Arrow left
Back

It has been exacerbated by time away from school. The world shut down for a time or at least became a much different version of what it once was for a time. A whole set of rules was put in place that we had to learn to navigate while we all worked our way through the pandemic. 

When we finally got back going you probably noticed your social skills were lacking or at least a bit rusty. As an educator, you know that if you don’t practice a skill you are bound to lose proficiency. 

But what if you didn’t develop those skills at all. Unfortunately, our students had that skill development put on pause. In some cases, this happened at some key points in development. 

This is not our kids' fault. But it does help to frame the state of behavior in schools at the moment. 

We are seeing increased referrals, increased mental health needs, increases in conflict resolution needs, and a general overall increase in disruptive behavior. However, as the old saying goes…..this too shall pass. 

As administrators it is very important we go into the school year with a plan to manage behavior, so we aren’t managed by behavior.

What is Behavior Management?

These are all the actions, policies, and initiatives in place at your school to promote positive behaviors in your school. Keep in mind that you are unlikely to eliminate negative behaviors simply by promoting positive ones. 

The goal is prevention, improvement, and mitigation. Elimination is a term that will set your plan up for failure. As a football coach my mantra when making predictions in the media or community was always like so: undersell and overdeliver. 

Your behavior management plan needs to be the same, set realistic goals focused on prevention and improvement as the buy-in from your stakeholders will ultimately determine your level of success. 

You don’t want your stakeholders deterred by isolated setbacks, you want your team to strive for constant improvement.

Why is Behavior Management Important?

Behavior can make or break a perfect lesson and how well your staff can manage the room will determine how much learning can be accomplished. Behaviors can derail more than single classes if they aren’t managed well. 

What conditions must be met in order for the lesson to succeed? What conditions must be present to promote a positive learning environment in your school as a whole? Now, what needs to happen (or not happen) to create those conditions? 

Keep reading as we discuss the bones of your behavior management planning.

The Foundation Of Behavior Management

Supervision

As a matter of safety, I suggest you review your school's supervision plan on a quarterly basis at the minimum. Does your staff have a presence in all the necessary locations to prevent an issue from occurring?

Do they understand the importance of this role? Students are crafty. If you have a weak point in your plan it will be exploited given time. 

Spend some of your time, get a large map of your building and project your school day schedule on a board and really consider where or when your building is vulnerable. 

Safety is your first priority, a well-designed supervision plan can go a long way in providing a safe learning environment. 

Communication

Establish a communication protocol with parents and guardians concerning student behavior. Give your staff a script if they feel uncomfortable calling parents. Provide translation tools if needed. 

Encourage parent contacts that are positive in nature as much as possible so your staff can build a rapport with families and create a culture of teamwork.

Management and Deterrence

Make classroom management a priority in your building. Provide conflict resolution professional development. Incorporate Social-Emotional Learning into your school day. 

Utilize incentive programs such as PBIS to encourage students. Consider adding tech such as LiveSchool to manage and track goals. Normalize treating behavior as something that can be improved, not something that just is. 

Response

How will you respond to and process behavior incidents as they arise? Do they all need your attention? Or can you train staff to handle minor issues? 

Does your admin team have protocols for processing referrals or do they take them as they come? If the student had to be removed from the learning environment what are your options?  

I suggest training your staff on a process like Restorative Practices to mitigate repeat offenses. 

Re-entry

After the incident has occurred. After the situation has been resolved. How do you ensure the student can return to their class? How much time has passed? 

Has enough time passed? Is there a way to repair a damaged relationship prior to re-entry? Can you involve the referring staff in the solution? 

These are things to consider that can have a big impact on the success of the student upon re-entry to the room.

One Final Note On Data and Transparency

Lastly, as part of your plan, you need a process to analyze your behavior data. This needs to be presented to your admin team and I would recommend sharing it with your staff. 

Perception is king and we can get stuck in our own silo at school. If your silo is well behaved (or not) it is easy for you to label that as the norm for your school culture. This can lead to dissent or a lack of commitment amongst your key stakeholders as you strive to improve student behavior in your school. 

Be transparent and bring in your staff to brainstorm strategies to squash disruptive behavior and dive into Behavior Rubric examples via committees (like PBIS) to improve your behavioral data.

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.
Student behavior is an age-old problem in schools. But what once was a mild inconvenience, hurdle, or distraction now today seems to be the biggest problem in schools.

