50 Ways to Improve Student Behavior

Stay Near, Dear

A Point to Ponder

It has been proven, time and again, that a physical bar-rier creates a mental barrier, every time. Let us explain It. You walk into a room to meet with someone and that person is seated behind a desk, it is more intimidating than if that person gets up from his desk and comes and sits next to you. Once the barrier (the desk) has been removed, the situation becomes less intimidating. If you listen to a speaker who stands behind a podium, it doesnot feel the same as if that speaker actually walks out into the audienceand interacts with the participants. Sitting across the table from someone at ameal is not as intimate as sitting next to that person at the table. Get the idea?Then lets bring that into the classroom.

Classroom Solution/Strategy

Far too often, and usually without realizing it, teachersseparate themselves from their students with a physical bar-rier, be it a desk or a podium. Now, granted, the students arenot consciously thinking that you have created a physical(and mental) barrier. Their behavior, however, says that theydo recognize it at a subconscious level.

In classrooms whereteachers separate themselves physically ers.

rom their students, behavior su -

Want a simple solution? Get out from behind your desk or podium andget right in the middle of your students and teach away! This simple act, onyour part, will send a message that you are right in there with them. Also,the closer you are in proximity to a student, the less likely he is to

misbe-have. Try it. If a student is behaving inappropriately, simply walk over andpause next to himwithout giving him the eye, of course. Simply con-tinue teaching, without breaking stride, but do it standing closer to him. You

Stay Near, Dear

15

will almost always see improved behavior. Thats because

students

ind itmore di

icult to misbehave when an adult is standing right next to them

.Heres something else to consider: It has also been proven that

teachersget into their own com classrooms

ort zones and tend to gravitate toward one spotin their

. This is never effective, because it has also been proventhat most discipline problems occur farthest away from the teacher. The solu-tion? Stay on the move! You dont need to run around your classroom con-stantly, but rather move purposefully around the room as you teach.Heres a question to ask yourself: If someone walked into your room andasked your students, Where does your teacher usually stand?, would thestudents be able to answer that question? The answer should be, Shes allover. She never stands in the same place for long. Regrettably, most teachers, if they are honest, will realize that they do tend to gravitate to one spotin the classroom. So get out of your comfort zone, and make a concertedeffort to get closer to your students and to move among them as you teach.

Bottom Line

The closer you are to your students, the more engagedthey will be, the better their behavior will be, and the lesstempted they will be to scheme.

It is true that While thecats away, the mice will play. Stay near, dear, and removethose physical barriers. Save sitting behind your desk for be-fore and after school hours. The closer you get, the less youllfret over behavior tribulations and thus frustrations.

16

50 Ways to Improve Student Behavior

Believe in Them!

A Point to Ponder

Many students do not believe that their teachers ac-tually believe in them.

Many students do not believe that their parents actu-ally believe in them.

Many students do not believe that any adult actually believes in them.

Many students, therefore, do not believe in themselves.

Students who do not believe in themselves tend to have more behavior problems.

Students who

do

believe in themselves actually cause fewer dis-cipline challenges for teachers.Children do not automatically and innately believe in themselves. Theylook to their role models, adults in their lives, to determine their sense ofworthiness.

I a student lacks positive role models at home, his onlyhope may lie in the hands o teachers.

his

When students lack positive rolemodels at home, they tend to be more difficult to deal with regarding be-havior. Thus, the teachers job may become more challenging. But no onesaid that teaching was easy. Its not. Every child, however, deserves to havean adult who believes in him. And even if a child does have positive rolemodels at home and actually does believe in himself, one teacher who doesnot believe in that child can upset the whole equation! When we consider thefact that school-age children spend so much of their time with their teachers(and often more waking hours with their teachers than with their parents), itis not difficult to understand why teachers have such powerful influence onstudents lives. And also, when we consider the fact that you have to

reach

the child before you can

teach

the child, then it should be your main goal, as

Believe in Them!

17

a teacher, to reach every child you teach. So how do you reach a child?

Youreach a child by convincing him that you believe in him.

