How to ignore mild behaviors.

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Classroom Management Chatboard

How to ignore mild behaviors.

by Samantha S.

Mar 20, 2011

Hi , Im a future teacher and have been doing many of my observation hours in schools where the teachers use extinction as a method of reinforcement for behaviors. Now I know sometimes little things can be ignored but I feel like ignoring behaviors makes them worse and I cant ignore them for too long. So I was wondering if anyone had any techniques they use for extinction or thoughts on how to make it work?

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Prof. Howard Seeman On 3/20/11, Samantha S. wrote: > Hi , Im a future teacher and have been doing many of my > observation hours in schools where the teachers use > extinction as a method of reinforcement for behaviors. Now > I know sometimes little things can be ignored but I feel > like ignoring behaviors makes them worse and I cant ignore > them f...See More

Apr 5, 2011

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Brian B I often use ignoring as a tool when minor behavior issues occur. It is especially useful for attention-seeking students. When they see you don't respond to them, they are likely to take one of two avenues: a) stop the behavior, in which it is important to amp up the praise for positive behaviors or b) move onto bigger disruptions which can not be i...See More

Aug 2, 2011

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Zodea I am personally not a fan of ignoring mild behaviors. I don't think you have to make a big deal out of those behaviors but I do think you need to nip them in the bud. A simple "no talking while I'm talking" is acceptable. Or "it's time to work quietly not talk to your friend" seems perfectly justifiable.

Why do I feel this way? As a new te...See More

Aug 5, 2011

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The Kid Whisperer On 8/05/11, Zodea wrote: > I am personally not a fan of ignoring mild behaviors. I don't > think you have to make a big deal out of those behaviors but I > do think you need to nip them in the bud. A simple "no talking > while I'm talking" is acceptable. Or "it's time to work > quietly not talk to your friend" seems perfectly justifi...See MoreOn 8/05/11, Zodea wrote: > I am personally not a fan of ignoring mild behaviors. I don't > think you have to make a big deal out of those behaviors but I > do think you need to nip them in the bud. A simple "no talking > while I'm talking" is acceptable. Or "it's time to work > quietly not talk to your friend" seems perfectly justifiable. > > Why do I feel this way? As a new teacher you finally get a > chance to teach. Most of the kids are quiet except for too > "good" kids in the back who are whispering so softly they are > not interrupting anyone else. > > So, you ignore it and get your teaching done. The next day a > few more students begin to whisper. Again nothing that is > causing a major problem. A few day after that, everyone is > talking, the whispers become a dull roar and when you finally > get fed up and ask them to stop talking the response you get > will be. "Why are you picking on me? You let everyone else in > class talk but as soon as I say something you tell us to be > quiet? That's not Fair!" The fact that the student was 5 > times louder than all the others put together doesn't matter. > You let it slide for a few days and now it is deemed > "acceptable" behavior by the students. > > I think the hardest part of being a new teacher is figuring out > which things are going to drive you crazy later. Is it going > to be talking, note passing, doodling, sleeping, working on > math instead of your subject? > > If you let those things slide early in the year, you will get > very frustrated later. It is very hard to get students to > "come back" once they have gotten into some bad habits. My > experience is that students need to be redirected frequently. > There is no punishment involved... just "please don't do that > now" types of intervention. > > Zodea

Zodea,

You are absolutely right. People who say that you should ignore any low level behaviors generally are not teachers. Ignoring behaviors like whispering or playing around in the back of class need to be stopped or else it tells the rest of the class that it is OK to exhibit these behaviors. I would add one wrinkle to what you have posted. How you intervene is extremely important. If you take time from teaching to address the issue, it will also increase the likelihood of it happening again, especially with difficult kids. In other words, if you say "No talking while I'm talking", kids who are seeking attention will note that by talking when you don't want them to, they can get attention from you and from the rest of the class, thereby increasing the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated. What I would wish for you is for you to use non-verbal interventions that take little or no time and give little or no attention to negative behaviors and are more effective in stopping the behaviors than telling a kid to stop doing something. Remember, when you tell a kid what to do, you run the risk of them taking the opportunity to make you look weak by either telling you or showing you that you can't make him do anything, which, of course is true. Instead, using the "evil eye", moving in on the low-level offenders, maintaining proximity to the kid while teaching all work as a an alternative to drawing attention to the negative behavior. You can go to my free blog [link removed]

Aug 8, 2011

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Chris It is only beneficial to ignor mild negative behavior when it is not being reinforced by others. If children are talking in class they are receiving reinforcement from one another. Because of this the behavior is likely to continue and possibly esculate. If there is not reinforcement from others, for example, a child is purposely tapping his/her pe...See More

Aug 24, 2011

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