5 Ways Your District Office Can Support Behavior Management

A district leader shares five great ideas that district's can use to help schools decrease behavior incidents.
By 
Dr. Faith Cole
 | 
February 24, 2023

After the first day of school and for many weeks after I remember sitting in my car crying and in disbelief. 

Why am I having such a hard time getting my students to listen, follow directions, and be respectful to each other and me? 

This was not what I thought teaching was, I felt so unprepared to manage a classroom. I assumed that students would just respect me and follow my directions because I was their teacher.

If I, a well-prepared professional, felt this way about my classroom, what does that mean for the rest of campus? 

What is Behavior Management?

When you think about the word “behavior management” we often assume that managing behavior has a negative undertone and not a positive one. 

Behavior management is the ability to provide an environment that is conducive to engagement and learning. Staff and students have to create an atmosphere where they feel like everyone can be the best version of themselves.

It is important to note, this can mean very different things to different people. 

How Can Schools Work Together to Improve Behavior?

So how do you create a learning environment conducive to engagement that can yield high results?

Once we know what “winning” looks like you can develop expectations within the space that allow for staff and students to hold each other accountable. 

In the classroom these commitments need to be revisited often and when a community agreement is broken the teacher needs to model for students what that interaction should look like. 

Something as simple as “let's remember our agreed upon community agreements” or “ one of our agreements is not being followed, how can we get back on track”?

Now, expand that idea to the entire campus. What does “winning” look like in your school? In the hallways, in the lunchroom, in the auditorium, on the bus as well as in the classrooms? 

As a school unit, you need to determine what we want to see in our spaces. Do we want children sitting quietly at their desks, not talking in the hallways? Are students allowed to laugh and/or talk loudly in the hallways? 

Every school has a “culture” that needs to be examined. Once we know what “winning” looks like as a larger school we can think of ways to support that vision with our students holistically. 

So if we notice that students are “hanging out in the hallways” well after the bell, how can we retrain that behavior? And for these more significant school shifts, everyone needs to be on board.  

If a student gets the same expectations from every staff member, they are more likely to shift their behavior.

How Your District Can Support Behavior Management

Behavior management was not something I was explicitly taught in undergraduate school, this is the case for many newly hired teachers. Understanding how to manage behavior takes practice and support. So district offices should expect to support staff in this area.

1. Define Your Victories

The district office needs to understand and communicate to their staff what “winning” looks like in our school. This includes all areas; in the hallways, in the lunchroom, and in your classrooms.

I encourage other administrators to make it a point to go into spaces to not just observe but to teach and learn from their staff. It is never easy for anyone to put themselves out there but we ask our staff to do it every day.

2. Lay the Foundation

The district office can help staff build an environment that is conducive to learning by making sure procedures are established early on. 

This means going above and beyond sending reminder emails about procedures. You need to put boots on the ground and be visible during this transition period. Your staff will appreciate it and sometimes presence can make a big difference. 

If the schools you serve need support in developing building-wide expectations, provide the support they need to create them. This means providing a PD on the subject in the summer and then potentially even offering a stipend for the team to develop them on a non-instructional day. 

3. New Teacher Induction Programs

Newer teachers often struggle to implement routines…when students do not know the classroom and/or the school expectations they will make up their own. Can students just get up to sharpen pencils whenever they want? What if someone is absent? 

I served as a teacher mentor in a school district and oftentimes the biggest disconnect administration had is understanding what the experience looks and feels like for their staff on a regular basis. What sounds good on paper does not always translate to real teaching practices.

The solution involves spending time meeting with veteran teachers in your district to determine what support their new colleagues are likely to need as they transition into the role you're hiring them for. This can be a lot of work, but the result is a higher teacher retention rate!

4. Internal Professional Development

The district office can leverage the staff that is strong in creating community in their classrooms and managing behaviors. How can we encourage them to support and share their ideas with others?

Ask your staff what they feel is one of their strengths in the areas of PBIS, conflict resolution, de-escalation, and classroom procedures. Would they be willing to model, be a thought partner, or be an observer in someone’s classroom? 

Or even better, would they be willing to host an internal PD like a lunch-n-learn or a learning walk where they can share that hard-earned expertise? 

Providing professional development can be expensive and at times it can have mixed results if the audience doesn’t have built-in respect and rapport with the presenter. 

By celebrating and encouraging your in-house rockstars you can provide PD more often that is more likely to find its way into practice.

5. Put Your Teacher Hat On

The district office should teach a class at least once a year to understand what their staff is managing each day. This will give you some great insight and at the very least it will ground your solutions in reality. 

I had a very humbling experience when I was an administrator and “volunteered” to teach a class of 1st graders for the morning. This was as we were returning back to in-person learning and we had “roomers” (the students in the classroom) and the “zoomers” (the kids that were streaming into the classroom).

I began my reading lesson so confident and so strong. 

Overall it seemed to be going well minus the student that had gone to the bathroom and never came back and that I had forgotten about letting the “zoomers” into the classroom for the first 15 minutes of the school day…good times! 🙃

This provided some needed perspective when it came to assessing what we were asking our staff to manage when it came to behaviors.

The experience garnered many laughs from my staff but it allowed me to have some very well-informed talking points when speaking to other administrators.

Systemizing Behavior Data

So you have all these great ideas… how do you know if it is working? You need to identify what data you have available and what is needed to really make an informed decision about your practices. 

We should collect both quantitative data and qualitative data. By this, I mean student discipline statistics as well as feedback from staff and students.

When we have the data, how long should we stay the course before making a change? Change can happen quickly in some cases but in most cases, it can take 8-12 weeks to see a more meaningful change in a school community. 

Once you have a thoughtful focus, plan to stick with it for a bit to see if it is working. Also, consider who is going to be positively and negatively impacted by these changes. 

Final Thoughts

Behavior Management is one of the most important investments any administrator can make in their school community.

Creating a learning environment that yields high results will require setting expectations and listening to feedback from your community. 

Key Takeaways

Remember education is hard but be gentle with yourself. If it was easy everyone would do it.

Subscribe via Email

Receive the best school culture resources monthly to inspire your planning.

5 Ways Your District Office Can Support Behavior Management

A district leader shares five great ideas that district's can use to help schools decrease behavior incidents.
By 
Dr. Faith Cole
 | 
February 24, 2023
I remember preparing for my first year of teaching. I dreamt about the dynamic lessons I would create and the robust conversations that would take place in my classroom. I was excited about all the apples and thank-you notes I would be receiving, clearly, I had a bit of a rosy outlook on life in the classroom.

After the first day of school and for many weeks after I remember sitting in my car crying and in disbelief. 

Why am I having such a hard time getting my students to listen, follow directions, and be respectful to each other and me? 

This was not what I thought teaching was, I felt so unprepared to manage a classroom. I assumed that students would just respect me and follow my directions because I was their teacher.

If I, a well-prepared professional, felt this way about my classroom, what does that mean for the rest of campus? 

What is Behavior Management?

When you think about the word “behavior management” we often assume that managing behavior has a negative undertone and not a positive one. 

Behavior management is the ability to provide an environment that is conducive to engagement and learning. Staff and students have to create an atmosphere where they feel like everyone can be the best version of themselves.

It is important to note, this can mean very different things to different people. 

How Can Schools Work Together to Improve Behavior?

So how do you create a learning environment conducive to engagement that can yield high results?

Once we know what “winning” looks like you can develop expectations within the space that allow for staff and students to hold each other accountable. 

In the classroom these commitments need to be revisited often and when a community agreement is broken the teacher needs to model for students what that interaction should look like. 

Something as simple as “let's remember our agreed upon community agreements” or “ one of our agreements is not being followed, how can we get back on track”?

Now, expand that idea to the entire campus. What does “winning” look like in your school? In the hallways, in the lunchroom, in the auditorium, on the bus as well as in the classrooms? 

As a school unit, you need to determine what we want to see in our spaces. Do we want children sitting quietly at their desks, not talking in the hallways? Are students allowed to laugh and/or talk loudly in the hallways? 

Every school has a “culture” that needs to be examined. Once we know what “winning” looks like as a larger school we can think of ways to support that vision with our students holistically. 

So if we notice that students are “hanging out in the hallways” well after the bell, how can we retrain that behavior? And for these more significant school shifts, everyone needs to be on board.  

If a student gets the same expectations from every staff member, they are more likely to shift their behavior.

How Your District Can Support Behavior Management

Behavior management was not something I was explicitly taught in undergraduate school, this is the case for many newly hired teachers. Understanding how to manage behavior takes practice and support. So district offices should expect to support staff in this area.

1. Define Your Victories

The district office needs to understand and communicate to their staff what “winning” looks like in our school. This includes all areas; in the hallways, in the lunchroom, and in your classrooms.

I encourage other administrators to make it a point to go into spaces to not just observe but to teach and learn from their staff. It is never easy for anyone to put themselves out there but we ask our staff to do it every day.

2. Lay the Foundation

The district office can help staff build an environment that is conducive to learning by making sure procedures are established early on. 

This means going above and beyond sending reminder emails about procedures. You need to put boots on the ground and be visible during this transition period. Your staff will appreciate it and sometimes presence can make a big difference. 

If the schools you serve need support in developing building-wide expectations, provide the support they need to create them. This means providing a PD on the subject in the summer and then potentially even offering a stipend for the team to develop them on a non-instructional day. 

