Are you looking for strategies to teach students to take care of other people’s property? If so, keep reading.

1. Praise the learner for demonstrating appropriate care and handling of others’ property: (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.).

2. Converse with the learner to explain (a) what they are doing wrong (e.g., losing property, destroying property, etc.) and (b) what they must be doing (e.g., putting property away, returning property, etc.).

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

4. Draft an agreement with the learner stipulating what behavior is required (e.g., putting property away, returning property, etc.) and which reinforcement will be implemented when the agreement has been met.

5. Praise the learner for demonstrating appropriate care and handling of others’ property 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.

6. Praise those students in the classroom who demonstrate appropriate care and handling of others’ property.

7. 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 care and handling of others’ property at school.

8. Select a peer to model appropriate care and handling of others’ property for the learner.

9. Get the learner to question any directions, explanations, or instructions they do not understand.

10. Give time at the beginning of each day to help the learner organize the learning materials they will use throughout the day.

11. Give time at several points throughout the day to help the learner organize learning materials they will use throughout the day (e.g., before school, break time, lunch, end of the day, etc.).

12. Give the learner structure for all academic learning activities (e.g., specific instructions, routine (schedule) format for tasks, time units, etc.).

13. Give storage space for learning materials the learner is not using.

14. Minimize distracting stimuli(e.g., place the learner on the front row, give a table or quiet space away from distractions, etc.). Overstimulation may cause the learner to misuse others’ property.

15. Talk regularly with the learner to encourage organizational skills and appropriate use of learning materials.

16. Designate the learner organizational duties in the classroom (e.g., equipment, software, learning materials, etc.).

17. Restrict the learner’s access to learning materials (e.g., give only appropriate learning materials to the learner).

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

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

20. Consider using Alexa to help the student learn to behave appropriately. Click here to read an article that we wrote on the subject.

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