By: Lauren Hall, Joni Unger

Ben Pilley, and Bailey Sisson

Strategies Handout
Challenging Behavior
Mr. Dillion is teaching a science lesson to the entire first-grade class.
While Mr. Dillion is talking, several students are also taking. Mr. Dillion
reprimands the students and they stop talking. A few minutes later,
several other students begin talking. Mr. Dillion tells them to stop and
they stop. When Mr. Dillion finishes the lecture, he instructs the
students to work in small groups on the experiment he has just
demonstrated. After a few minutes of group work, the noise level in the
room becomes unbearable and Mr. Dillion has to shout at students to
get them to listen. When they are silent, Mr. Dillion tells them to work
on the experiment quietly. After several minutes, the noise level in the
room once again becomes unacceptably loud. Mr. Dillion shouts and
scolds his students once again. This pattern continues throughout the
day.
Classroom Management Strategies:

Have a class discussion on how students feel about class

environment
Make class rules that specify expectations and consequences if
those expectations are not met (Woolfolk, Winne, Perry, 2013, p.

450) (KSA #7)

Create a visual tool to remind students what noise level is

appropriate for the activity (KSA #5)

Apply the steps of discipline (Woolfolk et al., 2013, pp.455-456):

By: Lauren Hall, Joni Unger

Ben Pilley, and Bailey Sisson

Make eye contact or move closer

Try verbal hints
Ask if students are aware of negative effects of their

actions
Remind students of procedure
Ask students to state correct rule or procedure
Tell students in a clear, assertive and non-hostile way to

stop the misbehavior

Offer a choice
Eliminate yelling to foster a positive learning environment (KSA

#8)
Create a seating plan to optimize student learning and

engagement (Woolfolk et al., 2013, pp. 447-449)

Assign students to groups to enhance learning (Woolfolk et al.,

2013, p. 498)
Incorporate brain breaks when needed to refocus students

attention (Roscoe, 2012, p.23)

Attend to all learning styles in teaching (KSA #5)
Create a long term goal to develop relationships with students

Motivation (Woolfolk et al., 2013, pp. 400-401):

Students are more extrinsically motivated through consequences

for infractions of rules

By attending to different learning styles, students will be more

engaged and will be more intrinsically motivated to learn

By building relationships with the students, the teacher can
appeal to their interests, which will increase intrinsic motivation