So many ideas have been discussed and opinions expressed. It really feels as though any addition is just rehashing someone else's thoughts, but here goes:
At it's most basic level, misbehaviour is any sort of behaviour that has been deemed unacceptable. Now that is a ridiculously simple description, since as most of us will probably agree, 'unacceptable behaviour' is, for the most part, subjective. Obviously violence and derogatory comments are clear cut examples of misbehaviour, but what about sitting on desks, calling out of turn, running instead of walking, talking when the teacher is talking, etc, etc, etc? All of these actions may be a sign of misbehaviour to one teacher, but not necessarily to another.
I guess one must determine what misbehaviour is before they can ask the more important question of 'why do students misbehave?' There are many reasons for this, and our Classroom Management textbook does a good job of laying out potential reasons and the escalating levels depending on how the behaviour is dealt with.
I misbehaved all the time as a student. As long as I can remember. That said, I was a straight A student in elementary school and while my grades slipped in high school, I was an IB and Honors student. But still I misbehaved. Early on I believe my misbehaving was about boredom. School was very easy and I would lose focus easy. I would finish an assignment or answer the question, and then there would be nothing to do but talk or annoy people while I waited for them to finish or for the teacher to move on to the next question. Later on though I think I can honestly say that it became about attention. I liked making people laugh or being the one in trouble for saying what others might have been thinking but wouldn't say. So for someone like me, it would be pretty easy to deal with my misbehaviour. To begin with, get me involved. If the task is easy, get me helping others who are struggling or give me something advanced to try. As for attention, give me a voice. Change up the dynamics of the class regularly as opposed to the old school 'talking head'. If I get to voice my opinion to the class or amongst a group, or be put into groups and have my energy focussed on the task at hand, I`m much less likely to feel the need to call out or make a rude comment.
I believe these elements are at the heart of misbehaviour. Boredom and lack of attention or not having a voice cause one to look for action or fight for attention, both of which can be detrimental to the classroom environment. Then, depending on how the teacher responds, the student can feel that either their cries for attention worked, so they will continue, or now they are not only bored but embaressed and angry at the teacher, so the misbehaviour escalates.
Students are going to misbehave. Sometimes there is nothing one can do to prevent it. But quite often if the teacher looks at his/her own actions/reactions, and how they are managing and giving voice to the class, they will find the answer to a lot of the 'misbehaviour.
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
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.
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.
What is misbehaviour?
I think a lot of the times teachers classify students as misbehaving when students don't follow the rules that the staff and administration have set. It is especially important to remember that if we have set up specific rules in the classroom, that we also follow them if we want the rules to be followed by our students. By setting unrealistic rules and going against our own words, we're just asking students to break the rules that we have implemented.
In Bennett and Smilanich, four goals of misbehaviour are identified on page 50: attention, power, revenge, and assumed disability. I believe that a large majority of the time, students misbehave due to the need/lack of attention. I remember a few students in elementary school who always misbehaved because they knew they would get a reaction out of the teacher and they thrived from the reaction and attention that he or she would get from the class. By teachers displaying their anger and giving such a huge response to the situation, this fuels the child's tendency to misbehave even more; their goal of getting your attention was achieved. I've also had experiences where students try to misbehave but are unsuccessful as they do not get the expected reaction from the teacher, which in turn diffuses the situation.
I believe that creating a safe environment that is inclusive for all students will decrease the occurrences of misbehaviour, this ensures and validates that all students in the classroom are equally important. Implementing and establishing guidelines, rules, authority, and respect in the classroom with the students together at the very beginning of the school year is extremely important.
In Bennett and Smilanich, four goals of misbehaviour are identified on page 50: attention, power, revenge, and assumed disability. I believe that a large majority of the time, students misbehave due to the need/lack of attention. I remember a few students in elementary school who always misbehaved because they knew they would get a reaction out of the teacher and they thrived from the reaction and attention that he or she would get from the class. By teachers displaying their anger and giving such a huge response to the situation, this fuels the child's tendency to misbehave even more; their goal of getting your attention was achieved. I've also had experiences where students try to misbehave but are unsuccessful as they do not get the expected reaction from the teacher, which in turn diffuses the situation.
I believe that creating a safe environment that is inclusive for all students will decrease the occurrences of misbehaviour, this ensures and validates that all students in the classroom are equally important. Implementing and establishing guidelines, rules, authority, and respect in the classroom with the students together at the very beginning of the school year is extremely important.
What is Misbehaviour?
I believe misbehaving has to do with breaking the rules, but I also feel that the context in which one "misbehaves" may not be the same in every situation. For instance in class we talked about how some teachers feel its inappropriate to sit on their desks, while others see nothing wrong with it. In this situation one teacher perceives this as misbehaving, while the other teacher see's no problem with it. I feel there are very clear cut examples of inappropriate behaviour, ie. hitting, swearing, hurting other students, but there are examples of misbehaviour that may be more subjective. For example, speaking loudly in a library would be considered a form on misbehaviour whereas speaking loudly during class would be seen as normal. I feel like the term misbehaviour has a lot to do with the social norms and the context of a situation and the responsibility lies on us to figure out when it is okay to behave in a certain way and when it is inappropriate or against the rules.
