Addressing Behavior Issues in

Classroom

Yeoh Shin
Clinical Psychologist
Why do students misbehave?
Steps

1. Define misbehavior.
2. Analyze the antecedent, behavior, consequences (ABC) of the
scenario.
3. Identify/categorize the reason (form a hypothesis).
4. Deal with misbehavior.
5. Evaluate.
Define Misbehavior
• Identify the specifics of the misbehavior.
• Concretely describe the behavior problem and its effects.
 Analyze the ABC
• Observe and record the context and the conditions
that prompt and reinforce the problem behavior.

• Example:

• Antecedent-No friends to play with during recess

• Behavior-pulls classmate’s hair

• Consequences-Sent to the counselor's room +

counselor talked to him and allowed him to draw in
order to express his feelings
Identify the Reason
&

Deal with Misbehavior

Common Reasons
• Attention seeking
• Power struggle
• Revenge seeking
• Feeling of inadequate
• Testing limit
• Inconsistency
• Comprehension issue
• Needs: Basic needs/Medical/Sensory issues
• Imitation
 Attention Seeking
• Most children gain attention in school or at home in normal, positive ways.
• Since it’s easy to give way more attention to negative behaviors and
disruptive students than to well-behaving ones, we’re probably giving the
children exactly what they want.
Attention Seeking

• Most probably  “rewarded” for their misbehavior with adult

attention.
• Reprimand or spanks = rewarded.
• If the child whines, cries or throws a tantrum  give in to make them
quiet = rewarded.
• When attention seeking is the reason for the misbehavior, you will
generally feel annoyed.
Dealing with Attention Seeking
• Every healthy child demands attention.
• Supply the attention  develop healthy self-esteem.
• Over 90% of misbehavior is for attention. Denying attention (the
teacher ignores the behavior) in such situations usually stops the
misbehavior.
• For children who require undue attention, teachers scold, nag,
or coax only encourage more misbehavior.
• Angry teacher’s attention is better than no attention at all.
• Nevertheless, if constantly having to cope with attention-getting
behavior, ignoring ≠ enough.
A way to deal with mild misbehaviour as
quickly and quietly as possible
• Behavioral reminder:
• A behavioral reminder is a brief, neutral prompt to help the student to
remember and follow classroom behavioral expectations.
 Dealing with Attention Seeking

• Instead of correcting students who aren’t behaving, pay more attention

to the behavior you want to see.
• Thus, “Catch them being good”.
• Praise. Praising positive behavior (not just expected behavior), when
teachers praise students more readily than scold, the student learns
that to get attention he or she must act positively.
Dealing with Attention Seeking

• Set aside 10 to 15 minutes one-on-one special time with this student

and listen “actively” to the student.
• “I hear you, you were saying…”
• “Time-in”
Dealing with Attention Seeking

• Provide feedback to the parents regarding the needs of the students,

calling for behavior conference:
• A behavior conference is a brief meeting between teacher, student, and
parents to discuss the student's problem behavior(s). It will typically include
some or all of the following elements:
• Description of the problem behavior.
• Open-ended questions and student input.
• Problem-solving.
• Disciplinary reminder.
• A lot of times, school may be the only place where many students get
attention due to working parents, divorce, illness of family member,
etc.
Power Struggle

• Children are constantly trying to find out how powerful they are
(curiosity).
• We often associate the word “power” with overbearing,
manipulative actions often occurring at the expense of others. In the
context of children, power means control.
• This misbehavior usually pops up when children feel like they have
very little control over what is happening around them. To make up
for feeling powerless, children use their behavior to either demand
control or simply take it.
 Power Struggle

• Sometimes, the children want to have power so that they can escape
from what they dislike.
 Dealing with Power Struggle
• Adults take kind, but firm, action (DO NOT let them escape).
• Talking feeds into the power struggle. Don’t talk too much (*opposite
from dealing with attention seeking, so it’s very important to
understand the reason behind the misbehavior*).
Dealing with Power Struggle

• Rather than joining the struggle, adults should make it a win-win.

• Bow out.
• Decide what you will do.
• Get students involved in the creation of routines.
• Use reflective listening.
• Create a game.
• Do it WITH them.
• Use your sense of humor.
• BONUS: HUGS! HUGS! HUGS!
Dealing with Power Struggle

• Give limited choices.

