poor student behaviour essay

• Teachers and Teaching
• Vol. 23, No. 4

To Fix Students’ Bad Behavior, Stop Punishing Them

Wayne D’Orio

Ten minutes after class starts, a student flings open the door, struts in, and yells, “What’s up, bitches?”

If this kind of conduct is familiar to you, you don’t need a primer on how behavior has become worse—much worse—since students returned to school post-pandemic. Chances are you’ve observed just what the data from the National Center for Education Statistics report: 84 percent of school leaders say student behavioral development has been negatively impacted. This is evident in a dramatic increase in classroom disruptions, ranging from student misconduct to acts of disrespect toward teachers and staff to the prohibited use of electronic devices.

Bad behavior “continues to escalate,” said Matt Cretsinger, director of special services for the Marshalltown Community School District in Iowa. “There are more behavioral needs than we’ve ever seen. . . . It’s a shock to teachers.”

Student behavior is “definitely worse” post-pandemic, said Mona Delahooke, a pediatric psychologist. “There are much heavier stress loads that teachers and students are carrying around.”

And it’s not as if discipline weren’t a problem pre-pandemic. “The numbers tell the story,” said student-behavior specialist Ross Greene. “We’re suspending kids like there’s no tomorrow; we’re giving detentions even more than that. We’re expelling to the tune of 100,000 students a year.” Greene added that corporal punishment is at 100,000 instances a year, restraint or seclusion is close to that, and school arrests tally more than 50,000 a year.

Through the nonprofit organization he founded in 2009, Lives in the Balance, Greene and his colleagues train schools in his Collaborative & Proactive Solutions model and advocate for the elimination of punitive, exclusionary disciplinary practices in schools and treatment facilities.

In a small but growing number of schools, teachers and administrators are drawing on Greene’s advice to change how they handle misbehavior. Pointing to hundreds of research studies that say students who respond poorly to problems and frustrations are lacking skills, these schools are actively looking to end punitive discipline, take the focus off student behavior, and train their staffs to recognize—and avoid—situations likely to cause bad behavior. If something is triggering outbursts from students—simply asking them to sit quietly at their desks or giving them a surprise quiz, for instance—teachers might be better off finding other ways to accomplish what is needed.

Not blaming children for their outbursts requires a paradigm shift that, according to some practitioners, is long overdue.

Stuart Ablon, the founder and director of Think:Kids in Massachusetts General Hospital’s department of psychiatry, said simply, “We must move away from thinking students do well if they want to, to students do well if they can.”

Delahooke has her own go-to phrase: “Children don’t throw tantrums; tantrums throw children.”

And Robert Sapolsky, a noted neuroendocrinology researcher and Stanford University professor, goes even further when he traces how various factors—ranging from neurons and hormones to evolution, culture, and history—factor into a person’s behaviors. “Biology is pretty much out of our control, and free will looks pretty suspect,” he said.

The Staying Power of Behaviorism

While these beliefs about student behavior and the growing number of schools adopting these disciplinary methods may seem new, leaders such as Ablon say they’ve been pushing this model for 30 years. And even though some schools are changing their practices, getting people to end their reliance on the punishments and rewards of behaviorism has proven difficult.

Behaviorism—the notion that behavior is shaped by conditioning via environmental stimuli (rewards and punishment)—was a popular theory in the early and mid-20th century. The irony, Ablon said, is that even when the idea was most in vogue, it was not effective. Punishment may put a stop to a certain behavior, but the effect is only temporary.

“It’s not only ineffective; it actually makes matters worse,” Ablon said.

A report that examined how discipline could alienate students from schools found that “when responses to student behavior fail to account for student perspectives and experiences, youths can experience feelings of alienation and disconnection.” Another study that looked specifically at why attempts to influence adolescent behavior often founder proposed the hypothesis “that traditional interventions fail when they do not align with adolescents’ enhanced desire to feel respected and be accorded status; however, interventions that do align with this desire can motivate internalized, positive behavior change.”

Part of the problem is that even when people agree that suspensions and other punishments aren’t working, they fall back on these patterns if they lack an alternative, according to Greene.

“The old mentality is dying hard,” Greene said. “People know a certain way of doing things. They have structures in place [that reinforce those practices]. You’ve got to replace what you’re doing with something; there can’t be a vacuum.”

“The research is pretty clear about what works and what doesn’t,” said Cretsinger. “There’s a significant delay between research and school practice.”

A 2021 study by the American Institutes for Research concluded that out-of-school suspensions for middle school students “actually had a negative effect on . . . students’ future behavioral incidents.” These students were also more likely to be suspended in the future, the study found.

While the study did not report the same effect for high school students, it did conclude that severely disciplining these older students “does not serve as a deterrent for future misbehavior.”

“Our educational system is in the dark ages when it comes to understanding behaviors,” said Delahooke. “That’s the bottom line.”

A Different Approach

That’s where this new strain of programs comes in. Greene is the originator of the Collaborative Problem Solving approach, but he now refers to his model as Collaborative & Proactive Solutions. The name change occurred when he left Massachusetts General Hospital. Since that time, the hospital has disseminated a variant of Greene’s original model under the name Collaborative Problem Solving without his consent. The hospital’s program is led by Greene’s former trainee, Ablon.

These programs began when their creators started looking at the causes of student misbehavior. Neuroscience “understands that humans are driven by a subconscious [need] to feel safe,” said Delahooke. “When we see big behavioral problems such as kids kicking, screaming, running around, those behaviors we’re viewing as stress responses, not attention-seeking.”

The causes of misbehavior, Greene said, stem from weaknesses in one of four areas: flexibility and adaptability, frustration tolerance, problem-solving skills, and emotion regulation. During the remote-learning days of Covid-19, children missed the opportunity to build on these developmental skills, which led to more behavior challenges when they returned to school.

