Behaviour Needs - BEHAVIOUR NEEDS MINI-COURSE

THE BEHAVIOUR NEEDS MINI-COURSE

We have now added our email mini-course to the website to give you a basic set of strategies for reducing and dealing with bad behaviour. As with the email version please free to forward this information via email or make copies and pass them around to other teachers (staff meetings, faculty lounge, etc.). Please keep returning to this page as we will be adding to the mini-course from time to time.

Kindest Regards,

Rob Plevin
Behaviour Needs

PART 1 PREVENTION

The first thing to remember if you want to reduce the incidents of bad behavior in your classroom is...

"Behavior problems are much easier to manage if you prevent them happening in the first place or catch them before they get out of control."

It's an obvious statement to make but so many of us forget just how much relevance this actually has.

Let's take the issue of preventing incidents from happening in the first place:

If we think about the reasons why children misbehave, there are strategies we could adopt to prevent these factors from being an influence in our lessons, and when we remove these triggers or causes of bad behavior it stands to reason that there will be fewer actual incidents.

Unfortunately there are many factors which will determine how a child behaves on any given day which are completely outside our control.... not having breakfast, losing property on the way to school, having a fight at break-time, staying up too late the night before, peer pressure, inadequate parenting, drugs, media, etc. etc. etc.

We may have no control over these factors as teachers, but we do have a certain degree of control over how the pupils feel about these factors during our lessons. And that is crucial.

Feelings are driven, or caused, by our experiences - bad experiences lead to bad feelings while good experiences lead to good feelings. And what's more, our behavior - good or bad - is dependent on these feelings. If we feel good, then we behave in a way that reflects that feeling. We smile, we get on with people, we are open to new ideas and generally more responsive to others.

On the other hand, when we feel miserable, we tend to be negative with others. We become argumentative, pessimistic and less responsive to suggestions or instructions. And this is a situation teachers find themselves in throughout the day - with pupils who feel the world is against them.

So if we were to concentrate on giving pupils good experiences in our lessons, is there not a chance we could effect their mood for the better and thereby reduce the likelihood of them causing problems?

"A child who is in a good mood in a lesson is less likely to misbehave during that lesson"

So it follows that by providing children with more good experiences in our classrooms we can sustain their positive mood - and therefore give them fewer reasons or excuses to behave badly. Please don't think I'm suggesting we pander to children who strop into the classroom with the clear intention of wrecking the lesson. No, I'm talking about 'preventative' measures here - keeping students in a positive mood as much as possible as a means of reducing their excuses for behaving badly.

Preventing a problem is much easier than trying to cure one.

PART 2 POSITIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

In the last part I mentioned I'd be giving you a brief list of ways you can maintain a positive learning environment and keep your students feeling good so as to reduce incidents of bad behavior. The following ideas are pretty much common sense - there's nothing new about them but equally there's no doubting the influence they have on pupil behavior. It's so easy to dismiss ideas as being ineffective when you've heard about them many times before but I urge you, if you're not already doing so, to try putting these suggestions into practice.

I'm sure you'll find, as I have, that they make a huge difference to the mood of your pupils.

Remember:

"A child who is in a good mood in a lesson is less likely to misbehave during that lesson"


1. Transform your classroom

Take down all those tired displays and get some bold, bright 3D displays up. Type 'Classroom Displays' into Google Images to get ideas.

Put a few houseplants in your room to create a more relaxing atmosphere

Tidy up your resources and have them organized and easily accessible for your students.

Have poster-making resources available (card, scissors, colours etc.)

Have coloring-in sheets available (This may sound childish but there's nothing the 14 year old boys in my class enjoy more than coloring in pictures of fast cars during registration and breaks. It's a real settler for some kids.)

Have the pupils create a 'class slogan', bumper sticker or coat of arms. (Not only is it a good registration project, it also creates a community feel in the classroom.)