Misbehavior
Misbehavior, depending on the student, can mean many different things. If students are not engaged, or generally not interested in the subject matter, or do not feel safe in the environment provided, misbehavior is more likely to occur. I quite enjoyed how B & S discuss misbehavior in our class text. Determining whether a child is seeking attention, revenge, or power, was a brilliant concept to me. As well, I like how our emotions as teachers/student teachers is taken into consideration when dealing with misbehavior. It is very beneficial to know what is going on with how we are feeling or thinking when students are not behaving appropriately, or what we have deemed appropriate for that specific class or student. A concept I had not thought of before. Being aware of the different goals of misbehavior as well as being in-tune with our own thoughts and feelings helps us determine what the child wants or needs and thus why they are misbehaving and how we are going to deal with it. The other section of the book where I experienced an 'Aha' moment was where we either believe that "all kids should behave" versus "all kids at some time will misbehave." During my first practicum in 401 of PDP I was in a grade 5/6 split class where misbehavior seemed to be a very common occurrence. When I started my observation I was in utter disbelief at how misbehaved this class was. I could not figure out why students were still reading, talking, writing, drawing, or fiddling with things, while the teacher was giving a lesson or instructions for something. I went into this class with the attitude that everyone would be behaved and actually listen to their teacher. Was I ever wrong! I truly don't believe that I would have let this disbelief consume me so badly had the teacher actually waited until all her students were listening. However, this never seemed to be the case. When it was my turn to teach, I found myself completely frustrated with the class and there lack of (at least this is what I deemed it to be at the time) disrespect. Having said all this, I did eventually get all the students to listen to what I had to say by waiting.....and waiting.....and waiting, until I had all eyes on me. My point is, I feel my practicum would have gone completely different had I gone in with the attitude of "all kids at some time will misbehave." This would have allowed me to be a little extra prepared for when misbehavior is inevitable rather than stunned because I couldn't believe it was happening. I believe teachers and students should sit down at the beginning of the year and make all the class rules and regulations together. Students should be responsible for coming up with the consequences shall these rules not be followed rather than the teacher and be given responsibility in doing so. In my opinion, some of the most successful classrooms are prepared, organized, engaged, and have a keen classroom set-up which limits the opportunities for misbehavior! Knowing how to deal with behavior problems takes courage, confidence, and consistency, as well as experience. Every student should be respected regardless of how they act, for I truly believe we, as teachers, need to demonstrate respect to all in order to receive it.
What is misbehavior?
I believe a student is "misbehaving" or "behaving badly" when he or she does not conform to the rules of the classroom or the school. The most common examples of misbehavior can include talking when the teacher is talking, calling out answers, disrespecting other people and their property, showing up late to class, or refusing to participate in classroom activities to name a few.
What is interesting to me is why students misbehave when the rules are clearly set out for them. I think the answer lies in that statement to begin with. As the Bennett and Smilanich textbook indicates, if students are able to set the rules for the classroom together, they can determine what is important to them and their peers and will probably be more likely to follow them accordingly.
In my opinion, misbehavior occurs when there is an inconsistency between one teacher's rules and another's. In my experience, while one teacher will allow the use of iPods while students are working quietly on their own, another teacher disallows the use of iPods at any time. Although it is true that different teachers value different rules above others, if there is more consistency between classroom rules, it will not only eliminate the excuse of "but Ms. So-and-so lets us use them" but also demonstrate to the student that this rule is to be followed at all times.
Students may also misbehave because the material is not interesting to them and they are experiencing boredom at any point in the class, and to relieve their boredom, I think both parties (the teacher and the students) can try new and different ways to engage students who learn in different learning styles because, as we know, each individual has different needs.
Lastly, one way to manage students who are misbehaving that I don't think is mentioned in the textbook is to demonstrate to the class that they are a group and their individual behavior reflects on the class as a whole. For instance, if one student is misbehaving, the consequences may fall on the entire class, thus there is more pressure on the student to behave appropriately. I am not sure if this is actually encouraged as a technique, but in my experience as a student, it has worked very well: "If one more person talks, the whole class is staying behind after school."
- Rita Shahi
What is interesting to me is why students misbehave when the rules are clearly set out for them. I think the answer lies in that statement to begin with. As the Bennett and Smilanich textbook indicates, if students are able to set the rules for the classroom together, they can determine what is important to them and their peers and will probably be more likely to follow them accordingly.
In my opinion, misbehavior occurs when there is an inconsistency between one teacher's rules and another's. In my experience, while one teacher will allow the use of iPods while students are working quietly on their own, another teacher disallows the use of iPods at any time. Although it is true that different teachers value different rules above others, if there is more consistency between classroom rules, it will not only eliminate the excuse of "but Ms. So-and-so lets us use them" but also demonstrate to the student that this rule is to be followed at all times.
Students may also misbehave because the material is not interesting to them and they are experiencing boredom at any point in the class, and to relieve their boredom, I think both parties (the teacher and the students) can try new and different ways to engage students who learn in different learning styles because, as we know, each individual has different needs.
Lastly, one way to manage students who are misbehaving that I don't think is mentioned in the textbook is to demonstrate to the class that they are a group and their individual behavior reflects on the class as a whole. For instance, if one student is misbehaving, the consequences may fall on the entire class, thus there is more pressure on the student to behave appropriately. I am not sure if this is actually encouraged as a technique, but in my experience as a student, it has worked very well: "If one more person talks, the whole class is staying behind after school."
- Rita Shahi
Response to Mark
Mark...when I read your dialogue, I couldn't help but think of a saying that I learned from another teacher..."Needs before wants". We always need to fulfill our needs before our wants - this goes for our students as well as ourselves. Kind of links into your concept of "fairness" given the peoples needs and wants are different...
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