Many inappropriate behaviors from students can be avoided by being proactive.
Ask yourself if you:
- Identified necessary classroom paperwork – Lesson plans, student names, Individualized Education Plans
- Greeted students at door
- Had a fun starter activity ready for them
- Reviewed Rules and Expectations
- Took no more than 2 – 5 minutes to introduce yourself and review rules and expectations
- Shared an agenda for your time together
- Transitioned quickly between activities
- Understand the difference between Consequential and Inconsequential Behaviors
- Be sure your first words to a student are not punitive, negative or redirecting a negative behavior. First say something positive and encouraging – It is ok to ignore a student’s negative, inconsequential behavior and at the same time praise an appropriate behavior of that same student. (find something!)
- Understand the basic application of Precision Requests and Differential Reinforcement of Other (DRO)
- Avoid “traps” such as sarcasm, pleading and threatening