Have a 'Wall of Fame' - a painted brickwork effect section of a wall where only the very best work gets displayed. (Pupils have to work extra hard to get their work up here.)

Make your board the centre of the room. Put frames round it, put cartoons round it, have a 'thought for the week' (see below) on it, hang mobiles near it, have soft toys climbing up one side of it - anything to make it an interesting focal point in a positive way.

Have a selection of music tapes - classical, baroque, trance, relaxing as well as current styles that the pupils will enjoy.

2. Make humor an integral part of your lessons

Have a 'joke of the week' board and invite students to contribute

Have pre-recorded sound effects such as 'applause' for when a pupils gets an answer correct during oral sessions

Have a collection of hats, masks or costumes for impromptu comedy role plays

Have a 'Funny Picture' board and/or a funny quote board

Have a Prop Box. You might label it with something like "Caution - Use Only When Pupils Seem Thoroughly Bored" and dig in it whenever you need a prop for a laugh!

Thought for the week examples to encourage discussion...

Only boring people get bored

If you see someone without a smile, give them yours

There are only six weeks between a bad haircut and a good one

There are two ways to get to the top of an oak tree - climb up it or sit on an acorn

Funny Photos to start your photo board

http://www.anyfun.net/funnyphotos.php

Funny quotes to start your quote board

http://www.goodquotes.com/

Sources for jokes

www.jokefile.co.uk

http://funny2.com/jokes.htm

www.laughlab.co.uk

Please note that because of the nature of the Internet, some of these jokes and photographs may be unsuitable for youg people. There is suitable content on these sites but you may have to look beyond the first page for it.

3. Make sure your lessons are interesting and fun with a variety of activities

catering for all learning styles.

4. Give real-life relevance to your lessons to make them more appealing

If pupils can't see the point in learning a topic they will soon switch off.

They'll get bored, call out and mess around. For that reason you need to link the work to their lives in some way.

5. Catch them being good and reward their successes

We all know how important positive reinforcement is in training children and adolescents to behave appropriately but I don't advocate relying on treats, trophies and costly rewards.

No, anyone can MAKE a child behave with a large enough reward - just as a dog can be made to roll over with the promise of a biscuit. But I think we should be encouraging children and young people to behave for the right reasons - not just to claim a reward. In a later edition of this newsletter I'm going to show you ways of encouraging your pupils without the use of expensive rewards - though the correct use of PRAISE.

Praise is a term which is often mentioned but seldom used effectively and for that reason it is dismissed as yet another technique that has little effect on behavior. I'm going to show you the right way to go about using praise - and when you do it right, you'll find it has a - dare I say it - MAGICAL effect on disruptive pupils! In your next tip I'm going to give you what I consider to be the NUMBER 1 strategy for dealing with difficult students. Get this right and you will experience a significant improvement in the way pupils respond to you. And once you've got them responding positively to you, classroom management is MUCH easier!

PART 3 POSITIVE TEACHER_PUPIL RELATIONSHIPS

This is part 3 of your classroom-management mini-course. In part 2 we had a quick look at some of the factors you could put in place to keep your pupils feeling good in your lessons so as to minimize behavior problems. Today I'm going to tell you about what I consider to be the best method of all for helping you prevent, and deal with, behavior problems in school - the teacher-pupil relationship.

This is the one true key to successful behavior management. It doesn't matter how many effective teaching skills and useful behavior strategies you have in your arsenal; without this, your efforts will eventually come unstuck.

You see, when you really get to know a pupil you become aware of their triggers - the things that upset them and cause all sorts of problems in class. And when you're dealing with children who carry all kinds of emotional baggage and flare up for no apparent reason, this is valuable knowledge.

After all... stopping behavior problems from occurring is much easier when you know in advance what causes them!