3. New Teacher Induction Programs

Newer teachers often struggle to implement routines…when students do not know the classroom and/or the school expectations they will make up their own. Can students just get up to sharpen pencils whenever they want? What if someone is absent? 

I served as a teacher mentor in a school district and oftentimes the biggest disconnect administration had is understanding what the experience looks and feels like for their staff on a regular basis. What sounds good on paper does not always translate to real teaching practices.

The solution involves spending time meeting with veteran teachers in your district to determine what support their new colleagues are likely to need as they transition into the role you're hiring them for. This can be a lot of work, but the result is a higher teacher retention rate!

4. Internal Professional Development

The district office can leverage the staff that is strong in creating community in their classrooms and managing behaviors. How can we encourage them to support and share their ideas with others?

Ask your staff what they feel is one of their strengths in the areas of PBIS, conflict resolution, de-escalation, and classroom procedures. Would they be willing to model, be a thought partner, or be an observer in someone’s classroom? 

Or even better, would they be willing to host an internal PD like a lunch-n-learn or a learning walk where they can share that hard-earned expertise? 

Providing professional development can be expensive and at times it can have mixed results if the audience doesn’t have built-in respect and rapport with the presenter. 

By celebrating and encouraging your in-house rockstars you can provide PD more often that is more likely to find its way into practice.

5. Put Your Teacher Hat On

The district office should teach a class at least once a year to understand what their staff is managing each day. This will give you some great insight and at the very least it will ground your solutions in reality. 

I had a very humbling experience when I was an administrator and “volunteered” to teach a class of 1st graders for the morning. This was as we were returning back to in-person learning and we had “roomers” (the students in the classroom) and the “zoomers” (the kids that were streaming into the classroom).

I began my reading lesson so confident and so strong. 

Overall it seemed to be going well minus the student that had gone to the bathroom and never came back and that I had forgotten about letting the “zoomers” into the classroom for the first 15 minutes of the school day…good times! 🙃

This provided some needed perspective when it came to assessing what we were asking our staff to manage when it came to behaviors.

The experience garnered many laughs from my staff but it allowed me to have some very well-informed talking points when speaking to other administrators.

Systemizing Behavior Data

So you have all these great ideas… how do you know if it is working? You need to identify what data you have available and what is needed to really make an informed decision about your practices. 

We should collect both quantitative data and qualitative data. By this, I mean student discipline statistics as well as feedback from staff and students.

When we have the data, how long should we stay the course before making a change? Change can happen quickly in some cases but in most cases, it can take 8-12 weeks to see a more meaningful change in a school community. 

Once you have a thoughtful focus, plan to stick with it for a bit to see if it is working. Also, consider who is going to be positively and negatively impacted by these changes. 

Final Thoughts

Behavior Management is one of the most important investments any administrator can make in their school community.

Creating a learning environment that yields high results will require setting expectations and listening to feedback from your community. 

Key Takeaways

  • You’ll need to provide Tier 1 level supports that will help define what “winning” looks like in all your schools.
  • Whenever possible your students should be included in the process of creating "community agreements". They will feel more invested in the success of the school and hold themselves and their peers accountable. 
  • Revisiting agreements often and modeling appropriate behavior when a commitment is broken, will help maintain a positive and supportive learning environment. 
  • Encouraging students to take ownership of the learning space and their behavior will generate a sense of responsibility that will go a long way in building your community.

Remember education is hard but be gentle with yourself. If it was easy everyone would do it.

Back
Let’s take this to your inbox
We’ll send you our monthly newsletter which is fully stocked with free resources like articles, videos, podcasts, reward ideas, and anything else we can think of to help you make your school awesome.
I remember preparing for my first year of teaching. I dreamt about the dynamic lessons I would create and the robust conversations that would take place in my classroom. I was excited about all the apples and thank-you notes I would be receiving, clearly, I had a bit of a rosy outlook on life in the classroom.

After the first day of school and for many weeks after I remember sitting in my car crying and in disbelief. 

Why am I having such a hard time getting my students to listen, follow directions, and be respectful to each other and me? 

This was not what I thought teaching was, I felt so unprepared to manage a classroom. I assumed that students would just respect me and follow my directions because I was their teacher.

If I, a well-prepared professional, felt this way about my classroom, what does that mean for the rest of campus? 

What is Behavior Management?

When you think about the word “behavior management” we often assume that managing behavior has a negative undertone and not a positive one. 

Behavior management is the ability to provide an environment that is conducive to engagement and learning. Staff and students have to create an atmosphere where they feel like everyone can be the best version of themselves.

It is important to note, this can mean very different things to different people. 

How Can Schools Work Together to Improve Behavior?

So how do you create a learning environment conducive to engagement that can yield high results?

Once we know what “winning” looks like you can develop expectations within the space that allow for staff and students to hold each other accountable. 

In the classroom these commitments need to be revisited often and when a community agreement is broken the teacher needs to model for students what that interaction should look like. 

Something as simple as “let's remember our agreed upon community agreements” or “ one of our agreements is not being followed, how can we get back on track”?

Now, expand that idea to the entire campus. What does “winning” look like in your school? In the hallways, in the lunchroom, in the auditorium, on the bus as well as in the classrooms? 

As a school unit, you need to determine what we want to see in our spaces. Do we want children sitting quietly at their desks, not talking in the hallways? Are students allowed to laugh and/or talk loudly in the hallways? 

Every school has a “culture” that needs to be examined. Once we know what “winning” looks like as a larger school we can think of ways to support that vision with our students holistically. 

So if we notice that students are “hanging out in the hallways” well after the bell, how can we retrain that behavior? And for these more significant school shifts, everyone needs to be on board.  

If a student gets the same expectations from every staff member, they are more likely to shift their behavior.

How Your District Can Support Behavior Management

Behavior management was not something I was explicitly taught in undergraduate school, this is the case for many newly hired teachers. Understanding how to manage behavior takes practice and support. So district offices should expect to support staff in this area.

1. Define Your Victories

The district office needs to understand and communicate to their staff what “winning” looks like in our school. This includes all areas; in the hallways, in the lunchroom, and in your classrooms.

I encourage other administrators to make it a point to go into spaces to not just observe but to teach and learn from their staff. It is never easy for anyone to put themselves out there but we ask our staff to do it every day.

2. Lay the Foundation

The district office can help staff build an environment that is conducive to learning by making sure procedures are established early on. 

This means going above and beyond sending reminder emails about procedures. You need to put boots on the ground and be visible during this transition period. Your staff will appreciate it and sometimes presence can make a big difference. 

If the schools you serve need support in developing building-wide expectations, provide the support they need to create them. This means providing a PD on the subject in the summer and then potentially even offering a stipend for the team to develop them on a non-instructional day. 

3. New Teacher Induction Programs

Newer teachers often struggle to implement routines…when students do not know the classroom and/or the school expectations they will make up their own. Can students just get up to sharpen pencils whenever they want? What if someone is absent? 

I served as a teacher mentor in a school district and oftentimes the biggest disconnect administration had is understanding what the experience looks and feels like for their staff on a regular basis. What sounds good on paper does not always translate to real teaching practices.

The solution involves spending time meeting with veteran teachers in your district to determine what support their new colleagues are likely to need as they transition into the role you're hiring them for. This can be a lot of work, but the result is a higher teacher retention rate!

4. Internal Professional Development

The district office can leverage the staff that is strong in creating community in their classrooms and managing behaviors. How can we encourage them to support and share their ideas with others?

Ask your staff what they feel is one of their strengths in the areas of PBIS, conflict resolution, de-escalation, and classroom procedures. Would they be willing to model, be a thought partner, or be an observer in someone’s classroom? 

Or even better, would they be willing to host an internal PD like a lunch-n-learn or a learning walk where they can share that hard-earned expertise? 

Providing professional development can be expensive and at times it can have mixed results if the audience doesn’t have built-in respect and rapport with the presenter. 

By celebrating and encouraging your in-house rockstars you can provide PD more often that is more likely to find its way into practice.

5. Put Your Teacher Hat On

The district office should teach a class at least once a year to understand what their staff is managing each day. This will give you some great insight and at the very least it will ground your solutions in reality. 

I had a very humbling experience when I was an administrator and “volunteered” to teach a class of 1st graders for the morning. This was as we were returning back to in-person learning and we had “roomers” (the students in the classroom) and the “zoomers” (the kids that were streaming into the classroom).

I began my reading lesson so confident and so strong. 

Overall it seemed to be going well minus the student that had gone to the bathroom and never came back and that I had forgotten about letting the “zoomers” into the classroom for the first 15 minutes of the school day…good times! 🙃

This provided some needed perspective when it came to assessing what we were asking our staff to manage when it came to behaviors.

The experience garnered many laughs from my staff but it allowed me to have some very well-informed talking points when speaking to other administrators.

Systemizing Behavior Data

So you have all these great ideas… how do you know if it is working? You need to identify what data you have available and what is needed to really make an informed decision about your practices. 

We should collect both quantitative data and qualitative data. By this, I mean student discipline statistics as well as feedback from staff and students.

When we have the data, how long should we stay the course before making a change? Change can happen quickly in some cases but in most cases, it can take 8-12 weeks to see a more meaningful change in a school community. 

Once you have a thoughtful focus, plan to stick with it for a bit to see if it is working. Also, consider who is going to be positively and negatively impacted by these changes. 

