Are you looking for ways to help students who do not behave appropriately? If so, keep reading.

1. Attempt several groupings to ascertain the situations in which the learner shows appropriate behavior.

2. Minimize the emphasis on competition. Repeated failure may result in behaviors that are unacceptable for the situation.

3. Make the learner aware of learning activities well in advance so he/she may prepare for them.

4. Take the learner away from the learning experience until they can demonstrate appropriate behavior and self-control.

5. Do not criticize. On occasions where correcting the learner, be honest yet compassionate. Never cause the learner to feel negatively about themselves.

6. Intervene early and often when there is a problem to prevent a more severe problem from happening.

7. Teach the learner to think before acting (e.g., they should ask themselves, “What is happening?” “What am I doing?” “What should I do?” “What will be best for me?” etc.).

8. Converse with the learner about ways of handling situations successfully without conflict (e.g., walk away from the situation, change to another learning experience, ask for help, etc.).

9. Connect with parents (e.g., notes home, phone calls, etc.) to disseminate information about the learner’s progress. The parents may reinforce the learner at home for demonstrating appropriate behaviors related to situations at school.

10. Draft an agreement with the learner stipulating what behavior is required (e.g., demonstrating appropriate behavior related to the situation) and which reinforcement will be implemented when the agreement has been met.

11. Talk with the learner to explain(a) what the learner is doing wrong (e.g., laughing when a peer gets hurt) and (b) what the learner should be doing (e.g., helping the peer).

12. Praise the learner for demonstrating appropriate behaviors related to the situation based on the duration of time the learner can be successful. As the learner shows success, slowly increase the duration of time required for reinforcement.

13. Praise those students in the classroom who demonstrate appropriate behaviors related to the situation.

14. Create classroom rules: • Complete every assignment. • Remain in your seat. • Finish tasks. • Meet task expectations. • Raise your hand. Examine rules often. Praise students for following the rules.

15. Provide a predetermined signal (e.g., hand signal, oral signal, etc.) when the learner begins to display behaviors that are unacceptable for the situation.

16. Make sure the learner does not become involved in overstimulating learning activities.

17. Praise the learner for demonstrating appropriate behaviors related to the situation: (a) give the learner a concrete reward (e.g., privileges such as leading the line, handing out learning materials, 10 minutes of free time, etc.) or (b) give the learner an informal reward (e.g., praise, handshake, smile, etc.).

18. Consider using an adaptive behavior management app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.

19. Click here to learn about six bonus strategies for challenging problem behaviors and mastering classroom management.