• Make a "Wheel of Choice" together. Draw a big circle and divide into wedges.
Brainstorm lots of solutions to problems. Draw illustrations for each solution.
During a conflict, invite child to pick something from the wheel.
Academic Choice

• “Let students drive while teachers guide”

• “Teaching in a choice rich classroom is like….building a home. The
teacher provides the bricks that build the structure, but the students
design the floor plan that meets their own needs and desires.”
-Amber Vitaliano

• Offer choices whenever possible: rather than making it a strict

classroom routine, provide the students with choices. This way,
behaviors can improve, especially when choices are given as a
reward.
Revenge Seeking

• Humans have all sorts of reactions when they feel hurt. Sometimes
when we don’t have the tools to deal with painful emotions, we take
that hurt and try to throw it on others because misery loves company.
• Both power struggle and revenge behavior are difficult behaviors to
manage, because it stimulates intense emotions within the classroom
teacher that, if mishandled, could create extreme outcomes difficult to
recover from for either the student, teacher or both.
• Passive revenge behavior.
• Active revenge behavior.
Revenge Seeking

• The way we identify revenge behavior in the classroom is by our

emotional pressure gauge.
• Attention-seeking  MILD
• Power struggle  HOT
• Revenge seeking  BOILING
• Our reaction and the manner we respond to the misconduct may
escalate the behavior further or allow it to subside without immense
collateral damage.
• Failure has made them give up trying for attention and power.
 Dealing with Revenge Seeking
• Patience.
• Children who hurt others feel that they have been hurt and they have to
even the score. But when they are allowed to hurt others, they establish
a painful cycle of relating to people through hurting and being hurt. To
break this pattern, adults should never retaliate.
*Never retaliate

• Scenario:
• A boy kept pressing his younger sister’s bag, his sister repeatedly told
him not to do so but he continued.
• Their mother got really mad and grabbed the boy’s school bag, threw
it on the floor, stepped on it, and yelled, “Go on! Press on your
sister’s bag, keep going! You press her bag and I step your bag!”

• Do you think this boy will stop?

Dealing with Revenge Seeking

• Build caring relationships.

• Teach appropriate expression of feelings.
• Establish boundaries.
• Teach them to own up.
• Catch them being good.
Build Caring Relationships:
Take a Personal Interest in Students
• Talk informally with students before, during, and after class about their
interests.
• Greet students outside of school.
• Single out a few students each day in the lunchroom and talk with them.
• Be aware of and comment on important events in students' lives.
• Compliment students on important achievements in and outside of school.
• Meet students at the door as they come into class; greet each one by name.
Build Caring Relationships:
Take a Personal Interest in Students
• The subtle ways in which teachers can communicate their
interest in students.
• Eye contact.
• Teacher’s attention.
• Attribute ownership of ideas.
• Encourage participations.
• Appropriate wait time for respond.
 Feeling of Inadequate
• When children experience these feelings, they might feel unworthy or
inferior to others.
• Children may not have the words or tools necessary to communicate or
address these feelings and because no parent or caregiver wants to
watch their child feel this way, these situations often make parents feel
helpless or discouraged.
Feeling of Inadequate

• Children who lack self-confidence honestly expect failure. They don’t

feel their ability to function in certain area.
• These children use inability—real or assumed—to escape
participation  since they feel bad, they act bad  It's a lot easier to
give up rather than to try and fail again.
• When they are supposed to be doing their homework, they play and
look for distractions instead. Then they make excuses like “I couldn’t
do it” or “I’m dumb.”
• Constant "put downs" make these children feel even more worthless
 self-fulfilling prophecies.
 Dealing with Inadequate Feeling

• When children feel inadequate  restore their faith and encourage

them by praising whatever successes they achieve (no matter how
small).
• (*Do not exaggerate your praise because the child might then be impaired because
he/she did not want to disappoint you, especially those with perfectionistic traits.)
• Arrange for small accomplishments and find opportunities to
compliment them on their behavior (break a task into smaller steps).
Ensure tasks are manageable.
• Ensure children reach out for help.
• Build them up.
Dealing with Inadequate Feeling

• Be responsive and present.

• Accept them.
**Praise

• Be specific. Example, “you finished your rice in 30 minutes, good

job!”
• Use simple language.
• Smile + “High-five”/ hug.
• IMMEDIATELY after the presence of good behavior.
Dealing with Inadequate Feeling

• Academic Adjustment:
• An academic adjustment is a change made to the student's academic task(s)
to improve behaviors. Such changes could include the amount of work
assigned, provision of support to the student during the work, giving
additional time to complete the work, etc.
Testing Limit

• They want to test whether teachers will enforce rules.

Dealing with Testing Limit

• Set boundaries and limits and consistently following through on them.