Final Thoughts

Behavior Management is one of the most important investments any administrator can make in their school community.

Creating a learning environment that yields high results will require setting expectations and listening to feedback from your community. 

Key Takeaways

  • You’ll need to provide Tier 1 level supports that will help define what “winning” looks like in all your schools.
  • Whenever possible your students should be included in the process of creating "community agreements". They will feel more invested in the success of the school and hold themselves and their peers accountable. 
  • Revisiting agreements often and modeling appropriate behavior when a commitment is broken, will help maintain a positive and supportive learning environment. 
  • Encouraging students to take ownership of the learning space and their behavior will generate a sense of responsibility that will go a long way in building your community.

Remember education is hard but be gentle with yourself. If it was easy everyone would do it.

After the first day of school and for many weeks after I remember sitting in my car crying and in disbelief. 

Why am I having such a hard time getting my students to listen, follow directions, and be respectful to each other and me? 

This was not what I thought teaching was, I felt so unprepared to manage a classroom. I assumed that students would just respect me and follow my directions because I was their teacher.

If I, a well-prepared professional, felt this way about my classroom, what does that mean for the rest of campus? 

What is Behavior Management?

When you think about the word “behavior management” we often assume that managing behavior has a negative undertone and not a positive one. 

Behavior management is the ability to provide an environment that is conducive to engagement and learning. Staff and students have to create an atmosphere where they feel like everyone can be the best version of themselves.

It is important to note, this can mean very different things to different people. 

How Can Schools Work Together to Improve Behavior?

So how do you create a learning environment conducive to engagement that can yield high results?

Once we know what “winning” looks like you can develop expectations within the space that allow for staff and students to hold each other accountable. 

In the classroom these commitments need to be revisited often and when a community agreement is broken the teacher needs to model for students what that interaction should look like. 

Something as simple as “let's remember our agreed upon community agreements” or “ one of our agreements is not being followed, how can we get back on track”?

Now, expand that idea to the entire campus. What does “winning” look like in your school? In the hallways, in the lunchroom, in the auditorium, on the bus as well as in the classrooms? 

As a school unit, you need to determine what we want to see in our spaces. Do we want children sitting quietly at their desks, not talking in the hallways? Are students allowed to laugh and/or talk loudly in the hallways? 

Every school has a “culture” that needs to be examined. Once we know what “winning” looks like as a larger school we can think of ways to support that vision with our students holistically. 

So if we notice that students are “hanging out in the hallways” well after the bell, how can we retrain that behavior? And for these more significant school shifts, everyone needs to be on board.  

If a student gets the same expectations from every staff member, they are more likely to shift their behavior.

How Your District Can Support Behavior Management

Behavior management was not something I was explicitly taught in undergraduate school, this is the case for many newly hired teachers. Understanding how to manage behavior takes practice and support. So district offices should expect to support staff in this area.

1. Define Your Victories

The district office needs to understand and communicate to their staff what “winning” looks like in our school. This includes all areas; in the hallways, in the lunchroom, and in your classrooms.

I encourage other administrators to make it a point to go into spaces to not just observe but to teach and learn from their staff. It is never easy for anyone to put themselves out there but we ask our staff to do it every day.

2. Lay the Foundation

The district office can help staff build an environment that is conducive to learning by making sure procedures are established early on. 

This means going above and beyond sending reminder emails about procedures. You need to put boots on the ground and be visible during this transition period. Your staff will appreciate it and sometimes presence can make a big difference. 

If the schools you serve need support in developing building-wide expectations, provide the support they need to create them. This means providing a PD on the subject in the summer and then potentially even offering a stipend for the team to develop them on a non-instructional day. 

3. New Teacher Induction Programs

Newer teachers often struggle to implement routines…when students do not know the classroom and/or the school expectations they will make up their own. Can students just get up to sharpen pencils whenever they want? What if someone is absent? 

I served as a teacher mentor in a school district and oftentimes the biggest disconnect administration had is understanding what the experience looks and feels like for their staff on a regular basis. What sounds good on paper does not always translate to real teaching practices.

The solution involves spending time meeting with veteran teachers in your district to determine what support their new colleagues are likely to need as they transition into the role you're hiring them for. This can be a lot of work, but the result is a higher teacher retention rate!

4. Internal Professional Development

The district office can leverage the staff that is strong in creating community in their classrooms and managing behaviors. How can we encourage them to support and share their ideas with others?

Ask your staff what they feel is one of their strengths in the areas of PBIS, conflict resolution, de-escalation, and classroom procedures. Would they be willing to model, be a thought partner, or be an observer in someone’s classroom? 

Or even better, would they be willing to host an internal PD like a lunch-n-learn or a learning walk where they can share that hard-earned expertise? 

Providing professional development can be expensive and at times it can have mixed results if the audience doesn’t have built-in respect and rapport with the presenter. 

By celebrating and encouraging your in-house rockstars you can provide PD more often that is more likely to find its way into practice.

5. Put Your Teacher Hat On

The district office should teach a class at least once a year to understand what their staff is managing each day. This will give you some great insight and at the very least it will ground your solutions in reality. 

I had a very humbling experience when I was an administrator and “volunteered” to teach a class of 1st graders for the morning. This was as we were returning back to in-person learning and we had “roomers” (the students in the classroom) and the “zoomers” (the kids that were streaming into the classroom).

I began my reading lesson so confident and so strong. 

Overall it seemed to be going well minus the student that had gone to the bathroom and never came back and that I had forgotten about letting the “zoomers” into the classroom for the first 15 minutes of the school day…good times! 🙃

This provided some needed perspective when it came to assessing what we were asking our staff to manage when it came to behaviors.

The experience garnered many laughs from my staff but it allowed me to have some very well-informed talking points when speaking to other administrators.

Systemizing Behavior Data

So you have all these great ideas… how do you know if it is working? You need to identify what data you have available and what is needed to really make an informed decision about your practices. 

We should collect both quantitative data and qualitative data. By this, I mean student discipline statistics as well as feedback from staff and students.

When we have the data, how long should we stay the course before making a change? Change can happen quickly in some cases but in most cases, it can take 8-12 weeks to see a more meaningful change in a school community. 

Once you have a thoughtful focus, plan to stick with it for a bit to see if it is working. Also, consider who is going to be positively and negatively impacted by these changes. 

Final Thoughts

Behavior Management is one of the most important investments any administrator can make in their school community.

Creating a learning environment that yields high results will require setting expectations and listening to feedback from your community. 

Key Takeaways

  • You’ll need to provide Tier 1 level supports that will help define what “winning” looks like in all your schools.
  • Whenever possible your students should be included in the process of creating "community agreements". They will feel more invested in the success of the school and hold themselves and their peers accountable. 
  • Revisiting agreements often and modeling appropriate behavior when a commitment is broken, will help maintain a positive and supportive learning environment. 
  • Encouraging students to take ownership of the learning space and their behavior will generate a sense of responsibility that will go a long way in building your community.

Remember education is hard but be gentle with yourself. If it was easy everyone would do it.

quote icon
Back
Let’s take this to your inbox
We’ll send you our monthly newsletter which is fully stocked with free resources like articles, videos, podcasts, reward ideas, and anything else we can think of to help you make your school awesome.

After the first day of school and for many weeks after I remember sitting in my car crying and in disbelief. 

Why am I having such a hard time getting my students to listen, follow directions, and be respectful to each other and me? 

This was not what I thought teaching was, I felt so unprepared to manage a classroom. I assumed that students would just respect me and follow my directions because I was their teacher.

If I, a well-prepared professional, felt this way about my classroom, what does that mean for the rest of campus? 

What is Behavior Management?

When you think about the word “behavior management” we often assume that managing behavior has a negative undertone and not a positive one. 

Behavior management is the ability to provide an environment that is conducive to engagement and learning. Staff and students have to create an atmosphere where they feel like everyone can be the best version of themselves.

It is important to note, this can mean very different things to different people. 

How Can Schools Work Together to Improve Behavior?

So how do you create a learning environment conducive to engagement that can yield high results?

Once we know what “winning” looks like you can develop expectations within the space that allow for staff and students to hold each other accountable. 

In the classroom these commitments need to be revisited often and when a community agreement is broken the teacher needs to model for students what that interaction should look like. 

Something as simple as “let's remember our agreed upon community agreements” or “ one of our agreements is not being followed, how can we get back on track”?

Now, expand that idea to the entire campus. What does “winning” look like in your school? In the hallways, in the lunchroom, in the auditorium, on the bus as well as in the classrooms? 

As a school unit, you need to determine what we want to see in our spaces. Do we want children sitting quietly at their desks, not talking in the hallways? Are students allowed to laugh and/or talk loudly in the hallways? 

Every school has a “culture” that needs to be examined. Once we know what “winning” looks like as a larger school we can think of ways to support that vision with our students holistically. 

So if we notice that students are “hanging out in the hallways” well after the bell, how can we retrain that behavior? And for these more significant school shifts, everyone needs to be on board.  

If a student gets the same expectations from every staff member, they are more likely to shift their behavior.

How Your District Can Support Behavior Management

Behavior management was not something I was explicitly taught in undergraduate school, this is the case for many newly hired teachers. Understanding how to manage behavior takes practice and support. So district offices should expect to support staff in this area.

