Behaviour Management problems in the classroom

[MetaphorsBeWithYou]

I’m looking for advice on how to improve my behaviour management skills, which have recently been criticised in a professional development review. I’m a senior school teacher and I have been for a good while. In the past few years I have had problems with younger pupils - those aged 12, 13 and 14. The older pupils, those doing real exams, are fine.
I suppose I am too soft with them. I don’t like giving out punishments, so I am guilty of threatening things like detention, and not following through. I’ve been reading on the subject and I’m currently reading “Running the Room: The Teacher’s Guide to Behaviour” by Tom Bennett. One of the things that he says in it is that a teacher should have a script for use in these behaviour management situations. I think my script is ineffective. I just find myself talking to the pupil about manners, respect and obeying the school rules. I tell them that I’m in my workplace and their behaviour is distracting others which isn’t fair. They don’t care and they don’t apologise.
I’m a very dedicated and hard working teacher. Anyone who is willing to work in my class gets excellent results. I frequently go above and beyond for my pupils. I’m not a quiet or shy person at all - although at the moment, I am very demoralised. I am small, though (5 ft 2) and I try not to shout, because I think it upsets more sensitive pupils and is wearing and unpleasant.
If you are, have been, or have ever seen in action a teacher whose pupils behaved well for them, (or dared not behave badly) I would really value some advice from you.

Bob, I need you to sit down now and stop hitting Fred.
Bob, stop hitting Fred.
Bob, stop that now.

Everyone looking this way. Pens down mouths closed thank you. Bob, pen down thank you.

They don't want to hear about manners and respect and your workplace.

@MrsHamlet, that literally sounds like an impression of me! I go on like that ALL the time, in a deliberately bland, dogged way. I don’t let anything go unchallenged. In a 40 minute class, I can say “Bob”, twenty times. I don’t get a lot of teaching done, though. Bob gets all my attention, for being bad. The good kids just get to listen to me trying to correct Bob. Who I think has untreated ADHD.

I will start by saying that I sympathise - behaviour management is hard and it is particularly difficult at the moment, nationally.

I've always worked in 'challenging' schools. Your height is irrelevant. You don't need to shout. You have identified your own problem: "I don’t like giving out punishments, so I am guilty of threatening things like detention, and not following through." Children are misbehaving in your lessons, and very likely not in others, because you have repeatedly shown them that they will get away with it. Nobody 'likes' giving out punishments, unless they are a sadist. When a child misbehaves it is your job to correct the behaviour, and issue a consequence if it continues. You don't need to spend hours supervising detentions because the certainty of the consequence is much, much more important than the severity.

If you are staying in the same school next year you will have a bit of a hill to climb in re-asserting yourself and undoing your current reputation as a bit of a soft touch. The good news is that children are quick learners. If you are absolutely relentless in the first term with the admin of following up consequences and contacting home where necessary it will pay dividends. Make sure that you know the school behaviour policy inside out and use it to support your own classroom behaviour management for the tough nuts which need to be escalated.

Good luck!

I agree with the PP.

Bob carries on doing the thing... Bob gets to spend his free time with me. That's life, Bob. You have to follow through.

I'm primary but was listening to the teacher who covers my PPA asking my class to sit down and be quiet. They all carried on, to the point I was quite shocked they were ignoring her because her voice was very authoritative. But when they didn't stop...nothing happened. There was no consequence and they've obviously learned over time that is the case. It was one of those things that was so obvious when watching (as I'm sure would be the case if someone observed me) but I can imagine hard to understand as the teacher. I think the children are probably aware that you're issuing empty threats. Agree it really is hard though when some of the children have ADHD!

Do you have a behaviour policy where you can remove students? We have warn, move (move seat), remove. I have now leaned to be absolutely crystal clear when giving the warning, and when I move them, reminding them that the next step is remove.

Send them out for a word. "You've got two options, either come back in and behave or be removed to another class and you'll have a detention".
You can still have a good relationship with your students but they appreciate a firm and fair teacher.

