Homowork

I had a first grader who had decided that she wouldn't do homework at home anymore. During Parent Teacher Conferences, her mom told us about how she would act like she didn't know how to do the work (she was one of our brightest students) and she would refuse to do it. That was starting power struggles between the mom and her daughter. My teacher's solution was simple. When she wouldn't do her homework, the mom would email my teacher, who would then have the girl stay in at recess, or miss a class activity, and do her homework during that time. That solved the problem in no time.

Choices

My first grade cooperating teacher taught me to allow the non compliant child to choose what to do. Give them a choice like "You can either finish this assignment now with the class, or you can do it during your recess time." Then the student feels they are having more of a choice and understand that just not doing their work is an option. It worked really well in my first grade class.

Behavior Plan

During this semester, I witnessed another method for managing non-compliant student behavior demonstrated by my cooperating teacher. A particular student refused to do any sort of work; he would not look either of us in the eye, would not pick up his pencil, or even participate in interactive class activities. As this continued for a couple of weeks, my cooperating teacher decided to place this student on a behavior plan. This plan included an attitude measurement chart and a completion chart of all assignments and activities the class did during the school day. If the student complied, did all the assignments, had a good attitude, and had his parents sign the plan each night, he was then allowed a special reward each day. Within a few weeks, he was completing most of his assignments with a much better and positive attitude!

Thumbs-up

One method for managing non-compliant student behavior is using the “thumbs-up” method. This is a particular scenario as to how this method works and is effective:

            Teacher gives Student X the thumbs-up sign. She asks the student to please read pages 56-60 silently. The student then gives the teacher the thumbs-up sign and complies within 15 seconds.

If the student complies, they then receive any kind of positive consequence for their correct behavior. If the student does not comply, the student will then receive a negative consequence. This method provides auditory and kinesthetic engagement and studies have shown that compliance rose from 44 to 95% using this particular strategy.

Resource:  Classroom Compliance: www.sbbh.pitt.edu/files/powerpoint/CompliancetmwSlides.ppt

Managing Non-Compliant Behavior: Find the Cause

I have found during my student teaching that finding the cause of non-compliant behavior is so important. When I know why my students are behaving a certain way, I can create my strategy based on the cause of the behavior and successfully change the behavior, instead of guessing how to solve the problem.

Managing Non-Compliant Behavior: Stoplight

My cooperating teacher in my first grade class had a stoplight. When first turned it on it would make a siren noise. If the children were at a good volume level the green light would shine. When it would start to get too noisy, the yellow light flashed. When it got too loud the red light would flash, and the siren would go off. I would use this tool when my class would get too noisy, and they would not quiet down per my request. It worked like a charm. The children would ask me if we could turn the spot light on. They LOVED it. And when the stop light was on they were very quiet and engaged in their work.

Lowering Your Voice

In the class that I am currently teaching in, I have a little Autistic boy. One of the things that I have really been struggling with him is when he interrupts my lessons to tell me what time it is, and where he or the class needs to be right then. Sometimes, he will even interrupt my lessons ten minutes before he or the class needs to be somewhere. I have found that the times when I argue with him and slightly raise my voice to tell him to go sit back down, he just becomes more frustrated and continues to tell me over and over again where he or the class needs to be. I have learned that if I softly and calmly tell him that I am teaching a lesson and that I need him to go sit back down, he seems to calm down and do as I have asked. On some occasions when he does not sit back down and continues to disrupt the class, I will calmly say his name, not look at him, and point to his desk and he will stop arguing and go. I am amazed that this technique has really worked for him, and it has been so nice to save time during my lessons.

Timing Race

This semester I have had several students who have struggled to get their work done in class. They would all begin their assignments strong, and then as a minute or so would pass, they would slowly become bored with their assignment, and it seemed like I was pulling teeth to try and get them to finish their assignments. Something that I found to be helpful with all of these students, was to make time goals with them and turn it into a race. I would say things like, "I bet you can't finish the next five problems in three minutes!" Instantly after saying this, these students would work to prove me wrong and show me that they could do it. It was amazing how well this worked for these students. On some occasions, I would say things like, "Awe man! You were so close! Let's try it again and see if you finish this time." That seemed to help motivate the students to try harder. Other times, I wouldn't come back to the students desk for another five minutes, when I told them that I didn't think they could do it in three minutes. Sometimes in that case, I would still pretend that the student beat the clock and act very amazed that they had proved me wrong. All in all, I have really enjoyed doing this with several of the non-compliant students in my classes. I feel that it is a great motivator as well as a wonderful positive for the students. Especially the ones who feel like they are never good at anything.

