Step by Step Guide to Positive Discipline in the Classroom

Positive classroom discipline is powerful when done well.

Are you working in a classroom that needs discipline intervention?

Or perhaps you want to have good classroom management through positive strategies?

How Providing Positive Feedback Can Change Behavior Habits And Improve Discipline in Your Classroom

One strategy you can use in your classroom is providing consistent positive reinforcement. You would be using positive reinforcement to change the negative aspects in your classroom.

While we will talk about the different steps to implement it, this strategy works every single time.

This approach will help you both with developing discipline as well as improving students’ performance. It will help you develop better relationship with the students as you would be guiding them to a better performance instead of forcing them to it.

Let’s start! Here is a step by step approach to it!

1. Start by getting into the habit of giving students positive feedback consistently

This positive reinforcement needs to be done at the beginning and at the end of every class.

It is always a good idea to start the class with a summary of what happened in the previous class as well as what the students will be working on.

Examples may sound like this :

Last week we had a great class. We learned new song which we will continue today. However, I noticed that some of you were not quiet at the very end of class. This time I am going to be watching to congratulate the three quietest students at the end.
Yesterday we practiced Twinkle and we worked on our second finger being in tune. Now I am going to be watching these second fingers and pointing out the students who are doing well with it.

2. Catch a behavior that you want and then

acknowledge it

Examples of phrases you would use:

I noticed that…was doing a good job playing attention to the conductor
I am congratulating…for…
I noticed that…was quiet for the whole class
Before we begin class today I’d like to congratulate … for getting here on time and being in rest position right away.

3. Focus on the positive

When you begin building positive discipline you must focus on positive aspects of the students. It is very natural for teachers to pay attention to the higher performing students first. However, what you need to do instead is focus on the ones who are not doing so well. You would need to re-direct their attention to the positive things they are doing in your classroom. The positive feedback may be as simple as “John, I noticed you were not late today” “John, I noticed that you were distracting the class but then you were quiet at the end.”

4. Never let students know who you would acknowledge and why

This strategy works only if the students are. The teachers should never give them a clue on the feedback that would be provided to them.

5. Don’t pick favorites

Make sure each child gets a chance to be acknowledged.

6. Be consistent giving the kids feedback in the same way over many lessons

With developing any habit, consistency is the key. You need to be consistent using the same strategies over the course of many lessons in order for the strategy to work. If used just once or sporadically it would not have an effect.

7. Don’t give up! This strategy is powerful but it takes longer!

You may be working with students with behavioral problems. It may seem that this strategy is too “weak” for them to change. If you don’t see success in the first two or three classes, keep going! Keep in mind that you may be working with students who are having difficulties with their family. These students will feel uncomfortable at first as they are not used to any support from adults. However, these are also the students who you can help the most!

8. Notice how the classroom culture change!

Patience and consistency when building a positive discipline pays off. If you find success, please come back and share it in the comments!

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