It has been exacerbated by time away from school. The world shut down for a time or at least became a much different version of what it once was for a time. A whole set of rules was put in place that we had to learn to navigate while we all worked our way through the pandemic. 

When we finally got back going you probably noticed your social skills were lacking or at least a bit rusty. As an educator, you know that if you don’t practice a skill you are bound to lose proficiency. 

But what if you didn’t develop those skills at all. Unfortunately, our students had that skill development put on pause. In some cases, this happened at some key points in development. 

This is not our kids' fault. But it does help to frame the state of behavior in schools at the moment. 

We are seeing increased referrals, increased mental health needs, increases in conflict resolution needs, and a general overall increase in disruptive behavior. However, as the old saying goes…..this too shall pass. 

As administrators it is very important we go into the school year with a plan to manage behavior, so we aren’t managed by behavior.

What is Behavior Management?

These are all the actions, policies, and initiatives in place at your school to promote positive behaviors in your school. Keep in mind that you are unlikely to eliminate negative behaviors simply by promoting positive ones. 

The goal is prevention, improvement, and mitigation. Elimination is a term that will set your plan up for failure. As a football coach my mantra when making predictions in the media or community was always like so: undersell and overdeliver. 

Your behavior management plan needs to be the same, set realistic goals focused on prevention and improvement as the buy-in from your stakeholders will ultimately determine your level of success. 

You don’t want your stakeholders deterred by isolated setbacks, you want your team to strive for constant improvement.

Why is Behavior Management Important?

Behavior can make or break a perfect lesson and how well your staff can manage the room will determine how much learning can be accomplished. Behaviors can derail more than single classes if they aren’t managed well. 

What conditions must be met in order for the lesson to succeed? What conditions must be present to promote a positive learning environment in your school as a whole? Now, what needs to happen (or not happen) to create those conditions? 

Keep reading as we discuss the bones of your behavior management planning.

The Foundation Of Behavior Management

Supervision

As a matter of safety, I suggest you review your school's supervision plan on a quarterly basis at the minimum. Does your staff have a presence in all the necessary locations to prevent an issue from occurring?

Do they understand the importance of this role? Students are crafty. If you have a weak point in your plan it will be exploited given time. 

Spend some of your time, get a large map of your building and project your school day schedule on a board and really consider where or when your building is vulnerable. 

Safety is your first priority, a well-designed supervision plan can go a long way in providing a safe learning environment. 

Communication

Establish a communication protocol with parents and guardians concerning student behavior. Give your staff a script if they feel uncomfortable calling parents. Provide translation tools if needed. 

Encourage parent contacts that are positive in nature as much as possible so your staff can build a rapport with families and create a culture of teamwork.

Management and Deterrence

Make classroom management a priority in your building. Provide conflict resolution professional development. Incorporate Social-Emotional Learning into your school day. 

Utilize incentive programs such as PBIS to encourage students. Consider adding tech such as LiveSchool to manage and track goals. Normalize treating behavior as something that can be improved, not something that just is. 

Response

How will you respond to and process behavior incidents as they arise? Do they all need your attention? Or can you train staff to handle minor issues? 

Does your admin team have protocols for processing referrals or do they take them as they come? If the student had to be removed from the learning environment what are your options?  

I suggest training your staff on a process like Restorative Practices to mitigate repeat offenses. 

Re-entry

After the incident has occurred. After the situation has been resolved. How do you ensure the student can return to their class? How much time has passed? 

Has enough time passed? Is there a way to repair a damaged relationship prior to re-entry? Can you involve the referring staff in the solution? 

These are things to consider that can have a big impact on the success of the student upon re-entry to the room.

One Final Note On Data and Transparency

Lastly, as part of your plan, you need a process to analyze your behavior data. This needs to be presented to your admin team and I would recommend sharing it with your staff. 

Perception is king and we can get stuck in our own silo at school. If your silo is well behaved (or not) it is easy for you to label that as the norm for your school culture. This can lead to dissent or a lack of commitment amongst your key stakeholders as you strive to improve student behavior in your school. 

Be transparent and bring in your staff to brainstorm strategies to squash disruptive behavior and dive into Behavior Rubric examples via committees (like PBIS) to improve your behavioral data.

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.

