Unlock the secrets to effective classroom behavior management with insights from Park Elementary's success story.
When a student presents negative behavior, teachers have to make an immediate decision on how to respond. They can either disrupt the lesson and address it, walk toward the student to see if proximity eliminates the behavior, display a non-verbal signal to redirect, or ignore it. Now, imagine having to do this for every minute of your working day. Do teachers always get it right? Of course not. There are times when a teacher leans too heavily on misbehavior and calls it out too often.
Is there a way to balance it all out? There’s a ratio commonly known in education, the 5:1, which suggests it takes 5 positive interactions for every 1 negative interaction. Teachers are encouraged to focus on the positive and reward behavior they want to see displayed in the classroom. As a result, students can adjust their behavior to meet expectations based on what they see and hear around them. This strategy takes time to perfect and a particular mindset. It requires patience, the ability to pause and think when unexpected behavior occurs, and filling the classroom with frequent statements about positive behavior.
Monica Wilhelm, principal at Park Elementary in Arkansas, experienced improvement in behaviors when teachers focused on the positive. It started with teachers reflecting on and refining current practices. In her team’s first year of using LiveSchool for behavior management, each teacher had their system on how students earned points. One teacher gave a green point when students provided a thoughtful answer, while another gave a green point for a student answering a question. This led to students coming up with any response just to earn a green point, which was not the intended outcome.
Also, during the first year of implementation, if a student earned a red point, it would be subtracted from their green point total. As the staff reflected on behaviors, they noticed students were being sent to the office at the start of the day upset. Monica shared, “At nine o'clock, when you're in the hole already… it's kind of hard for a kid to be motivated and pull out of it.” One negative action could impact a student’s entire school day. They knew it was time for a change.
The counselor at Park Elementary met with the LiveSchool team to brainstorm ideas to set the school up for success the following year. It was important for students to keep their green points and reward students for positive behavior. If a student received a red point, it would not be subtracted from the green points. Teachers would have conversations with the student about their misbehavior, and parents would be informed in order to reduce the likelihood of the behavior occurring again. This approach was extremely successful since students were not fans of red points. Monica shared, “The kids also don't feel so deflated because they're losing their green points.” The shift in focus led teachers to rethink point distribution, emphasizing positive behaviors which led to greater focus on green points.
In addition to focusing on the positive, many teachers were polling students to learn what rewards they wanted to earn. Some of their favorites were: having lunch with the teacher or a classmate, free time in class, wearing a hat, and Pokémon cards. Students were motivated to earn points and redeem the reward of their choice.
The implementation of the program led to greater collaboration among the staff. During team meetings, teachers reflected on what was working which continuously improved their classroom management. A committee was created, led by the assistant principal, to review behaviors, identify trends, and share school-wide focus areas with the staff.
If your school is implementing LiveSchool this year, Monica has some pointers:
Hear from Monica about Park Elementary’s experience with LiveSchool at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1CjkozZ4Yfn2TiVPDnrE7K
When a student presents negative behavior, teachers have to make an immediate decision on how to respond. They can either disrupt the lesson and address it, walk toward the student to see if proximity eliminates the behavior, display a non-verbal signal to redirect, or ignore it. Now, imagine having to do this for every minute of your working day. Do teachers always get it right? Of course not. There are times when a teacher leans too heavily on misbehavior and calls it out too often.
Is there a way to balance it all out? There’s a ratio commonly known in education, the 5:1, which suggests it takes 5 positive interactions for every 1 negative interaction. Teachers are encouraged to focus on the positive and reward behavior they want to see displayed in the classroom. As a result, students can adjust their behavior to meet expectations based on what they see and hear around them. This strategy takes time to perfect and a particular mindset. It requires patience, the ability to pause and think when unexpected behavior occurs, and filling the classroom with frequent statements about positive behavior.
Monica Wilhelm, principal at Park Elementary in Arkansas, experienced improvement in behaviors when teachers focused on the positive. It started with teachers reflecting on and refining current practices. In her team’s first year of using LiveSchool for behavior management, each teacher had their system on how students earned points. One teacher gave a green point when students provided a thoughtful answer, while another gave a green point for a student answering a question. This led to students coming up with any response just to earn a green point, which was not the intended outcome.
Also, during the first year of implementation, if a student earned a red point, it would be subtracted from their green point total. As the staff reflected on behaviors, they noticed students were being sent to the office at the start of the day upset. Monica shared, “At nine o'clock, when you're in the hole already… it's kind of hard for a kid to be motivated and pull out of it.” One negative action could impact a student’s entire school day. They knew it was time for a change.