Classroom Solution/Strategy

Okay, so weve established the fact that you must convinceall students that you believe in them in order to reach themand thus teach them.

All

students!

So what does it look likewhen a teacher believes in his/her students?

Lots of smiling on the part of the teacher.

Lots of encouragement and You can do it statements.

Lots of support on the part of the teacher.

Lots of patience on the part of the teacher.

Lots of saying I believe in you to students.Do you want a student to believe in himself? Then actually

tell

him thatyou believe in him, that you will not give up on him, that you understand hisstruggles, and that you are there for him.We continue to find that far too many teachers forget to do thisto telland show their students that they actually believe in them. Its a simple thingto do. So do it!

Bottom Line

Students who believe in themselves behave better.

Teach-ers who believe in their students have fewer discipline prob-lems. If you are thinking, It cant be that if I do something assimple as believing in my students that I will see improved behavior, then you have obviously never tried it. So try it, andyou will soon become a

believer

18

50 Ways to Improve Student Behavior

%HOLHYH ,Q 0H

, GLGQW XQGHUVWDQG EXW P\ WHDFKHU MXVW PRYHG RQ6KH VDLG VKH KDG QR WLPH WR ZDLW IRU WKH OLJKW RQ PH WR GDZQ6R RQ VKH PRYHG DQG WKHUH , VWD\HG VKH OHIW PH LQ WKH GXVW7KH LGHD WKDW , ZDV FDSDEOH ZDV RQH VKH GLG QRW WUXVW+RZ IDU

ZRXOG , KDYH JRQH KDG VKH JLYHQ PH KHU DOO"+DG VKH MXVW UHDFKHG RXW KHU KDQG WR PH DQG QRW MXVW OHW PH IDOO", JXHVV ,OO QHYHU UHDOO\ NQRZ EXW , NQRZ LWV QRW WRR ODWH, KDYH D EUDQG QHZ WHDFKHU QRZ ZKR KDV QRW VHDOHG P\ IDWH6KH VD\V WKDW , FDQ GR LW ZH ZRUN XQWLO , GR6KHV SDWLHQW DQG GHWHUPLQHG 6KH EHOLHYHV LQ PH 'R \RX"

Meting Out the Seating

19

Meting Outthe Seating

A Point to Ponder

When you go with a friend to a movie, or to a play, or toa ball game, where do you sit? Do you pick out the strangersand sit next to them, or do you prefer to sit next to your friend?We know the answer, of course. Why is it that you choose to sitnext to the person you know? Well answer that for you. Youwant to sit next to your friend because you feel more comfort-able being next to someone you know, because you can converse with yourfriend, and because its just more fun that way. Thats just human nature.Now, lets say that you are at the movie theater with your friend and someonecomes into the theater right before the movie begins and announces, Thatsit. Everyone, listen to me. I am going to tell you where to sit. And I want toensure that no one is sitting next to anyone they know or will be tempted totalk to, because you arent supposed to talk during the movie! Just imagineit. Now, as an adult, you may even leave the theater at this point. If nothingelse, you will be upset. Again, thats just human nature.Can you see where this is leading?

On the irst day o ortable as possible.

school, studentswalk into your classroom and want to

eel as com

Sothey select seats next to their friends, for the same reasons we just statedabove. Oh, and they are definitely more apt to converse with someone theyknow than with a stranger. That, of course, could mean trouble for you, theteacher. Now, you have a choice to make. And most teachers think they onlyhave two choices: (1) Let them sit where they choose and wait until behaviorproblems occur before moving them, or (2) assign seats and hope that theyare not seated next to too much temptation. We believe there is a better, moreeffective way.

You're Reading a Free Preview Pages 40 to 146 are not shown in this preview.

de 146

Dejar un comentario

Enviar

Caracteres:400.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subir Buscar Sganos! scribd.com/scribd

twitter.com/scribd facebook.com/scribd Sobre Prensa Blog Socios Scribd 101 Material Web Soporte PUF Desarrolladores / API Trabajos Condiciones Derecho de autor Privacidad .

Copyright 2012 Scribd Inc.

Idioma:

Espaol

..