Prevent Student Behavior Problems Strategies to Prevent

¶ … Prevent Student Behavior Problems

Strategies to Prevent Behavior Problems

It is inevitable that some students will act up in class. However, using prevention strategies to curb bad behavior before it starts can provide a much better environment with less bad outbursts by distracted or frustrated students. Essentially, the educator must be proactive in strategy choice and execution in order to prevent bad behavior from starting and running out of control. There are a number of strategies that can accomplish this goal, including: over-planning for class to prevent time for distractions, using a sponge activity to fill up dead time at the beginning of a class, and finally

The first strategy that is important to use in order to prevent behavioral outbursts from students is to preplan ahead of class to make sure there is not open time spaces for students to get overly bored or distracted. When students have open free time, they begin to loose focus. That loss of focus can translate into behavioral outbursts and problems which may impact the overall flow of the classroom. Here, the research suggests that it is important to "over-plan the day and leave no time for distraction" (Hare 2012 p 2). This may mean crafting lesson plans that might not be able to actually be included, but are already pre-planned for. This allows the teacher to implement additional work and lessons if and when the prior lesson plan falls short of the entire duration of class. If these lessons are not used, then the teacher already has a heads up for the next class period. Moreover, lessons can spill into other class periods in order to keep the synergy between classes streamlined. Thus, it is an important strategy to over plan.

A second useful activity for preventing bad behavior draws off the ideas of the first strategy. The beginning of class often has some down time as teachers take attendance and prepare to implement the lesson. This is a dangerous time for bad behavior because the students have the opportunity to get and stay distracted. It is important to utilize a sponge activity in order to fill in this time, while still allowing the teacher to take the necessary preparations for class. According to the research, "the activity should be self-directed by an individual or small group. It should also be times somewhere around 10 minutes or less. While the students are working, the teacher can check attendance and complete any of that oh-so-important preparation for class" (Hare 2012 p 2). In fact, Hare (2012) gives the example of the "6-facts" activity, where students use either computers or textbooks to search for information on a subject that the teacher proposes and writes in plain view for the students to see. Students can be broken up into 6 groups, each in charge of finding and thoroughly researching one specific fact about the subject. Each group then places their fact in view of the other students and their responses are scored. Then move into the daily lesson plan that is the scheduled context of that day's class.