Developing a System for
Teaching Appropriate
Behavior
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Objectives
• Understand why and how to teach appropriate
behavior
• Identify how to develop lesson plans for
teaching school-wide expectations and rules
• Identify how to embed expectations in the
curriculum
• Explore creative ways to teach behavior
• Understand how to use data to make decisions
about teaching
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Character Education
• Easy to change moral knowledge..... ...difficult to
change moral conduct
• To change moral conduct...
– Adults must model moral behavior
– Students must experience academic success
– Students must be taught social skills for success
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My School’s
Expectations…
1. Be Safe
2. Be Responsible
3. Be Respectful
Once you have developed school-wide
expectations, it is not enough to just
post the words on the walls of the
classroom…
YOU MUST TEACH THEM!
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Behavioral Errors
• More often occur because:
 Students do not have appropriate skills- “Skill
Deficits”
 Students do not know when to use skills
 Students have not been taught specific
classroom procedures and routines
 Skills are not taught in context
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“If a child doesn’t know how to read, we teach.”
“If a child doesn’t know how to swim, we teach.”
“If a child doesn’t know how to multiply, we teach.”
“If a child doesn’t know how to drive, we teach.”
“If a child doesn’t know how to behave, we…
…teach? …punish?”
“Why can’t we finish the last sentence as
automatically as we do the others?”
(Herner, 1998)
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Why Develop a System for
Teaching Behavior?
• Behaviors are prerequisites for academics
• Procedures and routines create structure
• Repetition is key to learning new skills:
• For a child to learn something new, it needs to
be repeated on average of 8 times
• For a child to unlearn an old behavior and
replace with a new behavior, the new
behavior must be repeated on average 28
times (Harry Wong)
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Why Develop a System for
Teaching Behavior?
• We can no longer assume:
• Students know the expectations/rules and
appropriate ways to behave
• Students will learn appropriate behaviors
quickly and effectively without consistent
practice and modeling
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Why Develop a System for
Teaching Behavior?
• We must assume:
• Students will require different curricula,
instructional modalities, etc… to learn
appropriate behavior
• We need to teach expectations/rules and
appropriate behaviors as effectively as we
teach academic skills
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How Do We Teach Behavior?
• Introductory Events
– Teaching school to expectations and rules
• On-going Direct Instruction
– Specially designed lessons, character education
• Embedding in Other Curriculum
• Booster Trainings
• Keeping it Out There
– Visual Displays – posters, agenda covers
– Daily announcements
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Introductory Events
• All faculty and students participate
• Decide on method that will be most
effective for your school
• Consider Importance/Impact Activity/event should be a high priority…
not given a few minutes in some other
activity
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Creative Ideas:
“Putting it into Practice”
• Provide students with a script that includes actions and
words expected
• Rotate students through different settings-Teach the
behaviors in the setting where the behaviors are
expected to occur
• Have classes compete to come up with unique ideas
(student projects, bulletin boards, skits, songs, etc…)
• Recognize staff for creative activities
• Video students role-playing to teach expectations and
rules and show during morning show
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Specially Designed Lessons
• Provide initial lesson plans and/or lesson
plan format for teachers to begin
teaching behavior
• Build on what you have (I.e. character
ed.)
• Develop a system for expanding
behavior lesson plan ideas throughout
the year
• Determine the minimum requirements
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for teaching behavior (i.e. how often)
Lesson Plans: Two Levels
• Level 1: Concept Development (Expectations)
– Broad expectations
– Applicable to all settings
• Level 2: Skills (Rules)
– Observable behaviors
– Rules for specific settings
*****Lessons must be taught in setting that behavior occursFor example, if you are teaching cafeteria rules, students
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need to be in the cafeteria *******
Expectations & behavioral skills are
taught & recognized in natural context
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SETTING
TEACHING
MATRIX
Expectations
All Settings
Hallways
Playgrounds
Cafeteria
Library/
Computer
Lab
Assembly
Bus
Study, read,
compute.
Sit in one spot.
Watch for your
stop.
Respect
Ourselves
Be on task.
Give your
best effort.
Be prepared.
Walk.
Have a plan.
Eat all your
food.
Select
healthy
foods.
Respect
Others
Be kind.
Hands/feet to
self.
Help/share
with others.
Use normal
voice volume.
Walk to right.
Play safe.
Include others.
Share
equipment.
Practice
good table
manners
Whisper.
Return books.
Listen/watch.
Use appropriate
applause.
Use a quiet
voice.
Stay in your
seat.
Respect
Property
Recycle.
Clean up
after self.
Pick up litter.
Maintain
physical
space.
Use equipment
properly.
Put litter in
garbage can.
Replace
trays &
utensils.
Clean up
eating area.
Push in
chairs.
Treat books
carefully.
Pick up.
Treat chairs
appropriately.
Wipe your feet.
Sit
appropriately.
