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What does consistent behavior management look like?

Date: January 10th, 2013
By: Polly Bath

Watch this video [1:59] to learn how consistent behavior management improves behavior and makes it easier for all adults and students.

When I see a child running down the hall, I tell him, “Hey, stop running.”

Now, as soon as he goes around the corner, guess what he does?

You guessed it, he runs down the hall again.

So what do I need more than anything from my colleagues?

To say the same thing. “Hey, stop running in the hall. You know the rule,” and keep on walking. The next teacher says, “Hey, stop running in the hall. You know the rule.”

Guess what? After several days of many adults saying stop running in the hall, all this student has to do is see an adult, and he stops running. Eventually, he just stops running in the hall, because he is consistently being coached and taught not to run in the hall.

Listen. I know. We get tired. We say, “Oh, my gosh. I am tired of telling these kids to stop running in the hall. Nobody else is doing it.” And when we do say something, the child says, “Well, you’re the only one who does that. You’re picking on me.”

That has to change. We all have to work together and have consistency in our building. Little things like running in the hall won’t become big things if we consistently enforce them.

And we don’t have to get into a power struggle and say things like, “Hey, what’s your name? Come here. What do you think you’re doing? You know you’re not supposed to have a hat on.”

We simply need to give them instruction. “Take your hat off. You know the rule.”

Because we know, around the corner, someone else is going to do the same thing.
 
Click on my video above for more.