But exactly how does this knowledge of behavioral dynamics translate to the classroom? Let’s return to the example that began this story. Ablon used this event—the student bursting into class late and making a disruptive comment—to demonstrate how a teacher could respond to an incident. Ablon said this example described a student who was having a hard time shifting from A to B as she changed classes.

He suggested that instead of handing out an office referral or other punishment, the teacher should run through a three-point checklist. First, the teacher should try to empathize with the student. “I know empathy is becoming an endangered species,” but if teachers can externalize the problem from the child, they won’t see the student as the problem, he said.

Because this student is obviously not ready to learn, try to find out why they feel the way they do by asking questions, he added. You can even tell the student, “I know there must be an important reason you’re not sitting down and doing your work. So it’s okay.”

And because you can’t reason with a disregulated student, Ablon coaches staff not to force a behavior change on the student but instead to share their own perspective only after they understand the student’s viewpoint. The third step is for the teacher to assess the problem and see if they can brainstorm a solution with the student. (This step might well require that another staff member—perhaps an instructional aide—be available to keep the rest of the class on task, advocates say.)

Ablon cautions specifically against having a teacher or other staff member use power or control, because that will likely re-traumatize the student. You must give the student control, but not sole responsibility, he added.

Greene was clear that while school staff’s attitude toward punishment needs to change, they won’t achieve positive results unless they have a new structure to follow. Even though a lot of schools consider their policies to be “trauma-informed,” he said, many of them are still doling out suspensions and other punishments.

“I know changes have taken place when some things [in schools] are missing,” Greene said. When disciplinary tactics such as office referrals and suspensions are greatly reduced, he believes, it means the school has structured itself so those outcomes aren’t the default methods anymore. In these cases, school officials are no longer focusing on the behavior of students but rather on identifying the expectations that children are having a hard time meeting, he noted. And they are engaging with students to solve those disconnects.

Ablon said he knows these methods are gaining acceptance, because when he talks with school officials, he doesn’t have to spend most of his time convincing them that a different mindset is necessary. “There’s not as much resistance to knowing behavior is skill, not will.”

But even with more schools adopting this mindset, he said, the new approach to discipline will not become mainstream unless schools of education incorporate the methods into teacher preparation. Only when that occurs will schools no longer need to retrain staff, Ablon added.

Teachers, for their part, often ask how they and other staff will be able to find the time to implement these one-on-one practices, especially when the rest of the class is sidelined as a teacher focuses on understanding a single student’s behavior.

Greene said he’s seen assistant principals volunteer to cover a class for a teacher, understanding that better-behaved students will ultimately decrease the amount of time the principal spends meeting with children who have acted out.

Ablon pointed out that if a student is struggling behaviorally, that individual is very likely disrupting the learning of others already. “If teachers can’t find time for a one-on-one conversation, which they often can’t, then there is a more significant systemic issue at that school.”

Schools Seeing Results

While accepting these concepts is a step forward, putting the theories into action takes work. Schools implementing any model that adheres to these basics will need at least a year to train staff, allow them to practice the methods, and provide coaching on their efforts.

And it is key that the school doesn’t overload initiatives, trying to implement multiple large programs at once, Ablon said. “These aren’t quick answers. It’s not a 45-minute session and now you have everything you need. It takes trial and error, real buy-in from leaders, and funding” for training teachers and adding staff to oversee classrooms while professional development takes place.

Even within a given school district, one school can have a vastly different experience from the others. That’s what happened with Woodbury Elementary School in Matt Cretsinger’s Iowa district. While all 10 of Marshalltown’s schools had access to Ablon’s program, Woodbury principal Anel Garza championed the approach and made sure it was followed in everything the school did, including day-to-day activities, staff meetings, and even parent-teacher conferences.

Woodbury is a rural, dual-language school where many of the students are new to the U.S., Cretsinger said. Over the course of two years, office referrals decreased by 36.5 percent, while students with two or more referrals dropped 49 percent. Restraints and seclusion nearly disappeared, with only two incidents in a school of 400. In the rest of the district, office referrals rose 143 percent during the same time, and Cretsinger said that in the district’s annual state-of-the-schools survey, Woodbury saw a 10-point increase in school safety and student emotional safety while every other school in Marshalltown posted lower scores than in previous years.

“We’re not letting kids off expectations,” Cretsinger said. “We’re trying to figure out why it’s difficult to meet a goal rather than assuming and applying a consequence. The hardest thing for educators is to stop assuming. We’re trying to let [students] share their concerns before we share ours.”

Cretsinger said when staff pushes back on these theories, pointing out that they all grew up without this system, and they turned out fine, he challenges them.

“Did we really turn out all right?” he asks, pointing to today’s substance-abuse statistics and rampant mental health problems.

Even though the elementary school started showing results after one semester of using Ablon’s program, Cretsinger said there are still naysayers and principals from other schools in the district that have not bought in the way Woodbury did.

Teacher Resistance

Michael J. Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, said he’s not surprised some teachers have pushed back against these programs, because discipline and classroom management have long topped the list of reasons teachers give for leaving the profession. “It’s particularly frustrating if you feel principals don’t have your back,” he said.

Petrilli said that while he thought this system could work if implemented perfectly, in a typical school with typical leaders and teachers, “it’s not hard to imagine this doesn’t get implemented well and leads to greater frustration among teachers. . . . If you do this and it goes wrong, then that’s a big problem.

“If your goal is to better serve kids who are being disruptive, I totally get that, but what are the consequences for their peers in terms of learning time, feeling safe, and school culture? I have empathy [for children who are acting out], but you’ve got to worry about the other 24 kids, too.”