It has been exacerbated by time away from school. The world shut down for a time or at least became a much different version of what it once was for a time. A whole set of rules was put in place that we had to learn to navigate while we all worked our way through the pandemic. 

When we finally got back going you probably noticed your social skills were lacking or at least a bit rusty. As an educator, you know that if you don’t practice a skill you are bound to lose proficiency. 

But what if you didn’t develop those skills at all. Unfortunately, our students had that skill development put on pause. In some cases, this happened at some key points in development. 

This is not our kids' fault. But it does help to frame the state of behavior in schools at the moment. 

We are seeing increased referrals, increased mental health needs, increases in conflict resolution needs, and a general overall increase in disruptive behavior. However, as the old saying goes…..this too shall pass. 

As administrators it is very important we go into the school year with a plan to manage behavior, so we aren’t managed by behavior.

What is Behavior Management?

These are all the actions, policies, and initiatives in place at your school to promote positive behaviors in your school. Keep in mind that you are unlikely to eliminate negative behaviors simply by promoting positive ones. 

The goal is prevention, improvement, and mitigation. Elimination is a term that will set your plan up for failure. As a football coach my mantra when making predictions in the media or community was always like so: undersell and overdeliver. 

Your behavior management plan needs to be the same, set realistic goals focused on prevention and improvement as the buy-in from your stakeholders will ultimately determine your level of success. 

You don’t want your stakeholders deterred by isolated setbacks, you want your team to strive for constant improvement.

Why is Behavior Management Important?

Behavior can make or break a perfect lesson and how well your staff can manage the room will determine how much learning can be accomplished. Behaviors can derail more than single classes if they aren’t managed well. 

What conditions must be met in order for the lesson to succeed? What conditions must be present to promote a positive learning environment in your school as a whole? Now, what needs to happen (or not happen) to create those conditions? 

Keep reading as we discuss the bones of your behavior management planning.

The Foundation Of Behavior Management

Supervision

As a matter of safety, I suggest you review your school's supervision plan on a quarterly basis at the minimum. Does your staff have a presence in all the necessary locations to prevent an issue from occurring?

Do they understand the importance of this role? Students are crafty. If you have a weak point in your plan it will be exploited given time. 

Spend some of your time, get a large map of your building and project your school day schedule on a board and really consider where or when your building is vulnerable. 

Safety is your first priority, a well-designed supervision plan can go a long way in providing a safe learning environment. 

Communication

Establish a communication protocol with parents and guardians concerning student behavior. Give your staff a script if they feel uncomfortable calling parents. Provide translation tools if needed. 

Encourage parent contacts that are positive in nature as much as possible so your staff can build a rapport with families and create a culture of teamwork.

Management and Deterrence

Make classroom management a priority in your building. Provide conflict resolution professional development. Incorporate Social-Emotional Learning into your school day. 

Utilize incentive programs such as PBIS to encourage students. Consider adding tech such as LiveSchool to manage and track goals. Normalize treating behavior as something that can be improved, not something that just is. 

Response

How will you respond to and process behavior incidents as they arise? Do they all need your attention? Or can you train staff to handle minor issues? 

Does your admin team have protocols for processing referrals or do they take them as they come? If the student had to be removed from the learning environment what are your options?  

I suggest training your staff on a process like Restorative Practices to mitigate repeat offenses. 

Re-entry

After the incident has occurred. After the situation has been resolved. How do you ensure the student can return to their class? How much time has passed? 

Has enough time passed? Is there a way to repair a damaged relationship prior to re-entry? Can you involve the referring staff in the solution? 

These are things to consider that can have a big impact on the success of the student upon re-entry to the room.

One Final Note On Data and Transparency

Lastly, as part of your plan, you need a process to analyze your behavior data. This needs to be presented to your admin team and I would recommend sharing it with your staff. 

Perception is king and we can get stuck in our own silo at school. If your silo is well behaved (or not) it is easy for you to label that as the norm for your school culture. This can lead to dissent or a lack of commitment amongst your key stakeholders as you strive to improve student behavior in your school. 

Be transparent and bring in your staff to brainstorm strategies to squash disruptive behavior and dive into Behavior Rubric examples via committees (like PBIS) to improve your behavioral data.

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

Jordan resides in Lexington, Kentucky. He has experience in Public Education as an Administrator, Science Teacher, and as a Coach. He has extensive experience with School Discipline, PBIS, SEL, Restorative Practices, MTSS, and Trauma-Informed Care.

