Fundamental Skill Sheet
Proximity Control
What Is It?
Proximity control is a strategy in which the teacher reduces the physical distance between herself and a student as a way to remind that student of behavioral expectations.
What Do We Know About This Skill/Practice?
Proximity control has been proven effective through many years of research and practical application. Research indicates:
- Teacher proximity is an important element of active supervision that can serve as a reminder of expected behavior.
- Proximity control is an effective classroom management strategy that can increase student engagement and reduce problem behaviors.
- This strategy can be used to prevent problem behavior or to redirect problem behavior once it has begun.
- Proximity control can be easily implemented without interrupting instruction and has no associated costs.
Procedures
- Scan the classroom: When providing instruction or monitoring group or independent work, look around the classroom to determine the level of student engagement and identify any signs of problem behavior.
- Identify the student(s): Take note of any student or students who are not engaged or who are displaying minor problem behaviors.
- Move toward the student(s): Move within close proximity (within three feet) of the student or students. Stand next to their desks or chairs for a few seconds as you continue to provide instruction.
- Continue to circulate and scan the classroom: Walk away from the students and again move around the classroom while continuing to scan for student behavior.
Tips for Implementation
- When walking or standing near a student, continue teaching to maintain the pace and flow of instruction.
- Stand within three feet of the student to address problem behavior.
- Maintain close proximity to the student for a few seconds; avoid lingering for long periods of time. Circle back if necessary.
- Move around the classroom in unpredictable patterns to increase desired behaviors for all students while providing instruction or monitoring seatwork. This can serve as a proactive means to prevent problem behavior and to increase student engagement.
Things to Keep in Mind
- Proximity control can be used to address the behavior of one or more students.
- This strategy can be implemented during whole-group lessons, small-group work, or independent work.
- Because it does not disrupt instruction, proximity control can be seamlessly incorporated into any teaching routine.
- Proximity control is most appropriate when used to address minor, non-dangerous behaviors.
- Students who often engage in problem behavior are frequently disengaged and might benefit from a seating change to be in closer proximity to the teacher during instruction.
Implementation Examples
Now it is time to watch what you’ve learned be put into practice. The elementary and high school videos below depict simulated classroom scenarios and include both examples of correct implementation and non-examples of implementation that come up short.
Elementary Video Example
In the video below, Mrs. D. expects her students to pay attention during classroom instruction. Note how in the example Mrs. D. seamlessly implements proximity control, but in the non-example she unfortunately forgets some key principles of the strategy.
Transcript: Proximity Control (Elementary Example and Non-Example)
Proximity control, elementary example
Narrator: Proximity control, elementary school example and non-example. Mrs. D. expects her students to pay attention during classroom instruction. Jeremiah, however, is instead reading his journal. In this example, Mrs. D. seamlessly implements proximity control to get him back on track. Take special note of how she addresses Jeremiah’s behavior without interrupting the flow of her lesson.
Mrs. D.: So good to see everyone again. Today we’re going to actually go into an area that talks about words. And one of these areas is titled adjective. Does anyone think that they know the definition of the word adjective? Oh, wonderful hands! Wonderful hands! Yes, Ms. Kaycee.
Kaycee: A word that describes another word.
Mrs. D.: A word that describes another word. I love it! That is awesome!
Narrator: To review, the teacher implemented proximity control correctly. She scanned the classroom to determine the level of student engagement, identified and moved toward a disengaged student, stood in close proximity to the student for a few seconds while maintaining the pace and flow of her instruction, and walked away from the student while continuing to scan the classroom.
Proximity control, elementary non-example
Narrator: When Mrs. D. notices that Jeremiah is not engaged during classroom instruction, she attempts to implement proximity control. In this non-example, note how Mrs. D.’s instruction is interrupted when she engages with Jeremiah.
Mrs. D.: So today we are going to deal with an area or a part of speech called adjectives. Can anyone tell me what an adjective is?
Could anyone tell me what an adjective is?
Narrator: To review, the teacher did not correctly implement proximity control. Although she did move in close proximity to the student, she engaged with the student by closing his book, failed to maintain the pace and flow of her instruction, and lost her train of thought and struggled to resume the lesson.
High School Video Example
In the video below, Ms. Sentel expects her students to follow along during the lesson. Note in the example how Ms. Sentel uses proximity control correctly to redirect a student’s attention, but in the non-example, her implementation of the strategy falls short.
Transcript: Proximity Control (High School Example and Non-example)
Proximity control, high school example
Narrator: Proximity control, high school example and non-example. Ms. Sentel expects her students to pay attention during instruction. In this example, the teacher implements proximity control to address Lydia’s off-task behavior. Take note of how she does so without interrupting the flow of the lesson.
Ms. Sentel: We spent a lot of time talking about the right triangle, and now is the time we’re going to connect that to what we know of the trigonometric functions. And, remember, these functions help connect the inside angles of a triangle with the lengths of the sides of a triangle. And so to do this and help us to remember the relationship between the sides and the angles, we have this phrase here. It’s called Soh Cah Toa. And Soh Cah Toa, the uppercase letters—the S, the C, the T—they all represent our trigonometric functions. So that S represents the sine function, the C represents the cosine function, and the T represents the tangent function. Now, the lowercase letters here represent the sides of the triangle.
Narrator: To review, the teacher implemented proximity control correctly. She subtly scanned the classroom for students engaging in desired behavior, identified a student not engaged and moved toward that student, stood in close proximity to the student for a few seconds (Note that the best location for Ms. Sentel to stand would have been behind or beside Lydia. However, the tight spacing of the room arrangement prevented her from doing so), maintained the pace and flow of her instruction, and continued to scan the classroom.
Proximity control, high school non-example
Narrator: When Ms. Sentel notices that Lydia is off task, she attempts to implement proximity control but does so incorrectly. Notice how she engages with the student and loses her place in the lesson.
Ms. Sentel: Alright, welcome back from lunch, everybody. I hope you are energized and excited to continue our discussion about triangles today. We spent a lot of time talking about right triangles, and we spent a little bit of time learning about the trigonometric functions that help connect the degrees of the angles within the triangle to the lengths of the sides outside the triangle. So today we’re going to review that and think about the trick we learned called Soh Cah Toa. And Soh Cah Toa helps us remember those three important trigonometric functions. The S stands for the sine function, the C stands for the . . . Alright, where was I? The S, the C . . . yes . . . T . . . okay. So the T stands for tangent function.
Student: You didn’t say what the C stands for.
Ms. Sental: So the C, you’re right. Thank you, Christopher. The C stands for cosine function, and T stands for the tangent function.
Narrator: To review, the teacher did not correctly implement proximity control because she failed to maintain the pace and flow of her instruction, lingered near and engaged with the student by glaring at her, and lost her train of thought and struggled to resume the lesson.
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About the Author
Dr. Caitlyn Majeika, who developed this IRIS Fundamental Skill Sheet as a PhD student in the Special Education Department of Peabody College at Vanderbilt University, is currently the knowledge development task lead for the National Center on Intensive Intervention as well as a researcher at the American Institute for Research. She uses her expertise to improve MTSS frameworks by evaluating the effectiveness of fidelity tools, intervention programs, progress monitoring, and universal screening.