Have the Student Help Make a Behavior Plan

After struggling through a few weeks of school, my cooperating teacher and I were at a loss of what to do. Finally we sat down with the student, his mother, and the school counselor. We had the student help to come up with a behavior plan. As he followed instructions and kept on task he would get a stamp on the sticker chart on his desk. After a week of high compliance (70% or better) he would receive a prize. We had him choose something that was realistic and he would be excited about. However, he was also given extra responsibility. Because he was the only one in the class with the chart on his desk it was his responsibility to remind us to give him a stamp when his work was completed on time. The chart on his desk served as a reminded of his prize (a hat). The added responsibility seemed to help as well, he had control over something. It has been 6 weeks and he is still doing great!

Emphasize the Positive in Your Request

After a daily struggle with one of my students to get him to do his work I learned a wise lesson... Emphasize the positive in your request. When you as the teacher put a positive spin on the request it is less likely to turn into a power struggle. Whenever possible, avoid using negative phrasing (ex."If you don't return to your seat, I can’t help you with your assignment"). Instead, restate requests in positive terms (ex. "I will be over to help you on the assignment just as soon as you return to your seat").

-Laura

6 researched based techniques to help with those "difficult" students

I found this article online and thought it had some good advice.  I’ve highlighted some of the things that stuck out to me.

Students who are defiant or non-compliant can be among the most challenging to teach. They can frequently interrupt instruction, often do poorly academically, and may show little motivation to learn. There are no magic strategies for managing the behaviors of defiant students. However, research shows that certain techniques tend to work best with these children and youth:

(1) Give the student positive teacher recognition. Even actions as simple as greeting the student daily at the classroom door or stopping by the student’s desk to ask ‘How are you doing?’ can over time turn strained relationships into positive ones.

(2) Monitor the classroom frequently and intervene proactively to redirect off-task students before their mild misbehaviors escalate into more serious problems.

(3) Avoid saying or doing things that are likely to anger or set off a student. Speak calmly and respectfully, for example, rather than raising your voice or using sarcasm.

(4) When you must intervene with a misbehaving student, convey the message to the student that you will not tolerate the problem behavior—but that you continue to value and accept the student.

(5) Remember that the ultimate goal of any disciplinary measure is to teach the student more positive ways of behaving. Punishment generally does not improve student behaviors over the long term and can have significant and lasting negative effects on school performance and motivation.

(6) Develop a classroom ‘crisis response plan’ to be implemented in the event that one or more students display aggressive behaviors that threaten their own safety or the safety of others. Be sure that your administrator approves this classroom crisis plan and that everyone who has a part in the plan knows his or her role.

One final thought: While you can never predict what behaviors your students might bring into your classroom, you will usually achieve the best outcomes by remaining calm, following pre-planned intervention strategies for misbehavior, and acting with consistency and fairness when intervening with or disciplining students.

More ideas can be found HERE.

Walk away 3 times

This is a paper given to me by a cooperating teacher in my same grade.  If as student is unwilling to comply with directions, here is one approach you can try.

1. Blake, please____________. (Walk away as if you expect him to do it.)
(Wait 10-20 seconds)
2. Blake, I need you to____________. (Walk away as if you expect him to do it.)
(Wait 10-20 seconds)
3. Blake, just now when I asked you to____________, you_____________.  When a teacher gives you a direction you need to
              a. Look at the person
              b. Say O.K.
              c. Do what you are told right away
 Blake,_____________. (Walk away as if you expect him to do it.)
(Wait 10-20 seconds)
4. Blake, just now when I asked you to_____________, you did not follow directions, you have chosen to be removed form class.  I'm sorry you chose to do this, we will miss you.

This approach gives the student the choice.  Then if he still chooses not to follow directions he knows that the consequences are his own choice.  I think it also helps teachers to have an approach in order to stay level headed when working with difficult behavior.

Behavior Tracker

This was an idea that was used by another 6th grade teacher that I worked with in my student teaching. He had two students that would often not comply when a teacher would ask them to get to work. They would get up and leave the classroom or just close their notes or books and refuse to work. He set up a tracker with the two students and had them rate themselves on how on-task they were during class and percentage of work completed. Each teacher that taught them during rotations had to rate the student on on-task behavior and work completed. This worked well for these two students. The students had to be responsible and honest with themselves and then compare that with what the teacher would give them. The teacher could use this to track how the student is working in class. The teacher also used this to show parents and track behavior that may need to be dealt with. Great data to keep track of behaviors. I was able to see real improvement in compliance.

Individual Behavior Plan

I witnessed the following scenario take place. This was during my student teaching experience, I was in the 6th grade at the time and the following situation took place with a 5th grade student and her teacher (who I must add is a 1st year teacher.) The school had an assembly and the grades were lining up to walk down the hallway to the gym with their chairs. Everything was going smoothly until a particular 5th grade student stopped, set her chair down and began to throw a tantrum. Her teacher handled it by walking up to this student and said, (student's name) THREE, then (students name) TWO. She didn't get to ONE. When doing the count down I observed that the teacher had about 30-45 seconds of wait time between the numbers. The student was intently thinking, and after two she decided to pick up her chair, stop throwing her tantrum and continue walking. After this incident I asked the 5th grade teacher why she counted and what it meant. She told me that there was an agreed upon "behavior plan" for the student. The student came up with the consequences and also the rewards. She knew what would happen if the teacher got to ONE. This plan was put into place about 4 weeks into the year and the teacher told me that they have made adjustments to the consequences one time and the rewards multiple times. The people involved with the individual behavior plan are the student, the students parents, the teacher, and the principal. I think this is a great idea to have so that if any of us get a challenging student who is non compliant we will be able to create an individual plan with them. The biggest point that this 5th grade teacher stressed to be was that the student had to come up with the consequences and rewards and that as the teacher, you must always stay firm, calm, and follow through every time. :)

