classroom behavior management plan
Classroom Behavior Management Plan
To create a safe and successful learning environment, all teachers, regardless of whether the school is using PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions & Support ) (Links to an external site.), need to create a comprehensive behavior management plan. This plan should clearly define behavioral expectations, procedures, and consequences. For those using PBIS, a comprehensive behavior management plan would constitute Tier 1 support and therefore be implemented with all students. By creating this plan, teachers can:
- Prevent many problem behaviors from occurring in the first place
- Minimize other disruptive behaviors
- Help students feel safe, both physically and emotionally (e.g., safe from ridicule and teasing), something that better enables them to learn
The five components of a comprehensive classroom behavior management plan are described below.
Statement of Purpose
A brief, positive statement that conveys to students the reasons why various aspects of the management plan are necessary. It should be focused, direct, clearly understandable, and free of specialized jargon. Below is a sample statement of purpose.
Rules
Rules are explicit statements of how the teacher expects students to behave in his or her classroom. Rules provide a way for students to monitor their own behavior, and they remind and motivate students to display the behaviors that are expected of them. In cases where there is a school-wide behavior management system in place, teachers should create classroom rules that align with the school’s existing rules. In addition, teachers should limit the number of classroom rules to five or fewer and make certain that those rules adhere to the guidelines outlined in the table below.
Procedures
Sample Procedure
Walking in the Hallway
- Single file
- Hands behind backs
- Straight line
- Silent
- Stop at checkpoints
Procedures are a description of the steps required for students to understand what is expected of them to successfully or correctly complete daily activities. Procedures can be developed:
- So that routines in the classroom (e.g., how to ask a question, how to turn in assignments) happen efficiently and without incident
- To prevent problems in situations where students are more likely to exhibit disruptive or inappropriate behavior (e.g., transitions, unstructured time)
Procedures should be explicitly taught and practiced until all students thoroughly understand what is expected of them. Correct execution of the procedure should be recognized, and problem areas should be immediately corrected. In addition, teachers should reinforce students with regularity and consistency to ensure that they continue to perform the procedure correctly over time.
Consequences
Consequences are actions teachers take to respond to both appropriate and inappropriate student behaviors. After a student follows a rule or procedure, his or her teacher can provide a positive consequence. A positive consequence, often referred to as reinforcement, is a means by which teachers can increase the probability that a behavior will occur in the future. Positive consequences should be:
- Something the student considers pleasant or rewarding
- Inexpensive
- Appropriate to the juvenile justice environment
- Easily and quickly administered or awarded
When a student violates a rule or procedure, a teacher can provide a negative consequence. A negative consequence is a means by which the teacher can decrease the probability that a behavior will occur in the future. Most appropriate negative consequences in JC facilities should involve lack of access to preferred activities. When they are administered, negative consequences should be:
- Applied immediately after the behavior occurs
- Considerate of a student’s dignity
- Applied in an educative rather than vindictive fashion (i.e., when a student engages in negative behaviors, a teacher should not take it personally or respond emotionally)
- Administered calmly and consistently
- Used in conjunction with positive consequences
- Logical and related to the undesirable behavior (e.g., if the student misbehaves during recreational time, the negative consequence might be a loss of future recreational time)
Action Plan
An action plan guides the teacher as he or she implements a comprehensive behavior management plan. Typically, an action plan includes goals to be accomplished (e.g., teach the behavior plan to the students), the tasks or steps to be completed in order to achieve each goal (e.g., create classroom rules), and a completion date.
In order to follow the first key principle of behavior management—invest time at the front end—all teachers must be proactive in their approach to address disruptive behavior. Proactive teachers learn to minimize disruptive behavior and consider how each teacher expects students to behave. In this assignment you will establish an effective comprehensive behavior management plan, one that contains the following core components.
Rationale: To create a behavior management plan which will include basis rules, procedures, consequences and an action for plan for all students in order to maximize learning.
Part 1 Behavior Management Plan will contain the following components:
- A statement of purpose: A brief, positive statement that conveys to educational professionals, parents, and students the reasons why various aspects of the management plan are necessary
- Rules: Explicit statements of how the teacher expects students to behave in his/her classroom
- Procedures: A description of the steps required for students to successfully or correctly complete daily routines (e.g., going to the restroom, turning in homework) and less-frequent activities (e.g., responding to fire drills)
- Consequences: Actions teachers take to respond to both appropriate and inappropriate student behavior
- An action plan: A method to support the implementation of a comprehensive behavior management plan
Review Classroom Behavior Management Resources for more information about each component.
Part 2: Crisis Plan
Please review Addressing Disruptive and Noncompliant Behaviors (Part 1) Understanding the Acting-Out Cycle and (Part 2) Behavioral Interventions .
Part II Addressing Disruptive and Noncompliant Behaviors Crisis Plan
Rationale: To create strategies for obtaining immediate assistance for serious behavioral situations
In Part 2 Crisis Plan, you will create an effective intervention to prevent a student’s behavior from escalating and to avoid a behavior crisis.
You must answer the following four questions:
- Who will seek assistance from someone outside your classroom?
- Who will be notified?
- What do you want the rest of the students to do during the crisis?
- What will you do once the crisis is over?
Think through each question carefully. Either use your own classroom (one in which you are currently assigned) or create your own age, grade and classroom scenario to complete the plan.