And what do teachers unions think of this potential sea change in classroom practice? While the National Education Association supports the implementation of various behavioral programs, Harry Lawson Jr., the organization’s director of human and civil rights, said union members have complained that schools don’t offer them the proper training to make this kind of shift.

“It creates another level of frustration [that teachers] are being asked to do one other thing,” he said. “It can often feel as though there’s no longer a way for me as an adult to hold a student accountable. . . . We still exist in a punishment-driven society. [Some teachers feel] if there’s a behavior, there should be accountability.”

Brian Joffe, the director of children’s programs for the School Superintendents Association, said that handling student misbehavior is “not that far off from parenting,” so it’s not surprising that while some teachers favor collaboration and positive environments, others “lean more toward respect and order.”

“What they’ve leaned on in the past—that lever is being taken away,” he said. “They wonder, ‘What will I do in the next situation?’”

In Massachusetts, at the Academic Center for Transition in Worcester, program coordinator Thomas Lindgren said he faced “a lot” of pushback from staff and even students when he implemented Ablon’s system. The center is a therapeutic school that serves K–5 students who are struggling with social skills, emotion regulation, and meeting expectations.

From 2018–19 to this current school year, the school’s suspensions went from 55 to zero, Lindgren said. Restraints dropped from 98 to 2, and office referrals plunged from 4,036 to 580.

“I lost a couple of staff people because of this switch,” he said, but emphasized the measurable success his school has had with the program. Students seem happier, he added, and the school climate is calmer.

Skill, Not Will

Lindgren touched on an aspect of behavior management that isn’t frequently mentioned: that rewards can cause students as much stress as punishments. The center’s old system included a program that praised students for reaching certain goals. But he discovered misbehavior increased when the results were announced, because students were so anxious about the outcomes. He eliminated the praise program.

He also said the school does still have some adult-imposed restrictions on students, for actions such as fighting.

He summed up the changes under Ablon’s program simply. “The old way didn’t work. The new way does.”

While his experience at the Massachusetts school can be considered anecdotal, many studies show that addressing and building students’ social-emotional skills can result in better academic performance, fewer disruptive behaviors, and less emotional distress.

Recent studies have tried to zero in on exactly how students’ emotions affect their behavior. Although this work is still being defined, researchers are hoping to understand better how various teaching methods trigger reactions from children and how these reactions may improve or impair their ability to learn.

There’s even a belief that monitoring a student’s electrodermal activity (sweat glands) in real time may offer an early warning signal of an upcoming outburst. Delahooke said she knew a student who was harming other students, but officials hypothesized that it wasn’t intentional misbehavior. They got permission to fit the student with a wristband that measured his electrodermal activity, which is a good indicator of nervous system arousal. The wristband reported the student’s stress levels to a cellphone, and it showed that 50 to 90 seconds before every outburst, the student was in a stress response, suggesting that he wasn’t purposely choosing to engage in these bad behaviors. She said the school changed his individualized education plan to allow an aide to intervene before he acted out, taking him for a walk or asking him what he needed when his levels rose.

While acknowledging that schools aren’t going to outfit children with expensive wristbands, Delahooke said educators don’t need this fancy equipment. They can tell students’ stress levels by paying attention to their facial features, the tone of their voice, or even how fast a child is moving.

Asked if he was hopeful that this momentum toward less discipline and more understanding could continue, Ablon said he was, because of one specific example from past practice.

“We’ve done this before, with learning disabilities. We used to misattribute kids who were struggling to read and having a hard time decoding words until we understood dyslexia,” he said. It took schools a long time to shift people’s understandings and create methods to help these students instead of punishing them. “This is the same exact thing, just with behavior. If a student is struggling to read, teachers don’t take it personally. Those kids aren’t lazy; they lack skills. This is the same thing. These students lag in skills like problem-solving, flexibility, and problem tolerance.”

Wayne D’Orio is an award-winning education editor and writer.

This article appeared in the Fall 2023 issue of Education Next . Suggested citation format:

D’Orio, W. (2023). To Fix Students’ Bad Behavior, Stop Punishing Them: Collaborative methods for handling misconduct make their way to the classroom . Education Next , 23(4), 50-55.

For more, please see “ The Top 20 Education Next Articles of 2023 .”

Last Updated

License this Content

Latest Issue

Spring 2024.

Vol. 24, No. 2

We Recommend You Read

The Top 20 Education Next Articles of 2023

Artificial intelligence, recovering achievement, student behavior draw readers’ interest

by Education Next

Behind Biden Administration’s Retreat on Race and School Discipline, Real Concern on Student Behavior

Even the teachers are alarmed about fights, violence

by R. Shep Melnick

Teachers Need to Be Taught To Teach Students to Behave

Many educators lack basic training in classroom management.

by Tom Bennett

Eberly Center

Teaching excellence & educational innovation, address problematic student behavior.

Reports of problematic behaviors are on the rise nationally, not only in the classroom but in society at large (Kowalski, 2003).

Some of these immature, irritating, or thoughtless behaviors or “ classroom incivilities ” include:

• lateness or leaving early
• inappropriate cellphone and laptop usage in class
• side conversations
• disregard for deadlines
• grade grubbing
• sniping remarks

These behaviors are not just instructors’ pet peeves; they have real costs including:

• distracting other students and instructor in class
• reducing student participation
• lowering other students' and instructor’s motivation in or out of class
• affecting fairness in grading
• using instructor or TA time unproductively
• feeling disrespected as a fellow learner or authority figure

Possible causes

In order to limit or deal effectively with these behaviors, it is important to understand the factors that cause or facilitate them. The cause can be:

• contingent on individual student situations
• structural to the course

This distinction is important because it orients us towards the causes we can control.