Thank you. I have to admit, I’m a bit vague on the details of the school’s behaviour policy and I’m not even sure where to find it. I’m now afraid to ask for things like that. My previous school had a warn - move - remove policy and my Hod was really good about always accepting any excluded pupils into his classroom. He was a super-strict, scary old guy and they always behaved for him. My current Hod recently found me in the corridor trying to reason with an excitable 13 year old and she gave ME a telling off for leaving the rest of the class unsupervised. I was previously a college lecturer. I never had any behaviour issues because my youngest students were 16 and they all wanted to be there.

I'm glad you didn't post this outside the Staffroom because you should be all over the school's behaviour policy. If I was even doing supply in a school I'd expect to be directed to it as a matter of course.

To save your blushes, look in your school's Policies/Behaviour section online. It should be there. Check the date. If it's over two ears old, then ask if there's newer version. Sometimes schools can be patchy about uploading new versions.

The behaviour policy is there to support you. Get your hands on it one way or another today. It should be on the school website or intranet.

My current Hod recently found me in the corridor trying to reason with an excitable 13 year old

Stop trying to reason with them.

You are in authority. Issue instruction. Make consequences for non compliance clear, impose consequences as needed, every time. Rinse and repeat.

in private - Bob, I really like having you in my classroom because you are great at x. However, we do not allow anyone to do [very specific behaviour that needs to stop]. Are you ready to rejoin the lesson and do [clear brief description of what you want the child to do]?
If the answer of ‘Yes’ - great let’s get back to it. I know you can do this.
if the answer is anything other than ‘Yes’. I can see you are not ready to come back in just yet. I’ll try again later.
This is a very quick conversation. There is no reasoning or explaining. Withdraw attention for anything other than ‘Yes’.

Do you teach the behaviour you want to see? Don’t assume your classes know what you want them to do. Inconsistency and negativity probably feature highly in their days; positive, consistent reinforcement makes them feel secure.

You say you threaten detentions then don't follow through. That is absolute kryptonite for behaviour management. Start setting those detentions and everything will improve at a rate of knots. Always follow through. If they don't come to the detention, double it and phone home. You'll have a rush of detentions for the first few weeks then they will get the message and everyone will be happier. Relentless consistency is what you need.

You should read “when the adults change everything changes” by Paul Dix. The idea of a ‘script’ really helped me. Also trying very hard not to let emotion into your voice (when dealing with bad behaviour), not shouting, not letting them see that they have got to you or upset you on any way. Just a calm, detached voice (I think he described it as like a newsreader, which I try to channel sometimes!)

And consistency, find out the behaviour system and follow it to the letter. But start every day with a clean slate- smile and welcome them every morning even if they were a nightmare the day before!

You just need to behaviour manage. Running the room is a fantastic book.

Consequences need to be followed up on. This is your biggest problem.

Do you have a seating plan? If you do, change it entirely and regularly.

Don't make threats, just do it. Phone/email their parents. Let them know what's happened.

Once all of the stuff your side has been done, then involve the head of year.

Thank you to everyone who has commented so far. I am taking note of all your suggestions.

It sounds like you do things right but that there is no consequence and maybe a bit too much chat about their behaviour. I agree though that using the behaviour policy is crucial. If the policy says two warnings and then removal you need to do it and show that you mean business.

Following through with sanctions and contacting home asap are the things I have found most effective.
Also, lots of positivity and praising all the good stuff helps you not feel so negative/naggy I find! Even though I find myself saying things like 'well done year 7, some of you are sat in your seats ready to go!' 😂

I've been teaching way too long and have a reputation for being blunt and a disciplinarian. I'm only 5'3" and look my age now. However, the kids pretty much always behave for me.

My secret is to use a blend of humour and sarcasm, more of the former, but resort to the latter when needed. I can control most classes by simply raising an eyebrow after a few months of teaching them.