The counselor at Park Elementary met with the LiveSchool team to brainstorm ideas to set the school up for success the following year. It was important for students to keep their green points and reward students for positive behavior. If a student received a red point, it would not be subtracted from the green points. Teachers would have conversations with the student about their misbehavior, and parents would be informed in order to reduce the likelihood of the behavior occurring again. This approach was extremely successful since students were not fans of red points. Monica shared, “The kids also don't feel so deflated because they're losing their green points.” The shift in focus led teachers to rethink point distribution, emphasizing positive behaviors which led to greater focus on green points.
In addition to focusing on the positive, many teachers were polling students to learn what rewards they wanted to earn. Some of their favorites were: having lunch with the teacher or a classmate, free time in class, wearing a hat, and Pokémon cards. Students were motivated to earn points and redeem the reward of their choice.
The implementation of the program led to greater collaboration among the staff. During team meetings, teachers reflected on what was working which continuously improved their classroom management. A committee was created, led by the assistant principal, to review behaviors, identify trends, and share school-wide focus areas with the staff.
If your school is implementing LiveSchool this year, Monica has some pointers:
Hear from Monica about Park Elementary’s experience with LiveSchool at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1CjkozZ4Yfn2TiVPDnrE7K
When a student presents negative behavior, teachers have to make an immediate decision on how to respond. They can either disrupt the lesson and address it, walk toward the student to see if proximity eliminates the behavior, display a non-verbal signal to redirect, or ignore it. Now, imagine having to do this for every minute of your working day. Do teachers always get it right? Of course not. There are times when a teacher leans too heavily on misbehavior and calls it out too often.
Is there a way to balance it all out? There’s a ratio commonly known in education, the 5:1, which suggests it takes 5 positive interactions for every 1 negative interaction. Teachers are encouraged to focus on the positive and reward behavior they want to see displayed in the classroom. As a result, students can adjust their behavior to meet expectations based on what they see and hear around them. This strategy takes time to perfect and a particular mindset. It requires patience, the ability to pause and think when unexpected behavior occurs, and filling the classroom with frequent statements about positive behavior.
Monica Wilhelm, principal at Park Elementary in Arkansas, experienced improvement in behaviors when teachers focused on the positive. It started with teachers reflecting on and refining current practices. In her team’s first year of using LiveSchool for behavior management, each teacher had their system on how students earned points. One teacher gave a green point when students provided a thoughtful answer, while another gave a green point for a student answering a question. This led to students coming up with any response just to earn a green point, which was not the intended outcome.
Also, during the first year of implementation, if a student earned a red point, it would be subtracted from their green point total. As the staff reflected on behaviors, they noticed students were being sent to the office at the start of the day upset. Monica shared, “At nine o'clock, when you're in the hole already… it's kind of hard for a kid to be motivated and pull out of it.” One negative action could impact a student’s entire school day. They knew it was time for a change.
The counselor at Park Elementary met with the LiveSchool team to brainstorm ideas to set the school up for success the following year. It was important for students to keep their green points and reward students for positive behavior. If a student received a red point, it would not be subtracted from the green points. Teachers would have conversations with the student about their misbehavior, and parents would be informed in order to reduce the likelihood of the behavior occurring again. This approach was extremely successful since students were not fans of red points. Monica shared, “The kids also don't feel so deflated because they're losing their green points.” The shift in focus led teachers to rethink point distribution, emphasizing positive behaviors which led to greater focus on green points.
In addition to focusing on the positive, many teachers were polling students to learn what rewards they wanted to earn. Some of their favorites were: having lunch with the teacher or a classmate, free time in class, wearing a hat, and Pokémon cards. Students were motivated to earn points and redeem the reward of their choice.
The implementation of the program led to greater collaboration among the staff. During team meetings, teachers reflected on what was working which continuously improved their classroom management. A committee was created, led by the assistant principal, to review behaviors, identify trends, and share school-wide focus areas with the staff.
If your school is implementing LiveSchool this year, Monica has some pointers:
Hear from Monica about Park Elementary’s experience with LiveSchool at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1CjkozZ4Yfn2TiVPDnrE7K
When a student presents negative behavior, teachers have to make an immediate decision on how to respond. They can either disrupt the lesson and address it, walk toward the student to see if proximity eliminates the behavior, display a non-verbal signal to redirect, or ignore it. Now, imagine having to do this for every minute of your working day. Do teachers always get it right? Of course not. There are times when a teacher leans too heavily on misbehavior and calls it out too often.