Give Choices

One great strategy that I learned was to take a step back instead of demanding compliance by the child immediately. I have found that finding what the child may really want to do, such as, recess, p.e. or other activities can be a motivation for the child to work. In my first and sixth grade experiences, I had children that spent too much time complaining and finding ways to get out of the work. I would quietly go up to the child and give them two options. One to get their work done right now or complete it during another time, such as, the beginning of recess. It was their choice. I noticed that most of the children would still not comply the first time. Yet, once the consequences were in place and the child stayed behind to get the work done, I usually only had to remind the child of their choices and they would get right to work. It is also important to stay positive and encourage the child to get the work done. This strategy is probably best for students that are not angry and resentful of school, just having a case of the "lazies" and finding work not "cool".

The Desk Turn

Today in class of our guest speakers talke about the desk turn. This is when a teacher turns the desk around backwards so that students cannot reach insdie of it and be distracted by books, pencils,school boxes, etc. My cooperating teacher used this technique with one of the students in class who has constantly been noncompliant with the classroom rules, and following directions. My teacher one day just turned his desk around. He was not happy!She did however explain that he could easily earn his right to have his desk the proper way he just needed to follow the directions that are given to him and have correct classroom behavior. He was very willing to work to have his desk turned back around. He finished his work and possibly without even realizing it was less distracted by his pencil box and books. I like this idea a lot because I have seen it be effective and I feel that as long as teh reasoning is explained to students and students are able to "earn" their desks to be turned back around I think it is a good technique.

Dealing with Non-Compliant Behavior

I am student teaching in sixth grade. They have a little bit of attitude but I have found that once you get past that, they are eager to learn and please you.

I have one student who loves to challenge authority. During a lesson, I had to ask him to please stop talking. He became quite beligerent. Afte I finished teaching, I asked him to come and meet with me in the alcove. We sat down together and I asked him what was going on. He just shrugged his shoulders. I then proceeded to explain to him why I needed him to not talk when teaching was going on. I explained that his brain could not be thinking of words to say AND listening to and learning a new concept at the same time.

He seemed surprised to look at it in this way. I then asked him if he would commit to listening when I was teaching and then I would allow the students time to talk quietly, while they worked together in partnerships to solve problems.

He agreed that this was reasonable. So what I learned from this was to treat students with respect, even when frustrated with them. They may be non-compliant but that does not mean you cannot reason with them. Helping them to understand why you are asking them to do something can make a huge difference in how they act. His behavior has improved and I look for positive things that he does to praise him on. Things are much better!

Chris

NCBehavior

There for four ways that you can use to deal with non compliant behavior:
1. Teacher praise and attention for positive behavior, for students who exhibit non compliant behavior because they thereby gain the teacher's attention.
2. Guided practice and reinforcement, for students whose noncompliance is due to inability to understand the content or meaning of the request.
3. Grandma's rule, which uses a highly preferred activity to reinforce compliance to the disliked activity.
4. Behavioral momentum, which involves building a momentum of compliance to get the child to comply with a request that is probably not going to be readily accepted.

I found these ideas on this website: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED361973&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED361973

The full text is available in PDF format here if you are interested in reading more.

NCBehavior

I had a young man in my class that wouldn't do anything that you asked him to do. It wouldn't matter what you threatening him with he just wouldn't do anything. He'd give you a look that just made you want to scream, but you couldn't.
I found out that this student had a lot of problems at home. He needed the attention of being asked to do things, he needed the attention of being scolded in front of the whole class. When I realized that attention was what this boy wanted, I did what the textbooks said to do. I changed the negative attention into positive attention. Every single time I caught him doing something that I wanted him to do, or just doing it in the way I wanted *Like raising his hand QUIETLY* I would praise him, and then call on him for the answer. This didn't change everything. I then decided to make up the game where if he did some work for me, he would be able to come and talk to me for a little while. Then it became he could only tell me one thing, and I would tell him one thing. Then it became he had to complete the entire assignment. I even went as far as to let him tell me something before he went out to recess, if he had been participating in class for that whole section of time beforehand.
I can't tell you what wonders this worked. Of course I still had to remind him from time to time, but the reminders were things like touching his shoulder, or walking close to him and making eye contact, or just reminding him of the page number that we were on.

Direct Link to Article

Okay, here's a direct link to the article: www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/teachers/understanding/compliance-school.asp