Contingent on individual student situations:

• Health Services
• Counseling and Psychological services
• Academic Development
• Office of the Dean of Student Affairs
• Cultural issues can also play a role. The culture of the US classroom is not homogenous, and expectations for classroom conduct can vary greatly, but they are all informed by the same basic academic values. Students from other cultures who don’t share the same values might not understand implicit expectations for classroom behaviors. MORE on cross-cultural issues .

Structural to the course:

Some of the uncivil behaviors can be inadvertently facilitated by the instructor’s behavior or the course structure . Boice (1998) researched classroom incivilities across a range of courses and reported several findings.

• Professors disagree with students about what counts as uncivil behavior, apart from a few egregious situations. Moreover, there is significant disagreement among different professors, as there is among students.
• Instructor’s age or teaching experience are not a significant determinant of incivilities. Young/novice instructors experience the same average level of incivilities as older/experienced instructors.
• The choice of motivators. Instructors who use negative motivators (e.g., fear, guilt, embarrassment) experience more classroom incivilities than instructors who use positive motivators (e.g., encouragement, praise).
• The number of “immediacy” behaviors (verbal and non-verbal signs of warmth and friendliness). Instructors exhibiting few immediacy behaviors experience significantly more incivilities compared to instructors who exhibit several of those behaviors. In other words, if students perceive the instructor has disengaged from the course and from their learning experience, they disengage in turn, exhibiting the attendant problematic behaviors. Other factors correlate negatively with incivilities, including perceived worth of teaching, clarity and organization, and pacing.

Possible Strategies

Based on these findings and a comprehensive literature review, Sorcinelli (2002) suggests 4 principles to reduce incivilities. The principles are broad enough that each one can be used to generate several concrete strategies.

Define expectations at the outset.

Explicitly letting students know how you want them to behave in class avoids incivilities due to mismatched expectations.

• Define your policies on the syllabus. Clearly articulating your policies and their rationale in a respectful tone can curb undesirable behaviors. See the page on writing the syllabus for more considerations on tone. This link provides some language for policies such as cell-phone and laptop usage.
• Make good use of the first day of class. Use the first day to create the right climate for productive interaction. Highlight the policies on the syllabus and model the behaviors you’d like to see. Follow this link for more on the first day of class .
• Allow student participation in setting ground rules. Having students participate in setting the rules for classroom behavior and interaction might not be feasible for every class but it has the benefit of making the students more invested in the rules. Ask the students to reflect on classes with bad discussions or other students’ behaviors that have been distracting and not conducive to their own learning. Use that list as a starting point for your ground rules. You, of course, retain final decision power.

Decrease anonymity.

Especially in large classes, students can sometimes engage in thoughtless behaviors because the atmosphere feels very depersonalized. You can try several techniques to build connections with students:

• Learn and use names consistently. You can request a photo roster from the HUB, which will make it easier to associate names to faces. Learn a few more names every day, and let students know that you are trying to memorize their names in the first weeks.
• Engage students one-on-one. Use the time right before and after class to make small talk with students. Ask about the weekend, or the homework, or common interests. Some professors schedule lunches with small groups of students throughout the semester to get to know them and to present themselves as more approachable.
• Take advantage of office hours. The one-on-one nature of office hours greatly augments possibilities for interaction, even in larger classes. Some professors have a mandatory office hour during the first week, which they use to meet the students individually and to make themselves available for help when needed.

Seek feedback from students.

Some student incivilities are due to perceived instructor incivilities – instructor’s own lateness or disorganization, rudeness or interruptions when students are speaking.  Seek feedback to double-check student perceptions of you. You can use early course evaluations, or quick in-class anonymous feedback with one –minute papers. You can also designate some students to be class representatives and meet with them periodically during the semester, when they can let you know of general student concerns. See more on assessing your teaching.

Encourage active learning.

Meaningful engagement has obvious benefits for student learning and performance, but it can also bring some side benefits with respect to student behavior in the classroom. In fact, Sorcinelli (1991) points out that in classes that use active learning effectively, students

• feel more responsible for coming to class, and coming prepared
• perceive they pay more attention in class
• feel more responsible for their own learning.

The section on instructional strategies has several suggestions on ways to incorporate active learning in your courses.

References:

Jaffee, D. (1999). I am not a TV: Confessions of a professor. Retrieved July 6, 2007, from http://www.cte.tcu.edu/144.htm.

Kowalski, R. M. (2003). Complaining, teasing, and other annoying behaviors . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Boice, R. (1998). "Classroom incivilities." In K. A. Feldman & M. B. Paulson (Eds.), Teaching and learning in the college classroom (2nd ed.) (347-369) . Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster Custom Pub.

Sorcinelli, M. D. (1991). "Research findings on the seven principles." In A. Chickering & Z. Gamson (Eds.), Applying the seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 47 , 13-25. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Sorcinelli, M. D. (2002). "Promoting civility in large classes." In C. Stanley & E. Porter (Eds.), Engaging large classes: Strategies and techniques for college faculty (44-57). Bolton, MA: Anker.

• Faculty Support
• Graduate Student Support
• Canvas @ Carnegie Mellon
• Quick Links

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

IELTS Advantage

IELTS Preparation Courses

IELTS Task 2 Band 9 Sample Essay- Student Behaviour

Here is a sample band 9 task 2 essay on the topic of student behaviour.

In many countries schools have severe problems with student behaviour.

What do you think are the causes of this?

What solutions can you suggest?

In numerous nations, educational institutions face serious difficulties with their pupils’ conduct. This essay will suggest that poor parenting is the root cause of this phenomenon and submit that a public awareness campaign is the most viable solution, followed by a reasoned conclusion.