Is there a way to balance it all out? There’s a ratio commonly known in education, the 5:1, which suggests it takes 5 positive interactions for every 1 negative interaction. Teachers are encouraged to focus on the positive and reward behavior they want to see displayed in the classroom. As a result, students can adjust their behavior to meet expectations based on what they see and hear around them. This strategy takes time to perfect and a particular mindset. It requires patience, the ability to pause and think when unexpected behavior occurs, and filling the classroom with frequent statements about positive behavior.
Monica Wilhelm, principal at Park Elementary in Arkansas, experienced improvement in behaviors when teachers focused on the positive. It started with teachers reflecting on and refining current practices. In her team’s first year of using LiveSchool for behavior management, each teacher had their system on how students earned points. One teacher gave a green point when students provided a thoughtful answer, while another gave a green point for a student answering a question. This led to students coming up with any response just to earn a green point, which was not the intended outcome.
Also, during the first year of implementation, if a student earned a red point, it would be subtracted from their green point total. As the staff reflected on behaviors, they noticed students were being sent to the office at the start of the day upset. Monica shared, “At nine o'clock, when you're in the hole already… it's kind of hard for a kid to be motivated and pull out of it.” One negative action could impact a student’s entire school day. They knew it was time for a change.
The counselor at Park Elementary met with the LiveSchool team to brainstorm ideas to set the school up for success the following year. It was important for students to keep their green points and reward students for positive behavior. If a student received a red point, it would not be subtracted from the green points. Teachers would have conversations with the student about their misbehavior, and parents would be informed in order to reduce the likelihood of the behavior occurring again. This approach was extremely successful since students were not fans of red points. Monica shared, “The kids also don't feel so deflated because they're losing their green points.” The shift in focus led teachers to rethink point distribution, emphasizing positive behaviors which led to greater focus on green points.
In addition to focusing on the positive, many teachers were polling students to learn what rewards they wanted to earn. Some of their favorites were: having lunch with the teacher or a classmate, free time in class, wearing a hat, and Pokémon cards. Students were motivated to earn points and redeem the reward of their choice.
The implementation of the program led to greater collaboration among the staff. During team meetings, teachers reflected on what was working which continuously improved their classroom management. A committee was created, led by the assistant principal, to review behaviors, identify trends, and share school-wide focus areas with the staff.
If your school is implementing LiveSchool this year, Monica has some pointers:
Hear from Monica about Park Elementary’s experience with LiveSchool at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1CjkozZ4Yfn2TiVPDnrE7K
Stella Ikhnana has 10 years experience as a Special Education Teacher. Social emotional learning, self-advocacy and executive functioning were her top priorities throughout her teaching career. As an English Language Learner, she brought her experience to the classroom and kept students first in mind in her decisions. She earned a bachelor's degree from Loyola University Chicago and master's degree in Literacy Education from Northeastern Illinois University. She currently works as a Client Success Manager at a marketing software company.
Behavior management can make or break a classroom. While presenting a lesson, a teacher is actively monitoring the room to ensure students are listening and displaying expected behavior.
When a student presents negative behavior, teachers have to make an immediate decision on how to respond. They can either disrupt the lesson and address it, walk toward the student to see if proximity eliminates the behavior, display a non-verbal signal to redirect, or ignore it. Now, imagine having to do this for every minute of your working day. Do teachers always get it right? Of course not. There are times when a teacher leans too heavily on misbehavior and calls it out too often.
Is there a way to balance it all out? There’s a ratio commonly known in education, the 5:1, which suggests it takes 5 positive interactions for every 1 negative interaction. Teachers are encouraged to focus on the positive and reward behavior they want to see displayed in the classroom. As a result, students can adjust their behavior to meet expectations based on what they see and hear around them. This strategy takes time to perfect and a particular mindset. It requires patience, the ability to pause and think when unexpected behavior occurs, and filling the classroom with frequent statements about positive behavior.
Monica Wilhelm, principal at Park Elementary in Arkansas, experienced improvement in behaviors when teachers focused on the positive. It started with teachers reflecting on and refining current practices. In her team’s first year of using LiveSchool for behavior management, each teacher had their system on how students earned points. One teacher gave a green point when students provided a thoughtful answer, while another gave a green point for a student answering a question. This led to students coming up with any response just to earn a green point, which was not the intended outcome.
