When Student Behaviors Leave You Fresh-Out of Patience: A Toolkit for Teachers

Somehow, summer ended and we are now full-on in the swing of things. Now’s the time when we are getting our systems and routines in place so that the rest of the year can feel like a cake-walk.

Only in a perfect world.

But seriously, the time and effort we put in now does have a major impact on the entire year. And the more we keep up with those systems and routines we’ve started, the more magical moments we see.

Of course, all the effort and consistency in the world won’t stop those I-want-to-bang-my-head-against-a-wall moments from arising; you know, those times when you think to yourself, “SERIOUSLY, why is this behavior happening!?” It’ll creep in after the honeymoon phase settles, and you’ll be flabbergasted as to why your students are demonstrating these behaviors which go against everything you’ve taught them. Or, at least, you thought you taught them.

A few years ago, I kept having those “are you kidding me?” moments. I felt like I kept seeing behaviors that didn’t match with my expectations – and when you feel like you’ve already clearly taught a behavior expectation, it feels exhausting to continue to witness students do the opposite. I was completely drained and frustrated in those moments.

So I tried to figure out just what I should do about it.

The thing is, whether you’ve taught it or not, if students aren’t demonstrating the behavior, you clearly didn’t teach it well enough. And so I realized, what I thought I taught, I didn’t really teach. And I mean, teach, like a complete mini-lesson with explaination and modeling, with student practice and discussion, with continuous review and reflection. So, I developed my routine of a weekly Learning Behavior Goal.

Here are the main reasons I use a weekly Learning Behavior Goal in my classroom:

•        It reminds ME to teach into specific behaviors that help our classroom learning continue at its best.

•        Having the routine gives me the time to actually TEACH INTO the examples and non-examples of the target behavior, rather than assuming students know it already.

•        It causes me to stick to ONE goal throughout the week, and it reminds me to revisit it each day in many parts of the day, as it is the main behavior focus for the week.

•        It causes students to learn to think about their behaviors in relation to the success of their learning and our classroom

•        It gives students the opportunity to build daily reflection skills as they monitor their own progress.

Here’s my weekly routine:

PREP TIME:

•        Decide which goal you’ll introduce. I choose a goal based on skills I notice students need more explicit instruction in, or simply based on behaviors that I am noticing are bothering me within the classroom.

Monday Morning

•        During part of our Monday morning routine, I spend about 15 minutes introducing the new goal. When introducing the goal, I am sure to include examples and non-examples, either modeling myself or having volunteers model the behavior/non-behavior for me. I am also sure to give an explanation for WHY. This can either be done be presenting a problem that I’ve noticed (and after several weeks of this routine, you may find that students hear a problem you present and come up with a similar learning behavior goal idea on their own! It becomes a great lead-in). I also ask students to share times in the day they might need to use this goal and why. After teaching into the goal, I send students off with their goal (the square piece of paper) and a front/back learning behavior goal sheet. They go off to their desks and spend about 5 minutes gluing the square to their learning behavior goal sheet, and drawing examples/non-examples. They put it in their nametag pouch (or whatever safe place you’ve taught them to keep it for the week – you’ll want it accessible for them), and then they are done for now!

Monday-Thursday Afternoons

•        Each afternoon just before pack up, I ask students to reflect on their learning behavior goal.  At the beginning of the year, you’ll have to model and really teach how to thoughtfully reflect, how to mark it, and that it’s great to work for improvement, not simply be great at it the first day. Students mark an M for Monday, T for Tuesday, etc., so that they can track their progress through the week. After making their mark, they return the learning behavior goal sheet to their nametag pouch (or whatever spot you choose) so it is accessible for the rest of the week.

Friday Afternoon

•        Friday afternoon follows the same above afternoon routine, with a few extra steps:

•        Students will also reflect on if they’ve met the goal or if they want to keep practicing it. (If you reach a point where you are allowing students to choose their goals each week, either from a few choices or one they think of, they could choose to use the same goal again. But, for a long time, I usually choose to give the same goal to all students to aid in our classroom reflection conversations; in this case, ‘continuing to work on the goal’ would be something they can do in addition to what they’ll learn next week.

•        On Fridays, students take their learning behavior goal sheet home in their take-home pouch (or however you’ve decided for them to transport it home)

Whenever you see if

•        Throughout the week, you’ll want to refer to the learning behavior goal, either noticing times students are working to show it and how that’s helpful, or times students might need to use it – in preparation for practice.

And now, the whole system is available to you, too! 

                                   Learning Behavior Goal Toolkit

I teach 1^st grade, and I find that as long as I invest the time in teaching students to focus on, reflect upon, and utilize their weekly learning behavior goal, the system helps us all. My Kinder Colleague also uses a Learning Behavior Goal system, which I’ve included system ideas and forms for within the Learning Behavior Goal Toolkit. The goals within the toolkit are ones I or my college have used in the past, but there is also a blank template for you to be able to make your own based on what you notice in your own classroom.

I chose to make this system more individualized, rather than simply posting a class goal, for a few reasons. First, with some teaching about planning and reflection, it allows kids to take ownership of their own plans for implementing the goal and their own personal reflection of their use of the goal so far. To be honest, though, my ultimate goal in using this system in an individualized way was in hopes of reaching the point where I could actually give students individualized goals when needed. I haven’t quite reached that point, but last Spring, students did ask if they could create their own Learning Behavior Goal for the week, and it was really cool to see what they came up with. Occasionally, I’ll also put up a few past goals for students to choose from, so that they have choice in which goal they’ll review and re-practice.

Of course, there are always more ways we can stretch our thinking and our systems to better support each individual student’s needs. I do, however, see this as a pretty great start.

So now, when I have those "are you kidding me?" moments (yes, they still happen from time to time)  - I don't feel like I have to bang my head against that wall. I remind myself that the behavior hasn't been taught well enough yet, I make a note and do my best to ignore that specific behavior  for that moment - because the very next week, you know it's going to be our learning behavior goal! 

Whether you decide to try this system for yourself or not, just remember that the ways in which you strive to support your students, even through those bang-my-head-against-the-wall moments, already makes you pretty magical.