• Convey using clear and simple language.
• Firm.
Dealing with Testing Limit

• Warning:
• A warning is a teacher statement informing the student that continued
misbehavior will be followed by a specific disciplinary consequence.
• When to use: A warning is appropriate when the teacher judges
• (a) That the student has control over his or her behavior and
• (b) That a pointed reminder of impending behavioral consequences may
improve the student's behavior
• Whenever possible, it is recommended that proactive strategies be
tried before using warnings.
Dealing with Testing Limit

• Response cost:
• Is the taking away of privileges or other valued elements ('cost') in response
to student misbehavior.
• When to Use:
• Response cost can be an effective response to misbehavior, provided that the
student actually values the privilege or element being taken away. Because
response cost is a punishment procedure, the teacher should first ensure
that appropriate, less intrusive efforts to improve student behavior have
been attempted before using it.
• Preparation:
• Prior to implementing response cost, the teacher may want to create a series
of 'privileges' in the classroom that students find motivating and do not want
to lose.
Appropriate Levels of Dominance

• Appropriate dominance is an important characteristic of effective

teacher- student relationships. In contrast to the more negative
connotation of the term dominance as forceful control or command
over others, they define dominance as the teacher's ability to provide
clear purpose and strong guidance regarding both academics and
student behavior.
Establish Clear Expectations and
Consequences
• Teachers can establish clear expectations for behavior in two ways:
• Establishing clear rules and procedures
• Providing consequences for student behavior
Establish Clear Learning Goals

• Teachers can exhibit appropriate levels of dominance by

providing clarity about the content and expectations of an
upcoming instructional unit, by:
• Establishing and communicating learning goals at the beginning of a unit of
instruction.
• Providing feedback on those goals.
• Continually and systematically revisiting the goals.
• Providing summative feedback regarding the goals.
Establish Clear Learning Goals

• The use of rubrics can help teachers establish clear goals. E.g.,
• 4 points. You understand the characteristics of fractions along with the different types.
You can accurately describe how fractions are related to decimals and percentages. You
can convert fractions to decimals and can explain how and why the process works. You
can use fractions to understand and solve different types of problems.
• 3 points. You understand the basic characteristics of fractions. You know how fractions
are related to decimals and percentages. You can convert fractions to decimals.
• 2 points. You have a basic understanding of the following, but have some small
misunderstandings about one or more: the characteristics of fractions; the relationships
among fractions, decimals, and percentages; how to convert fractions to decimals.
• 1 point. You have some major problems or misunderstandings with one or more of the
following: the characteristics of fractions; the relationships among fractions, decimals,
and percentages; how to convert fractions to decimals.
• 0 points. You may have heard of the following before, but you do not understand what
they mean: the characteristics of fractions; the relationships among fractions, decimals,
and percentages; how to convert fractions to decimals.
Exhibit Assertive Behavior

• Teachers can also communicate appropriate levels of dominance by

exhibiting assertive behavior.
• Teachers display assertive behavior in the classroom when they:
• Use assertive body language.
• Use an appropriate tone of voice.
• Persist until students respond with the appropriate behavior.
Inconsistency

• Children experience different sets of expectations between school

and home or among parents/caregivers.
Dealing with Inconsistency

• Parents learn a simple method to discipline and communicate with

other caregivers/teachers by explaining their method and ask how
the others handle situations.
• Teachers communicate with parents on a regular basis.
• With a consistent, clear message (just like when they try to test your
limit), children will rise to the expectation and be happier in the
process.
Comprehension Issue

• They do not understand the rules/lessons, or are held to

expectations that are beyond their developmental levels.
• Child CAN’T do VS child WON’T do.
• (doesn’t know how to do vs know how to do but refused to do).
• Example of chain command.
Dealing with Comprehension Issue

• Read books about child development.

• Using simple language/ pictures/ gestures.
• Adults can break down a difficult task into smaller steps.
• Try pairing this student with a classmate who can help.
• Talk to the student in private to offer extra help.
• Focus on and encourage the student’s strengths.
• As a last resort, if it’s clear that the student is really struggling 
private tutoring/placed in a different level.
Basic Needs/Medical/Sensory Issues

• They feel ill, bored, hungry or sleepy.

• Some students really don’t intend to cause trouble. They just have
poor self-control or very low impulse control, and tend to blurt things
out, jump around, forget things, and get easily distracted and off-
task.
• Self stimulatory sensations produced by performing a certain
behavior.
Dealing with Basic Needs/Medical/Sensory
Issues
• Check if the student is hungry or sleepy. Teach “I message”.

• Seek advice from a medical doctor if the child display unwanted behavior
which you suspect is stemming from medical issues. Example, hitting the
stomach  gastritis.

• Medical: (ADHD) Seat the student up front if possible, so you can keep a
close eye on her; secret signal as cue.