When you take the time to get to know a pupil, you find out what they enjoy, what they like doing and what their interests are. With this information you have the power to make all your lessons instantly appealing and your conversations with them stimulating. When you reach out and get to know any child in school you show them they're valued as people. Once they learn this, their ability to take an active role in other positive relationship is improved; they fit in better and so are less likely to get into serious trouble and less likely to spoil your lessons. Also, when you show you're actually interested in them as individuals they will respect and trust you. Pupils will behave much better for the teacher they trust and respect.

Once you get to know them anything really is possible; doors are opened to a whole new world of communication, cooperation, fun and mutual respect.

The best technique I've found for helping you discover their likes, dislikes, hobbies, passions and interests is...

...an age-old salesman's tool called the 'Record Card'.

Record cards are used by salesmen to record a client's personal information and so enable him to be more 'familiar' on his next visit. Each time he returns to the same client and has a conversation, more information is recorded on the card. It might be a chat about the football last night - revealing his favorite team for example or a few words about his family.

These tidbits gradually build up and form library of useful information which can be drawn on to deepen the relationship during the next meeting. It's a well known fact that people would rather have a conversation about their own lives and interests than anything else, so the salesman that does this will always make the sale.

The huge benefit of the information on the record card is that it enables the salesman to tailor the conversation, and even new product lines, to the client's interests, needs and desires. When this is done, the client is far more receptive and likely to buy.

We can discover the passions and interests of our students very quickly through our own simple version of the Record Card - a fun questionnaire to give to the worst pupils in class as a fill-in activity.

The information you glean from these completed questionnaires is priceless and these are just some of the ways you can use it...

Tailor rewards to a pupil's interests making them have more effect. (if you have a pupil who's nuts about a certain breed of dog there's no point in giving him a sticker with a car on it!)

Provide reading material - magazines, journals and books - that relate to their specific areas of interest - for break times, quiet reading sessions, registration etc.

Plan really, really interesting lessons! I'm talking about lessons that grab them from the word go and hold their attention all the way through. This is only possible when they're actually interested in what you're talking about. You might choose to plan a series of lessons for the whole class around a topic that several pupils are interested in, or cover a skill such as narrative writing and encourage them to write a story about their subject of interest.

Use them as a relationship-building tool. They enable you to strike up conversation on a topic you know they're interested in and this is crucial with 'hard to reach' kids - it shows you care about them and are interested in them as people. Being able to chat with a pupil on their level is magical and is the short-cut to having far fewer discipline problems.

In my book 'Magic Classroom Management - How to get the most from the worst kids in school' I explain the very useful 'record cards' in more detail and give a ready-made questionnaire for you to use.

PART 4 CONSISTENCY

This is part 4 of your classroom management mini-course

Today we're going to discuss one of the most important tools for ensuring your pupils do as you ask and behave appropriately when they are in your care...

CONSISTENCY

Every teacher knows that consistency is important in terms of classroom management but only those who no longer spend every lesson fighting disruptions understand just how important it really is. Exactly how does it work?

Consistency is all or nothing. There are no degrees of consistency. There is no such thing as "pretty consistent", "fairly consistent" or "consistent most of the time."

You are either consistent or you are inconsistent. There is nothing in between.

How to Create Hell in Your Classroom If you are 'fairly consistent' you might stick to your rules 4 out of 5 times and some would say this is good. Certainly better than only meaning what you say 2 out of 5 times.

Except that it isn't.

If you 'give in' once every five times you are pushed, pupils will soon come to expect this. They'll know full well that as long as they keep pushing, they will get what they want. And by doing this you are very effectively training them to keep on pushing, arguing and complaining every time they want something, because they know they will eventually win.

The ironic thing about this is that the longer you hold out before giving in, or to put it another way, the more 'temporarily consistent' you are before you cave in or adapt your rules to suit an individual, the worse the problem will become.

If you hold out 8 times out of ten you show the child that, whilst you don't give in easily, you do nevertheless give in - and that will only serve to make them up their own game and try even harder to beat you next time.

By making kids work hard in order to win, we train them to be ruthless and persistent.

Your pupils need to be taught that your word is final and that there are no exceptions... ever.

