Behavior management plans

Saving a problematic student

There is a distinction between learning management and behavior management. To become better at identifying the need of the classroom climate, one must identify the learning management techniques that can be used to enhance the culture of the classroom as well as pointers to handle challenging behavior of students. A well-managed classroom will not have many behavior problems unless a student with specific behavior problems is a member. In that case, the teacher must create a behavior management plan for the specific student.

An example of a behavior management plan in use.

Many of my teachers have never heard of a behavior management plan. The general idea in the country where my school is located is that if a student is acting out then the student needs to shape up or leave.

A student in an Advanced Level (CEFR C2) English class has been having problems to the point where her long-term classmates are ready to revolt. I decided to draft a behavior management plan to show teachers another way to handle difficult behaviors without giving up on the student.

How to use the plan

Above is the behavior management plan I created for the student (not her real name). The process is straightforward: sit down and fill in the boxes with the relevant information. Following is a breakdown of the content to include.

Problem behavior

What is the problematic behavior? The tl;dr version that you would say to your colleagues, supervisor, or director.

Details

List the exact detailed incidents that occur here. Write as objectively as possible. Include examples of all the problematic behaviors you have personally observed and what has been reported to you (and by whom).

Goals

What do you ultimately want to achieve? What is your final objective regarding this student? Be honest here or you won't achieve your goal.

Target replacement behaviors

What new behaviors do you want the student to have in place of the problematic ones?

Student feedback

Two things can go here but, ultimately, it is a record of the student's response to the behavior management plan.

1) What the student says to you when you talk with them about what's going on.

2) The student's verbal and non-verbal responses during any discussions you have with them or during the implementation of the behavior management plan.

Methods to monitor

How you plan to monitor any changes in the student's behavior during the implementation of the behavior management plan.

Family communication

Two things can go here but, ultimately, it is a record of the family's response to the behavior management plan.

1) What does the family say when you talk with them about what's going on and throughout the implementation of the behavior management plan.

2) The verbal and non-verbal reactions and responses of the family when interacting with them throughout the implementation of the behavior management plan.

Course of action

What is the immediate course of action you plan to take.

Follow through

How do you plan to follow up with the student's behavior? What future actions will you take? Include conditional actions (if the student response this way, I'll do this otherwise I'll do that)

Results

The feedback from my teachers has been generally positive. The ones involved with the student in the model here are enthusiastic about being able to help her and they're already talking about writing behavior management plans for other students they are having issues with.