Key words: disruptive, disruptive student, student behaviour, prevent disruptive behaviour, Foolproof Ways to Reduce Disruptive Student Behaviour
TITLE: Foolproof Ways to Reduce Disruptive Student Behaviour
Disruptive student behaviour is just that: disruptive. It distracts and disarms you as the teacher. It diverts and creates disorder for students. And it diminishes learning. (I did get a bit carried away with the alliteration here!)
Don’t be dismayed!
Preventing disruptive student behaviour is the key. Treating your students with respect by frontloading them with clear expectations, developing their academic, social and emotional skills and providing clear avenues for providing student support will avoid most reasons for disruptive behaviour.
Our workshop, Habits of Highly Effective Teachers is a fun, practical way to learn better ways to manage disruptive student behaviour. Check our website for dates here.
Dealing with disruptive student behaviour effectively will improve teaching and learning outcomes in your classroom because:
- Students will trust that you will manage any issues that arise, reducing their anxiety about how other students behave.
- Time taken up by off-task, distracting behaviour will be reduced.
- All students will be engaged in the learning, even those who may have had issues in the past.
- Creating a positive learning environment encourages risk-taking and a willingness to make mistakes.
- Demonstrating that you have high expectations for all your students, even those who have had problems in the past, will encourage them to live up to those expectations.
8 Strategies to Reduce Disruptive Student Behaviour
- Get to know your students. Read their school files with relevant background information, talk to previous teachers, meet with parents. Find out about their strengths, interests, what they enjoy and how they can be an expert in your class. Investigate what has worked for them previously or what is working in other classes.
- Set clear behavioural expectations with your students providing them with the opportunity to state their expectations of you. State expectations in simple, observable, positive language.
- Plan what you will do when students don’t follow the expectations. When my youngest son, Tim, was in Year 4 his school implemented a behaviour approach that had a catch cry of ‘no naming, no shaming and no blaming’. We used to laugh about it when we were chatting about school, but it had a clear process to deal with disruptive behaviour: First time: make eye contact with the student. Second time: Say the student’s name. Third time: Give a direction for what the student needs to be doing. This process was explicitly taught to the students so they knew exactly what was happening at each point.
- Set up clear routines and procedures for all the tasks students need to complete e.g. how to submit work, how to enter and exit the classroom and how to set up for an activity. When you notice that things could be running more smoothly, sit down with the class and find a collaborative solution to the problem. Working with the students rather than trying to come up with the answer on your own, means they will have more buy in as well as developing their problem-solving skills.
- Differentiate the learning. Much off-task behaviour can be avoided by providing appropriate curriculum and interesting work task. Give students choice in the way they access material and how they demonstrate what they have learnt. Create a flexible learning environment that responds to how students learn.
- Develop low-key ways for students to access support. Students with a history of school failure often find it difficult to ask for help as it can reinforce their lack of confidence. If you can help them save face when they need support, then they are more likely to ask for the help they need and not become a behaviour issue.
- Link learning to student interests. Use what you know of students to engage them in the learning tasks. Relate maths to riding motorbikes or science to flying aeroplanes or novel study to rock bands so that students see the learning as relevant to their lives.
- Be prepared. Be prepared for lessons, for early signs of student behaviour issues, for what you will do when students are off-task or disruptive. Move around the classroom, scan for understanding and on-task behaviour and be available to provide support.
Accepting that disruptive student behaviour will occur at some time is key to dealing with it effectively. When you manage an issue with a student in a respectful manner you provide a positive role model for all your students.
QUOTES WITH IMAGES
- Students will live up (or down!) to your expectations.
- Accepting that disruptive student behaviour will occur is the key to managing it effectively.
