These children will gain few or no qualifications and often turn to criminal activity, drugs or other behaviours that prevents them achieving a fulfilling and rewarding life…  What a terrible future lies ahead for a badly behaving child – it’s a dire time waiting for them!

Adults seek advice is sought for children behaving badly and they commonly believed there’s something wrong with them! So these children are diagnosed with a behaviour condition and get pumped full of prescription drugs that are supposed to change their behaviour. It generally doesn’t work – the behaviour gets worse and nothing changes until adults adopt behaviour management strategies that actually work!

What do you need to do then?

Well, quite simply, if you don’t change the way you deal with problem behaviour you won’t achieve the results you want. Doing more of the same will achieve nothing -  a change of technique is essential…

So, how long do you have to make changes for?  Simple – for as long as needed until the child has matured sufficiently emotionally to take control of their own behaviour – probably until they’re grown up in fact.

Quite often adults change their behaviour and the child’s behaviour improves – great.  But then, the behaviour starts to slip and the old, unacceptable behaviour starts to re-emerge…

So, what’s gone wrong?

That’s simple to answer… The behaviour just isn’t being managed as well as it was so the child’s stopped behaving as well as they were…  Adult complacency has set in, they’re being less vigilant and their attitude has relaxed.  The consistency isn’t as good as it should be and it’s all become too lax…

This can’t be allowed to happen.

Just imagine if you did the same when driving – you”re driving along quite happily with everything happening as you want it to.  But then you stop steering and controlling the car and you’d end up in a ditch. The car simply finds its own route because you’ve stopped doing what you should be doing…  So you’ll end up somewhere you don’t want to be.

Adults have to be in control of children’s behaviour and for this to happen they have to be the ones in the driving seat!

There’s no doubt that children know instinctively that adults should be in charge of them and quickly respond to confident and effective behaviour management techniques.  Children need routine and to what’s expected of them.  When these needs are met they can be guided to achieve well in school and at home by adults they trust implicitly.

But adults must beware because children will quickly take over if they realise the adults don’t have control and basically don’t know how to manage behaviour properly!   If the adults don’t take control the children soon will… And that can only lead to disaster!

This is an important message…

To achieve the best behaviour from children adults must consistently use effective strategies to deal with their behaviour.  Then they have to keep on using them.

It’s not difficult to learn to do this. It’s surprisingly quick and easy to confidently and effectively deal with children’s behaviour at home or in school.

And the result?  Happy children who are achieving well and growing up to be confident and secure and are able to manage socially and cope well in their world…

Anything else? Oh yes… Your own stress levels will fall, your work or home environment will improve. A good result all round!

Want to be able to manage kids’ behaviour better but don’t know how?

Get your copy of my detailed information in Behaviour Bible and you’ll be well on your way…  Click the link and off you go…

Thanks for reading and bye for now.  Liz Marsden @ Behaviour Bible.

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My first teaching practice when on teacher training was the first time I’d been in a primary classroom since I’d been a primary school pupil…   I was surprised for two reasons…

Firstly, the classrooms were so small – well they were huge when I was little!

Secondly, the desks (tables by now) were arranged differently in the classroom. They were now set around in groups with half a dozen children sitting around tables facing each other – very different…

Hm, what’s going on here, I thought?

I never really found the answer to that question and I’ve never came even close to being convinced that anything about this arrangement was of any benefit to anyone…

I’ve often questioned who thought that it was a good idea in the first place and what they were thinking of. Even the most well behaved children will be tempted or even encouraged to chatter and not concentrate properly on their lessons when they’re sitting around in a group.

I have never set any of my classrooms in this way.  But, teachers I’ve spoken to appear to be averse to making any changes in their classroom layout.  They’re so reluctant to implement anything new even if an alternative plan can alleviate many of the  problem behaviours they encounter it their classrooms.

A frequent excuse given for the ‘sitting round tables’ arrangement is so the children can take part in group work…

What teachers don’t realise is that research indicates that over 90% of teachers who claim group work as the reason for their classroom layout never do genuine group work in their classes.  The research asserts that this layout only encourages negative behaviour such as chatter, unacceptable behaviour and lack of focus in class.

So, what works?  Call me old fashioned, but kids sitting in rows works just fine… Great in fact…

Research shows that primary pupils (particularly those with behaviour difficulties) work for twice as long in lessons when they’re sitting in rows rather than in groups around tables.

So, what did I see in a school that impressed me?

After noticing a decline in behaviour standards a teacher had taken advice and changed from a grouped class layout and set out her class in rows.

What was the result?

The change was dramatic and she couldn’t believe what had happened.   The class was far quieter, there was more focus and the children concentrated more. The children said that they liked having the temptation to behave badly removed from them.

Why not try it out – it really has an immediate impact.  Even the worst behaviour is managed with the strategies I teach, but the simple tactic of changing your classroom layout can be done so easily, without having to learn any new techniques.  It really couldn’t be easier…

More advice can be yours by downloading Behaviour Bible.  Make your class more relaxed with more learning taking place.

Cheers for now.  Liz Marsden @ Behaviour Bible.

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I’ve just had a really little boy start in my class.  Of course, as usual, his behaviour in his mainstream school is totally appalling.  He kicks, bites, screams, hides, head butts people, plus a further catalogue of behaviours that puts him in the category of the ‘out of control child’…   He’s out of control at home too…

That’s why he’s with me because my speciality is dealing with such children.  By the time they get to me numerous other ‘experts’ have had their say and it’s all been in vain.  So then they always go down the route of there being something wrong with the child. Well, that’s easier than admitting that they’re doing it all wrong, isn’t it?  That would put their complete professional standing in the firing line wouldn’t it? And we can’t have that…

I met this little guy about 4 days ago and he started with me 2 days ago.  He’s just 7 years old.  He’s about 30 pounds in weight – maybe a little more.  And he’s about 3 feet tall – no taller…  So get the picture, he’s minute, even for a 7 year old.   And his behaviour is totally out of control.