You must be truly consistent if you are to succeed in classroom management war. Fairly consistent won't work.

Consistency begins with thinking long and hard about which classroom rules you are willing to enforce every time and then ensuring that you do so. It means having a definite rule about toilet breaks during lessons; it means having a definite rule about swearing; it means having definite rules for all the main behavior problems you are likely to come up against - and sticking to them.

Your pupils must know, in advance, what the exact consequence for their actions will be at any time.

Let's take a rule about homework as an example:

A fair rule might be that any pupil not handing their homework in on the allotted day will spend the next break time in class completing the work they should have done at home.

The rule must be followed by ALL pupils EVERY time - no matter what the excuse. If you let one pupil off with this then you will make it almost impossible to enforce homework deadlines in future - not just on that pupil, but on several other class-member who look for any excuse to escape work.

An inconsistent teacher has very little chance of success simply because the pupils don't know what's expected of them - the classroom has an unstable atmosphere. They don't know where the boundaries are from one day to the next and you can't expect pupils to behave if they aren't sure where the boundaries are.

When you look up to see one of your rules being broken, - objects being thrown across the room, a child turning up late for lesson, a pupil swearing or refusing to do as you ask - you have a golden opportunity to assert your control and leadership in your classroom by following through on your rules with consistency.

The bottom line is: you can't let your pupils get away with breaking any of your rules - no matter how nice they are, no matter how minor the infraction was and no matter how good a mood you're in.

Always, always, always be consistent...

...in the way you respond to requests from pupils
...in the instructions you give to pupils
...in the way you give those instructions to pupils
...in the sanctions and punishments you give to pupils
...in the rewards you give to pupils
...in everything you do in your teaching day

PART 5 PRAISE

This is part 5 of your Classroom management mini-course.

Today we're going to look at an essential part of getting pupils to repeat appropriate behavior and a means of encouraging them to work hard - PRAISE.

An obvious fact that we're all aware of as teachers is that a student, when recognized for positive behavior, will feel less inclined to seek attention in inappropriate ways. Conversely, when a pupil's efforts are ignored, the chances of them disrupting the lesson to gain some attention are greatly increased.

Young people need reassurance and encouragement if they are to continue to behave appropriately.

The problem we have, as teachers, is that we are told to give out praise as much as possible and that the solution to all our problems lies simply in repeatedly telling pupils how well they are doing. We consequently find ourselves uttering the same tired, weak, comments such as 'well done', 'that's really good!' and 'I like that'.

But these comments are a waste of time in terms of encouraging pupils - they are just too wishy-washy. Praise must be sincere otherwise it is just hollow, worthless and patronizing.

If we want to improve the behavior of pupils in our care we need to fully recognize their individual efforts. Unless we praise effectively the associated benefits will be lost.

The following two tips will help you deliver praise more effectively and thereby reduce disruption in your classroom...

1) When you give verbal praise to a child - make them really feel it. When you praise a child you make them feel your appreciation by telling them exactly WHAT they did and WHY it was good.

True praise comes from genuinely noticing when they put effort into something or have managed to complete something they wouldn't normally manage. When you give thoughtful attention to a student's work like this work it demonstrates that you recognize their work or improved behavior. Such deep appreciation builds self-esteem and encourages continued progress.

"Paul, stand back and look at what you've done... this is a fantastic portrait! What really impresses me is the way you've made that eye come to life by showing the light reflecting here. That really makes it come alive!"

Now, doesn't that sound better than a wishy-washy statement such as "Very good Paul"? Similarly, when a troublesome child is behaving appropriately, this must be acknowledged.

"John I'm so impressed. You've sat quietly for the last 10 minutes and got on with your work. That's great because I've been able to go and help other pupils and I haven't needed to shout at you. Well done!"

2) Send letters home to praise your pupils effectively... Don't underestimate the power of the letter home as a form of praise and effective behavior management tool. This has such a positive impact on students - I only wish I'd started doing it earlier in my career.

