E-bulletins - Behaviour Management

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

How can setting goals and the use of effective rewards help students to become less impulsive, more attentive and improve their overall behaviour?

An overcomplicated system of sanctions will inevitably break down. Dave Stott gives some practical advice on how to make sanctions more effective by keeping them clear and simple

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

Can improving pupils’ behaviour reduce absence? Following the government’s lowering of the threshold for persistent absence, Dave Stott examines the causes of absence and outlines some practical actions for reducing it

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

If you expect poor behaviour you are likely to get it – but things don’t have to be that way. Dave Stott looks at a simple technique for channeling your expectations – and your students’ behaviour – in a positive direction

Time constraints put pressure on teachers to start lessons as quickly as possible, but ensuing disruption may make this less effective than allowing a set amount of time for settling in. Dave Stott looks at how to establish a baseline to judge whether such techniques are worth employing and gives tips on how to make them work

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

Non-verbal indicators, particularly facial expressions, can be a powerful motivator or a source of misunderstanding. Dave Stott gives advice on how to interpret them and how to use them to good effect

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

While behaviour problems should be addressed without delay, the classroom may not always be the best environment. Dave Stott explains how taking the time to connect with these pupils outside the teaching and learning environment can help to improve your relationships

Identify the behaviour problems you need to deal with using checklists tailored to individual students

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?

Challenging behaviour can often be the result of students’ inability to manage their emotions. What skills have you taught your students to help them cope with the everyday problems they face in the classroom?

The coalition’s Schools White Paper seeks to strengthen teachers’ powers to challenge difficult behaviour. This week’s Behaviour Matters examines the proposals set out in the document

Are you aware of the many, varied learning styles adopted by your students and how they affect behaviour? This week’s Behaviour Matters explores the benefits of differentiating within the classroom and your own presentation style to accommodate these differences

As the end of the year approaches, use this guide from Behaviour Matters to evaluate how well your school’s behaviour management strategies are working and to plan for the year ahead

Are you struggling to impose your school’s agreed framework of graded sanctions and consequences successfully? Dave Stott explains how to tailor the system to individuals so that it has a more positive effect on behaviour

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?

Much time is spent teaching and modelling appropriate behaviour to students. But how can we ensure that students utilise their social, emotional and behavioural skills, asks Dave Stott

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

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?

‘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?

Lunch breaks can be a source of conflict and behaviour problems, which often spill over and disrupt the classroom during the afternoon sessions. How effective are your routines and systems for a successful midday break, asks Dave Stott

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

They’re often the cause of argument, disruption and off-task behaviour. So how can you reduce the negative impact of mobile phones and MP3 players in the teaching and learning environment?

This week’s copy offers tips on raising teachers’ awareness of the amount of time they spend on behaviour management as opposed to teaching, so that they can readjust the balance in favour of more teaching time if necessary

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

Out last issue advised on focusing on the positive aspects of student behaviour in the teaching and learning environment, without dwelling on negative behaviour. This week’s develops this theme and offers a practical activity aimed at encouraging positive behaviour

Refocus your thinking and concentrate on the positive aspects of student behaviour. Stop spending time on the negatives and revitalise your behaviour management

This Behaviour Matters focuses on how to avoid making assumptions about the behavioural skills of your students. It looks at how to use positive teaching techniques and remind students of boundaries and expectations, rather than a negative model of failure to correct

For the vast majority of teachers good behaviour management is, understandably, their number one priority. Without it, even the best planning and most interesting activities and resources may be totally ineffectual. This issue we consider those pupils whose behaviours present a challenge for mainstream teachers and suggest some strategies for teachers to try out

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

Assessment information, records of incidents and successful interventions and staff comments are just some of the essential pieces of evidence you will need to plan the way forward with challenging students. How time-consuming is this step for you, and how accessible is the evidence?

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?

E-bulletins – Behaviour Management