Classroom management - Teaching Expertise

Are you constantly reacting to poor behaviour? Then it’s time to change your approach from tackling it to preventing it, says Dave Stott

How do you balance your use of rewards and sanctions, and are the rewards you’re using really having a positive effect on student behaviour? Dave Stott provides some practical tips

Pupils need not only to hear your instructions but also to process and understand what is required. Dave Stott looks at techniques for ensuring they understand and comply with what you are asking them to do

A behaviour policy must be applied consistently if it is to work. Dave Stott looks at the best ways to get staff working in cooperation

Focusing only on learning or only on behaviour can lead to an imbalance in the teaching and learning environment. Dave Stott looks at how to create an integrated learning/behavior plan

Heavy-handed responses to low-level disruption run the risk of turning a small problem into a big one. Dave Stott suggests some less formal and more appropriate ways to respond

Is ‘on report’ a positive sanction intended to modify behaviour or simply a negatively phrased document used to record the number of occasions when a pupil’s behaviour is unacceptable?

The behaviour of students can be adversely affected when their regular teacher is absent. How can you be best prepared for such problems and what are the management issues that need to be addressed before such a situation arises?

As we start the summer term, don’t forget how the teaching and learning atmosphere, environment and temperature can be influential on the behaviour of your pupils… and yourself. This week we provide some practical tips to help minimise summertime disruption

Time spent on managing the behaviour of more challenging pupils can often be at the expense of those who cause you little trouble. How can you ensure that your approach motivates all students?

It’s widely recognised that our thoughts, perceptions and emotions drive our behaviour. So how can we learn to stay in control when students are challenging our authority?

Students can sometimes find it difficult to maintain their engagement in group activities, especially if their own self-image or confidence is poor. How can your questioning and positive verbal leading empower students to continue their involvement and reduce the likelihood of unacceptable behaviour?

Non-verbal instructions and signalled reminders can be highly effective in managing student behaviour, but are you sure that your messages are being interpreted accurately?

September doesn’t just mark the beginning of a new school year: it also means the start of new working relationships, new environments and new challenges. Clear communication between colleagues and students can provide a strong basis for effective behaviour management and proactive teaching, explains Dave Stott

Low-level disruption can greatly impede students’ progress. Josephine Smith outlines a CPD session to help teachers in your school improve their behaviour management

The beginning of the summer break can often mean one thing: forgetting all about school until September. But if you can learn to manage your own behaviour effectively during this time, you will be better prepared to manage students’ behaviour next term

It’s often seen as simply a reward or a punishment, so how can giving responsibility to students be used to improve behaviour?

This issue of Behaviour Matters looks at the benefits of the specific teaching of behaviour, using the same approaches as for any other area of the school curriculum

How can you make positive changes to the behaviour of pupils who are not disruptive but are not engaged with the learning process?

Tina Rae discusses how to use the technique of motivational interviewing (MI) to trigger behaviour change in students. MI accepts that students may not always be ready or willing to modify their behaviour, so focuses on exploring ambivalence before change

‘Significant minority’ is an often-used phrase describing small groups of student who have negative influences on the behaviour of others. How can schools prevent this occurring, and how can they prevent the minority becoming a majority?

The Easter break from school and the change of circumstances can mean, for many students, problems in settling back in to the expectations of the classroom. Dave Stott takes a close look at teaching techniques to reduce the incidence of answering back and arguing

‘Time out’ should be more than just a sanction. How can we help students who are required to spend periods outside the classroom use this time to make positive changes in their behaviour? Dave Stott looks at the systems schools need to have in place

We can have a positive effect on students’ behaviour by demonstrating a sense of fairness and consistency and taking time to chat to them outside the classroom, says Dave Stott

Tips on how to solicit and apply feedback/evaluation from pupils to improve behaviour management

This ezine is a reminder to review the number of rules you expect students to comply with, how they are put into practice, and how effective they seem to b

Effective behaviour management policies and strategies are based on clarity, inevitability and consistency. This article draws attention to the problem of not meaning what you say when implementing policy

This ezine is a reminder of the possible benefits, and also the problems, of using a structured points system when managing student behaviour. It shows how points systems can be effective on a schoolwide basis, for smaller teaching groups and also for individual students

How able or prepared are you to allow reluctant and disengaged learners to change the planned activity? This article highlights how having alternatives to planned lessons can reduce the chances of students developing and escalating confrontations

Justifying your actions or decisions is an essential part of effective behaviour management. So how do you demonstrate fairness and consistency in the teaching and learning environment?

Today’s article is a reminder that your classroom rules, boundaries and expectations can be reinforced through careful use of language in verbal instructions, rewards and sanctions

How effective are the behaviour plans you write for challenging students? This article offers some tips on the essential components of plans that really can make a positive change to challenging or disruptive behaviour

Expecting an instant reaction to your instructions from some students may be a step too far! This bulletin looks at practical strategies to empower you and reduce confrontation

’Zero tolerance’ is a phrase increasingly used in response to challenging behaviour – but what are the likely benefits and the possible consequences of such an approach?

As behaviour policies and classroom rules are being finalised for the new term ahead, Behaviour Matters reminds staff of their responsibilities in ensuring compliance and consistency to the agreed policies

Preparing the emotional and environmental details of the classroom for the next school year can have a very clear impact on pupil and teacher behaviour

Assess your own pupils strategies to prepare yourself for improving behaviour next year. This Behaviour Matters reminds you to include your own self-review in your preparations for next year

Behaviour Matters looks at the benefits of considered classroom seating plans, since the layout and organisation of your teaching and learning area is a major factor in successful behaviour management

As a quick reference point and a reminder of strategies, this Behaviour Matters lists the top 20 behaviour strategies to include in your toolbox of behaviour management techniques

Arguments with pupils can escalate quickly, so Dave Stott gives tips on how to defuse or control arguments with students, before they become out of control and cause permanent behaviour problems

How can teachers motivate their pupils to improve their behaviour? Dave Stott continues the SEAL approach to improving classroom behaviour, offering practical tips

Effective anger management techniques for pupils can be led by their teacher. This Behaviour Matters continues to look at how SEAL can have a direct link to improving behaviour

Behaviour suffers when teachers don't get to their classrooms on time, as pupils take advantage of the lack of supervision. Teachers' timekeeping is therefore important, and can be made more efficient by planning and communication with colleagues

If 'time-outs', punishments and sanctions are not changing the behaviour of a pupil, what other options are there? Dave Stott discusses how to encourage pupils to reflect on, and change, their behaviour

What powers do teachers actually have when it comes to disruptive pupils at school? Dai Durbridge discusses with reference to the use of force and confiscation

When confronting problem behaviour there are some tips and techniques that will prove immediately useful; Dave Stott offers ideas which aimt to diffuse potentially volatile situations

By monitoring behaviour — identifying patterns of disruption and collecting information over time — you will move some way towards finding a solution to behaviour problems. This ebulletin explains how to do this in an easy and effective manner

When a teacher finds it necessary to use force with a pupil it is essential that they are clear on how to use that force — and how much to use — as well as how to deal with the recording and reporting of the incident afterwards

What is the first step in improving behaviour issues? The answer may surprise you — try an audit of your management style and learning environment. By acting on the findings, you may see an overall improvement in the way pupils approach learning — and each other

What kind of interventions can you introduce as a SENCO to address pupils’ behaviour difficulties? Linda Evans discusses in her second e-bulletin on BESD (behavioural, emotional and social development)