Sending a nice letter home can transform a previously negative child - literally overnight - into one who is motivated and eager to please. This is also one method that works well even with older pupils - right up to age 16 and beyond. It is also very effective for pupils who don't accept public praise very well - a letter home means their mates will never find out!

Letters home can be 'quick-notes' or more formal, traditional letters on school headed paper. You can send out simple postcards for odd pieces of particularly good work or award 'extra special' letters in response to sustained effort such as after a pupil has earned 5 stickers (younger pupils) or 5 merits (older pupils).

Generic letters are very insincere so the best way to organize your praise letters for speed and ease is to have two copies of your letter ready written in a file on your computer - one for girls and one for boys. It's then just a matter of filling in the name, printing it out on headed paper and either giving it to the pupil to take home or posting it.

It is time consuming producing letters and copying them onto headed paper but it definitely has a tremendous impact on individuals as well as helping create a positive classroom atmosphere.

Tomorrow I'm going to give you some important information on getting pupils to actually listen to, and follow, your instructions.

Until then, warmest regards,

PART 6 COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY (making sure your instructions are followed).

This is part 6 of your classroom management mini-course.

Today I'm going to give you some tips on getting pupils to actually listen to, and follow, your instructions.

The instructions we give to our pupils to explain our rules, consequences and sanctions are an essential part of any successful behavior policy but why is it that some teachers are heard while others are ignored? What can we do to ensure that our instructions, rules and sanctions are followed?

The first thing we can do is make sure the pupil knows exactly what will happen to them if the don't follow the instruction.

Often, although we don't realize it, our instructions can be misinterpreted, misheard or misunderstood by a pupil. Particularly if there is a lot of noise in the room at the time, if we are shouting the instructions, or if the child is anxious, wound up or has their attention elsewhere.

The child needs to know "If I do this... I will receive that sanction." More specifically, "If I leave the school premises...my parents will be called" for example or "if I swear at a teacher, I will receive an immediate time out, if I receive 3 time outs in one day, I will be excluded." etc.

Pupils need to know where the boundaries are and exactly what will happen - without exception - when they step over them. They'll still push us of course, but only to test how secure their environment is and once they realise that the consequence really does happen, they will quickly start to change.

Secondly, you must make sure that your rules are CALM and CLEAR. Losing control and launching a full-blown verbal assault on a pupil is a recipe for disaster. Children need boundaries - we all know that - but those boundaries need to be calmly reinforced and stated without emotion. If we expect children to behave responsibly, why on earth do we model bad behavior for them to copy, by shouting and screaming at them?

Thirdly, your instructions need to be SPECIFIC. Vague instructions give them choice, and if you want them to behave in a certain, specific way, you need to tell them exactly what that specific way entails - choice is the last thing you want to give them.

Let's not also forget that a large proportion of pupils in our classes are EBD, ADHD or on the autistic spectrum and as such, have a enuine need for unambiguous, precise instructions. The key is that the child's options are reduced to a minimum and they know exactly what is expected of them and exactly what they have to do in order to succeed.

Your instructions need to be so clear that there is no room for argument or misinterpretation...

"John, you need to stop tapping your pen, sit properly on your chair and look this way."

This will have more chance of getting you the desired outcome than if you said...   "John, stop it!"

With a request like this you leave yourself open to argument and question: "Stop what?"

And that's just the start. Once the pupil has drawn you into a dialogue your lesson is lost.

Bottom line: Explain very clearly what you want a pupil to do and there is more chance they will actually do it!

PART 7 SANCTIONS AND CONSEQUENCES

This is part 7 of your classroom management mini-course

Today we're going to look at the correct use of sanctions for correcting low-level disruption.

The most important thing to remember about sanctions is that they MUST be stepped. By that I mean that you should always start with a small sanction so that you can keep adding to it if the behavior continues.

