As an educator, it’s important to ensure behavioral challenges are addressed in the classroom and with students before they spiral out of control. I’m sure you all have had moments where intervention was needed to help students modify their actions to keep from being a disruption to the class and to help them find success in learning.

While each student is unique and so are their challenges, here are five behavioral tips to help maximize your teaching.

1. Directly calling on an individual student to address a behavior only causes embarrassment in front of peers. It rarely dissipates the behavior. Instead, speak to this student one-on-one without an audience. Then respect will be earned for both the student and the teacher.
2. If a student is known to have a meltdown, look for patterns that set off the behavior. Take a proactive approach rather than wait until the behavior manifests. This way, you will diffuse the student’s negative behavior while maximizing your teaching with the rest of the students.
3. Do not allow yourself to become frustrated when dealing with negative behaviors, whether they are big or small. This only adds fuel to the situation. Keep calm, put your energy into eliminating the behavior once and for all. An understanding attitude goes a long way.
4. Have a plan for behavioral challenges. Consistency is the key to eliminating any negative behavior.
5. Take an extra effort to praise students for good behavior. Students will more than likely want to model good behavior that is praiseworthy. To put it into perspective, think how you feel when someone praises you. The feeling of praise lasts for a long time, not to mention the boost in self-confidence.

We hope these behavioral tips will help you create a plan for your classroom. If you need some guidance with creating a behavior plan, Module 9 – Take the Sting out of Behavior – can help you learn to identify a student’s particular behavior needs, design and implement a plan and put that plan into action.