"So the question: “How will we know if it’s working?” is a powerful one."
I have helped a few teachers set up behavior management plans for their classes. Each one was different because each one involves various amounts of time and energy required by the individual teacher. Different plans work for different teachers. Some involve extensive planning before implementation and may involve a lot of record-keeping during the implementation. That is just the first part though. Just because a plan is manageable for the teacher to implement, it doesn’t mean that it works.
I also advise teachers that they may attempt one plan but it doesn’t work so they should be willing to try something else if needed.
Of course, how do you know if it is working or not?
I had one teacher that tried a plan for two days and scrapped it saying that it didn’t work. Then she’d try something different for two more days and be frustrated when that didn’t work.
Whatever you chose to try, you need to try it for more than two days! I would give a plan at least two weeks before evaluating it for effectiveness. During these two weeks, students will test you to see if you really will follow through with the plan. It is important that you be fair and consistent with all of the students while implementing your plan. Students will want to see if you let someone else get away with something but enforce it with them. If this happens, your plan will never work.
During these two weeks, keep a daily frequency chart of the negative behaviors that you want to get rid of. At the end of the two weeks, this will help you decide if the plan is working or not.
At the end of two weeks, you can look at the frequency charts to determine if your plan is effective. You may need to do some adjustments to your plan but make sure your students know about these changes before implementing them.
What else would you do to see if a behavior plan is working? Please share.
Photo by Isaac Smith on Unsplash
No comments:
Post a Comment