1. Define Your Victories

The district office needs to understand and communicate to their staff what “winning” looks like in our school. This includes all areas; in the hallways, in the lunchroom, and in your classrooms.

I encourage other administrators to make it a point to go into spaces to not just observe but to teach and learn from their staff. It is never easy for anyone to put themselves out there but we ask our staff to do it every day.

2. Lay the Foundation

The district office can help staff build an environment that is conducive to learning by making sure procedures are established early on. 

This means going above and beyond sending reminder emails about procedures. You need to put boots on the ground and be visible during this transition period. Your staff will appreciate it and sometimes presence can make a big difference. 

If the schools you serve need support in developing building-wide expectations, provide the support they need to create them. This means providing a PD on the subject in the summer and then potentially even offering a stipend for the team to develop them on a non-instructional day. 

3. New Teacher Induction Programs

Newer teachers often struggle to implement routines…when students do not know the classroom and/or the school expectations they will make up their own. Can students just get up to sharpen pencils whenever they want? What if someone is absent? 

I served as a teacher mentor in a school district and oftentimes the biggest disconnect administration had is understanding what the experience looks and feels like for their staff on a regular basis. What sounds good on paper does not always translate to real teaching practices.

The solution involves spending time meeting with veteran teachers in your district to determine what support their new colleagues are likely to need as they transition into the role you're hiring them for. This can be a lot of work, but the result is a higher teacher retention rate!

4. Internal Professional Development

The district office can leverage the staff that is strong in creating community in their classrooms and managing behaviors. How can we encourage them to support and share their ideas with others?

Ask your staff what they feel is one of their strengths in the areas of PBIS, conflict resolution, de-escalation, and classroom procedures. Would they be willing to model, be a thought partner, or be an observer in someone’s classroom? 

Or even better, would they be willing to host an internal PD like a lunch-n-learn or a learning walk where they can share that hard-earned expertise? 

Providing professional development can be expensive and at times it can have mixed results if the audience doesn’t have built-in respect and rapport with the presenter. 

By celebrating and encouraging your in-house rockstars you can provide PD more often that is more likely to find its way into practice.

5. Put Your Teacher Hat On

The district office should teach a class at least once a year to understand what their staff is managing each day. This will give you some great insight and at the very least it will ground your solutions in reality. 

I had a very humbling experience when I was an administrator and “volunteered” to teach a class of 1st graders for the morning. This was as we were returning back to in-person learning and we had “roomers” (the students in the classroom) and the “zoomers” (the kids that were streaming into the classroom).

I began my reading lesson so confident and so strong. 

Overall it seemed to be going well minus the student that had gone to the bathroom and never came back and that I had forgotten about letting the “zoomers” into the classroom for the first 15 minutes of the school day…good times! 🙃

This provided some needed perspective when it came to assessing what we were asking our staff to manage when it came to behaviors.

The experience garnered many laughs from my staff but it allowed me to have some very well-informed talking points when speaking to other administrators.

Systemizing Behavior Data

So you have all these great ideas… how do you know if it is working? You need to identify what data you have available and what is needed to really make an informed decision about your practices. 

We should collect both quantitative data and qualitative data. By this, I mean student discipline statistics as well as feedback from staff and students.

When we have the data, how long should we stay the course before making a change? Change can happen quickly in some cases but in most cases, it can take 8-12 weeks to see a more meaningful change in a school community. 

Once you have a thoughtful focus, plan to stick with it for a bit to see if it is working. Also, consider who is going to be positively and negatively impacted by these changes. 

Final Thoughts

Behavior Management is one of the most important investments any administrator can make in their school community.

Creating a learning environment that yields high results will require setting expectations and listening to feedback from your community. 

Key Takeaways

  • You’ll need to provide Tier 1 level supports that will help define what “winning” looks like in all your schools.
  • Whenever possible your students should be included in the process of creating "community agreements". They will feel more invested in the success of the school and hold themselves and their peers accountable. 
  • Revisiting agreements often and modeling appropriate behavior when a commitment is broken, will help maintain a positive and supportive learning environment. 
  • Encouraging students to take ownership of the learning space and their behavior will generate a sense of responsibility that will go a long way in building your community.

Remember education is hard but be gentle with yourself. If it was easy everyone would do it.

5 Ways Your District Office Can Support Behavior Management

A district leader shares five great ideas that district's can use to help schools decrease behavior incidents.
By 
Dr. Faith Cole
 | 
February 24, 2023

After the first day of school and for many weeks after I remember sitting in my car crying and in disbelief. 

Why am I having such a hard time getting my students to listen, follow directions, and be respectful to each other and me? 

This was not what I thought teaching was, I felt so unprepared to manage a classroom. I assumed that students would just respect me and follow my directions because I was their teacher.

If I, a well-prepared professional, felt this way about my classroom, what does that mean for the rest of campus? 

What is Behavior Management?

When you think about the word “behavior management” we often assume that managing behavior has a negative undertone and not a positive one. 

Behavior management is the ability to provide an environment that is conducive to engagement and learning. Staff and students have to create an atmosphere where they feel like everyone can be the best version of themselves.

It is important to note, this can mean very different things to different people. 

How Can Schools Work Together to Improve Behavior?

So how do you create a learning environment conducive to engagement that can yield high results?

Once we know what “winning” looks like you can develop expectations within the space that allow for staff and students to hold each other accountable. 

In the classroom these commitments need to be revisited often and when a community agreement is broken the teacher needs to model for students what that interaction should look like. 

Something as simple as “let's remember our agreed upon community agreements” or “ one of our agreements is not being followed, how can we get back on track”?

Now, expand that idea to the entire campus. What does “winning” look like in your school? In the hallways, in the lunchroom, in the auditorium, on the bus as well as in the classrooms? 

As a school unit, you need to determine what we want to see in our spaces. Do we want children sitting quietly at their desks, not talking in the hallways? Are students allowed to laugh and/or talk loudly in the hallways? 

Every school has a “culture” that needs to be examined. Once we know what “winning” looks like as a larger school we can think of ways to support that vision with our students holistically. 

So if we notice that students are “hanging out in the hallways” well after the bell, how can we retrain that behavior? And for these more significant school shifts, everyone needs to be on board.  

If a student gets the same expectations from every staff member, they are more likely to shift their behavior.

How Your District Can Support Behavior Management

Behavior management was not something I was explicitly taught in undergraduate school, this is the case for many newly hired teachers. Understanding how to manage behavior takes practice and support. So district offices should expect to support staff in this area.

1. Define Your Victories

The district office needs to understand and communicate to their staff what “winning” looks like in our school. This includes all areas; in the hallways, in the lunchroom, and in your classrooms.

I encourage other administrators to make it a point to go into spaces to not just observe but to teach and learn from their staff. It is never easy for anyone to put themselves out there but we ask our staff to do it every day.

2. Lay the Foundation

The district office can help staff build an environment that is conducive to learning by making sure procedures are established early on. 

This means going above and beyond sending reminder emails about procedures. You need to put boots on the ground and be visible during this transition period. Your staff will appreciate it and sometimes presence can make a big difference. 

If the schools you serve need support in developing building-wide expectations, provide the support they need to create them. This means providing a PD on the subject in the summer and then potentially even offering a stipend for the team to develop them on a non-instructional day. 

3. New Teacher Induction Programs

Newer teachers often struggle to implement routines…when students do not know the classroom and/or the school expectations they will make up their own. Can students just get up to sharpen pencils whenever they want? What if someone is absent? 

I served as a teacher mentor in a school district and oftentimes the biggest disconnect administration had is understanding what the experience looks and feels like for their staff on a regular basis. What sounds good on paper does not always translate to real teaching practices.

The solution involves spending time meeting with veteran teachers in your district to determine what support their new colleagues are likely to need as they transition into the role you're hiring them for. This can be a lot of work, but the result is a higher teacher retention rate!

4. Internal Professional Development

The district office can leverage the staff that is strong in creating community in their classrooms and managing behaviors. How can we encourage them to support and share their ideas with others?

Ask your staff what they feel is one of their strengths in the areas of PBIS, conflict resolution, de-escalation, and classroom procedures. Would they be willing to model, be a thought partner, or be an observer in someone’s classroom? 

Or even better, would they be willing to host an internal PD like a lunch-n-learn or a learning walk where they can share that hard-earned expertise? 

Providing professional development can be expensive and at times it can have mixed results if the audience doesn’t have built-in respect and rapport with the presenter. 

By celebrating and encouraging your in-house rockstars you can provide PD more often that is more likely to find its way into practice.

5. Put Your Teacher Hat On

The district office should teach a class at least once a year to understand what their staff is managing each day. This will give you some great insight and at the very least it will ground your solutions in reality. 

I had a very humbling experience when I was an administrator and “volunteered” to teach a class of 1st graders for the morning. This was as we were returning back to in-person learning and we had “roomers” (the students in the classroom) and the “zoomers” (the kids that were streaming into the classroom).

I began my reading lesson so confident and so strong. 

Overall it seemed to be going well minus the student that had gone to the bathroom and never came back and that I had forgotten about letting the “zoomers” into the classroom for the first 15 minutes of the school day…good times! 🙃

This provided some needed perspective when it came to assessing what we were asking our staff to manage when it came to behaviors.

The experience garnered many laughs from my staff but it allowed me to have some very well-informed talking points when speaking to other administrators.

