Do you have the Behavior Blues? You know, the horrible knot you get in the pit of your stomach when you think about the “naughty” students in your class, the cold sweat when Johnny challenges you in front of the class, the cringed toes as you repeat directions for the 100th time or the exasperated groan when you call home yet again. We’ve all experienced the Behavior Blues in one form or another, but how do you beat them, once and for all?
We all know that misbehavior, whether minor or major, causes major teacher stress and loss of instructional time. Yet many teachers, including me, have made the conscious choice to “just deal” with it and trudge forward rather than create an effective solution. Why is this? For me, I tried everything I had in my repertoire—Treasure Box, teacher helper, loss of recess, parent contact, principal referral—with little results. I kept using the same techniques simply because I didn’t know what else to do.
A few years ago, the Behavior Blues finally got the best of me. After a daunting year with extremely challenging students, I was defeated and ready to quit teaching. Something had to give. I spent the summer reading about behavior management strategies and programs. After a great deal of research, I created the Golden Keys to Success, a systematic behavior system that teaches 5 key life skills that students need to become successful citizens. Students learn to be respectful, responsible, prepared, prompt and active participants. As a result, they take ownership of their behavior. Specific positive and negative consequences are used to reinforce behaviors. There is also daily home-school communication, which promotes a strong partnership.
The Golden Keys to Success program has everything that my classroom was lacking: explicit behavior expectations, specific positive and negative consequences, consistency, parent communication and student ownership. Detailed lesson plans and activities teach behavior indicators in a fun, engaging way with quality literature, cooking, writing and art activities.
Download our Golden Keys to Success Classroom Behavior Management Plan and accompanying lesson plans to beat those Behavior Blues once and for all!