Minor behaviors among students can be managed with various approaches judging on the central issue causing the issue. Behavior problems the teacher can control and deal with must be studied and prepared for as different students have various attitudes to the studying process according to their upbringing, cognitive abilities, and psychological specialties. The major task of a teacher is to distinguish the manageable occasions and their triggers. The algorithm provided in the first part of the module allows for estimating the information about the number of students involved in problem behavior. According to the scheme, it becomes easy to identify the subsequent steps a teacher needs to follow. For instance, if the violations of the student’s behavior are minor, brief, specific error corrections should be used. If many students are involved in order violation, they might need additional support or extra review time, classroom-wide positive behavioral interventions, and support. The teacher should also ask for help if the majority of the students are struggling with behavior control. After looking deeper into the scheme, it becomes clear for an inexperienced teacher to managing issues with conduct. This paper’s primary goal is to highlight three significant takeaways that can be useful for the teaching practice from the videos in module 5.
The first takeaway is the specific error correction methods and curriculum. Disclosing the topic further, it becomes easier to develop strategies for acting back on behavior problems. Minor violations should be reacted to with brief, contingent, and specific corrections without spending a substantial amount of time on the small misbehavior. It can let the pedagogue not deviate from the program and set the borders and rules for the classmate that is breaking them. It is also important to be restrained and explicit when saying the correction, as the inappropriate tone can be misinterpreted by students in various ways.
The alternatives for managing minor behaviors are also essential and can be helpful in misconduct-solving. One of the possible ways is controlling proximity with a student to provide him or her with protection, strength, and a positive approach to their studies. The other additional approach is a non-verbal cue that shows the attitude of a teacher to the student’s actions without words. The latter is the strategy allowing to ignore the misbehavior, then attend to its changes, and praise for the positive changes. The approach for correcting minor behavior issues should be a gradation of the minimum actions towards a student to the active conversations about possible solutions to the problem behavior.
Hence, a teacher starts with a re-direct strategy using precise movements or words to show the way to proper behavior. Then, a pedagogue goes to the re-teach strategy identifying exactly what should be done to keep in the process of learning. Next, a student can be provided with a choice to follow a positive preferred behavior path or a less preferred option. Lastly, a teacher should have a conference with a student if all the previous steps did not work. Conference implies discussion with a scholar about the issues in his or her conduct, explaining why it is inappropriate, and developing a plan for future changes.
The second significant note from module 5 is the planned ignoring strategy that is a part of other approaches to minor behavior issues. Planned ignoring is used towards the actions that were receiving reinforcement by the teacher’s attention before but stopped getting it anymore (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2021). Any misbehavior performed by a student and taking a substantial amount of time needs any reaction from the pedagogue, either positive or negative, that supports the prolongation of the action. Subsequently, no attention should be paid to the student in order to stop the expected feedback. Similarly, with Pavlov’s reflex, a student limited in reinforcement loses interest in the action and forgets about it. Ignoring is a well-thought strategy for teaching students non-verbally to use the proper actions in class. The pedagogue can provide attention only at the point when the student follows the positive behavioral models so that the suitable attitude is remembered as receiving positive feedback. The teacher following this strategy, chooses the extinction pathway for the behavioral issues and reinforcement feedback on the positive conduct of a student.
However, if the issue needs comments from the pedagogue, the ignoring strategy does not seem appropriate. Participation in solving the relationships between the peers and disrespectful approach to the peers should be central for the pedagogue. Ignoring the scholar might be of no effect if the initial goal of the student is not getting the attention of the teacher. Moreover, the strategy might fail if the teacher has not enough strength and experience to handle the disruptive behavior, as after the students understands the ignoring method, he or she will initially increase the action trying to get more attention.
The peak of the misbehavior activity is not always easy to handle, and the teacher should be prepared to wait until the “extinction burst” when the student, due to no reinforcement, does not see any motivation to continue the action (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2021). To achieve success, the strategy should be followed by both a teacher and other scholars that can comprehend the chosen model by a teacher and the reasons they were implemented in this student. If the student shows proper behavior, it is always important to praise him or her with positive feedback. Only then the process of learning can involve a student and can give motivation for further participation in the learning process.
The last takeaway from module 5 is the variation of implementing a differential reinforcement strategy. The latter can be divided into four subgroups: differential reinforcement of lower rates of behavior (DRL), differential reinforcement of other behaviors (DRO), differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA), and differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior (DRI). All the ways to express the strategy are unique and target various aims. For instance, DRL focuses on the decrease of unwished conduct by a teacher and provides reinforcement only when a student shows fewer struggles and activities in the actions he or she used to do before.
Thus, this paper united three major takeaways highlighted from module 5 for the teaching practice in managing minor behaviors. Firstly, it is essential to implement specific error corrections using the appropriate amount of time on the student depending on the feedback. Secondly, the ignoring strategy should be used on occasions when the initiating factor is receiving the teacher’s attention. Lastly, reinforcement strategy can be considered from various points and used for different purposes. All the methods are significant for the pedagogues and should be constantly studied and implemented to maintain the behavioral balance inside the classroom.
Reference
National Center on Intensive Intervention. Consequence strategies to decrease behavior (Behavior support for intensive intervention: Module 5). Web.