Chapter 11 page 252
Private
reminder
The teacher privately reminds a
student of a rule or privately
reprimands the student.When Ellen is chewing gum in class, the teacher
walks over to her and, whispering, reminds her not to
chew gum.
Two boys were talking quietly for several
minutes during high school history class. After class,
the teacher privately speaks with them and directs
them not to talk when others are talking.
Reminder in a
soft voice
The teacher warns students in a
soft rather than a loud voice.The teacher is lecturing while two girls are
talking. The teacher pauses, lowers her voice level so
that it is not so loud, and says, “Girls.. .” as she
looks at them.
Public rule
reminder
A teacher can also directly
remind students that they are
breaking one of the classroom
rules.A teacher explicitly reminds two boys holding a
side conversation in the back of the room of the rule
to listen when others are speaking.Warn of
consequences
The teacher warns students of
consequences of continuing to
misbehave.When Bob and Allen are off task during group
work, the teacher warns them that they will have to
come to the teacher’s room after school to complete
their group work if they do not stop.Teachers often use more than one intervention to respond to minor misbehavior effectively. A teacher
may use two or more interventions simultaneously, or a teacher may use one intervention and shift to another
if the first one is not effective. Here are two examples of teachers using responses from Table 11.3:
Ɣ As Meagan, a third grade teacher, is explaining directions for a group activity, she observes that one
young girl (all the way across the room) is talking excitedly to her neighbor. Meagan continues to
explain the directions but makes her way very quickly toward the girl. She stands next to the girl,
places her hand on the girl’s desk and takes a deep breath (indicating to the girl that she needs to calm
down. This example demonstrates the teacher’s use of proximity and hand and facial expressions. In
this instance, there was no need to interrupt the lesson to verbally address this minor misbehavior.
Ɣ Upon returning back to the classroom, a student picks up the book bag that is on his desk and begins to
make a big show and a little noise while unpacking it. Melvin, his teacher, begins to walk toward the
student as he gives him “the look.” Unfortunately, this does nothing to stop the misbehavior.
Therefore, Melvin walks all the way over to the student, leans down a bit and quietly instructs him to
tone it down. In this situation, the teacher first tried to use a combination of proximity and “the look”
(two nonverbal interventions). Then, when nonverbal interventions did not work, he issued a private
reminder (verbal intervention). It is important to note that since the private reminder was done in a
relatively respectful way, there is higher probability that the student will stop the misbehavior and not
harbor resentment that could fester into future misbehavior.
There are occasions when the best strategy for dealing with minor misbehavior is to ignore it.
Sometimes students act out inappropriately because they crave attention. By responding to the misbehavior,
teachers are giving them attention, which functions as a positive reinforcement of the inappropriate
behavior. In these cases, the student may stop the misbehavior if it is ignored, as the misbehavior is not
rewarded with attention. When the student begins behaving well, the teacher can then give the student
attention, thus rewarding the student for good rather than bad behavior. Teachers’ knowledge of particular
students is critical in allowing them to wisely decide whether or ignore misbehavior. If ignoring the
misbehavior isn’t effective for a particular student, a teacher can implement a different strategy.
A general principle that teachers should use when responding to minor misbehavior is to respond to
minor misbehavior using the least disruptive intervention possible. This recommendation is known as the
Principle of Least Intervention (reference): Teachers should intervene as mildly as possible to avoid