Systemizing Behavior Data

So you have all these great ideas… how do you know if it is working? You need to identify what data you have available and what is needed to really make an informed decision about your practices. 

We should collect both quantitative data and qualitative data. By this, I mean student discipline statistics as well as feedback from staff and students.

When we have the data, how long should we stay the course before making a change? Change can happen quickly in some cases but in most cases, it can take 8-12 weeks to see a more meaningful change in a school community. 

Once you have a thoughtful focus, plan to stick with it for a bit to see if it is working. Also, consider who is going to be positively and negatively impacted by these changes. 

Final Thoughts

Behavior Management is one of the most important investments any administrator can make in their school community.

Creating a learning environment that yields high results will require setting expectations and listening to feedback from your community. 

Key Takeaways

  • You’ll need to provide Tier 1 level supports that will help define what “winning” looks like in all your schools.
  • Whenever possible your students should be included in the process of creating "community agreements". They will feel more invested in the success of the school and hold themselves and their peers accountable. 
  • Revisiting agreements often and modeling appropriate behavior when a commitment is broken, will help maintain a positive and supportive learning environment. 
  • Encouraging students to take ownership of the learning space and their behavior will generate a sense of responsibility that will go a long way in building your community.

Remember education is hard but be gentle with yourself. If it was easy everyone would do it.

No items found.

Subscribe via Email

Receive the best school culture resources monthly to inspire your planning.
Arrow left
Back
Let’s take this to your inbox
We’ll send you our monthly newsletter which is fully stocked with free resources like articles, videos, podcasts, reward ideas, and anything else we can think of to help you make your school awesome.

About the Presenter

Faith resides in Oak Park, IL with her husband and son. She currently serves as Director of Student Services for D212.  She is a passionate leader with 18 years of educational experience in K-12th grade. She has extensive experience in MTSS, PBIS, Equity and Justice, Teacher and Principal Mentoring, Special Education, Restorative Practices, and Student Services.

About the Event

After the first day of school and for many weeks after I remember sitting in my car crying and in disbelief. 

Why am I having such a hard time getting my students to listen, follow directions, and be respectful to each other and me? 

This was not what I thought teaching was, I felt so unprepared to manage a classroom. I assumed that students would just respect me and follow my directions because I was their teacher.

If I, a well-prepared professional, felt this way about my classroom, what does that mean for the rest of campus? 

What is Behavior Management?

When you think about the word “behavior management” we often assume that managing behavior has a negative undertone and not a positive one. 

Behavior management is the ability to provide an environment that is conducive to engagement and learning. Staff and students have to create an atmosphere where they feel like everyone can be the best version of themselves.

It is important to note, this can mean very different things to different people. 

How Can Schools Work Together to Improve Behavior?

So how do you create a learning environment conducive to engagement that can yield high results?

Once we know what “winning” looks like you can develop expectations within the space that allow for staff and students to hold each other accountable. 

In the classroom these commitments need to be revisited often and when a community agreement is broken the teacher needs to model for students what that interaction should look like. 

Something as simple as “let's remember our agreed upon community agreements” or “ one of our agreements is not being followed, how can we get back on track”?

Now, expand that idea to the entire campus. What does “winning” look like in your school? In the hallways, in the lunchroom, in the auditorium, on the bus as well as in the classrooms? 

As a school unit, you need to determine what we want to see in our spaces. Do we want children sitting quietly at their desks, not talking in the hallways? Are students allowed to laugh and/or talk loudly in the hallways? 

Every school has a “culture” that needs to be examined. Once we know what “winning” looks like as a larger school we can think of ways to support that vision with our students holistically. 

So if we notice that students are “hanging out in the hallways” well after the bell, how can we retrain that behavior? And for these more significant school shifts, everyone needs to be on board.  

If a student gets the same expectations from every staff member, they are more likely to shift their behavior.

How Your District Can Support Behavior Management

Behavior management was not something I was explicitly taught in undergraduate school, this is the case for many newly hired teachers. Understanding how to manage behavior takes practice and support. So district offices should expect to support staff in this area.

1. Define Your Victories

The district office needs to understand and communicate to their staff what “winning” looks like in our school. This includes all areas; in the hallways, in the lunchroom, and in your classrooms.

I encourage other administrators to make it a point to go into spaces to not just observe but to teach and learn from their staff. It is never easy for anyone to put themselves out there but we ask our staff to do it every day.

2. Lay the Foundation

The district office can help staff build an environment that is conducive to learning by making sure procedures are established early on. 

This means going above and beyond sending reminder emails about procedures. You need to put boots on the ground and be visible during this transition period. Your staff will appreciate it and sometimes presence can make a big difference. 

If the schools you serve need support in developing building-wide expectations, provide the support they need to create them. This means providing a PD on the subject in the summer and then potentially even offering a stipend for the team to develop them on a non-instructional day. 

3. New Teacher Induction Programs

Newer teachers often struggle to implement routines…when students do not know the classroom and/or the school expectations they will make up their own. Can students just get up to sharpen pencils whenever they want? What if someone is absent? 

I served as a teacher mentor in a school district and oftentimes the biggest disconnect administration had is understanding what the experience looks and feels like for their staff on a regular basis. What sounds good on paper does not always translate to real teaching practices.

The solution involves spending time meeting with veteran teachers in your district to determine what support their new colleagues are likely to need as they transition into the role you're hiring them for. This can be a lot of work, but the result is a higher teacher retention rate!

4. Internal Professional Development

The district office can leverage the staff that is strong in creating community in their classrooms and managing behaviors. How can we encourage them to support and share their ideas with others?

Ask your staff what they feel is one of their strengths in the areas of PBIS, conflict resolution, de-escalation, and classroom procedures. Would they be willing to model, be a thought partner, or be an observer in someone’s classroom? 

Or even better, would they be willing to host an internal PD like a lunch-n-learn or a learning walk where they can share that hard-earned expertise? 

Providing professional development can be expensive and at times it can have mixed results if the audience doesn’t have built-in respect and rapport with the presenter. 

By celebrating and encouraging your in-house rockstars you can provide PD more often that is more likely to find its way into practice.

5. Put Your Teacher Hat On

The district office should teach a class at least once a year to understand what their staff is managing each day. This will give you some great insight and at the very least it will ground your solutions in reality. 

I had a very humbling experience when I was an administrator and “volunteered” to teach a class of 1st graders for the morning. This was as we were returning back to in-person learning and we had “roomers” (the students in the classroom) and the “zoomers” (the kids that were streaming into the classroom).

I began my reading lesson so confident and so strong. 

Overall it seemed to be going well minus the student that had gone to the bathroom and never came back and that I had forgotten about letting the “zoomers” into the classroom for the first 15 minutes of the school day…good times! 🙃

This provided some needed perspective when it came to assessing what we were asking our staff to manage when it came to behaviors.

The experience garnered many laughs from my staff but it allowed me to have some very well-informed talking points when speaking to other administrators.

Systemizing Behavior Data

So you have all these great ideas… how do you know if it is working? You need to identify what data you have available and what is needed to really make an informed decision about your practices. 

We should collect both quantitative data and qualitative data. By this, I mean student discipline statistics as well as feedback from staff and students.

When we have the data, how long should we stay the course before making a change? Change can happen quickly in some cases but in most cases, it can take 8-12 weeks to see a more meaningful change in a school community. 

Once you have a thoughtful focus, plan to stick with it for a bit to see if it is working. Also, consider who is going to be positively and negatively impacted by these changes. 

Final Thoughts

Behavior Management is one of the most important investments any administrator can make in their school community.

Creating a learning environment that yields high results will require setting expectations and listening to feedback from your community. 

Key Takeaways

  • You’ll need to provide Tier 1 level supports that will help define what “winning” looks like in all your schools.
  • Whenever possible your students should be included in the process of creating "community agreements". They will feel more invested in the success of the school and hold themselves and their peers accountable. 
  • Revisiting agreements often and modeling appropriate behavior when a commitment is broken, will help maintain a positive and supportive learning environment. 
  • Encouraging students to take ownership of the learning space and their behavior will generate a sense of responsibility that will go a long way in building your community.

Remember education is hard but be gentle with yourself. If it was easy everyone would do it.

Register Now

About the Event

After the first day of school and for many weeks after I remember sitting in my car crying and in disbelief. 

Why am I having such a hard time getting my students to listen, follow directions, and be respectful to each other and me? 

This was not what I thought teaching was, I felt so unprepared to manage a classroom. I assumed that students would just respect me and follow my directions because I was their teacher.

If I, a well-prepared professional, felt this way about my classroom, what does that mean for the rest of campus? 

What is Behavior Management?

When you think about the word “behavior management” we often assume that managing behavior has a negative undertone and not a positive one. 

Behavior management is the ability to provide an environment that is conducive to engagement and learning. Staff and students have to create an atmosphere where they feel like everyone can be the best version of themselves.

It is important to note, this can mean very different things to different people. 

How Can Schools Work Together to Improve Behavior?

So how do you create a learning environment conducive to engagement that can yield high results?

Once we know what “winning” looks like you can develop expectations within the space that allow for staff and students to hold each other accountable. 

In the classroom these commitments need to be revisited often and when a community agreement is broken the teacher needs to model for students what that interaction should look like. 

Something as simple as “let's remember our agreed upon community agreements” or “ one of our agreements is not being followed, how can we get back on track”?

