How do you develop an effective behavior management plan?
Page 7: Negative Consequences
Teachers can use negative consequences to reduce instances of noncompliance. When they develop their classroom behavior management plans, teachers should create a negative consequence hierarchy that ranges from the least-intrusive (e.g., rule reminder) to the most-intrusive consequence (e.g., parent contact, office referral). When a student engages in inappropriate behavior, the teacher should begin by administering the least-intrusive consequence. If the student continues to misbehave, the teacher should administer increasingly intrusive consequences until the misbehavior stops. For students who frequently engage in inappropriate or disruptive behavior (i.e., repeat offenders) or commit a major rule violation (e.g., fighting), the teacher might skip the least-intrusive consequences and administer more-intrusive ones. Below are sample hierarchies for elementary and high-school students.
Click the picture to enlarge
Elementary School: This graphic is an example of Elementary School Negative Consequences. The graphic is a half-circle dial, divided into six pieces, from green to red. Each piece indicates a different negative consequence. Starting on the far left, the green piece is labeled “Class Reminder,” then the light-green piece is labeled “Individual Reminder,” the yellow piece is labeled “Modification,” the light-orange piece is labeled “Time-Out,” the orange piece is labeled “Parent Contact”, and the last consequence on the far right is labeled “Office Referral.” The consequences grow increasingly severe as the dial moves toward the right.
Click the picture to enlarge
High School: This graphic is an example of High School Negative Consequences. The consequences are written on a curved ladder shape, with the color green at the bottom of the curve fading into red at the top of the curve. Each consequence has a small graphic with the text. The first negative consequence at the bottom of the curve is “General Reminder” with a picture of a chalkboard with the word RULES written on it, followed by “Individual Reminder” with a picture of an adult pointing at a child, then “Warning” with a picture of a pointer finger, “Detention” with a picture of a student sitting at a desk by himself, “Parent Contact” with a picture of an envelope and a telephone, and ending with “Office Referral” with a picture of an office door. The consequences grow increasingly severe as you move up the curve, into the red.
Sample Hierarchy: Elementary School
Sample Hierarchy: High School
Lori Jackman discusses the circumstances under which it might be appropriate to skip the least-intrusive consequences and administer more-intrusive ones (time: 0:36).
Lori Jackman, EdD
Assistant Professor of Special Education
Towson University
Baltimore, MD
Transcript: Lori Jackman, EdD
The only time that it would be appropriate to jump to the end of the hierarchy is if the child is endangering themselves or someone else. As that child has a chair and is throwing it across the room is not the time to remind them. “Remember, follow directions. Keep the chairs on the floor.” And if a child is endangering himself or somebody else, you need to go to that last step, which is an office referral and have either that child leave the classroom or have the other children leave the classroom, depending on the situation.
Did You Know?
Sometimes teachers can use surface management strategies, such as redirecting or intentionally ignoring the student, to prevent, interrupt, or stop minor undesirable behaviors and thus avoid the need for negative consequences. For more information on surface management strategies, view the following IRIS Module:
Delivering Consequences
Keep in mind that when they deliver consequences, teachers should apply them consistently, use the power of proximity, make direct eye contact, and link the consequence to the expected behaviors. Additionally, teachers should understand that it is not unusual to become upset when students behave inappropriately and consequently to respond in an ineffective manner or deliver negative consequences arbitrarily. When they deliver negative consequences, teachers can respond more effectively if they:
- Use a soft voice
- Be firm but anger-free
- Never accept excuses, bargaining, or whining
- Be educative and not vindictive
Listen as Lori Jackman describes what can happen when a teacher becomes upset and lets her emotions guide how she delivers a negative consequence (time: 0:49).
Lori Jackman, EdD
Assistant Professor of Special Education
Towson University
Baltimore, MD
Transcript: Lori Jackman, EdD
There’s times when our students may get the best of us, and we may not follow the system as closely as we should. I’m guilty of sentencing a child to lunch detention for the rest of seventh grade, which after a couple days of cooling off realized that really did me no good and did him no good. I think there’s times when our emotions get caught up in the interaction with our students, and we may say or set up some kind of consequence that isn’t really connected to the management system and isn’t really beneficial in helping change that student’s behavior. The best thing that I have found to do when I did sentence that child to lunch detention for the rest of seventh grade is to talk to him and say, “I was really upset, and I didn’t really mean to do that, and this is what we’re going to work out from here.”
Activity
Now think of ways to reduce instances of inappropriate behavior in your classroom. Click here to develop your own negative consequences.
