When students misbehave in classrooms, there are a number of strategies that teachers can employ to address and redirect unwanted and misguided behaviors that distract the learning of others. Some teaching strategies include long and short term goals to deal directly with conflict resolution.
Carolyn has been off task in her 4th grade class all week. Mr. Thurman is ready to throw in the towel and call her parent for a conference with her counselor and IEP (Individual Education Plan) team to have her placed in a self-contained classroom for Level 4 students with behavioral difficulties. He has decided that Friday after school, he will do something that he has avoided doing during the week: meet with Carolyn and the Principal privately in the Principals' conference room.
On Friday, Mr. Thurman had already called Carolyn's parents to inform them about his scheduled meeting to figure out why she's been misbehaving all week. Carolyn's mother thought it was a great idea and only asked for a brief meeting when she came to pick up her daughter. In meeting with Carolyn and the Principal, Mr. Thurman used the following strategies on his list to get to the heart of her misbehavior in class.
- Provide a confidential meeting space that is visible by other staff during the course of the meeting. The Principal's conference room had windows that allowed for the Principal to attend part of the meeting, view the duration of the meeting and have the main office staff to attend the meeting with student and teacher during his absence from parts of the meeting.
- Never meet with a student alone. Make sure that parents, Administrators, main office staff and colleagues know that you are meeting with a student and need to have another adult present during the meeting. Keep the doors open and yourself visible in your classroom or in the Principal's conference room.
- Keep the meeting to a brief time-frame that is adequate to the child's cognitive level and their age level. As a nine year old, Carolyn has a limited attention span, so Mr. Thurman has limited the meeting to 10 minutes.
- By creating a safe environment and showing concern, Mr. Thurman is setting the conference stage to help Carolyn open up about her feelings and misbehaviour with her peers.
- In questioning Carolyn about her behavior during the week, Mr. Thurman uses open ended questions such as "Carolyn can you help me understand what's happening in the classroom for you?" By asking the question in a way that not accusatory, but open to understanding Carolyn's behavior, Mr. Thurman is providing a constructive forum for conversation and conflict resolution.
- Meet with parent following the meeting and provide resolution and strategies to deal with the student's conflictual behavior. Ask the parent for feedback and support. Form a parent-teacher partnership in creating behavioral goals and outcomes for their student.
In Part II, Carolyn will respond to Mr. Thurman's questions and reveal some interesting feedback that will lead to a change in her behavior and in Mr. Thurman's conflict resolution teaching strategies for future behaviors.