Also, during the first year of implementation, if a student earned a red point, it would be subtracted from their green point total. As the staff reflected on behaviors, they noticed students were being sent to the office at the start of the day upset. Monica shared, “At nine o'clock, when you're in the hole already… it's kind of hard for a kid to be motivated and pull out of it.” One negative action could impact a student’s entire school day. They knew it was time for a change.
The counselor at Park Elementary met with the LiveSchool team to brainstorm ideas to set the school up for success the following year. It was important for students to keep their green points and reward students for positive behavior. If a student received a red point, it would not be subtracted from the green points. Teachers would have conversations with the student about their misbehavior, and parents would be informed in order to reduce the likelihood of the behavior occurring again. This approach was extremely successful since students were not fans of red points. Monica shared, “The kids also don't feel so deflated because they're losing their green points.” The shift in focus led teachers to rethink point distribution, emphasizing positive behaviors which led to greater focus on green points.
In addition to focusing on the positive, many teachers were polling students to learn what rewards they wanted to earn. Some of their favorites were: having lunch with the teacher or a classmate, free time in class, wearing a hat, and Pokémon cards. Students were motivated to earn points and redeem the reward of their choice.
The implementation of the program led to greater collaboration among the staff. During team meetings, teachers reflected on what was working which continuously improved their classroom management. A committee was created, led by the assistant principal, to review behaviors, identify trends, and share school-wide focus areas with the staff.
If your school is implementing LiveSchool this year, Monica has some pointers:
Hear from Monica about Park Elementary’s experience with LiveSchool at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1CjkozZ4Yfn2TiVPDnrE7K
Behavior management can make or break a classroom. While presenting a lesson, a teacher is actively monitoring the room to ensure students are listening and displaying expected behavior.
When a student presents negative behavior, teachers have to make an immediate decision on how to respond. They can either disrupt the lesson and address it, walk toward the student to see if proximity eliminates the behavior, display a non-verbal signal to redirect, or ignore it. Now, imagine having to do this for every minute of your working day. Do teachers always get it right? Of course not. There are times when a teacher leans too heavily on misbehavior and calls it out too often.
Is there a way to balance it all out? There’s a ratio commonly known in education, the 5:1, which suggests it takes 5 positive interactions for every 1 negative interaction. Teachers are encouraged to focus on the positive and reward behavior they want to see displayed in the classroom. As a result, students can adjust their behavior to meet expectations based on what they see and hear around them. This strategy takes time to perfect and a particular mindset. It requires patience, the ability to pause and think when unexpected behavior occurs, and filling the classroom with frequent statements about positive behavior.
Monica Wilhelm, principal at Park Elementary in Arkansas, experienced improvement in behaviors when teachers focused on the positive. It started with teachers reflecting on and refining current practices. In her team’s first year of using LiveSchool for behavior management, each teacher had their system on how students earned points. One teacher gave a green point when students provided a thoughtful answer, while another gave a green point for a student answering a question. This led to students coming up with any response just to earn a green point, which was not the intended outcome.
Also, during the first year of implementation, if a student earned a red point, it would be subtracted from their green point total. As the staff reflected on behaviors, they noticed students were being sent to the office at the start of the day upset. Monica shared, “At nine o'clock, when you're in the hole already… it's kind of hard for a kid to be motivated and pull out of it.” One negative action could impact a student’s entire school day. They knew it was time for a change.
The counselor at Park Elementary met with the LiveSchool team to brainstorm ideas to set the school up for success the following year. It was important for students to keep their green points and reward students for positive behavior. If a student received a red point, it would not be subtracted from the green points. Teachers would have conversations with the student about their misbehavior, and parents would be informed in order to reduce the likelihood of the behavior occurring again. This approach was extremely successful since students were not fans of red points. Monica shared, “The kids also don't feel so deflated because they're losing their green points.” The shift in focus led teachers to rethink point distribution, emphasizing positive behaviors which led to greater focus on green points.
In addition to focusing on the positive, many teachers were polling students to learn what rewards they wanted to earn. Some of their favorites were: having lunch with the teacher or a classmate, free time in class, wearing a hat, and Pokémon cards. Students were motivated to earn points and redeem the reward of their choice.
The implementation of the program led to greater collaboration among the staff. During team meetings, teachers reflected on what was working which continuously improved their classroom management. A committee was created, led by the assistant principal, to review behaviors, identify trends, and share school-wide focus areas with the staff.
If your school is implementing LiveSchool this year, Monica has some pointers:
Hear from Monica about Park Elementary’s experience with LiveSchool at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1CjkozZ4Yfn2TiVPDnrE7K
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