When a lesson is going wrong and you are feeling the pressure it is easy to over-react to minor disruptions with wholly inappropriate, over-the-top punishments. This is a big no-no as it results in very angry pupils who will retaliate at the perceived unfairness. Often, this can cause a situation to escalate out of control.

"If you start off by shouting and sending kids to the Head for relatively minor incidents, what are you going to do when the child continues to misbehave? What do you use when you've already used the big guns?"

If a child is being mildly disruptive - just a bit chatty say, you wouldn't want to send them out of the class or give them a detention - it would be unfair and would arouse resentment from the pupil as well as the rest of the class.

Punishments such as loss of break, being kept back after school, being kept in before lunch are great because you can start off with quite mall increments of time to get your point across and then keep adding to them. You don't have to take a child's whole break away if they are chatting in your lesson - start by taking 5 minutes and if that has no effect you can move up from there.

"John, if you don't stop talking I'm going to keep you behind for five minutes at break."

"You've already lost 5 minutes of your break, if you don't want to lose another 5 minutes you need to pick up the rubber you just threw."

"John, that's your whole break gone, I warned you. Unless you want me to keep you behind after school I suggest you settle down and get he work finished."

PART 8 GETTING PUPILS SETTLED (PART 1)

I'm sure you'll agree that one of the hardest tasks for any teacher is to get the class to settle at the start of a lesson.

That task is made harder still if the pupils are a particularly difficult group or have had a break or active lesson prior to their arrival at class.

Even a brief lesson change-over can give them enough free time to whip themselves into a frenzy and come crashing into the classroom expecting tocontinue their conversations, laughter and rowdiness.

And worse still, these kids will happily continue this socializing behavior for hour upon hour until they are stopped.

But what will stop them?

The only thing that will stop them is intervention from a skilled teacher and if it is your class that is making the noise, it's up to you to be that skilled teacher.

It is up you to make the distinction between 'work time' and 'social time' and it has to be a very clear distinction. The best place to make a clear line between social time and class time is obviously at the classroom door so you should always make a point of greeting the class and settling them before they even get chance to enter the room.

This is rudimentary stuff and yet it is forgotten by the vast majority of struggling teachers.

You MUST establish control at the door. The class needs to be lined up to give you time to check the individuals out. Walk up the line, ooking for overly excited characters, uniforms out of place and other signs of potential trouble.

If a pupil continues to talk simply tell them...

"You can come in when you are ready to join in the lesson. Until then you can carry on talking out here."

Of course, isn't an invitation for pupils to choose to stay out of your lessons - you must also add that the relevant school policy on missing lessons will be followed should they continue to stay out of your lesson.

A key reason for establishing control at the door is because you effectively eliminate or at the very least minimize potential problems from being carried over into the lesson. Problems and disruptions are easier to deal with and sort out when they are small, before they get chance to escalate.

If you let children bumble into the classroom without thoroughly assessing them you could end up having to deal with much more serious issues as the lesson progresses and petty arguments develop into full-scale feuds.

It's also a chance to set the tone for the lesson. A very unsettled group needs you to show them where the boundaries are.

"This is my classroom and I'm not even going to let you through the door until you show me acceptable behavior."

Your aim should be to gently settle them into 'work mode' by establishing correct social behavior. No more shouting, no more pushing, no ore larking around. Now is the time to talk quietly and respectfully.

But greeting them at the door and lining them up isn't just about looking for trouble - it's a chance to cement your relationship with the class by showing them you are pleased to see them and eager to teach them.

It's a chance to chat to a few characters and give them a little personal attention and show some interest in them.

"Hi Simon, how you doing today? Did you have a good weekend at your Dad's?"

"Hey Carly, love the new hair style."

"Brian, you look alarmingly happy about something! Are you just excited about another chance to learn how to draw?"

If you take the time to give them a little personal attention, you are effectively saying...

"I'm here to help you and I care about you. Let's start the lesson in a positive frame of mind."

So, once they're in the classroom what next? Aren't they just going to resume their revious boisterous behavior?

