Teachers can use different interventions to ensure that students follow the expected behavior in classrooms. There are nonverbal (planned ignoring, proximity control, and signal interference) and verbal (redirection, contingent praise, and tension reduction) strategies. Planned ignoring implies withdrawing a student who is maintaining an adverse behavior, and this approach is effective when students misbehave to get attention (Glock & Kleen, 2019). Proximity control denotes that teachers can come close to misbehaving students to make them demonstrate improved compliance. Furthermore, signal interference refers to using gestures and facial expressions to make students understand that their behavior is inappropriate. As for verbal strategies, redirections mean that teachers should make some corrective comments before students’ minor infractions turn into major disruptions (Shepherd & Linn, 2014). Contingent praise is another effective approach that implies using positive comments immediately after a student has implemented expected behaviors (Saraspe & Abocejo, 2020). Finally, tension reduction is necessary to ensure that the learning environment is not extremely stressful for students, and a teacher can use jokes to alleviate extra tension. These strategies can help teachers maintain a productive environment in the classroom.
Being a preschool teacher, I use all these verbal and nonverbal intervention strategies, but a few of them are preferred. Firstly, I like using signal interference because children can effectively connect specific gestures and expected behaviors. My students understand that they are expected to be quiet when I press a finger to my lips. Secondly, verbal redirection is a practical approach because it seems more efficient to prevent major disruptions than to deal with its consequences. Finally, contingent praise is among the most influential strategies because it helps children understand what behaviors and actions lead to the teacher’s positive comments. These approaches help me motivate children to maintain positive behaviors.
References
Glock, S., & Kleen, H. (2019). Teachers’ responses to student misbehavior: The role of expertise.Teaching Education, 30(1), 52-68.
Saraspe, L. D., & Abocejo, F. T. (2020). Effectiveness of descriptive praise on the English composition skill of bridging students. European Journal of English Language Teaching, 5(4), 18-38. Web.
Shepherd, T. L., & Linn, D. (2014). Behavior and classroom management in the multicultural classroom: Proactive, active, and reactive strategies. SAGE Publications, Inc.