Misbehaviour

Defining Misbehaviour is a grey area, as Ashley discusses in her blog it is different for each student. Some students are acting out due to issues that they are facing at home or they have identifiable behaviour difficulties. Classrooms are very complicated so I believe it is important for teachers to set out their standards and expectations from the beginning on what is acceptable behaviour and what is not. In the beginning it is necessary to be firmer and then soften a bit as the children become self aware of their actions. On that note, I don't think it is necessary to act of every misbehaviour sometimes you need to let one go because the student may want the attention or it may not be a big deal in certain situations. I believe that there is a reason for misbehaviour and that children are acting out because they have some kind of imbalance in their life. In the classroom there is only so much you can do, but it is important to recognize good behaviour, and be compassionate if a student is having a difficult day and not always punish them, but rather redirect them.

I worked as an after school day care worker and we set out guidelines with the kids at the beginning of the school year and they helped come up with behaviour guidelines. We had to do alot of trial and error and some of our approaches did not always work.

I believe there are some measures to help prevent some misbehaviour's. For example always keeping students busy and motivated. Students who finish quickly may be bored and having activities that they enjoy and do after they complete their work is positive motivation and it keeps students busy while others are working. These can be as simple as colouring sheets or puzzles.