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RAH – at Adams City High School
(Respect – Achievement – Honor)
RAH
Classroom
Hallway/
Commons
Cafeteria
Bathrooms
Respect
Be on time; attend
regularly; follow class
rules
Keep location neat,
keep to the right, use
appropriate lang.,
monitor noise level,
allow others to pass
Put trash in cans, push
in your chair, be
courteous to all staff
and students
Keep area clean, put
trash in cans, be mindful
of others’ personal
space, flush toilet
Achievement
Do your best on all
assignments and
assessments, take notes,
ask questions
Keep track of your
belongings, monitor
time to get to class
Check space before you
leave, keep track of
personal belongings
Be a good example to
other students, leave the
room better than you
found it
Honor
Do your own work; tell
the truth
Be considerate of yours
and others’ personal
space
Keep your own place in
line, maintain personal
boundaries
Report any graffiti or
vandalism
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RAH – Athletics
RAH
Practice
Competitions
Eligibility
Lettering
Team Travel
Respect
Listen to coaches
directions; push
yourself and encourage
teammates to excel.
Show positive
sportsmanship; Solve
problems in mature
manner; Positive interactions with refs, umps,
etc.
Show up on time for
every practice and
competition.
Show up on time for
every practice and
competition; Compete
x%.
Take care of your own
possessions and litter;
be where you are
directed to be.
Achievement
Set example in the
classroom and in the
playing field as a true
achiever.
Set and reach for both
individual and team
goals; encourage your
teammates.
Earn passing grades;
Attend school regularly;
only excused absences
Demonstrate academic
excellence.
Complete your
assignments missed for
team travel.
Honor
Demonstrate good
sportsmanship and
team spirit.
Suit up in clean
uniforms; Win with
honor and integrity;
Represent your school
with good conduct.
Show team pride in and
out of the school. Stay
out of trouble – set a
good example for
others.
Suit up for any
competitions you are
not playing. Show team
honor.
Cheer for teammates.
Remember you are
acting on behalf of the
school at all times and
demonstrate team
honor/pride.
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Guidelines for Teaching Expectations:
Concept Level
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Teach As You Teach Core Academics:
Define in terms that students will
understand
List critical attributes
Provide examples and non-examples
Enhance concept development
Check for understanding
Extend concept development
Acknowledge efforts
Re-teach and restructure teaching
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Guidelines for Teaching Rules: Skill Level
• Identify problem settings
• Review school-wide expectations
• Describe the specific, observable skill(s)
for a targeted location and provide
examples and non-examples
• Engage students in an activity that will
allow them to practice the desired
behavior
• Reward appropriate behavior
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Expectations and Rules:
Mr. Michael’s Class
Expectations
Rules
Be Respectful of Self and
Others
Use a positive voice and
language
Raise your hand to share
your ideas
Follow Directions of all
School Staff
Complete all assigned
tasks
Stay Safe
Stay in assigned area
Keep hands and feet to
yourself
Strategies for Success
• Describe specific, observable behaviors for each
expectation
• Plan for modeling the desired behaviors
• Provide students with written and graphic cues
in the setting where the behaviors are expected
• Acknowledge efforts
• Plan to re-teach and restructure teaching
• Allow students to participate in the development
process
• Use “teachable” moments that arise in core
subject areas and in non-academic times
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Why Embed Expectations
into Curriculum?
•Behavior curriculum does not have to be
separate
•Helps to eliminate time crunches
•Provides a rationale for student- helps students
to see how the expectations fit into everyday life
•Meets best practices approach
-Hands on activities
-Meets all learning styles (oral, visual, kinesthetic)
-Higher order learning activates (synthesize, analyze,
etc.)
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Embedding Expectations into
Current Daily Curriculum
•Social Studies
•Have students research different cultures to
find out how they define “Respectful”
•Talk about how different historical events
occurred because of conflict and come up
with solutions on how the conflict could have
been resolved
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Embedding Expectations into
Current Daily Curriculum
•Language Arts and Reading
•Use a novel that has an expectation as a theme
•Discuss characters in a novel and how they did not
show respect, then have the students write the story
with the character showing respect
•Have the students develop their own expectations
and/or rules and then have them write a persuasive
essay or debate why theirs should be used instead of
the school’s
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Embedding Expectations into
Current Daily Curriculum
•Fine Arts (Music, Art, Computers, Graphics)
•When choosing a school play, choose one with a
theme centered around one of the school
expectations or write your own play
•Have the students compose a song/rap with the
expectation
•Have students come up with a campaign for
promoting expectations to the entire student body
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Embedding Expectations into
Current Daily Curriculum
•Science and/or Math
•Have students develop a hypothesis about what they
think are the top behavior problems at school. Have
them survey students, parents, & teachers; make graphs;
and reach a conclusion about the hypothesis
•Have the students count the number of tickets
redeemed monthly for prizes & graph them. You can
include ratio of number of tickets to student, # of tickets
per teacher, etc.
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