THE BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT CYCLE ©Lee Canter 2009 1
CHAPTER TWO THE BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT CYCLE STEP ONE: EFFECTIVELY GIVE CLEAR DIRECTIONS The Behavior Management Cycle again, begins whenever teachers give directions to the students: One: Teachers clearly communicate the explicit directions they need the students to follow. Two: Teachers utilize a unique strategy called “Behavioral Narration” to provide positive support to students who are complying with the directions. Three: Teachers take corrective action with students who are still not complying with their directions. THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS Research indicates that the first step teachers need to take to motivate all the students to follow their directions is to make sure that the students know “exactly” how they are to behave in any activity they engage in, be it a transition from one activity to another, entering or leaving the classroom, during direct instruction, working in groups, etc. Riegler & Baer 1989, Walker & Walker 1991). Studies show that effectively communicating explicit directions is critical to reducing the disruptive behavior of students (Walker and Walker 1991) WHAT YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE AND HEAR You will often see that teachers who struggle with classroom management have the following weaknesses regarding how they communicate their expectations to students: Teacher Gives Vague Directions You will hear teachers giving unclear or vague directions to their students. Vague directions are those that do not explicitly communicate to students exactly “how” the teacher wants them to behave in order to be successful during an activity. Vague Directions 2
I need everyone to work on your assignment. I want everyone to take your chair to your study group and wait for my directions I want you to begin working with your partner on the questions on page 14 None of these directions again communicate to the students what it will “look” and “sound” like if they follow the directions. Teacher does not effectively give Directions You will in addition see ineffectual teachers: Giving the directions when they don’t have all the students’ attention Forgetting to check that the students understand the directions Allowing the students to start following the directions before they are ready for them to do so WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE AND HEAR The following are the guidelines of what you want to see and hear when teachers are effectively giving explicit directions: Directions tell Students “what” to do and “how” to do it Whenever teachers give directions to students they need make sure they communicate their expectations for “how” the students are to behave related to three key areas (Witt et al., 1999): Verbal Behavior Up to 80% of the disruptive behavior of students can be categorized as one form or another of inappropriate verbal behavior. Thus whenever teachers give directions to the students, they need to explicitly communicate what verbal behavior is expected.
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