Reducing Behavior Problems in Elementary School Classrooms

895 Words2 Pages

Reducing Behavior Problems in Elementary School Classrooms is a practice guide that offers strategies on how to reduce behavior problems. The guide provides information on how to identify specific problem behaviors. It describes how to modify a student’s environment to support positive behavior. It offers teaching techniques to promote and reinforce good behavior. In addition the guide shows that with collaborative relationships and a school wide approach the reduction of behavior problems is attainable.

Behavior problems could transpire from numerous reasons. The first step in addressing a student’s behavior problem is identifying the circumstances that prompt and reinforce it. According to Doing What Works (DWW), a research based education practices website, there are five main questions a teacher should answer to “Is it developmentally appropriate? Is the student’s behavior persisting? Does it threaten the safety of the students or teacher? Does it prevent other students from learning? Is it spreading to other students?” If any of the answers to the above questions is yes then there is a need for a more extensive assessment. Recognizing and understanding the foundations of a student’s behavior problem begins with collecting and analyzing student level data. Collecting data requires several weeks to accomplish. It is important for a teacher to record what happened before, during and after the problem occurs. DWW recommends documenting “concrete details about the environment, such as the lesson content, type of activity, level of difficulty, proximity of the teacher, what the teacher said, the behavior of other students, and other contextual factors. Data should also include the length and intensity of the behavior.”...

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... professional colleagues and students’ families, teachers provide themselves with the different ways to effectively address behavior problems. Teachers can discuss successful behavior strategies with other teachers or with the students’ parents. Schools can help promote these relationships by organizing “collaborative teaching teams” or bring in behavior experts to work with teachers and create a more inclusive picture of what is happening in the classroom and come up with ways to employ positive strategies for improvement.

The strategy that I observe the most is positive behavior recognition. I truly feel that acknowledging positive behavior is crucial for every teacher. I can see the power of acknowledgement when a student walks away from the teacher with a proud expression lighting up their face and they know that their action or actions were good.

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