Now, expand that idea to the entire campus. What does “winning” look like in your school? In the hallways, in the lunchroom, in the auditorium, on the bus as well as in the classrooms? 

As a school unit, you need to determine what we want to see in our spaces. Do we want children sitting quietly at their desks, not talking in the hallways? Are students allowed to laugh and/or talk loudly in the hallways? 

Every school has a “culture” that needs to be examined. Once we know what “winning” looks like as a larger school we can think of ways to support that vision with our students holistically. 

So if we notice that students are “hanging out in the hallways” well after the bell, how can we retrain that behavior? And for these more significant school shifts, everyone needs to be on board.  

If a student gets the same expectations from every staff member, they are more likely to shift their behavior.

How Your District Can Support Behavior Management

Behavior management was not something I was explicitly taught in undergraduate school, this is the case for many newly hired teachers. Understanding how to manage behavior takes practice and support. So district offices should expect to support staff in this area.

1. Define Your Victories

The district office needs to understand and communicate to their staff what “winning” looks like in our school. This includes all areas; in the hallways, in the lunchroom, and in your classrooms.

I encourage other administrators to make it a point to go into spaces to not just observe but to teach and learn from their staff. It is never easy for anyone to put themselves out there but we ask our staff to do it every day.

2. Lay the Foundation

The district office can help staff build an environment that is conducive to learning by making sure procedures are established early on. 

This means going above and beyond sending reminder emails about procedures. You need to put boots on the ground and be visible during this transition period. Your staff will appreciate it and sometimes presence can make a big difference. 

If the schools you serve need support in developing building-wide expectations, provide the support they need to create them. This means providing a PD on the subject in the summer and then potentially even offering a stipend for the team to develop them on a non-instructional day. 

3. New Teacher Induction Programs

Newer teachers often struggle to implement routines…when students do not know the classroom and/or the school expectations they will make up their own. Can students just get up to sharpen pencils whenever they want? What if someone is absent? 

I served as a teacher mentor in a school district and oftentimes the biggest disconnect administration had is understanding what the experience looks and feels like for their staff on a regular basis. What sounds good on paper does not always translate to real teaching practices.

The solution involves spending time meeting with veteran teachers in your district to determine what support their new colleagues are likely to need as they transition into the role you're hiring them for. This can be a lot of work, but the result is a higher teacher retention rate!

4. Internal Professional Development

The district office can leverage the staff that is strong in creating community in their classrooms and managing behaviors. How can we encourage them to support and share their ideas with others?

Ask your staff what they feel is one of their strengths in the areas of PBIS, conflict resolution, de-escalation, and classroom procedures. Would they be willing to model, be a thought partner, or be an observer in someone’s classroom? 

Or even better, would they be willing to host an internal PD like a lunch-n-learn or a learning walk where they can share that hard-earned expertise? 

Providing professional development can be expensive and at times it can have mixed results if the audience doesn’t have built-in respect and rapport with the presenter. 

By celebrating and encouraging your in-house rockstars you can provide PD more often that is more likely to find its way into practice.

5. Put Your Teacher Hat On

The district office should teach a class at least once a year to understand what their staff is managing each day. This will give you some great insight and at the very least it will ground your solutions in reality. 

I had a very humbling experience when I was an administrator and “volunteered” to teach a class of 1st graders for the morning. This was as we were returning back to in-person learning and we had “roomers” (the students in the classroom) and the “zoomers” (the kids that were streaming into the classroom).

I began my reading lesson so confident and so strong. 

Overall it seemed to be going well minus the student that had gone to the bathroom and never came back and that I had forgotten about letting the “zoomers” into the classroom for the first 15 minutes of the school day…good times! 🙃

This provided some needed perspective when it came to assessing what we were asking our staff to manage when it came to behaviors.

The experience garnered many laughs from my staff but it allowed me to have some very well-informed talking points when speaking to other administrators.

Systemizing Behavior Data

So you have all these great ideas… how do you know if it is working? You need to identify what data you have available and what is needed to really make an informed decision about your practices. 

We should collect both quantitative data and qualitative data. By this, I mean student discipline statistics as well as feedback from staff and students.

When we have the data, how long should we stay the course before making a change? Change can happen quickly in some cases but in most cases, it can take 8-12 weeks to see a more meaningful change in a school community. 

Once you have a thoughtful focus, plan to stick with it for a bit to see if it is working. Also, consider who is going to be positively and negatively impacted by these changes. 

Final Thoughts

Behavior Management is one of the most important investments any administrator can make in their school community.

Creating a learning environment that yields high results will require setting expectations and listening to feedback from your community. 

Key Takeaways

  • You’ll need to provide Tier 1 level supports that will help define what “winning” looks like in all your schools.
  • Whenever possible your students should be included in the process of creating "community agreements". They will feel more invested in the success of the school and hold themselves and their peers accountable. 
  • Revisiting agreements often and modeling appropriate behavior when a commitment is broken, will help maintain a positive and supportive learning environment. 
  • Encouraging students to take ownership of the learning space and their behavior will generate a sense of responsibility that will go a long way in building your community.

Remember education is hard but be gentle with yourself. If it was easy everyone would do it.

Arrow left
Back
Let’s take this to your inbox
We’ll send you our monthly newsletter which is fully stocked with free resources like articles, videos, podcasts, reward ideas, and anything else we can think of to help you make your school awesome.

I remember preparing for my first year of teaching. I dreamt about the dynamic lessons I would create and the robust conversations that would take place in my classroom. I was excited about all the apples and thank-you notes I would be receiving, clearly, I had a bit of a rosy outlook on life in the classroom.

After the first day of school and for many weeks after I remember sitting in my car crying and in disbelief. 

Why am I having such a hard time getting my students to listen, follow directions, and be respectful to each other and me? 

This was not what I thought teaching was, I felt so unprepared to manage a classroom. I assumed that students would just respect me and follow my directions because I was their teacher.

If I, a well-prepared professional, felt this way about my classroom, what does that mean for the rest of campus? 

What is Behavior Management?

When you think about the word “behavior management” we often assume that managing behavior has a negative undertone and not a positive one. 

Behavior management is the ability to provide an environment that is conducive to engagement and learning. Staff and students have to create an atmosphere where they feel like everyone can be the best version of themselves.

It is important to note, this can mean very different things to different people. 

How Can Schools Work Together to Improve Behavior?

So how do you create a learning environment conducive to engagement that can yield high results?

Once we know what “winning” looks like you can develop expectations within the space that allow for staff and students to hold each other accountable. 

In the classroom these commitments need to be revisited often and when a community agreement is broken the teacher needs to model for students what that interaction should look like. 

Something as simple as “let's remember our agreed upon community agreements” or “ one of our agreements is not being followed, how can we get back on track”?

Now, expand that idea to the entire campus. What does “winning” look like in your school? In the hallways, in the lunchroom, in the auditorium, on the bus as well as in the classrooms? 

As a school unit, you need to determine what we want to see in our spaces. Do we want children sitting quietly at their desks, not talking in the hallways? Are students allowed to laugh and/or talk loudly in the hallways? 

Every school has a “culture” that needs to be examined. Once we know what “winning” looks like as a larger school we can think of ways to support that vision with our students holistically. 

So if we notice that students are “hanging out in the hallways” well after the bell, how can we retrain that behavior? And for these more significant school shifts, everyone needs to be on board.  

If a student gets the same expectations from every staff member, they are more likely to shift their behavior.

How Your District Can Support Behavior Management

Behavior management was not something I was explicitly taught in undergraduate school, this is the case for many newly hired teachers. Understanding how to manage behavior takes practice and support. So district offices should expect to support staff in this area.

1. Define Your Victories

The district office needs to understand and communicate to their staff what “winning” looks like in our school. This includes all areas; in the hallways, in the lunchroom, and in your classrooms.

I encourage other administrators to make it a point to go into spaces to not just observe but to teach and learn from their staff. It is never easy for anyone to put themselves out there but we ask our staff to do it every day.

2. Lay the Foundation

The district office can help staff build an environment that is conducive to learning by making sure procedures are established early on. 

This means going above and beyond sending reminder emails about procedures. You need to put boots on the ground and be visible during this transition period. Your staff will appreciate it and sometimes presence can make a big difference. 

If the schools you serve need support in developing building-wide expectations, provide the support they need to create them. This means providing a PD on the subject in the summer and then potentially even offering a stipend for the team to develop them on a non-instructional day. 

3. New Teacher Induction Programs

Newer teachers often struggle to implement routines…when students do not know the classroom and/or the school expectations they will make up their own. Can students just get up to sharpen pencils whenever they want? What if someone is absent? 

I served as a teacher mentor in a school district and oftentimes the biggest disconnect administration had is understanding what the experience looks and feels like for their staff on a regular basis. What sounds good on paper does not always translate to real teaching practices.

The solution involves spending time meeting with veteran teachers in your district to determine what support their new colleagues are likely to need as they transition into the role you're hiring them for. This can be a lot of work, but the result is a higher teacher retention rate!

4. Internal Professional Development

The district office can leverage the staff that is strong in creating community in their classrooms and managing behaviors. How can we encourage them to support and share their ideas with others?

Ask your staff what they feel is one of their strengths in the areas of PBIS, conflict resolution, de-escalation, and classroom procedures. Would they be willing to model, be a thought partner, or be an observer in someone’s classroom? 