Quite possibly.

Unless of course you maintain control and have something to occupy them.

This brings us to the subject of 'settling starters'.

Tell them...

"As soon as you reach your seat,look at the board for today's starter activity, and get on with it quietly."

Settling starter activities consume the first five minutes or so of the class period. That means that if a student is late or has been kept utside, they will have their five minutes work to do plus whatever time they have missed.

If they are 5 minutes late, they have 10 minutes work to do and this must be caught up at break or in a detention.

This is why you MUST use 'settling starter activities'...

1. If you try to start activities such as discussions, demonstrations or lectures straight away without first giving them time to calm down you will almost certainly struggle to maintain their attention. Pupils always take time to settle at the start of a lesson. Even if you manage to get them quiet immediately, their minds will still be on other things.

2. There are a lot of distractions that catch teachers off guard at the start of lessons and tutorial sessions such as taking registers, dealing with notes from home, money in envelopes, late work handed in, late pupils walking in etc. etc... and by having a quiet activity that pupils can get stuck into, you are able to deal with these other issues and get them out of the way.

That way, when you actually start actively teaching, you do so with an attentive class and a clear head!!

The type of activities I'm talking about must be meaningful and educational but they must also be 'plug and play' activities that don't need our participation or instruction.

They should be straightforward tasks which pupils can get on with, regardless of their ability level.

In the next I'm going to send you some ideas for settling starter activities.

PART 9 GETTING PUPILS SETTLED (Part 2)

In Getting Children Settled (1) I started telling you about the importance of having starter activities on hand to occupy pupils during the first five minutes of your lesson. Now I'm going to give you a few ideas for suitable activities.

The first thing to remember when producing these activities is that they have to be simple.

Second, it's best to link the activity to the lesson objective.

Third, they have to be achievable by all group members. That means you may have to have extension questions for more able or possibly have two or three different activities depending on the ability mix of the group.

There are many different types of activity -from very simple note copying to more adventurous thinking activities.

Here a few ideas...

1. Review work

If you are a science teacher, how about four questions from yesterday? If you are a math teacher, how about four problems from yesterday? If the students were here yesterday and were paying attention, they can start answering those questions or doing those problems.

2. Journal Writing

This needn't be the usual 'diary' piece of writing. You could also set more creative questions like...

If you could invent any type of machine, what would it be and why?

If you could visit anywhere in the Universe, where would you go and why?

If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?

Describe the best day you've ever had.

If time travel was possible, what time period would you visit, who would you meet and why?

Write what happens in your favorite film.

3. Silent reading.

This is always difficult to achieve with difficult pupils. They seem to view reading time as 'free' time and that's a hard habit to break. With my groups of 14 year old challenging pupils I introduced the idea of reading sessions by first reading to them. After a couple of weeks I then provided them with some really exciting reading materials together with a reading record in which they can 'score' each book they read and write a brief review.

Another way of using reading as a settling activity is to have a student read to the class for 5 minutes. With a good choice of story and a competent reader this can work well.

You could also set a reading quiz. If I'm studying a text with a class I will sometimes set a number of simple comprehension questions based on two or three pages from the text. All the answers to the questions can be found within those few pages and each question is written on a separate piece of paper.

Each pupil is given a set of questions (which can be differentiated if necessary) and try to answer as many as possible. Occasionally I issue a raffle ticket for each question they get right and have a draw at the end of the session.

This normally takes around 15 minutes rather than five but if the pupils are engrossed and actively learning, who's counting?

4. Word games, mind benders and puzzles

These are fantastic to use fro time to time but not all the time. I put a set of mind benders up if the class are very negative or are going through a flat period just as a way of changing their state and setting an upbeat tone.

The problem is, by their very nature, they promote discussion so you have to be careful not to cause too much excitement.

5. Forms

Official forms from the post office such as driving license application forms, passport applications etc. not only fill five minutes at the start of a lesson, they also give pupils a taste of the real world and are excellent for practicing life skills.