The principal cause of poor discipline in schools is poor discipline at home. Many mothers and fathers either do not have the time or skills to teach their youngsters the value of manners and respecting authority. This results in many young people not listening to their teachers, being rude and actively rebelling against rules and regulations. For example, a recent study by Cambridge University found that 1 in 3 teenagers would refuse to comply with a rule if they didn’t agree with it, compared to just 1 in 8 in a similar study in 1990.

The most practical solution to this problem is a government-sponsored awareness campaign. An effective advertising campaign could warn of the dangers of misbehaviour and, hopefully, raise awareness amongst the public.  For example, the United Kingdom recently lobbied their citizens to teach their children about the importance of respecting teachers, which resulted in a dramatic improvement.

In summary, widespread negative behaviour in the classroom has been caused by caregivers not instilling the values of deference and civility in their offspring; however, this can be tackled through a public education programme that promotes these values. It is also recommended that people should attend parenting classes before their child starts kindergarten.

I hope you found this post useful. I also have a complete lesson on IELTS problem solution essays that you might find useful.

About Christopher Pell

My name is Christopher Pell and I'm the Managing Director of IELTS Advantage.

I started IELTS Advantage as a simple blog to help 16 students in my class. Several years later, I am very humbled that my VIP Course has been able to help thousands of people around the world to score a Band 7+ in their IELTS tests.

If you need my help with your IELTS preparation, you can send me an email using the contact us page.

Reflective Essay Topics for Negative Behavior

Common Struggles in High Shcool

Written reflections on negative behaviors can focus on both past and future actions. By thinking about what happened and how it can help or hurt future goals, students can learn life lessons from their own reflection and through the advice of others.

Admiting What Went Wrong

One of the most important steps of changing negative behavior is understanding what went wrong. Have students carefully think through their actions and have them specifically write, in detail, what they did that was hurtful or disruptive to themselves or others. For example, a student who is calling other students names should stop and think through how her words made other students feel. One essay topic might be a journal entry from the perspective of a classmate. Ask the student to consider how she would feel if someone treated her in a similar way. The point is not to shame the student, but rather to make her aware of how actions affect others.

Developing Alternatives

Encourage students to write about how they could have handled a difficult situation in a more positive way. For instance, if a student is caught lying, ask him to write about the merits of honesty and ways the situation could have been handled better. Students could be required to write about two or three ways to deal with situations in which they might normally be tempted toward destructive behavior, such as disrupting class or fighting with classmates. This can serve as a preemptive tool for future scenarios.

Have Students Focus on the Future

Students can be inspired toward positive behavior and away from negative behavior by writing about their own future success. Teach for America suggests that students think of themselves in college or an exciting career and then write about how negative behavior distracts them from their goals. Allow students to keep these written reflections and encourage them to reread their essays often. Consistent reminders of plans can serve as ongoing encouragement well after the paper is complete.

Show Students Where to Seek Advice

Push students to seek the advice of others. Tell students to interview school staffers, parents, neighbors or older siblings to document their life experiences in making good and bad decisions. After they've talked with two or three people, have them compile the advice into thoughtful essays that reflect on the decisions they've made that have helped or hurt their individual progress. Encourage students to review these essays with parents or important adults in their lives to reinforce these life lessons through follow-up conversations.

Related Articles

Fun Activities for Adolescent Self Esteem

The Difference Between Ethical Egoism & Ethical Subjectivism

Classroom Exercises for Effective Interpersonal Communication

Youth Empowerment Activities

Teacher Activities for "A Bad Case of Stripes"

How to Present Yourself in a Scholarship Essay

How to Teach Modal Auxiliary Verbs

How to Motivate Secondary School Students

• Intervention Central: Teacher Behavioral Strategies
• Teach For America: Establish Rules and Consequences

• A Beginner’s Guide to IELTS
• Common Grammar Mistakes [for IELTS Writing Candidates]

Writing Correction Service

• Free IELTS Resources
• Practice Speaking Test

Select Page

Bad Behaviour in Schools [IELTS Task 2]

Posted by David S. Wills | Oct 29, 2022 | Model Essays | 0

Today, I want to show you a sample band 9 answer for an IELTS writing task 2 question about bad student behaviour. This is an interesting topic and I’m sure people will have various opinions on it, but I want to give you some guidance to help maximise your chances of writing a great essay.

Analysing the Question

Here is the question that we will look at today:

In many countries, schools have serious problems with student behaviour. What do you think are the causes of this? What solutions can you suggest?

As you can see, this is a two-part question on the topic of education . It is not particularly hard to analyse. You only really have to do two things:

• Explain why bad behaviour in schools is now a problem.
• Suggest solutions to this problem.

You don’t have to do anything else, but you must cover both of these ideas in your essay.

Planning your Answer

You do not need to be an expert in education to answer this question, but you should present some intelligent ideas. You can learn about how to generate good ideas for task 2 questions here .

Try to group your ideas into two parts, so that you can more effectively structure your essay:

You can see that I have put five ideas into each category, but I would not actually write all five ideas in my essay. Remember, you should aim to write about 260-300 words .

It is important to choose only one or two of the best ideas and then expand them. This is important for making an organised and developed essay. That will help improve your score for Coherence and Cohesion and Task Response.

Here’s how I will structure my answer:

Now let’s look at my essay

Sample Band 9 Answer

In many parts of the world, student discipline is becoming a major issue that teachers, parents, and school administrators have to deal with. This essay will first look at the reasons why this is happening, and then explore solutions for it.

