hey welcome back to live on purpose TV
some of you have requested that we talk
here about some positive behavior
management strategies especially for a
classroom or a group of children I heard
your requests in some of the comments on
our parenting videos I'm getting
teachers and people who run daycares or
people who have groups of children and
they're asking what are some positive
behavior management strategies that we
can use let's take this on in a top-10
kind of a format coming in at number 10
maybe this one should have been higher
but I'm putting it at 10 give clear
instruction be very clear about what it
is you expect here's an example a
colleague of mine and co-founder of the
Nova principals program uses this clear
instruction when he's working with
classes class go quickly and quietly
back to your seat look at me and await
further instruction ready go think about
that and he has trained his classes to
respond to him when he says when I say
go go quickly and quietly to your seats
look at me and await further instruction
ready go it's awesome and if they don't
do it correctly he has him return to
where they were and practice it again Oh
class that wasn't quickly or quietly
let's try it again when I say go go
quickly and quietly to your seat look at
me and await further instruction
ready go I love the clarity of that
that's number 10 coming in at number 9
use a physical sign to signal that it's
time to pay attention when I was younger
I was in the Boy Scouts program
earn my Eagle Scout as a teenager and I
have all kinds of great memories of what
I learned in Scouting when it was time
in a Scout meeting for everybody to pay
attention and and draw their attention
back to the front of the room
it was the Scout sign which comes up
like this and the leader would simply
put up the Scout sign you know
everybody's still talking and chattering
right but somebody noticed and they know
what it means so they put up the Scout
sign well pretty soon the whole room
starts to hush from the front to the
back as everybody starts to notice oh
it's time to pay attention a physical
sign like the Scout sign coming in at
number eight repeated practice people
get really good at whatever they
practice when you're working with a
group of children or a group of adults
for that matter they don't know yet what
your expectation is as you use that
clear articulation of what your
expectation is they may need to practice
it again and give you an example of this
with Charlie in the Nova program is he
said oh that wasn't quickly or quietly
let's try that again
it's okay for you to use that phrase you
know what class that wasn't whatever you
explained to them in your instruction
let's try that again give them a chance
to practice it now not only is it
practice but it's a mild form of
punishment punishment has a bad rap but
all I mean is something that's going to
reduce the likelihood that a behavior
will happen again if they know that they
don't go quickly and quietly that
they'll have to do it again that's a
mild punishment that helps them to
reduce the likelihood that they'll make
the mistake again so repeated practice
that's number eight at number seven
avoid the keep talking louder trap I've
seen this so many times with a teacher
in a classroom for example and the class
is a little unruly so what does the
teacher do the teacher raises their
boy sell it all right I know teachers
who go home with complete voice fatigue
because they're up there at the front of
the class talking so loud the whole time
here's the psychology behind it
sometimes sometimes a very quiet voice
or even a whisper it's going to get
their attention even faster than a loud
voice so changing up the vocal dynamics
don't get trapped in this just keep
talking louder kind of a trap number six
have some kind of a warning system where
people can get a little heads-up that oh
I'm in the danger zone here going back
to Charlie my partner in the Nova
principals program he uses a no card a
no card these are physical cards that he
has in his pocket and if one child or a
group of kids is causing some
disturbance he will go over and simply
place a no card on that child's desk
they're on trouble they don't get any
other consequence at this moment the no
card is simply a warning to stay engaged
in what's going on and not disrupt the
class and it can be very very powerful
the kids around that student will also
notice that they got a no card now and
if they give them a bad time about
uh-huh you've got a no card then Charlie
will give them a no card as well so this
is part of the culture that you set up
in a classroom environment or as you
work with a group of children use a
physical reminder like a no card coming
in at number five and I put this at five
because it's a little more effective and
easier than even number six that I just
shared with you with the physical no
card physical presence changing where
you stand
you've got one student who's distracted
for example or kind of causing a
disruption in the class you simply as
you continue instructing the class you
simply walk
cover and place yourself physically in
that child's proximity they're going to
notice you're not paying attention to
them you're physically placing yourself
in their space and that often is enough
to get the behavior to change
I think this physical presence is a
really great first intervention before
you pull out an O card before you give
any kind of a consequence simply be
present there physically you can even
step that up let's say that they're
still not quite noticing that they're
being disruptive so you take your hand
and you place it on their desk just
there on the corner of their desk very
casually place your hand there right
this increases your physical presence
it's a great first intervention coming
in at number four I love to use this one
especially if I'm in a large group of
people and I've got them doing some
activities this happens to me in
trainings or presentations where I'll
say okay now we're going to divide up
and do this particular activity right
and it's noisy and disruptive and I've
seen some trainers go to the front of
the room and they say hey okay everybody
pay attention pay attention to me again
and it's so noisy that nobody can even
hear them and it's painful almost to
witness here's what I found this is the
number four clap no I don't mean start
into raucous applause what I mean is you
simply say in a very calm and measured
voice if you can hear my voice clap once
and then I clap now nobody's listening
at that point maybe somebody did and
they clap with me once if you can hear
my voice
clap twice and now seven or eight people
are doing it with me and what just
happened the whole room is starting to
orient toward wait what's happening now
then I say again calmly if you can hear
my voice clap three times and usually by
then the entire group it can be
200 people is now paying attention to me
and I can say thank you for coming back
let's talk about what we just learned
usually two claps is enough three almost
any group is going to handle that so
number four clap coming in at number
three is a very foundational behavioral
principle it's called situational
planning this is where you as the leader
the teacher the instructor the trainer
anticipate what might come up and you
plan the physical layout of the room and
your approach to handle any anticipated
disruptions so you know for example that
a certain kid in your class
is going to be disruptive you see that
kid with someone that you know will help
to keep them on track or away from the
particular distractions that they have
if there are things in the room that are
likely to distract people you minimize
those distractions before you commit
this is simple situational planning
number two and now we're getting into
the real core of things don't just
manage lead that is actually the title
of a book written by a dear friend of
mine art combs don't just manage lead
you're not there to manage the behavior
of this classroom you are there to
inspire and lead these students whoever
it is that's in your group to some
higher level of performance or joy or
functionality in their life keep that
perspective in mind and don't just
manage lead which brings us to number
one this is the most powerful thing that
you can do here it is love them that
sounds all fluffy right yeah this is
powerful if you are motivated by love
they will feel that and they will allow
you to influence them in powerful way
so love them like them enjoy them
genuinely if you're showing up as a
teacher and it's just like the most
painful experience you can imagine to be
in front of these people who irritate
and annoy you that's gonna show up in
your interactions with them and you will
have more behavior problems in that
setting number one is there for a reason
you love them like them enjoy them and
show up for them as an inspiring leader
did you find that helpful I hope it was
because you're making a difference for
our kids I'll be back tomorrow with some
more content I'll see you then
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