About the Event

It has been exacerbated by time away from school. The world shut down for a time or at least became a much different version of what it once was for a time. A whole set of rules was put in place that we had to learn to navigate while we all worked our way through the pandemic. 

When we finally got back going you probably noticed your social skills were lacking or at least a bit rusty. As an educator, you know that if you don’t practice a skill you are bound to lose proficiency. 

But what if you didn’t develop those skills at all. Unfortunately, our students had that skill development put on pause. In some cases, this happened at some key points in development. 

This is not our kids' fault. But it does help to frame the state of behavior in schools at the moment. 

We are seeing increased referrals, increased mental health needs, increases in conflict resolution needs, and a general overall increase in disruptive behavior. However, as the old saying goes…..this too shall pass. 

As administrators it is very important we go into the school year with a plan to manage behavior, so we aren’t managed by behavior.

What is Behavior Management?

These are all the actions, policies, and initiatives in place at your school to promote positive behaviors in your school. Keep in mind that you are unlikely to eliminate negative behaviors simply by promoting positive ones. 

The goal is prevention, improvement, and mitigation. Elimination is a term that will set your plan up for failure. As a football coach my mantra when making predictions in the media or community was always like so: undersell and overdeliver. 

Your behavior management plan needs to be the same, set realistic goals focused on prevention and improvement as the buy-in from your stakeholders will ultimately determine your level of success. 

You don’t want your stakeholders deterred by isolated setbacks, you want your team to strive for constant improvement.

Why is Behavior Management Important?

Behavior can make or break a perfect lesson and how well your staff can manage the room will determine how much learning can be accomplished. Behaviors can derail more than single classes if they aren’t managed well. 

What conditions must be met in order for the lesson to succeed? What conditions must be present to promote a positive learning environment in your school as a whole? Now, what needs to happen (or not happen) to create those conditions? 

Keep reading as we discuss the bones of your behavior management planning.

The Foundation Of Behavior Management

Supervision

As a matter of safety, I suggest you review your school's supervision plan on a quarterly basis at the minimum. Does your staff have a presence in all the necessary locations to prevent an issue from occurring?

Do they understand the importance of this role? Students are crafty. If you have a weak point in your plan it will be exploited given time. 

Spend some of your time, get a large map of your building and project your school day schedule on a board and really consider where or when your building is vulnerable. 

Safety is your first priority, a well-designed supervision plan can go a long way in providing a safe learning environment. 

Communication

Establish a communication protocol with parents and guardians concerning student behavior. Give your staff a script if they feel uncomfortable calling parents. Provide translation tools if needed. 

Encourage parent contacts that are positive in nature as much as possible so your staff can build a rapport with families and create a culture of teamwork.

Management and Deterrence

Make classroom management a priority in your building. Provide conflict resolution professional development. Incorporate Social-Emotional Learning into your school day. 

Utilize incentive programs such as PBIS to encourage students. Consider adding tech such as LiveSchool to manage and track goals. Normalize treating behavior as something that can be improved, not something that just is. 

Response

How will you respond to and process behavior incidents as they arise? Do they all need your attention? Or can you train staff to handle minor issues? 

Does your admin team have protocols for processing referrals or do they take them as they come? If the student had to be removed from the learning environment what are your options?  

I suggest training your staff on a process like Restorative Practices to mitigate repeat offenses. 

Re-entry

After the incident has occurred. After the situation has been resolved. How do you ensure the student can return to their class? How much time has passed? 

Has enough time passed? Is there a way to repair a damaged relationship prior to re-entry? Can you involve the referring staff in the solution? 

These are things to consider that can have a big impact on the success of the student upon re-entry to the room.

One Final Note On Data and Transparency

Lastly, as part of your plan, you need a process to analyze your behavior data. This needs to be presented to your admin team and I would recommend sharing it with your staff. 

Perception is king and we can get stuck in our own silo at school. If your silo is well behaved (or not) it is easy for you to label that as the norm for your school culture. This can lead to dissent or a lack of commitment amongst your key stakeholders as you strive to improve student behavior in your school. 

Be transparent and bring in your staff to brainstorm strategies to squash disruptive behavior and dive into Behavior Rubric examples via committees (like PBIS) to improve your behavioral data.

