I decided to read this article for a particular reason. There is a child in my classroom that I decided to begin trying to ignore his bad behavior and only focus on the good. Well, I started to try to do this and I am having a hard time trying it. So, I decided it might be helpful for me to read this article to figure out exactly how to do this. A lot was covered in the article, and I ended up focusing on more than what I had originally planned. Instead of looking more at praising and ignoring behaviors, I focused more on setting appropriate rules and routines. My supervisor has drilled three little words into my head throughout my time with her. Those three words are rules, routines, and procedures. I always knew that what she said was important, but it was nice to read about the research that really shows how important those three things are to a classroom. Having rules, routines, and procedures in place at the very beginning of the year sets the standard for the children. Not only do these things need to be in place, but they should be consistent and enforced. This unfortunately was where I ran into some issues. I believe since I have never been fully certain of exactly what my teacher wants for our classroom, I have never been comfortable with our rules, routines, or procedures. I am very inconsistent and my students sometimes take advantage of that. I know for sure though that next year, I will have all of my rules, routines, and procedures in place at the beginning of the year.
Article on Praise for Positive Behavior and Ignoring Negative Behavior April 6, 2010
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Amanda –
I’m glad that you read this article, I may have to go back and read this one too. I completely agree with the “rules, routines, and procedures” and I agree even more with the necessary consistency that must be paired with them. It has been somewhat frustrating this semester (and year) not being able to set up my own expectations at the beginning of the year, and then being able to follow up on them everyday. (I don’t want to leave that as an excuse for behavioral problems in the classroom however). I am looking forward to next year when I can spend a considerable amount of time at the beginning of the school year really focusing on the expectations of the students, setting up routines, and guiding through their daily procedures.
I am also interested to see about the “ignoring” part of this article. I have definitely learned that while “ignoring” particular behaviors works with some students, it definitely does not work with other students. I have learned that some students need for me to point out specifc behaviors and say explicitly, “that is not appropriate for the classroom” – allowing them to make a direct connection between good/bad.
Good thoughts!
Melissa