Meet Students Where They Are

Students need teachers to care about them as individuals.  Each child comes into school with a unique story.  Behaviors often come from a deeper problem.  These behaviors manifest themselves in a way that is difficult to deal with while trying to teach a classroom full of children.  Some people believe that to be fair, all students should all be treated the same.  They believe that if a student acts poorly, something should be done with no consideration of what is going on in the life of the student.  Others see a student with disadvantages and then lower expectations in subtle but devastating ways.  Kids need to be loved for who they are, even when they are at their worst.  All students deserve to have teachers who have high expectations of them.  As educators, we don't get to decide where a student starts, but we can help impact where they end up.

Statement #1: Students don't deserve to get extra attention just because they act bad

What they have right: Dealing with behavior is a balancing act.  You can, at times, unintentionally reinforce negative behaviors.

However, if you want behaviors to change, you have to change your behavior and then reflect on your impact.  If you hope to just ride it out the bad behavior, the behaviors will likely not change.  If the child is seeking attention and they get the most attention when they act poorly, you are reinforcing the poor behavior.  Each individual student has separate needs.  Giving a student specific positive feedback when their behaviors are positive can be very effective.

Statement #2: Don't have fun with them when they are misbehaving

What they have right: If a student is getting positive reinforcement for misbehaving, expect the behaviors to go up.

However, if a 6-year-old child needs a moment to breathe or they need to reset their emotions, it can be very helpful to allow them that time.  Once they are able to think more clearly, then it is time to get into consequences.  Time to clam down isn’t “fun time,” it is sometimes needed to address the behavior.

Statement #3: Stop being easy on Kids-Punish bad behaviors

What they have right: expectations should be high for all kids

However, the end consequence should connect with the behavior and should fit the individual if it is going to be effective.  If a basketball team misses a lot of layups, having the kids run as a consequence will have no impact on their behavior (unless of course, they were missing the layups on purpose).  If the players are missing layups, practice layups.  Make the consequences fit the action.  All behaviors have consequences.  If you study hard, you get better grades than you would have otherwise gotten.  That is a consequence.  Consequences that connect the behavior to the action make a much more significant impact.

Build Relationships 

What works in the short term doesn't always work in the long term.  While yelling will get an immediate reaction, building a trusting relationship will pay bigger dividends over the course of the school year.

All students deserve adults in their lives who will see their potential and take the time to find out how to get them to the high expectations set for all students.