Register Now

About the Event

It has been exacerbated by time away from school. The world shut down for a time or at least became a much different version of what it once was for a time. A whole set of rules was put in place that we had to learn to navigate while we all worked our way through the pandemic. 

When we finally got back going you probably noticed your social skills were lacking or at least a bit rusty. As an educator, you know that if you don’t practice a skill you are bound to lose proficiency. 

But what if you didn’t develop those skills at all. Unfortunately, our students had that skill development put on pause. In some cases, this happened at some key points in development. 

This is not our kids' fault. But it does help to frame the state of behavior in schools at the moment. 

We are seeing increased referrals, increased mental health needs, increases in conflict resolution needs, and a general overall increase in disruptive behavior. However, as the old saying goes…..this too shall pass. 

As administrators it is very important we go into the school year with a plan to manage behavior, so we aren’t managed by behavior.

What is Behavior Management?

These are all the actions, policies, and initiatives in place at your school to promote positive behaviors in your school. Keep in mind that you are unlikely to eliminate negative behaviors simply by promoting positive ones. 

The goal is prevention, improvement, and mitigation. Elimination is a term that will set your plan up for failure. As a football coach my mantra when making predictions in the media or community was always like so: undersell and overdeliver. 

Your behavior management plan needs to be the same, set realistic goals focused on prevention and improvement as the buy-in from your stakeholders will ultimately determine your level of success. 

You don’t want your stakeholders deterred by isolated setbacks, you want your team to strive for constant improvement.

Why is Behavior Management Important?

Behavior can make or break a perfect lesson and how well your staff can manage the room will determine how much learning can be accomplished. Behaviors can derail more than single classes if they aren’t managed well. 

What conditions must be met in order for the lesson to succeed? What conditions must be present to promote a positive learning environment in your school as a whole? Now, what needs to happen (or not happen) to create those conditions? 

Keep reading as we discuss the bones of your behavior management planning.

The Foundation Of Behavior Management

Supervision

As a matter of safety, I suggest you review your school's supervision plan on a quarterly basis at the minimum. Does your staff have a presence in all the necessary locations to prevent an issue from occurring?

Do they understand the importance of this role? Students are crafty. If you have a weak point in your plan it will be exploited given time. 

Spend some of your time, get a large map of your building and project your school day schedule on a board and really consider where or when your building is vulnerable. 

Safety is your first priority, a well-designed supervision plan can go a long way in providing a safe learning environment. 

Communication

Establish a communication protocol with parents and guardians concerning student behavior. Give your staff a script if they feel uncomfortable calling parents. Provide translation tools if needed. 

Encourage parent contacts that are positive in nature as much as possible so your staff can build a rapport with families and create a culture of teamwork.

Management and Deterrence

Make classroom management a priority in your building. Provide conflict resolution professional development. Incorporate Social-Emotional Learning into your school day. 

Utilize incentive programs such as PBIS to encourage students. Consider adding tech such as LiveSchool to manage and track goals. Normalize treating behavior as something that can be improved, not something that just is. 

Response

How will you respond to and process behavior incidents as they arise? Do they all need your attention? Or can you train staff to handle minor issues? 

Does your admin team have protocols for processing referrals or do they take them as they come? If the student had to be removed from the learning environment what are your options?  

I suggest training your staff on a process like Restorative Practices to mitigate repeat offenses. 

Re-entry

After the incident has occurred. After the situation has been resolved. How do you ensure the student can return to their class? How much time has passed? 

Has enough time passed? Is there a way to repair a damaged relationship prior to re-entry? Can you involve the referring staff in the solution? 

These are things to consider that can have a big impact on the success of the student upon re-entry to the room.

One Final Note On Data and Transparency

Lastly, as part of your plan, you need a process to analyze your behavior data. This needs to be presented to your admin team and I would recommend sharing it with your staff. 

Perception is king and we can get stuck in our own silo at school. If your silo is well behaved (or not) it is easy for you to label that as the norm for your school culture. This can lead to dissent or a lack of commitment amongst your key stakeholders as you strive to improve student behavior in your school. 

Be transparent and bring in your staff to brainstorm strategies to squash disruptive behavior and dive into Behavior Rubric examples via committees (like PBIS) to improve your behavioral data.

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.

Student behavior is an age-old problem in schools. But what once was a mild inconvenience, hurdle, or distraction now today seems to be the biggest problem in schools.