6. Sorting exercises, questionnaires and surveys

In my book Magic Classroom Management I include one of the best tools for getting to know pupils which also fills in as a handy starter activity which can be spread over 3 or 4 sessions.

Basically it is a very non-threatening questionnaire about a subject which is very close to their hearts - them!

Most pupils love filling this out and it gives you some very valuable information which you can use to build your relationships with the more difficult member of the group.

(If you find out that Tony is mad about boxing, drop it into a conversation or lesson and you'll have a good chance of holding his attention).

A point to consider is that these starter activities should not land you with an extra stack of papers to grade. Some teachers flip through quickly and put a tick in a column of the grade book for those students who gave it a decent try.

Other teachers farm out the job to students who are on the "clerical work committee" that week. Some teachers collect the papers with due seriousness, glance over them and then drop them into the circular file after school. After all, the purpose is to start kids thinking, not to assess performance.

I am putting the finishing touches to a new ebook that is jammed full of the very best starter activities - guarateed to engage the worst class in school. As long as you’re signed up for my newsletter by filling in the box at www.behaviourneeds.com you’ll receive notification as soon as this book is ready.

How do I know they're so good?

Because I use them every day in my own teaching to settle and engage some of the most challenging pupils I've ever taught (and I've taught some VERY difficult pupils!)

Finally, if you haven't already done so, you can download a free book about getting pupils settled at the start of lessons called...

"How to get silence from the worst class in school"

You can get the free book by visiting here...

PART 10 DEALING WITH STRESS

Today's tip is CRUCIAL yet so often over-looked...

Before You Can Manage Pupils Sucessfully You Need Learn To Manage Your Own Stress.

When you're confronted with an extreme behavioral challenge, there are you two things you must do:

First, you must manage the child's behavior in the moment.

Second, you must take care of your own stress and your own resulting behavior.

Trying to manage pupil behavior is difficult but it is far more difficult if you are not in control of your own stress and emotions.

You need to practice these three things to get control of your stress in these situations:

Remember to breathe. A pupil's psychological, verbal or physical attack may come when you are most vulnerable. Things happen very ast. It is difficult not to react with intense anger. Deep, calming breathing interrupts this stress reaction and gives you time to think about the best way to deal with the situation.

Listen to your self-talk. Sometimes in tough situations you may say things to yourself like, "That little s.o.b. has gone too far, now he's oing to get it."

Sometimes the experience might make you feel like you're 6 years old or may remind you of times in your life when you were bullied or violated but you must step back and think for a moment. If you're giving yourself the message that you want revenge then you will only wind yourself up further because you know this can't (and shouldn't) happen.

Keep Cool. You MUST keep control of your anger. Firstly because it is better to model the type of behavior you expect from your pupils. If you rant and rave and are clearly out of control, you are clearly setting a terrible example and can't complain when pupils exhibit the same behavior tomorrow.

Secondly, when you lose your temper, you lose respect. And if you haven't got respect, your pupils won't listen to you and all the lassroom management tips in the world won't help you get them to behave.

You need to become aware of how you are feeling at the moment. Then deliberately change it by saying something like, "I'm in charge, he's not. This isn't going to beat me" or count to ten slowly in your head.

It is all well and good me suggesting these things here and now but when you're caught up in stressful situations on a continual basis, the cumulative effect on your body and your emotions can be very debilitating.

This is when things can go badly wrong, our tolerance to stress is lowered and we find ourselves shouting and losing control at even the most minor disruptions.

When you sense this is happening you must take action to get your body and your mind back on an even keel. If you don't, the stress could just keep building up and seriously effect your ability to remain calm when dealing with badly behaved pupils who push your buttons. Further down the line it could also damage your health and/or your career.

Kindest regards and best wishes for a peaceful classroom...

Rob Plevin

PS

Keep coming back to this page – we will be adding to it regularly from now on. J