What I find amazing is that all these adults have allowed such a little guy to rule the roost, attack them, and generally run amok…  But, hey Liz, it’s not that unusual… But it should be…

Anyway, day 1.  Fine.  No problem.

Day 2.  Problem.  Five minutes into the day. We always start with reading.  He can’t read.  So of course he doesn’t like reading – how can he when he’s been at school for 3 years and he can’t do what everyone else can do and he knows he should be able to do it.  And to add to the problems, not being able to read stops him doing a whole host of other things too…  All I wanted  him to do was write the word ‘Help’ in his reading record book.  And he didn’t want to…

So he refused to write the word.  Was I expecting it?  Of course I was…  It was inevitable.  When his tried and tested methods for avoiding reading and writing had worked for so long he’d be pretty dumb not to try it with me, wouldn’t he?  And he’s certainly not dumb!

So what did I do?

Well I always tell people that it’s what you do at the point where you know things could go wrong is the basis of good behaviour management.  And a this point I had to take control and he had to know I was taking control.  And ultimately he had to accept I am the one in control.  That’s what setting  limits and boundaries on behaviour is all about.

If I’d waited until he’d ‘kicked off’ and lost control before I did anything then I’d have been giving him control.  Can’t have that. So, I firmly took him from the room…

I’ll tell you what I did next in the next post.  If you want to know how to prevent this little guy’s behaviour problems getting to this level in the first place, then download Behaviour Bible and you’ll be able to have in your hand all  my strategies that I use so successfully every day…  And believe me they work.  Did the little guy write his word?  Yes he did…  Was the process difficult for him?  Well, it’s not a pleasant experience for a child to give up the power that they’ve been given by the adults.  But give it up they must.

How did his day end.  Well, after about half an hour of being unhappy, refusing to write his word, and being in a not very nice situation when you’re only 7, he was fine, happy and at peace with the world.  Will he act like that again?  Maybe, but to a far lesser degree.  I’ll let you know.

Cheers for now.  Liz Marsden @ Behaviour Bible.

Read the second part of this tale…  & the third part…

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So, if you’re a teacher then you’re mad, eh?  Well yes, but actually you are… and not angry but insane, deranged.

What’s this about?

Let me tell you. I talk to countless people in schools who are in major trouble. They’re trying to manage children’s behaviour but are largely unsuccessful.   They tell me all about it…

What a child’s done, the bad behaviour that’s getting worse by the day, the classes that are behaving badly… Nothing is getting any better, in fact it’s all getting worse.

Teachers talk indignantly about worsening children’s behaviour, parents who won’t answer the phone or come into school, that there’s something wrong with the child, the child’s home life is hopeless, the parents are hopeless… It’s a catalogue of complaint after complaint.

I talk to many parents as well but obviously their story tells a different tale.  They tell me it’s the school that’s hopeless, the teacher’s hopeless, little Jack is being picked on, is misunderstood, or simply can’t help behaving the way he does.  An equally endless catalogue of complaints but very much told in little Jack’s favour!

So many unhappy people – disgruntled, stressed and blaming everybody else for the dilemma of children’s problem behaviour!

That makes teachers mad then? Well, yes it does. Why?  Let me explain – I promise I’ll get to the point eventually…

When I’m told all these stories about problem behaviour in school I ask people what they’re doing about the problems they’re having managing and changing children’s behaviour for the better.

They offer a list of strategies they’ve always used. But that’s generally followed by them telling me the strategies don’t work because there’s something wrong with the child, their parents or their home life, etc.

I then ask why they continue to use the strategies if they’re not working?

Are they expecting the repetitions of something that isn’t working to eventually result in a different outcome?

Of course that’s not going to happen…

So that makes them mad?  Yes, it does if you’re using a common definition of madness.

So what is the definition of madness?  It’s said to be the repeating  of the same action over and over again expecting a different result.

Seriously thought, what if you’re repeating things over again because you don’t know what the alternative is?  Or even that there is a different way of doing things?  You’ve never been told and you’ve had no effective behaviour management training and consequently you haven’t a clue what to do?

The vast majority of people I speak to are in this position, from trainee teachers to those who’ve been teaching for years and head teachers who are trying to get a grip on deteriorating behaviour  in their schools.

Of course I’m joking about people being mad but many are being driven towards serious ill health by children’s behaviour becoming more and more disruptive and out of control.

Just this week  a school have referred a very young child to me who is totally out of control. One member of staff had to be sent home because they were at the point of collapse and allegedly the class teacher isn’t far behind in the stress stakes…

All because of a 7 year old child…

No, it’s not madness but it’s sad and it’s causing unbearable levels of stress, unhappiness, poor academic results. Out of control, disruptive behaviour is a major contributory factor associated with the ills in education and society in general.

But you can do something about it and help increase your survival chances in the classroom and quite easily as it happens.  You can read about the techniques, practise them and apply them consistently… It soon becomes second nature.

I follow my own advice every working day with the most potentially challenging behaviour from disruptive, unhappy and confrontational children.  And my stress levels are surprisingly low…  Behaviour Bible can be downloaded easily and gives you down to earth, easy to follow information to transform your classroom.

Thanks for reading, Liz Marsden @ Behaviour Bible

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