Hi again. What a difference a day makes – well in my part of the world anyway. No wonder the Brits talk about the weather to the exclusion of most other topics. Yesterday like a summer’s day – but October version. Today – yukkk. Oh well. Went to see Cliff Richard and the Shadows last night in Manchester! I did so because a friend didn’t have anyone to go with – she was so excited and I was rather less so… but – it was great. For guys in their late 60’s (and early 70’s?) they were fantastic and Hank Marvin’s guitar playing was sensational…. so I’m glad I went…
Anyway, back to the harsh reality of the heading of this post. If they’re not behaving then you’re not doing it right…. Oh Liz, that really is harsh. Maybe it is – but it’s true…. Either as a school, and kids’ behaviour should be an all school issue, or in individual classrooms, if behaviour isn’t improving (and presumably people want it to?) then something (or many things) is being done wrongly. The great thing is though, anyone can learn the skills to manage children’s behaviour. As I’ve written before – skill and confidence are the keys to success.
It’s exactly the same as any other skill or technique that you want to master. You have to know what to do, practice doing it, and then keep on doing it and taking it on a step further to extend your knowledge, skill and confidence. I’ve been practising my skills for years now – if you’ve read Behaviour Bible you’ll know about my first day dealing with children’s extreme behaviour. Well, strictly speaking I wasn’t dealing with it. It was a complete disaster – awful. I hadn’t got a clue what I was doing. I was at the same stage as many people I talk to and observe now. So I had to learn, but there wasn’t anyone to teach me. It took a while – quite a long while really. Gradually I cottoned on to what was needed – I had to change. I now use the successful behaviour management techniques I have established to teach other people and believe me it doesn’t have to take you the length of time it took me. You can start seeing the impact of the techniques in minutes.
In the intervening years the situation in mainstream schools has worsened. Bad behaviour is now so commonplace there’s a danger that it’s being considered normal by some people. There doesn’t seem to be a great deal of shock that some children behave in a totally appalling way. In some schools I sense an acceptance that this is to be expected and there’s a learned helplessness amongst the adults – a raising of the eyebrows in a ‘well what can we do about it’, sort of way.
So, you have to ask yourself, ‘Is what I am doing to manage behaviour getting the results I want?’ If the answer is, ‘No’, then you’re not doing it right – you have to accept that you have things to learn and changes to make. Then, life becomes a great deal easier, less stressful and more productive. It’s a win/win situation.
Behaviour Bible tells you what you need to know about managing potentially difficult behaviour situations and creating a successful and productive classroom. Read, practice and implement.
Thanks for reading, Liz Marsden @ Behaviour Bible.