5 Ways to Positively Manage Student Behavior

My class won’t stop talking no matter what I do. 

I feel like I’m yelling all the time. 

My students who are behaving don’t get the recognition they deserve. 

Sound familiar? Sometimes we have groups of students that won’t stop talking no matter what we do. We feel like we are always grumpy (or yelling) and that our kids who are behaving don’t get the positive attention they need from us. We also begin to feel like we can’t be the fun, happy teacher we normally are because we are constantly dealing with behavior issues.

Something that I’ve found in my teaching career is that if you can build a positive classroom environment, many behavior issues decrease. (Notice that I said DECREASE, not CEASE.) If your students feel loved, validated, and appreciated, they will listen to what you ask them to do with less resistance.

I’ve got 5 behavior management strategies that can help you POSITIVELY manage the behavior inside your classroom.

Read to the end to find out how you can get free printable Kudos Notes and You Rock Because signs. 

1. KUDOS

The more you can point out good behavior, the better. One easy way to accomplish this is by giving your students Kudos. The definition of kudos is “praise and honor received for an achievement.” Writing them a quick note about something specific they did is a great form of praise. It’s something tangible that they can take home to show that they have been trying hard.

I also liked to have other students write kudos to their classmates. This helped them focus on the positive, good behavior that was going on in the room. It was very motivating to students to try and earn a kudos note. You can read them out loud at the end of the day, or just quietly staple them in their homework folders.

2. WOW BOARD

If you’ve been following my blog for awhile now, you know I LOVE the WOW board. (In fact, I did an entire blog post on it here.) This beautiful piece of poster board helped me celebrate the achievements of ALL the students in my room. I was able to celebrate kindness, effort, grit, determination, empathy, risk taking and more. Read more here.

3. NOTES ON DESKS

Another easy way to brighten a student’s day and celebrate their good behavior is to write them a quick note on their desk. Use a dry erase marker and write something specific on the desk. Then when they walk in the room (either in the morning or after recess) they will have a special note just for them. This will help them feel loved, appreciated, and noticed.

You may be asking yourself, “How does this help with behavior?”. When our students see positive behavior publicly celebrated, they will want to earn that praise and recognition too. They will try harder to behavior to earn that reward. Trust me, it works.

4. YOU ROCK BECAUSE SIGN

Another way to positively manage your classroom behavior is by using a “You ROCK because…” sign. Print out these pages and place them inside an 8×11 inch frame. Then use a dry erase marker to write a specific message to a student on the outside. Place the frame in a location that is easy for all your students to read. Not only does this positively praise and recognize a student, it can help build their self-esteem.

5. CLASSROOM REWARD COUPONS

Creating or compiling a list of free, easy to implement rewards is a great way to positively manage your student’s behavior. When they have done something specific (clipped to the top of the behavior chart, got all the punches on their behavior punch cards, met the goals in their behavior contracts, etc.) give them a coupon to redeem. They will be very excited to earn these rewards and will work hard to get their coupon.

To get your free printable Kudos Notes and You Rock Because signs: We can email it to you, or you can download it from the ‘Files’ section of our Create-abilities Teacher Community Facebook Group. If you haven’t joined the group yet, it’s a great way to stay up-to-speed on everything Create-abilities, including product announcements, sales, freebies, live broadcasts, giveaways, and more!

PEACE, LOVE, AND STICKY NOTES