.Heward, J.Eshleman, & T.A.Grossi (Eds.), Behavior analysis in education: Focus on measurably superior instruction (pp. 283-320). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Heward, W.L. (2003). Ten faulty notions about teaching and learning that hinder the effectiveness of special education. Journal of Special Education, 36, 186-205.

Kern, L., Bambara, L., & Fogt, J. (2002). Class-wide curricular modifications to improve the behavior of students with emotional or behavioral disorders. Behavioral Disorders, 27, 317-326.

Mayer, G.R. (2000). Classroom management: A California resource guide. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles County Office of Education and California Department of Education.

Miller, K.A., Gunter, P.L., Venn, M.J., Hummel, J., & Wiley, L.P. (2003). Effects of curricular and materials modifications on academic performance and task engagement of three students with emotional or behavioral disorders. Behavioral Disorder, 28, 130-149.

Penno, D.A., Frank, A.R., & Wacker, D.P. (2000). Instructional accommodations for adolescent students with severe emotional or behavioral disorders. Behavioral Disorders, 25, 325-343.

Sprick, R.S., Borgmeier, C., & Nolet, V. (2002). Prevention and management of behavior problems in secondary schools. In M. Shinn, H.M. Walker, & G. Stoner (Eds.) Interventions for academic and behavioral problems II: Preventive and remedial approaches (pp. 373-401). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.