Or even better, would they be willing to host an internal PD like a lunch-n-learn or a learning walk where they can share that hard-earned expertise? 

Providing professional development can be expensive and at times it can have mixed results if the audience doesn’t have built-in respect and rapport with the presenter. 

By celebrating and encouraging your in-house rockstars you can provide PD more often that is more likely to find its way into practice.

5. Put Your Teacher Hat On

The district office should teach a class at least once a year to understand what their staff is managing each day. This will give you some great insight and at the very least it will ground your solutions in reality. 

I had a very humbling experience when I was an administrator and “volunteered” to teach a class of 1st graders for the morning. This was as we were returning back to in-person learning and we had “roomers” (the students in the classroom) and the “zoomers” (the kids that were streaming into the classroom).

I began my reading lesson so confident and so strong. 

Overall it seemed to be going well minus the student that had gone to the bathroom and never came back and that I had forgotten about letting the “zoomers” into the classroom for the first 15 minutes of the school day…good times! 🙃

This provided some needed perspective when it came to assessing what we were asking our staff to manage when it came to behaviors.

The experience garnered many laughs from my staff but it allowed me to have some very well-informed talking points when speaking to other administrators.

Systemizing Behavior Data

So you have all these great ideas… how do you know if it is working? You need to identify what data you have available and what is needed to really make an informed decision about your practices. 

We should collect both quantitative data and qualitative data. By this, I mean student discipline statistics as well as feedback from staff and students.

When we have the data, how long should we stay the course before making a change? Change can happen quickly in some cases but in most cases, it can take 8-12 weeks to see a more meaningful change in a school community. 

Once you have a thoughtful focus, plan to stick with it for a bit to see if it is working. Also, consider who is going to be positively and negatively impacted by these changes. 

Final Thoughts

Behavior Management is one of the most important investments any administrator can make in their school community.

Creating a learning environment that yields high results will require setting expectations and listening to feedback from your community. 

Key Takeaways

  • You’ll need to provide Tier 1 level supports that will help define what “winning” looks like in all your schools.
  • Whenever possible your students should be included in the process of creating "community agreements". They will feel more invested in the success of the school and hold themselves and their peers accountable. 
  • Revisiting agreements often and modeling appropriate behavior when a commitment is broken, will help maintain a positive and supportive learning environment. 
  • Encouraging students to take ownership of the learning space and their behavior will generate a sense of responsibility that will go a long way in building your community.

Remember education is hard but be gentle with yourself. If it was easy everyone would do it.

All Reward Ideas for Students

🎉
👑
🎁
Loudspeaker Shoutout
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Game of Thrones
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Vote
Grades 6-8
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Holiday Delivery
Grades K-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Firebird of the Month
Grades K-12
Student
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Teacher v Student Competition
Grades 6-12
School
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Ice Cream Sundae Party
Grades K-12
Class/House
Event
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Lost & Found Fashion Show
Grades 9-12
School
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Lunch Concert
Grades 6-8
Class/House
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Technology
Grades 6-12
Student
Tangible
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Water Bottle Stickers
Grades 6-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Family Feast
Grades K-8
Class/House
Event
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Tutor
Grades 6-8
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
School Assembly
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Stuffed Animal in Class
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Kickback Vibes
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Event
Low Cost/DIY

All Reward Ideas for Elementary School Students

🎉
👑
🎁
Positive Note or Call Home
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Board Game Party
Grades 3-12
Class/House
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Movie Posters
Grades 3-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
School Supplies & Merch
Grades K-12
Student
Tangible
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Teacher Q&A
Grades K-12
Class/House
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Play Games
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Virtual Talent Show. 🎤
Grades 3-12
Class/House
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Extra Recess
Grades K-5
Class/House
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Dance Party
Grades K-12
Student
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Principal for a Day
Grades K-8
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Snacks
Grades K-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Final Fridays
Grades K-8
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Trunk or Treat
Grades K-8
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Hallway High-Five
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
School Assembly
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
School Spirit Day
Grades K-12
School
Privilege
Free

All Event Ideas for Schools

All Free Reward Ideas for Schools

🎉
👑
🎁
Hat Pass
🎉
👑
🎁
House Induction
🎉
👑
🎁
Special Screening
🎉
👑
🎁
Extra Reading Time
🎉
👑
🎁
Blood Drive
🎉
👑
🎁
Partner Work
🎉
👑
🎁
Play Games
🎉
👑
🎁
Podcast
🎉
👑
🎁
School Spirit Day
🎉
👑
🎁
Operate Equipment.

All Reward Ideas for High School Students

🎉
👑
🎁
Lunch Reservations
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Food-Themed Party
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
TikTok with the Teacher
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Partner Work
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Board Game Party
Grades 3-12
Class/House
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Uber by a Principal
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Design the Bulletin Board
Grades K-12
Class/House
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Holiday Classroom Carousel
Grades 9-12
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Ice Cream Sundae Party
Grades K-12
Class/House
Event
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Play Games
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Meme Party
Grades 6-12
School
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Movie Posters
Grades 3-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Host a Virtual Party. 🎶
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Special Screening
Grades K-12
School
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Silly School Leader
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Music Fest
Grades 9-12
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY

All Reward Ideas for Middle School Students

🎉
👑
🎁
Picnic Lunch
Grades K-12
Class/House
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
School Spirit Day
Grades K-12
School
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Get-to-Know-You Bingo
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Sweatshirt
Grades K-12
Student
Tangible
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Classroom DJ
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Movie Posters
Grades 3-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Awards Show Afterparty
Grades 6-12
School
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Homework Pass
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Camp Read Away
Grades K-8
Class/House
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Talk Time
Grades 6-8
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Hat Pass
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Board Game Party
Grades 3-12
Class/House
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Snack Party
Grades 3-12
Class/House
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Virtual Talent Show. 🎤
Grades 3-12
Class/House
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Firebird of the Month
Grades K-12
Student
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Ice Cream Sundae Party
Grades K-12
Class/House
Event
Deluxe

All Student Reward & Incentive Ideas

💰
🎨
Pie a Teacher
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Gift Cards
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Deluxe
💰
🎨
Toys
Grades K-8
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Classroom DJ
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
🎨
Pen Pouch
Grades K-8
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Student Messenger
Grades 3-8
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
🎨
Snack Party
Grades 3-12
Class/House
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Snacks
Grades K-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Snack Pack
Grades K-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
The Big Ticket
Grades 9-12
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
🎨
Positive Note or Call Home
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
🎨
Free Dress
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
🎨
Extra Reading Time
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
🎨
Teacher Q&A
Grades K-12
Class/House
Privilege
Free
💰
🎨
Hat Pass
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
🎨
Trip to the Treasure Box
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY

All Virtual Reward Ideas for Schools

🎉
👑
🎁
Stickers
Grades K-5
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Virtual Field Trip
Grades K-12
Class/House
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Morning Meeting Leader
Grades 3-8
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Student Spotlight Board
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Host a Virtual Party. 🎶
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Virtual Talent Show. 🎤
Grades 3-12
Class/House
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Positive Note or Call Home
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Social Media Reporter
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Teacher Q&A
Grades K-12
Class/House
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Certificate of Achievement
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Brain Break
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Podcast
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Classroom DJ
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Extra Computer Games
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Show & Tell
Grades K-8
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Donate $1
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
See all Rewards

Want more ideas?

Rewards that Rock 🎸 has 100+ rewards, incentives, and event ideas to build your school culture.
Find Rewards
Learn more about the author, 
Dr. Faith Cole
 

5 Ways Your District Office Can Support Behavior Management

A district leader shares five great ideas that district's can use to help schools decrease behavior incidents.
By 
Dr. Faith Cole
 | 
February 24, 2023
Arrow left
Back
Let’s take this to your inbox
We’ll send you our monthly newsletter which is fully stocked with free resources like articles, videos, podcasts, reward ideas, and anything else we can think of to help you make your school awesome.

I remember preparing for my first year of teaching. I dreamt about the dynamic lessons I would create and the robust conversations that would take place in my classroom. I was excited about all the apples and thank-you notes I would be receiving, clearly, I had a bit of a rosy outlook on life in the classroom.

After the first day of school and for many weeks after I remember sitting in my car crying and in disbelief. 

Why am I having such a hard time getting my students to listen, follow directions, and be respectful to each other and me? 

This was not what I thought teaching was, I felt so unprepared to manage a classroom. I assumed that students would just respect me and follow my directions because I was their teacher.

If I, a well-prepared professional, felt this way about my classroom, what does that mean for the rest of campus? 

What is Behavior Management?

When you think about the word “behavior management” we often assume that managing behavior has a negative undertone and not a positive one. 

Behavior management is the ability to provide an environment that is conducive to engagement and learning. Staff and students have to create an atmosphere where they feel like everyone can be the best version of themselves.

It is important to note, this can mean very different things to different people. 

How Can Schools Work Together to Improve Behavior?

So how do you create a learning environment conducive to engagement that can yield high results?

Once we know what “winning” looks like you can develop expectations within the space that allow for staff and students to hold each other accountable. 

In the classroom these commitments need to be revisited often and when a community agreement is broken the teacher needs to model for students what that interaction should look like. 

Something as simple as “let's remember our agreed upon community agreements” or “ one of our agreements is not being followed, how can we get back on track”?