It has been exacerbated by time away from school. The world shut down for a time or at least became a much different version of what it once was for a time. A whole set of rules was put in place that we had to learn to navigate while we all worked our way through the pandemic. 

When we finally got back going you probably noticed your social skills were lacking or at least a bit rusty. As an educator, you know that if you don’t practice a skill you are bound to lose proficiency. 

But what if you didn’t develop those skills at all. Unfortunately, our students had that skill development put on pause. In some cases, this happened at some key points in development. 

This is not our kids' fault. But it does help to frame the state of behavior in schools at the moment. 

We are seeing increased referrals, increased mental health needs, increases in conflict resolution needs, and a general overall increase in disruptive behavior. However, as the old saying goes…..this too shall pass. 

As administrators it is very important we go into the school year with a plan to manage behavior, so we aren’t managed by behavior.

What is Behavior Management?

These are all the actions, policies, and initiatives in place at your school to promote positive behaviors in your school. Keep in mind that you are unlikely to eliminate negative behaviors simply by promoting positive ones. 

The goal is prevention, improvement, and mitigation. Elimination is a term that will set your plan up for failure. As a football coach my mantra when making predictions in the media or community was always like so: undersell and overdeliver. 

Your behavior management plan needs to be the same, set realistic goals focused on prevention and improvement as the buy-in from your stakeholders will ultimately determine your level of success. 

You don’t want your stakeholders deterred by isolated setbacks, you want your team to strive for constant improvement.

Why is Behavior Management Important?

Behavior can make or break a perfect lesson and how well your staff can manage the room will determine how much learning can be accomplished. Behaviors can derail more than single classes if they aren’t managed well. 

What conditions must be met in order for the lesson to succeed? What conditions must be present to promote a positive learning environment in your school as a whole? Now, what needs to happen (or not happen) to create those conditions? 

Keep reading as we discuss the bones of your behavior management planning.

The Foundation Of Behavior Management

Supervision

As a matter of safety, I suggest you review your school's supervision plan on a quarterly basis at the minimum. Does your staff have a presence in all the necessary locations to prevent an issue from occurring?

Do they understand the importance of this role? Students are crafty. If you have a weak point in your plan it will be exploited given time. 

Spend some of your time, get a large map of your building and project your school day schedule on a board and really consider where or when your building is vulnerable. 

Safety is your first priority, a well-designed supervision plan can go a long way in providing a safe learning environment. 

Communication

Establish a communication protocol with parents and guardians concerning student behavior. Give your staff a script if they feel uncomfortable calling parents. Provide translation tools if needed. 

Encourage parent contacts that are positive in nature as much as possible so your staff can build a rapport with families and create a culture of teamwork.

Management and Deterrence

Make classroom management a priority in your building. Provide conflict resolution professional development. Incorporate Social-Emotional Learning into your school day. 

Utilize incentive programs such as PBIS to encourage students. Consider adding tech such as LiveSchool to manage and track goals. Normalize treating behavior as something that can be improved, not something that just is. 

Response

How will you respond to and process behavior incidents as they arise? Do they all need your attention? Or can you train staff to handle minor issues? 

Does your admin team have protocols for processing referrals or do they take them as they come? If the student had to be removed from the learning environment what are your options?  

I suggest training your staff on a process like Restorative Practices to mitigate repeat offenses. 

Re-entry

After the incident has occurred. After the situation has been resolved. How do you ensure the student can return to their class? How much time has passed? 

Has enough time passed? Is there a way to repair a damaged relationship prior to re-entry? Can you involve the referring staff in the solution? 

These are things to consider that can have a big impact on the success of the student upon re-entry to the room.

One Final Note On Data and Transparency

Lastly, as part of your plan, you need a process to analyze your behavior data. This needs to be presented to your admin team and I would recommend sharing it with your staff. 

Perception is king and we can get stuck in our own silo at school. If your silo is well behaved (or not) it is easy for you to label that as the norm for your school culture. This can lead to dissent or a lack of commitment amongst your key stakeholders as you strive to improve student behavior in your school. 

Be transparent and bring in your staff to brainstorm strategies to squash disruptive behavior and dive into Behavior Rubric examples via committees (like PBIS) to improve your behavioral data.

Learn more about the author, 
Jordan Pruitt
 
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.

Student behavior is an age-old problem in schools. But what once was a mild inconvenience, hurdle, or distraction now today seems to be the biggest problem in schools.

