Strategies for Dealing with Difficult BehaviorLessons Learned from Horizons Elementary School (Compiled by Nancy Dowdy who is principal at this K-5 alternate school for kids with severe behavior problems.) 1. Define your expectations in a step-by-step list, teach them, and practice them until they are habit. Task analyze everything and assume nothing! No student can be held accountable if he has not been taught.EX: If you want students to walk into the room without speaking and put their bookbags in a certain place, you must teach them exactly how you want it done, practice it, and then hold them accountable. 2. Establish your rules, post them, teach them, practice them, and enforce them consistently. Don't make anything a rule or expectation if you can't or won't be consistent in enforcing it. No surprises!3. Once a consequence has been given, start with a clean slate immediately. After a student has met the consequence and is calm, rehashing the inappropriate behavior will only make the situation escalate again.4. Hold the student accountable for his behavior and make sure that an adult’s behavior is not part of the problem. "In your face", finger wagging, holding his face, sarcasm, etc. are not appropriate.5. A student will tell you what they need and then expect you to respond. If you do not listen or respond, he will assume he has permission to take matters into his hands.EX: Tom says. "I’m going to hit Johnny if he doesn’t stop calling me names". The correct response is to let Johnny know that you expect there to be no name-calling. Don’t ignore Tom or tell him to just sit down. The next time Johnny calls Tom a name, he will hit him. 6. Remain calm at all times. If you don't know how to deal with a behavior or are too angry to deal with it, make sure that the student is safe and supervised, and get back to him in a few minutes. Don't become part of the problem due to emotions.7. Don't negotiate consequences. Oppositional students multiply every "escape" by three at the next incident – and there will be a next incident. If he says "I didn't mean to – please let me go this time" and finds that you will let him go after he says that 5 times, then the next time he is willing to say it 15 times, then 45 times, then 135 times, etc. He will last longer than you.8. Difficult students often have few social skills and don't know how to take their cues from the environment. Teach them and then praise them when they do something right so that they will feel secure and replace inappropriate behaviors. "Thank you for ..." works well.9. When trying to get a student’s attention, say his name first then follow with your instructions stated positively.EX: Say "Johnny, walk" rather than "Don’t run Johnny"
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