{"id":99516,"date":"2025-08-27T10:08:35","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T14:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ced.ncsu.edu\/news\/?p=99516"},"modified":"2025-08-27T10:22:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T14:22:12","slug":"resources-for-educators-managing-student-behaviors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ced.ncsu.edu\/news\/2025\/08\/27\/resources-for-educators-managing-student-behaviors\/","title":{"rendered":"Resources for Educators: Managing Student Behaviors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

Strategies from Jared Stewart-Ginsburg<\/a>, an assistant teaching professor of special education and former classroom teacher and family resource coordinator<\/em>, as they appeared in our Newsletter for K-12 Educators.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Note from Jared Stewart-Ginsburg:<\/strong> Relationships are the beginning but not the end of supporting student behavior in the classroom. As former NC State College of Education Professor Lee Stiff<\/a> put it, \u201cThose who care, teach.\u201d Students (and families) need to see how much we as teachers care about them. Taking personal inventories, incorporating students\u2019 interests into the classroom and having conversations about things not related to classwork are great ways to do this. But just because teachers build a relationship with a student doesn\u2019t mean they won\u2019t also need to implement other strategies. \u201cHave you tried building a relationship with them?\u201d is an often-asked question when teachers share concerns about students\u2019 behavior, perhaps much to teachers\u2019 chagrin. That\u2019s a great first question, but it can\u2019t be the last.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n \n Dowload Tips as a PDF<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/svg><\/span>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

Five Tips for Managing Student Behaviors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Set, teach and reinforce clear expectations and routines.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

All teachers have expectations about how students should and should not act in their classrooms, whether we acknowledge it or not. The best way to support students is to clearly describe these expectations in detail for students at the beginning of the year or the semester. Go through all the steps of how students should enter the classroom and begin their work at the beginning of the period or the day, how to pass in papers and when it is okay and not okay to talk. Practice the routines together. Then, continue to remind students what your expectations are, and be prepared to reteach routines when you notice they get sloppy or take too much time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Focus on the positive and ignore the negative.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many teachers just expect students will meet their expectations and don\u2019t need to be praised when they do. Meanwhile, they fuss at students who step out of line. Try flipping the script: praise the behaviors that meet your expectations and ignore the behaviors that do not. Two things happen when you do this. First, you give attention to behaviors that facilitate learning. If we gave our all in teaching every day and our principal never noticed, we probably would not feel great about our job. The same goes for our students: it feels good when someone notices your effort, even if it is expected. Second, we deny attention to behaviors that interfere with learning– unless a students’ negative behavior may put themselves or others in danger. Sometimes, students demonstrate behaviors because they want attention, whether \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cbad\u201d attention. When we yell, \u201cSit down!\u201d or \u201cStop talking!\u201d we might be reinforcing the behavior instead of stopping it.<\/p>\n\n\n