have you ever felt that it didn't matter what the consequences were for a student's behaviour because that student's behaviour never changed when a behaviour management plan isn't working it may be time to change your strategy and perhaps that means taking a completely different approach despite all your best efforts at prevention there will always be times when students do not follow directions or comply with your expectations so how can you respond in a way that will help your students learn appropriate behaviour and maintain your positive relationships with your students it's essential to have calm considered responses to inappropriate behaviour if you want consequences to work and by work i mean student behaviour changes and we know that harsh punitive consequences are not effective jails are full of people who do not respond to the threat of incarceration so why do we think that loss of recess or suspension from school will work for students with behavior issues threats work for 75 to 85 percent of the population the other 25 percent need a different approach they need to be taught explicitly how to behave appropriately they need to be positively reinforced for appropriate behaviour they need support to behave appropriately and they also need considered responses when they behave inappropriately my name is mari amaro and i'm the principal presenter at the highly effective teacher i'm a teacher and i've been working with students and supporting teachers for over 30 years i'm passionate about teacher well-being at about positive behaviour management strategies and i combine research and experience to provide strategies that improve teacher well-being and improve use of positive behaviour management strategies especially practices that take no more extra time they can actually give you back time because you're working more effectively i love coaching teachers so they learn to thrive in the teaching profession not just survive improved teacher wellbeing means improved student wellbeing and that contributes to better academic and social outcomes for all our students if you'd like to learn more about teacher wellbeing please subscribe to our channel and ring the bell so that you receive notifications of all our videos when you subscribe that helps to support the channel it means that we can keep making these videos and get the information and support out to more teachers if your consequences are going to be effective they must be fair and respectful so what does that look like well first of all consequences need to be relevant relate consequences to the behaviour for example if a student displays inappropriate behaviour in maths doesn't make sense that they then miss out on sport they need to learn how to behave in maths so investigate the reasons why maths is a problem is it the time of day is it the expectation for work is it the student cohort teach and reinforce the appropriate behaviour in the context of which it occurs look at the function of the student's behaviour what is the student trying to gain or trying to avoid through their behaviour secondly consequences need to be known students must be aware of the consequences of their behaviour in advance there are no surprises as one of my colleagues says consequences should be boringly inevitable students know that if they don't complete their work in class and they'll have to complete it for homework or make up time during a break they know that if they waste time in class the teacher will speak to them privately about their behaviour keep any consequences short and to the point as soon as possible give the student the chance to have another go at doing the right thing and get back to the learning and if you're interested in how to create a safe learning environment for you and your students check out our video about the number one behaviour management tool consequences must be consistent now this doesn't mean that the consequence is the same for every student fear does not necessarily mean the same what it does mean is that your approach is consistently proactive caring and supporting and takes into account the students background and needs it also means that you will listen to their side of the story that you will maintain the dignity of the student that you will start fresh every day or every session with them and that you maintain high expectations and a high level of support and nurturing some teachers think that consistency means having the same consequence for all students but just as every student's learning needs are different so every student's behaviour learning needs are different while one student may respond to a look to get back onto task another student may need to take time out to calm themselves before getting back to work consistency really means that students know that there will be a follow-up and that they will learn through certainty rather than severity as bill rogers says if you're interested in how you can learn to be more consistent in your practice check out our video on teacher consistency where you'll learn what it means to be consistent and how you can use consistency to create more predictable and safe learning environment for you and your students consequences must be supportive this means that teachers have high expectations for their students and they provide high levels of support for students to live up to those expectations support could be in the form of a reward system an agreed cue between the teacher and the student or small group instruction about appropriate behaviour it could also mean working with the parents so that the student is getting the same message at home and at school remember consequences are not about punishing a student but about teaching them more appropriate ways to have their needs met all consequences need to be respectful respectful consequences are private and maintain the dignity of the student and the teacher some students hate being singled out even for praise so be mindful of how students feel keep students behind after class for a brief chat or talk to them in the breaks a student i heard about recently doesn't even like having corridor conferences because he feels like he's been singled out in front of the whole class so you need to think about how they feel in doing that students are more likely to be receptive to discussing their behaviour without an audience of their peers especially when they know that you'll listen to them maintaining positive relationships is vital so humiliation and belittling of students is totally unacceptable allow students to save base by having private conversation and you will maintain your own dignity prevent further escalation and development of secondary behaviours if you're feeling angry it may not be the best time to discuss a behaviour with a student you can model appropriate ways to deal with your anger by saying i'm feeling very angry right now i'm going to discuss this in a couple of minutes when i'm feeling calmer respectful consequences need to be a learning opportunity for the students problem behaviour is an opportunity for the student to learn about their environment and for us to learn about the student when we decide on relevant consequences we need to consider what the student will learn from them they may have learned that they get more attention from the teacher when they're off task than when they're on task and in that case you need to give more attention to on task behavior through a reward system or praise or non-verbal responses and minimal attention to off-task behaviour so a quick reminder an agreed secret cue or a reminder of the reward when consequences are fair and respectful there's more likelihood that students will learn better ways to meet their needs thanks for watching stay safe and happy [Music] teaching you