5 Ways to Help Student Behavior Management

If you have been listening to our podcast for the past 6 months, you know that we’ve added, “We’re in the trenches with you” to our opening phrase. We believe that’s important because if someone has been out of this role for more than 6 months, it’s impossible for them to truly grasp what it’s like within the 4 walls of a school these days. Can I get an amen?! Student behavior management has been described by some teachers as “out of control.”

In a nutshell the differences can be summed up this way: teachers are walking out. I’m talking about, picking up their purses, throwing up the deuces ✌🏻 to the front office staff as they walk out the door midday, and never coming back.

Another big difference is the escalation in the intensity and frequency of student behaviors. All we can say is, if you’re a new counselor, just know student behavior management hasn’t always been like this.

Because school counselors are seen as the social and emotional specialists in the building, a lot of the responsibility to “fix it” falls on us. This is an impossible job on our own. So here are a few “rubber meets the road” tips that we think will help with the behavior management crisis.

1.) Our Behavior Detour Conference for Student Behavior Management Strategies

Attend our Behavior Detour Conference.  We have put together an unbelievable list of speakers and topics.  Some of the sessions covered include: Tackling Undesired Behaviors: Helping Teachers Make Classrooms Thrive, De-Escalation Station: Derailing the Anger Train, Building Positive Relationships With Students by first building a positive relationship with yourself, How to Develop an Effective Behavior Plan Fast, From Disruption to Engagement: Whole Brain Learning for Positive Classroom Behavior, It Never Fails… Interventions & Outcomes in School Counseling.  Plus our speaker lineup includes pros such as Bryan Pearlman, Amie Dean the Behavior Queen, Carol Miller, Kristina Holzweiss, Joy Winchester, Brent Cosby, and so.many.more!!  It’s all virtual.  You will have a year to watch all of the sessions.  It is unbelievably affordable. You can become an affiliate and earn a percentage of ticket sales. Plus you can pay with a purchase order. There are doorprizes, AND you can receive about 20 hours of professional development credit!

2.) Ask for Time in Front of the Staff

We may be used to introducing ourselves and telling about our role each year. That’s important, but we may need to hit the highlights on that topic and use our time to talk more about this change in student behavior management and our response to it.

Teach the Teachers

As school counselors, our everyday encounters are based on the effects of trauma. Therefore, it’s easy to think that everyone understands the effects of trauma. Just like a classroom teacher may think everyone understands “pedagogy” or “Blooms Taxonomy” or “standard algorithm” or any other educational phrase that is more like a foreign language to me. Watch or listen to this podcast episode for ideas on how to train teachers about trauma.

3.) Explain ACES

We know this isn’t the end all be all when it comes to identifying struggling students, but it is a great guide for seeing beyond the surface of a student’s behavior.  Many teachers have never heard of the ACE screener.  In fact, we recently asked several teachers from different schools if they had heard of ACEs.  ⅔ of them said, “Do you mean ACT?  I know a lot about the ACT.”  None of the teachers asked knew anything about ACEs.  Because trauma and ACE scores are the world we live in, we sometimes think everyone knows what we’re talking about.  A word of caution: The ACE screener should not be given to students to complete.  It’s just a tool for us to keep in mind as we wonder what is underneath the surface of a student’s behavior.
Listen to this episode of our podcast with Michael McKnight to hear a little more about ACEs.

3.5) Teach Students About Their Brain

We have found that helping students understand what is happening when they feel overwhelmed is a key to helping with student behavior management. Here is a link to a lesson we recently released on Teachers Pay Teachers that does a great job helping students understand what happens with their brain when they feel different emotions.

4.) Establish a Safe Environment

Do your students feel safe?  We’re not talking about safety from intruders; although that’s important too.  We’re talking about students feeling safe to share, or safe to be understood if they have a moment of dysregulation.  In those moments the brain is seeking connection.  Sometimes all a student needs is someone to sit with them and tell them, “You are safe.”  Try communicating that ahead of time to help teachers and staff members understand what might be happening if a student seems out of control.

5.) Strategies for Student Behavior Management

Of course strategies will differ among all the age groups, but we also want you to remember that sometimes we have to meet students where they are developmentally when it comes to behavior.  In other words, even though a student may be 16, he may not have the coping skills to navigate certain situations.  It’s impossible to compare a 16 year old with a high ACE score to a 10 year old with a low ACE score.

Minute Meetings

• We will preach about “minute meetings” every chance we get.  This is a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of your school.  To put it simply, a minute meeting is a one on one conversation with the students in your school.  It may take a few weeks to see each student this way, but it’s so worth it!  Asking strategic questions can give you valuable information you may need throughout the year.  If you are wondering how to make it happen, this podcast episode may help.  Also, depending on when you’re reading this, you may be able to sign up for ASCA@Home to watch our Minute Meeting session.

Routines-

Did you know that most rules of the school are based on a middle class based system.  This means that someone who is not from a middle-class family may not understand what the rules mean.  For example, saying “Use good manners” may mean putting a napkin in their lap to one student, but to another, it may mean that they use a fork instead of their hands.  
One way to avoid a misunderstanding is to be very clear with expectations.  Consider using a video to communicate your expectations. 

Jobs-

We all know that the most coveted job in kindergarten classes is the line leader.  I’ll never forget singing, “Who’s gonna be the leader, who who who?!” as a Kindergarten student myself.  But what if every student had a specific job that was AS important as the line leader?  When my girls were in pre-k, their teachers did just this.  Some weeks they were the “electricity friend.”  This meant their responsibility was to turn out the lights as the class exited a room.  Or they were the weather checker.  The weather checker had the important job of  looking outside to see if the sun was shining, if it was rainy, cloudy, snowy, foggy, etc.  

Even if you are in upper grades, jobs can work in the classroom.  In fact, in the upper grades you can tie it to your career standards.  Have students apply, submit a resume, and interview for the positions they want. For other career lessons you might want to read this post.

Jobs help instill a sense of pride within our students.  Jobs also help students realize that others are dependent on their attendance.  If they weren’t present, their job wouldn’t be completed.

Whether you’re reading this at the beginning of the school year, the middle or the end, we hope you know that your job matters.  We have the ability to look in our students’ eyes and see stories, stories of trauma, and stories they would tell us if they could.  We can’t do this alone. And at this point we’re really doing a disservice if we don’t include teachers in the conversations and solutions to help curb the intensity and frequency of student behaviors.