Katherine Egan,
Sarah Evans,
Celine Jacquenod Garcia,
Gayle Restivo
 8 Methods for Getting Rid of Bad Behavior
 Don’t Shoot the Dog!
 Chapter 5, Building Classroom Discipline
 Chapter 3, Building Classroom Discipline
 Norma MacRae: Behavioral Approach
 Increasing & Decreasing Specific Behaviors
 Similar to training a pet
 8 Approaches to respond to problem behavior
 Ronald Morrish: Real Discipline
 Purely Behavioral Approach doesn’t work
 Real Discipline teaches students how to behave
appropriately and needed social skills within structure
of rules and limits.
Get rid of the doer – temporarily or
permanently.
Send to the hall
Send to the principal
In School Suspension
 Doesn’t teach anything
 Can prevent trouble
 Drastic
 Good option for potentially dangerous
situations
 Not very effective
 Behavior must be caught early
 Punishment must be novel
 May teach a lesson
 May more likely teach evasion
 Morrish: Can teach No Means No
 Morrish: Never give students a choice when
it comes to limits
 Enforcement must be consistent, even for
minor infractions.
 Consequences:
 Compensation
 Letter Writing
 Improvement Plan
 Teaching Younger Children
5 to 10 Minutes
No Stimulus
No Academic Work
Supervised
 Definition: Consequence that
brings about the increase of a
behavior through the
presentation of a stimulus.
 A particular stimulus is
presented after a behavior and
the behavior increases as a
result.
 E.g. :
writing between lines
stickers
Example:
Behavior : Bringing
an orange
Stimulus/”Rewards”:
a kiss
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 Definition: Consequence that brings
about the increase of a behavior
through the removal of a stimulus.
 NR will increase a behavior through
the removal of a stimulus (usually an
unpleasant one.)
Individuals want to avoid negative
reaction, situation, discomfort…
 E.g.:
Feelings of worry
Assignment-completion
behavior
With three math tests scheduled for later that day,
dozens of students suddenly came down
with mysterious iIInesses_
 Positive Reinforcement: Response increases when a
new stimulus (one the learner finds desirable) is
presented.
 Negative Reinforcement: Response increases when a
previously existing stimulus (one the learner finds
undesirable) is removed.
 Punishment: consequence that decreases the
frequency of the response it follows.
 Definition: gradual
disappearance of response as a
result of repeated lack of
reinforcement.
 Ext. is used to decrease
undesirable behaviors.
 The behavior produces no
results …. You ignore it!
o Behavior may increase for a
time before it begins to
decrease. Things may get
worse before they get better!!
o Extinction must be complete
with total nonreinforcement
E.g.: a student makes
funny sounds during
class
The teacher and
students ignore
him/her
The student will stop
making funny sounds.
 Identify the negative behavior
 Reinforce the opposite and
incompatible behavior
 Example:
 Undesirable behavior: not sitting at
desk
 Desired behavior: sitting in proper
seat
 The student cannot do both
behaviors at the same time
 Create cues to associate with
desired behaviors
 Must be consistent
 Examples:
 Raising hand to ask or respond
to question
 Placing fingers to mouth to
quiet down
 Teacher taps student desk to
get their attention
 When student is NOT engaged in bad behavior, teacher
reinforces by:
Turning towards student with pleasant expression and
 MAKING EYE CONTACT
 SMILING
 PRAISING
 When student reverts to bad behavior, teacher:
 TURNS AWAY
 DOES NOT MAKE EYE CONTACT
 Ronald Morrish’s Real Discipline Approach:
 Bad behavior is rare in a well-structured classroom
with enforced rules and limits.
 Students practice correct behavior till it becomes
automatic.
 Forego praise when students do only what is expected
of them
 Praise work and behavior only when it deserves
special recognition
 Don’t Prejudge Student and assume
they can't change
 Involve Students in changing own
behavior:
 Ask questions
 Discuss behavior with student
 Try to prevent negative behavior,
making student aware of their own
behavior
 Brainstorm practical solutions to
avoid negative behavior
Ronald Morrish on Motivation:
 Initially, not all students are motivated to
do well or to behave well in class.
 Teacher sets high standards for behavior
and for schoolwork, using his authority.
 Students comply initially, responding to teacher's authority and
attention.
 As student matures, he is given more Choice Management, moving
towards independence.
 Unannounced unexpected reward
 Student perceives reward as significant
 Given immediately after desirable behavior
 Connection between the two clearly delineated
 Use sparingly
 Especially useful when good behavior has started to decline.
(i.e. When attendance begins to decline, when students are
distracted, etc.)
 Extremely effective: example. Compulsive gamblers who won
big early in life
 Break into Groups
 Choose an Approach
 Reconvene Class
 Share scenario & chosen approach
 Mr. Washington has a close-knit group of friends in
one of his high school vocational education classes.
He is concerned about one particular student in this
group, a girl named Helen. Helen uses obscene
language in class. She is rude and disrespectful to
Mr. Washington. She taunts and insults classmates
outside her own circle of friends. And she is
physically aggressive toward school property—she
defaces furniture, kicks equipment, punches walls,
and so on.
 What would you do? Which methods would you use
to get rid of these undesirable behaviors?
 Tommy, an 11-year-old student, was judged by his
teacher to be the most disruptive student in his
English classroom. He frequently engages in
inappropriate talking and other vocalizations during
class. The behavior is troublesome not so much
because of its nature, but because of the high rate at
which it occurs. Also, Tommy does not do his work.
He rarely completes an assignment. Tommy does not
put any effort at all.
 What would you do? Which methods would you use
to get rid of these undesirable behaviors?
 Joshua, larger and louder than his classmates,
always wants to be the center of attention, which he
accomplishes through a combination of clowning and
intimidation. He makes wise remarks, talks back to
the teacher, utters a variety of sound-effects noises,
such as automobile crashes and gunshots, makes
limitless sarcastic comments and put downs of his
classmates. Other students will not stand up to him,
apparently fearing his size and verbal aggression.
 What would you do? Which methods would you use
to get rid of these undesirable behaviors?
 10% of students exhibit neurological-based behavior
(NBB)
 Result of atypical cerebral processes
 Refers to a number of possible diagnoses
 Possible diagnoses:
 ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity
disorder)
 Bipolar disorder
 Anxiety disorders
 PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)
 ASD (autism spectrum disorder)
 Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
 ODD (oppositional defiant disorder)
 Specific learning disabilities
Indicators:
 Behavior difficulties
 Language difficulties
 Academic difficulties
 Students with NBB should be distinguished
from those students who are “just having a
bad day.”
May not respond to the “typical”
behavior modification strategies.