In lesson 1 I give them my rules (my room, my rules). They are really simple: be quiet when I am speaking or waiting to speak (polite); complete work on time or if there is a problem, communicate with me sooner rather than later; if something is damaged by your actions, you replace it. If you don't agree with the rules, the door's there (nobody ever leaves!) In return for following my rules, we'll do X, Y and Z and hopefully we'll all have some fun along the way. The quicker you as a class get the rules, the better we'll get along. If a kid is speaking when I am, they get one warning. Because I teach Music, I emphasise that effort is more important than ability - if you try your best, I'm happy.

Basically I'm in charge. I offer them the carrot of really enjoying their learning but I'm not afraid to wield the stick of throwing them out. I have worked in some really tough schools earlier in my career, and my current school is lovely so if I get odd issues cropping up, it doesn't faze me.

I'm a senior school librarian not a teacher and I've had to learn behaviour management through experience! Mostly by watching the most effective teachers. My advice would be to follow the behaviour policy and always follow through. E.g. imagine whole class are making cat noises in silent reading time. Ineffective teacher: please let's not have this again, this is not acceptable and others want to learn blah blah. Me: no noises are needed, thank you. Everyone should be reading. I'm coming to talk about your reading now. Silence, please.
If they do it again later, shush please.
Follow through with detention threat if they do it repeatedly. Don't get cross, they just find it hilarious in my experience.
Firm voice, saying thank you at the end of your sentence in a firm tone. It amazed me that they listen to me so much more now I have these techniques. Be fair, too. Oh and kids with adhd are not bad. They are trying their best, they're just harder to manage, so I often give them a job, e.g. Adam you're in charge of spacing out the bean bags, thank you. Behaviour management is the hardest part of my job, and I don't even do it all day, but it can be relentless and exhausting. One other top tip I have is to jump on any unwanted behaviours really early on, e.g. say quietly, thank you, as soon as someone talks. I used to leave it thinking it would quieten down as I don't really like confrontation, but I quickly realised that this leads to no boundaries and it quickly escalates. I think if we always show respect for the pupils and start each day with a clean slate, it's often the most challenging pupils who we come to have the best interactions with and who we see develop the most.

Consistency is key. Always follow through with the consequences you threatened. I use ClassDojo, which I tie in with the school's behaviour policy. So 1 negative Dojo point is a warning. 2 equal a behaviour point on the school system. Detentions are run centrally, and are given for a certain number of behaviour points. 2 positive Dojo points equal an achievement point on the school system.

It works really well, because it's instant and visible on screen, and it saves a record of all past points even when you zero it for the new week. The students know the system, and you can set it up with your own categories to give points for. Plus they have cute monster avatars which even Y11 like! I don't get into discussions about behaviour.

Some great tips on this thread.

I will say though at my place that SLT would never take the child's side over the teacher as you describe.

Our behaviour policy is also discussed/we are reminded every week in briefing.

In my previous schools it was woolly/inconsistent/staff were blamed for incidents.

By all means work to improve, but the school doesn't sound brilliant either.

The fish rots from the Head...

I suppose I'm echoing others but my best advice is to be calm, consistent and always follow through. No stories, lectures etc. Just like @Malbecfan I do a run down of my class rules on day one (keeping it short and sweet).
"Bob, do you understand what you're meant to be doing? Lovely, get on please"
"Bob, I've asked you not to X so you're now on a warning, c'mon let's get on with this" (I'd usually then move towards Bob and try to prompt them in their writing a bit).
"Bob, you're now on your second warning for X, if it happens again then it will be a detention" (again, I'll add in some support for Bob if it's needed).
"Bob it is now going to be a detention for X."

I don't enter into an argument about it (I offer to chat after class if they'd like but for some reason they never do), and there's no 'earning it back' or anything like that.

"But miss, Gladys is also doing X why doesn't she have detention"
"Bob I'm not arguing about other students, we can chat about behaviour after class if you'd like, but for now you need to get back on task because I don't want it to escalate further and I don't think you do either."

I try to be as consistent as possible, whatever Gladys is doing will also have been dealt with in the same way, I just don't like to enter into tit-vs-tat convos.