The primary reason for this increase in bad behaviour is the lack of respect for teachers in western society since the late twentieth century, which is partly due to the emphasis placed upon personal freedoms and individual rights. With massive cultural upheaval, the role of a teacher has diminished, and school pupils can run amok. Nowadays, teachers are powerless to stop their students from misbehaving in the classroom, and what is worse is that they are afraid of the consequences of being firm in their disciplinary procedures. When teachers are deemed to be too strict, parents will complain and it is possible that the teacher could lose their job. 

In order to solve this, great changes will need to be made. For a start, a teacher’s authority needs to be established, and this means making changes that reduce the likelihood of their position being questioned. From misbehaving pupils to unreasonable parents, there needs to be support for the teacher from above. This sort of institutional help has been missing for decades as education becomes more of a service industry wherein “the customer” is always right. Schools need to implement firm but fair rules that all pupils must abide by and there should be equally firm but fair punishments meted out accordingly. 

In conclusion, discipline problems are now common in many schools, and that is because teachers are no longer given the respect they are due. Schools and government authorities need to work to reinforce the importance of respecting teachers.

Notes on the Answer

Here’s some useful education vocabulary from my essay:

• school administrators
• cultural upheaval
• misbehaving
• disciplinary procedures
• institutional help
• implement… rules

You can read another sample essay about education here . You can also Google “education” and then read stories from newspapers around the world to get new ideas and language about this important IELTS topic .

About The Author

David S. Wills

David S. Wills is the author of Scientologist! William S. Burroughs and the 'Weird Cult' and the founder/editor of Beatdom literary journal. He lives and works in rural Cambodia and loves to travel. He has worked as an IELTS tutor since 2010, has completed both TEFL and CELTA courses, and has a certificate from Cambridge for Teaching Writing. David has worked in many different countries, and for several years designed a writing course for the University of Worcester. In 2018, he wrote the popular IELTS handbook, Grammar for IELTS Writing and he has since written two other books about IELTS. His other IELTS website is called IELTS Teaching.

Related Posts

A Difficult Task 2 Sample Essay

December 26, 2017

Animal Testing Essay

October 21, 2022

Socialising with Colleagues [Task 2 Sample Answer and Vocabulary]

May 27, 2023

Sample Essay on Rising Crime Rates

November 21, 2022

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Download my IELTS Books

Recent Posts

• Past Simple vs Past Perfect
• Complex Sentences
• How to Score Band 9 [Video Lesson]
• Taxing Fast Food: Model IELTS Essay
• Airport Vocabulary

Recent Comments

• Daisey Lachut on IELTS Discussion Essays [Discuss Both Views/Sides]
• David S. Wills on Describe a Historical Period
• Siavash on Describe a Historical Period
• fabliha on IELTS Speaking Partners
• tufail khan on IELTS Discussion Essays [Discuss Both Views/Sides]
• Lesson Plans
• Model Essays
• TED Video Lessons
• Weekly Roundup

• Our Mission

Strategies for Managing Challenging Student Behaviors

Student misbehavior has been particularly agonizing for teachers this year, but there are proactive steps educators can take to remedy it.

In the best of times, disruptive student behaviors are challenging to effectively act on. And now, this is compounded by our current reality: a traumatic time—during which many of us are just trying to hang on and stay in the profession—that has reduced our patience, taxed our energy, and increased our reactivity.

So maybe we can think differently about these behaviors. Maybe we can be proactive.

The first step in being proactive might be the easiest: identify challenging behaviors and their effects on the classroom. You know exactly what I’m talking about. Challenging behaviors can manifest academically: missing deadlines, plagiarism. They can manifest socially: side conversations, defiance. They can manifest emotionally: apathy, negativity. They can manifest quietly or loudly. And more often than not, they can manifest repeatedly.

These manifestations are exhausting—for you, for them, and for their peers.

Taking a Closer Look

While it can be easy to remain stuck in the first step of identification, to be proactive we must move to the second step of reflection. We must treat each behavior as both adaptive and communicative. This reflection is twofold: examining the student and ourselves.

Students act the way they do because it serves them in some capacity. How is their behavior serving them? What is driving their behavior? At times, this can be simple. Much more complicated is the task of examining ourselves as a responsible party in these exchanges. More often than not, I realize: Behaviors that challenge me mirror me .

Again, behaviors are both adaptive and communicative. How is my innate response to this student serving me? What is it about the behavior that grates on me so? What does my response communicate about me? Addressing student behaviors without this important step of reflection—of both parties—is short-sighted at best and ineffective at worst.

Displaying Curiosity and Humility

Once we have hypothesized underlying motives for the behaviors, as well as our own contributions, to be proactive we must approach the student about the behavior. The most important consideration in this regard is our intention. I use restorative practices as a frame, reminding myself that my ultimate goal is relationship. This means I approach students with curiosity and humility.

Curiosity allows for me to ask questions and listen rather than fix or criticize . Humility allows several benefits: One, I can let go of “proving the record” and instead build the relationship; two, I can speak with “I” language that demonstrates I also am taking responsibility; and three, it ensures that I am conversing with the student rather than coming at them.

As in any situation where a human feels threatened, a student backed into a corner with accusations rather than invited into a relationship through curiosity and humility will close up or act out.

Building Connections

After I have reflected and approached the student, the real work begins. This is where my integrity and trustworthiness as a teacher is tested—and rightfully so—by students demonstrating challenging behaviors. Did I really mean what I said about wanting to take responsibility, understand the student, and build a meaningful relationship with them? To walk the talk, the next step in being proactive, here are some practices to connect with students.

Survey students with academic and nonacademic questions: Use the surveys for one-on-one conversations, fun class trivia games, grouping and seating arrangements, sport and club attendance, etc. But most important, use the survey data! Students who are surveyed without ever having that data shared with them and acted upon are just guinea pigs.