• Sensory: provide alternative appropriate behaviours (E.g., bouncing on a

chair bouncing on a ball; play with saliva slime) + keep the child
busy (X bored) @ refer to OT.
Dealing with Basic Needs/Medical/Sensory
Issues
• Environmental adjustment:
• An environmental adjustment is a change made to some aspect of the
student's environment to improve behaviors.
• Provide accommodation for the student’s needs to learn in a quiet
and non distractive environment.
5 Categories of High-needs Students

1. Passive students
• Characteristics:
• Fear of relationships: Avoids connection with others, is shy, doesn't initiate
conversations, attempts to be invisible.
• Fear of failure: Gives up easily, is convinced he or she can't succeed, is easily frustrated,
uses negative self- talk.
• Suggestions:
• Provide safe adult and peer interactions and protection from aggressive people.
• Provide assertiveness and positive self-talk training.
• Reward small successes quickly. Withhold criticism.
5 Categories of High-needs Students

2. Aggressive students
• Characteristics:
• Hostile: Rages, threatens, or intimidates others. Can be verbally or physically abusive to
people, animals, or objects.
• Oppositional: Does opposite of what is asked. Demands that others agree or give in.
Resists verbally or nonverbally.
• Covert: Appears to agree but then does the opposite of what is asked. Often acts
innocent while setting up problems for others.
• Suggestions:
• Describe the student's behavior clearly.
• Contract with the student to reward corrected behavior and set up consequences for
uncorrected behavior.
• Be consistent and provide immediate rewards and consequences.
• Encourage and acknowledge extracurricular activities in and out of school.
• Give student responsibilities to help teacher or other students to foster successful
experiences.
5 Categories of High-needs Students

3. Students with attention problems

• Characteristics:
• Hyperactive: Has difficulty with motor control, both physically and verbally. Fidgets,
leaves seat frequently, interrupts, talks excessively.
• Inattentive: Has difficulty staying focused and following through on projects. Has
difficulty with listening, remembering, and organizing.
• Suggestions:
• Contract with the student to manage behaviors.
• Teach basic concentration, study, and thinking skills.
• Separate student in a quiet work area.
• Help the student list each step of a task.
• Reward successes; assign a peer tutor.
5 Categories of High-needs Students

4. Students in the perfectionist category

• Characteristics:
• Tends to focus too much on the small details of projects. Will avoid projects if unsure of
outcome. Focuses on results and not relationships. Is self-critical.
• Suggestions:
• Ask the student to make mistakes on purpose, then show acceptance.
• Have the student tutor other students.
5 Categories of High-needs Students

5. Socially inept students

• Characteristics:
• Attempts to make friends but is inept and unsuccessful. Is forced to be alone. Is often
teased for unusual behavior, appearance, or lack of social skills.
• Suggestions:
• Teach the student to keep the appropriate physical distance from others.
• Teach the meaning of facial expressions, such as anger and hurt.
• Make suggestions regarding hygiene, dress, mannerisms, and posture.
Awareness of High-Needs Students

• School may be the only place where many students who face
extreme challenges can get their needs addressed. The reality of
today's schools often demands that classroom teachers address
these severe issues, even though this task is not always considered a
part of their regular job.
• A study of classroom strategies found that the most effective
classroom managers did not treat all students the same; they tended
to employ different strategies with different types of students.
• An awareness of the five general categories of high-needs students
and appropriate actions for each can help teachers build strong
relationships with diverse students.
Imitation

• They copy the actions of their parents.

• Some students aren’t really actively trying to be bad or disruptive at
all, they just tend to go with the flow.
Dealing with Imitation

• Although not always simple, parents need to look at parenting as a

life lesson in personal growth.
• Do your best to encourage and recognize good behaviors in these
students, and to separate them from peers who are being negative
influences. Recognizing and rewarding other students who are
being leaders and following the rules.
 Last but not least
1. Define misbehavior.
2. Analyze the antecedent, behavior, consequences (ABC) of the
scenario.
3. Identify/categorize the reason (form a hypothesis).
4. Deal with misbehavior.
5. Evaluate!
• When adults understand why children misbehave, they will be more
inclined to choose a discipline tool that will reduce the misconduct.
• If we embrace the reality that the classroom teacher has a dual
responsibility in executing the delivery of the lesson along with
managing the people within the classroom, including themselves, then
the employment of supportive and preventive strategies become a
necessity, along with corrective strategies.
• A lot of times, a misbehavior is due to combination of a few reasons.
• IMPORTANT:
• Always acknowledge children’s feelings, they need to be empathized as well.
REMINDER:
• Human beings are unique.
• There’s no 1 cookbook answer for all children misbehaviours.
• At times, we have to take into consideration of the temperament of the
child, the environment at home, etc.