Today we’re going to talk about how to handle difficult behaviors in the classroom.
This past year, teachers have had to deal with so many behavioral issues that many of them have either left teaching and the education system as a whole to seek jobs elsewhere or to work on their mental and emotional health.
To ensure that you don’t get to that stage, today’s article focuses on not only how to manage difficult behaviors when they arise, but also how to prevent them occurring. The key factor in successfully achieving this goal is for teachers to teach the following four strategies ahead of time so that children are familiar with them and can easily respond to your prompts when a situation arises.
This article is not meant to judge or label any child as being “a difficult student.” Instead, it’s meant to focus on children who exhibit difficult behaviors for a variety of reasons.
Actionable Steps:
#1. Find Your Safe Space
Not every school has an aid to take children out of the classroom when they’re upset or a sensory room for them to calm down. Therefore, creating a safe space for children to go to when they are upset is important so that their emotions don’t escalate.
If you’re looking for a resource to help you get started, check out the following FREEBIE that will walk you through the steps of creating a space on a minimalistic budget, along with a shopping guide. This resource can be found in my FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY.
#2. Learn to Take Responsibility
So many children blame each other for issues instead of taking responsibilities for their actions. Teach them what it means to take responsibility and why it’s important.
An important takeaway here, is that when a child takes responsibility, don’t punish or respond negatively, but praise them for their honesty.
Do you need to happy about the negative behavior? No! However, instead of showing them anger, which won’t result in a solution, walk them through steps three and four instead.
#3. Model Positive Behavior
Discuss what positive behaviors look and feel like so that students know what’s expected of them. Brainstorm ideas and post it up in your classroom. Review it and practice using it with different prompts during your health lesson.
When something goes wrong, show students how you’d handle it so that they can see it in action from a trusted adult. Before you model it for them, take into account your students’ background to see what they’re capable of doing.
#4. Teach Conflict Resolution
One of the most important lessons to teach about is about empathy. Help students learn about how the other child is feeling and how they’d feel if they were in that position so that they can do this exercise the moment that they need to respond to an issue.
Conflict resolution is not only important when dealing with others, but also when managing negative emotions or self-talk. Teach children how to work through a problem that’s either within themselves or with others. To do that, show your students how to specify what the issue is, who does it need to be resolved with, what steps can be taken to find a solution, and who can help if it’s needed.
Recap:
Let’s recap really quickly. Today, we looked at the following:
- The importance of handling difficult behaviors in the classroom and how to teach it in advance to avoid such behaviors.
- We looked at four ways to do it: find your safe space, learn to take responsibility, model positive behavior, teach conflict resolution.
- How to implement each of the strategies.
Free Resources:
In the mean time, if planning so that you’re ahead is not your jam, then check out the following: FREE MASTERCLASS: Systematic Plan to Super Passionate.
Next Steps:
I’d love to hear from you. In the comments below, please answer the following:
If you found this video beneficial, would you do me a favor? Share this with your family, your friends, your loved ones, your co-workers or someone who you think could benefit from this. Thank you!
I’ll see you next Friday at 5:30pm PST.
Until I see you next time, remember to create, experience & teach from the heart.
Take care,
Charlotte