Observe more, and talk less: Notice where students demonstrate different behaviors than they do in your class. Watch students interact in peer groups. The biggest mistake we can make when dealing with challenging behaviors is seeing the student who demonstrates them in a vacuum.

Partner with students: The majority of my most successful connections with students have begun with an opening like this: “X, I gotta say, I am really just not feeling like we are vibing lately. I feel like I’m letting you down and that you’re always upset with me. Did I do something to offend you? I really would like to make this right.” Few students, yes even those who display the most challenging behaviors, can resist being truly heard and respected. Explicitly partnering with students to do the repair work, the relationship work, is where the magic happens.

Compliment students: Sometimes a light comment about cool new shoes is the only positive message that a student receives in a day. Compliments communicate to students that they are seen.

Support students: While sometimes the root cause of challenging behaviors lies beyond an educator’s purview, often it is related to some personal struggle with the content. Clear and consistent expectations, easy-to-follow directions, chunked instruction, continued check-ins, just-right scaffolding and differentiation… best pedagogical practices such as these mitigate the worst behaviors.

Elevate students: Often, students act out in order to earn attention. Offering students who display challenging behaviors leadership opportunities in class is a way to reframe their peer influence from class clown to class champion.

Collaborate for students on their behalf: Ask other teachers about how the students are doing in their classes, what effective strategies they’re using, how they’ve connected with the students. Frame these conversations always as proactive and solution-forward—not gripe sessions.

Celebrating Successes

The final step in being proactive when dealing with difficult behaviors is the most important: monitor, adapt, and celebrate. Making progress with students who are displaying challenging behaviors is never one and done. Rather, just as relationship implies, it’s an ongoing dialogue. Pay attention to what’s working and what’s not working. Check in with the student about their perceptions. Celebrate the tiniest of victories. Be willing to admit when something is ineffective and make necessary changes. Commit to the long haul and trust the process.

Some of my favorite memories are when students who struggled during their first year in high school come up to me a few years later to joke about, “Remember when…?” Being proactive, even when we’re tired, allows for these moments of connection and joy. And that makes it all worthwhile.

Aug. 8, 2020

Poor Student Behaviour at School

Many schools these days have problems with poor student behaviour. Why do you think these problems occur? What could be done to tackle these problems? Nowadays, student behaviour at school is becoming worse and worse with every year. School administrations and parents continue to argue about sources of this deteriorating process. In this essay I will discuss some of the reasons for students disobey their teachers and propose solutions for schools and parents to deal with this situation. The first and foremost reason is the loss of respect in society. Generally speaking, people these days don’t have such sense of respect for elder generations like it was in the past. Growing ups tend to adopt easily this way of behaviour. In this situation, parents should pay more attention to their own behaviour and encourage their children by example. The next problem is the influence of social networks. Today, social networks is integrated into children’s lives, making them vulnerable to example of poor behaviour translated on the net. For instance, looking at videos on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok, that might contain acts of violence or foul and hate speech. The solution can be for parents to restrict their children from inappropriate content. Another issue related to technologies is that the Internet is replacing school as a source of knowledge. Search engines allows children to quickly get any answers they need. As a result, teachers lose their authority in front of their students. To address this problem, governments ought to make the education more technologically modern. To sum up, poor student behaviour is an increasingly worrying issue affecting the quality of modern school education. Sometimes parents cannot cope alone with the bad influence coming from social networks and TV. The society must pay more attention to this problem, otherwise the fear of dealing with uncontrollable students will put off potential teachers from schools. 311 words, 63 minutes

Many schools these days have problems with poor student behaviour.

Why do you think these problems occur?

What c ould an be done to tackle these problems?

you weren't wrong, but when I read could, I thought "what could potentially be done to solve the problem..." saying "can" makes it sound more powerful, like you want to actively give suggestions to solve the problem

Nowadays, student behaviour at school is becoming worse and worse with every year.

School administrations and parents continue to argue about sources of th is eir deteriorating process conduct .

i know what you were trying to say, but it sounds smoother like this

In this essay , I will discuss some of the reasons for why students disobey their teachers and propose solutions for schools and parents to deal with this situation.

The first and foremost reason is the loss of respect in society.

Generally speaking, people these days don’t have s m uch of a sense of respect for elder generations like it was in the past.

Grow ing n- ups tend to adopt easily this way adopt his type of behaviour.

In this situation, parents should pay more attention to their own behaviour attitude and encourage their children by example.

I changed behaviour to "attitude" because you just said behaviour last sentence

The next problem is the influence of social networks.

Today, social networks is are integrated into children’s lives, making them vulnerable to example s of poor behaviour translated on the inter net.

networks is plural, so you need "are"

For instance, looking at videos on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok , that might contain acts of violence or foul and / hate speech.

what you wrote wasn't a sentence because there was no subject (who was looking? it wasn't specified. the social media networks you mentioned aren't the subjects, but rather the objects in the sentence)

The As a solution can be for , parents to could restrict their children from watching inappropriate content.

Another issue related to technolog ies y is that the Internet is replacing school as a source of knowledge.

Search engines allows children to quickly get any answers that they need.

As a result, teachers lose their authority in front of their students.

To address this problem, governments ought to make the education more technologically modern.

you don't need to say technologically here, because when you say modern, it's clear that's what you mean

To sum up, poor student behaviour is an increasingly worry ing issue affecting the quality of m t od ern ay's school education.

I changed modern to today's school education because you just used modern last sentence

Sometimes , parents alone cannot cope alone with the bad influence coming from social networks and TV.

The s S ociety must pay more attention to this problem, otherwise the fear of dealing with uncontrollable students will put off repel potential teachers from wanting to find a job at schools.

society is a general term, you don't need to use the word "the"

311 words, 63 minutes

Good job! My one suggestion is to focus more on synonyms. An important part of English writing is to use a ton of synonyms and the people who correct your English tests will be looking out for this, since using a varying vocabulary makes writing look way better.