Now, expand that idea to the entire campus. What does “winning” look like in your school? In the hallways, in the lunchroom, in the auditorium, on the bus as well as in the classrooms? 

As a school unit, you need to determine what we want to see in our spaces. Do we want children sitting quietly at their desks, not talking in the hallways? Are students allowed to laugh and/or talk loudly in the hallways? 

Every school has a “culture” that needs to be examined. Once we know what “winning” looks like as a larger school we can think of ways to support that vision with our students holistically. 

So if we notice that students are “hanging out in the hallways” well after the bell, how can we retrain that behavior? And for these more significant school shifts, everyone needs to be on board.  

If a student gets the same expectations from every staff member, they are more likely to shift their behavior.

How Your District Can Support Behavior Management

Behavior management was not something I was explicitly taught in undergraduate school, this is the case for many newly hired teachers. Understanding how to manage behavior takes practice and support. So district offices should expect to support staff in this area.

1. Define Your Victories

The district office needs to understand and communicate to their staff what “winning” looks like in our school. This includes all areas; in the hallways, in the lunchroom, and in your classrooms.

I encourage other administrators to make it a point to go into spaces to not just observe but to teach and learn from their staff. It is never easy for anyone to put themselves out there but we ask our staff to do it every day.

2. Lay the Foundation

The district office can help staff build an environment that is conducive to learning by making sure procedures are established early on. 

This means going above and beyond sending reminder emails about procedures. You need to put boots on the ground and be visible during this transition period. Your staff will appreciate it and sometimes presence can make a big difference. 

If the schools you serve need support in developing building-wide expectations, provide the support they need to create them. This means providing a PD on the subject in the summer and then potentially even offering a stipend for the team to develop them on a non-instructional day. 

3. New Teacher Induction Programs

Newer teachers often struggle to implement routines…when students do not know the classroom and/or the school expectations they will make up their own. Can students just get up to sharpen pencils whenever they want? What if someone is absent? 

I served as a teacher mentor in a school district and oftentimes the biggest disconnect administration had is understanding what the experience looks and feels like for their staff on a regular basis. What sounds good on paper does not always translate to real teaching practices.

The solution involves spending time meeting with veteran teachers in your district to determine what support their new colleagues are likely to need as they transition into the role you're hiring them for. This can be a lot of work, but the result is a higher teacher retention rate!

4. Internal Professional Development

The district office can leverage the staff that is strong in creating community in their classrooms and managing behaviors. How can we encourage them to support and share their ideas with others?

Ask your staff what they feel is one of their strengths in the areas of PBIS, conflict resolution, de-escalation, and classroom procedures. Would they be willing to model, be a thought partner, or be an observer in someone’s classroom? 

Or even better, would they be willing to host an internal PD like a lunch-n-learn or a learning walk where they can share that hard-earned expertise? 

Providing professional development can be expensive and at times it can have mixed results if the audience doesn’t have built-in respect and rapport with the presenter. 

By celebrating and encouraging your in-house rockstars you can provide PD more often that is more likely to find its way into practice.

5. Put Your Teacher Hat On

The district office should teach a class at least once a year to understand what their staff is managing each day. This will give you some great insight and at the very least it will ground your solutions in reality. 

I had a very humbling experience when I was an administrator and “volunteered” to teach a class of 1st graders for the morning. This was as we were returning back to in-person learning and we had “roomers” (the students in the classroom) and the “zoomers” (the kids that were streaming into the classroom).

I began my reading lesson so confident and so strong. 

Overall it seemed to be going well minus the student that had gone to the bathroom and never came back and that I had forgotten about letting the “zoomers” into the classroom for the first 15 minutes of the school day…good times! 🙃

This provided some needed perspective when it came to assessing what we were asking our staff to manage when it came to behaviors.

The experience garnered many laughs from my staff but it allowed me to have some very well-informed talking points when speaking to other administrators.

Systemizing Behavior Data

So you have all these great ideas… how do you know if it is working? You need to identify what data you have available and what is needed to really make an informed decision about your practices. 

We should collect both quantitative data and qualitative data. By this, I mean student discipline statistics as well as feedback from staff and students.

When we have the data, how long should we stay the course before making a change? Change can happen quickly in some cases but in most cases, it can take 8-12 weeks to see a more meaningful change in a school community. 

Once you have a thoughtful focus, plan to stick with it for a bit to see if it is working. Also, consider who is going to be positively and negatively impacted by these changes. 

Final Thoughts

Behavior Management is one of the most important investments any administrator can make in their school community.

Creating a learning environment that yields high results will require setting expectations and listening to feedback from your community. 

Key Takeaways

  • You’ll need to provide Tier 1 level supports that will help define what “winning” looks like in all your schools.
  • Whenever possible your students should be included in the process of creating "community agreements". They will feel more invested in the success of the school and hold themselves and their peers accountable. 
  • Revisiting agreements often and modeling appropriate behavior when a commitment is broken, will help maintain a positive and supportive learning environment. 
  • Encouraging students to take ownership of the learning space and their behavior will generate a sense of responsibility that will go a long way in building your community.

Remember education is hard but be gentle with yourself. If it was easy everyone would do it.

All Reward Ideas for Students

🎉
👑
🎁
Show & Tell
Grades K-8
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Extra Reading Time
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Emcee the Announcements
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Sports Tickets
Grades 3-12
Student
Tangible
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Snowball Fights (& Popsicles!)
Grades K-8
Class/House
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Music Fest
Grades 9-12
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Backpack
Grades K-12
Student
Tangible
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Food-Themed Party
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Dress Up or Down Day
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Pen Pouch
Grades K-8
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Meme Party
Grades 6-12
School
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Class Book
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Art Contest
Grades 3-12
Class/House
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Wristband
Grades K-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Technology
Grades 6-12
Student
Tangible
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Trip to the Treasure Box
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY

All Reward Ideas for Elementary School Students

🎉
👑
🎁
Dress Up or Down Day
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Trunk or Treat
Grades K-8
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Positive Note or Call Home
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Extra Recess
Grades K-5
Class/House
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Game of Thrones
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Play Games
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Seating Choice
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Show & Tell
Grades K-8
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Drop Lowest Quiz
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Meet the Teacher
Grades K-8
School
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Snack Pack
Grades K-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Trip to the Treasure Box
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Stuffed Animal in Class
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Podcast
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Student Messenger
Grades 3-8
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Toys
Grades K-8
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY

All Event Ideas for Schools

All Free Reward Ideas for Schools

All Reward Ideas for High School Students

🎉
👑
🎁
Career Day
Grades 3-12
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Design the Bulletin Board
Grades K-12
Class/House
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Lunch with an Admin
Grades K-8
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
The Love Soiree
Grades 6-12
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Old School Cookout
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Event
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Operate Equipment.
Grades 9-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Holiday Classroom Carousel
Grades 9-12
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Virtual Field Trip
Grades K-12
Class/House
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Holidays Around the World
Grades K-12
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Video Game Rewards
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Game-Based Simulation Learning
Grades 9-12
Class/House
Event
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Movie Posters
Grades 3-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Tech Time
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Karaoke Night
Grades 9-12
Class/House
Event
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Play Games
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Positive Note or Call Home
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free

All Reward Ideas for Middle School Students

🎉
👑
🎁
Positive Note or Call Home
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Water Bottle Stickers
Grades 6-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Lunch Fast Pass
Grades 3-8
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Lunch Reservations
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
The Love Soiree
Grades 6-12
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Video Game Rewards
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Classroom DJ
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Seating Choice
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
House Induction
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Snack Pack
Grades K-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Dress Up or Down Day
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Teacher Q&A
Grades K-12
Class/House
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Theme Party
Grades K-8
Class/House
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Teacher Serenade
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Cut the Principal’s Tie
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
School Spirit Day
Grades K-12
School
Privilege
Free

All Student Reward & Incentive Ideas

💰
🎨
Create the Seating Chart
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
🎨
Toys
Grades K-8
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Rolling Chair Rental
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Show & Tell
Grades K-8
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
🎨
Podcast
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
🎨
Line Leader
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
🎨
Student Spotlight Board
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Snacks
Grades K-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Hat Pass
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
🎨
School Spirit Day
Grades K-12
School
Privilege
Free
💰
🎨
Wristband
Grades K-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Class Pet
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Deluxe
💰
🎨
Design the Bulletin Board
Grades K-12
Class/House
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Books
Grades K-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Teacher Serenade
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
🎨
Teacher for the Day
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Free

All Virtual Reward Ideas for Schools

🎉
👑
🎁
Donate $1
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Host a Virtual Party. 🎶
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Student Spotlight Board
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Virtual Field Trip
Grades K-12
Class/House
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Brain Break
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Social Media Reporter
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Certificate of Achievement
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Teacher Q&A
Grades K-12
Class/House
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Show & Tell
Grades K-8
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Digital Escape Rooms
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Privilege
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Podcast
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Virtual Talent Show. 🎤
Grades 3-12
Class/House
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Stickers
Grades K-5
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Classroom DJ
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Positive Note or Call Home
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Extra Computer Games
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
See all Rewards

Want more ideas?

Rewards that Rock 🎸 has 100+ rewards, incentives, and event ideas to build your school culture.
Find Rewards
Learn more about the author, 
Dr. Faith Cole
 

Bring a positive culture to life with school-wide points

Schedule a Demo