It has been exacerbated by time away from school. The world shut down for a time or at least became a much different version of what it once was for a time. A whole set of rules was put in place that we had to learn to navigate while we all worked our way through the pandemic. 

When we finally got back going you probably noticed your social skills were lacking or at least a bit rusty. As an educator, you know that if you don’t practice a skill you are bound to lose proficiency. 

But what if you didn’t develop those skills at all. Unfortunately, our students had that skill development put on pause. In some cases, this happened at some key points in development. 

This is not our kids' fault. But it does help to frame the state of behavior in schools at the moment. 

We are seeing increased referrals, increased mental health needs, increases in conflict resolution needs, and a general overall increase in disruptive behavior. However, as the old saying goes…..this too shall pass. 

As administrators it is very important we go into the school year with a plan to manage behavior, so we aren’t managed by behavior.

What is Behavior Management?

These are all the actions, policies, and initiatives in place at your school to promote positive behaviors in your school. Keep in mind that you are unlikely to eliminate negative behaviors simply by promoting positive ones. 

The goal is prevention, improvement, and mitigation. Elimination is a term that will set your plan up for failure. As a football coach my mantra when making predictions in the media or community was always like so: undersell and overdeliver. 

Your behavior management plan needs to be the same, set realistic goals focused on prevention and improvement as the buy-in from your stakeholders will ultimately determine your level of success. 

You don’t want your stakeholders deterred by isolated setbacks, you want your team to strive for constant improvement.

Why is Behavior Management Important?

Behavior can make or break a perfect lesson and how well your staff can manage the room will determine how much learning can be accomplished. Behaviors can derail more than single classes if they aren’t managed well. 

What conditions must be met in order for the lesson to succeed? What conditions must be present to promote a positive learning environment in your school as a whole? Now, what needs to happen (or not happen) to create those conditions? 

Keep reading as we discuss the bones of your behavior management planning.

The Foundation Of Behavior Management

Supervision

As a matter of safety, I suggest you review your school's supervision plan on a quarterly basis at the minimum. Does your staff have a presence in all the necessary locations to prevent an issue from occurring?

Do they understand the importance of this role? Students are crafty. If you have a weak point in your plan it will be exploited given time. 

Spend some of your time, get a large map of your building and project your school day schedule on a board and really consider where or when your building is vulnerable. 

Safety is your first priority, a well-designed supervision plan can go a long way in providing a safe learning environment. 

Communication

Establish a communication protocol with parents and guardians concerning student behavior. Give your staff a script if they feel uncomfortable calling parents. Provide translation tools if needed. 

Encourage parent contacts that are positive in nature as much as possible so your staff can build a rapport with families and create a culture of teamwork.

Management and Deterrence

Make classroom management a priority in your building. Provide conflict resolution professional development. Incorporate Social-Emotional Learning into your school day. 

Utilize incentive programs such as PBIS to encourage students. Consider adding tech such as LiveSchool to manage and track goals. Normalize treating behavior as something that can be improved, not something that just is. 

Response

How will you respond to and process behavior incidents as they arise? Do they all need your attention? Or can you train staff to handle minor issues? 

Does your admin team have protocols for processing referrals or do they take them as they come? If the student had to be removed from the learning environment what are your options?  

I suggest training your staff on a process like Restorative Practices to mitigate repeat offenses. 

Re-entry

After the incident has occurred. After the situation has been resolved. How do you ensure the student can return to their class? How much time has passed? 

Has enough time passed? Is there a way to repair a damaged relationship prior to re-entry? Can you involve the referring staff in the solution? 

These are things to consider that can have a big impact on the success of the student upon re-entry to the room.

One Final Note On Data and Transparency

Lastly, as part of your plan, you need a process to analyze your behavior data. This needs to be presented to your admin team and I would recommend sharing it with your staff. 

Perception is king and we can get stuck in our own silo at school. If your silo is well behaved (or not) it is easy for you to label that as the norm for your school culture. This can lead to dissent or a lack of commitment amongst your key stakeholders as you strive to improve student behavior in your school. 

Be transparent and bring in your staff to brainstorm strategies to squash disruptive behavior and dive into Behavior Rubric examples via committees (like PBIS) to improve your behavioral data.

Learn more about the author, 
Jordan Pruitt
 

Bring a positive culture to life with school-wide points

Schedule a Demo