Also, if I may ask, where do you get the topics for your writing prompts? They're all really good, general topics and I would love to practice with some for my German writing test :D

Replies ( 0 )

You need LangCorrect Premium to access this feature.

Export corrections

How would you like to export the corrections?

* Requires the flashcard application Anki

•   Monday, April 1, 2024

Future Educators

Helping America's Future Teachers

How to Handle Bad Student Behavior

A classroom brings together all sorts of students, both well and badly behaved. The latter need special attention to usher them back on the path to good behavior. If you’re having a tough time with certain students in your class, try out the following strategies.

1. Bring difficult students close to you

Bring badly behaved students close to you. That is meant quite literally.

In a classroom setting, you’ll often find that the noisemakers and stubborn elements tend to sit at the back of the class, which offers anonymity and gives confidence to misbehave. Sitting such students at the opposite end of the room, somewhere close to the teacher’s desk, makes them easily stand out and deters such actions.

2. Talk to them in private

Calling out students in front of the class rarely proves helpful. It can breed resentment and further indiscipline. Also, don’t blame or reduce students in front of their friends. Rather, ask him/her to see you after the lesson, when you can look to find out the underlying reason behind the behavior.

– Reasons for bad behavior –

Acting up can be indicative of family problems back home. For example, the child’s parents may have divorced, meaning he or she is dealing with the challenge of co-parenting arrangements or being separated from a parent. Conflict can arise because issues to do with contact time and child support . Try to hold back from judgment since the misbehaving child could be going through some very difficult times in the background.

Children also misbehave out of a perceived need to impress peers. You could tackle that with a real-life example of how acting out in class is not the best solution. Rather, talking it out at the appropriate time is. While you’re at it, be sure to explain why what they did is wrong and the negative consequences of such actions.

3. Be the role model of the behavior you want

Enforcing rules in a classroom is hard if you don’t follow them yourself. Besides having clear policies or rules in place, you should be the first to practice what you preach. Otherwise, students will be inclined to follow your examples instead of your words. If you reprimand students for lateness, for example, be early every day.

4. Define right from wrong

At times, especially when dealing with young children, students might not know what constitutes unacceptable class behavior. They might know that playing “PokemonGo” in class is wrong or reading “Cinderella” in the middle of a lesson is not allowed. Help make the line between right and wrong clear to them.

5. Focus more on rewards than punishments

Students trying to avoid punishment is an effective strategy to ensure everyone is on their best behavior. But rewards are a more productive approach over the long run. Dangling the lure of incentives to students often gives them that push to, not only steer clear of rule infringements, but put their best foot forward.

Rewards could be anything from candy, a stuffed toy, or simple compliments to acknowledge their efforts. You can also make classroom activities so engaging that students don’t want to disrupt what is happening.

6. Adopt the peer tutor technique

No matter how friendly and accommodating you may try to be, sometimes a misbehaving student needs the shoulder of a peer to lean on. That person could be someone going through the same life experiences or simply a non-authoritative figure.

Using the peer tutor technique , you pair the well-behaved student (the “tutor”) with one not so well-behaved. While they are working on polishing their academics, the “learner” can also be getting a lesson on proper personal skills. It’s prudent you talk to the mentoring student and explain to him/her what you aim to accomplish and what he/she can do to help.

7. Try to understand

Sometimes, a student may be construed to be rude when they are actually abiding by a cultural practice or tradition. In some cultures, for example, it is prohibited to look adults in the eye. So when you’re telling a student to do so and is looking away or down at the ground, it might have something to do with that.

Before you straight away label any action as bad behavior, first get to the root of the matter. For all they know, you may be asking them to do something contrary to what they believe is right or proper.

Last, but certainly not least, never give up on a seemingly stubborn student who looks determined to work your every nerve. Don’t let up on the good fight until it is won. Sometimes that takes minutes, other times it takes weeks. Be patient and never let your frustrations get the better of you.

Related Posts

6 tips on how to engage with students, 5 letter word with most vowels (wordle words), how to use videos in the classroom, 21 ways of teaching soft skills to students.

The Causes of Students’ Misbehavior and Ways of Managing It Essay

Introduction, various causes of misbehavior, ways of preventing and responding to misbehavior, reference list.

Students’ misbehavior usually has a disruptive impact on learning and teaching activities in the classroom. It can take various forms, for example, talking to others without permission or even bullying. Yet, in each case, educators have to find ways of resolving these problems.

This paper is aimed at discussing the causes of this misbehavior and the strategies that teachers should adopt in order to prevent and minimize these problems. In particular, it is necessary to show that such conduct can be explained by both internal and external factors that cannot be always controlled by a student. For example, this misbehavior can be attributed to poor instructional design or failure to involve students in classroom activities.

Thus, it should not be regarded only as a student’s fault. Secondly, this paper will demonstrate that coercion and punishment which excludes a student from the class is not the best strategy for addressing this issue. Instead, teachers should focus on instructional design and interpersonal skills that can help them find a better approach to learners.

Very often the origins of misbehavior are very difficult to trace back because it can be explained by a variety of factors such as family problems, school environment, peer pressure, or psychological problems of a student (Moles, 1990, p. 259). Researchers point out that there are several internal motivators for the misbehavior; one of them is the need for attention (Sagor & Cox, 2004, p. 176). These students want teachers to look more attentively at their needs and goals.

These students want to feel that they are valued by the teacher. Another factor that contributes to misbehavior is the desire to assert ones authority over others (Joseph, 2001, p. 125). Some students believe that the necessity to follow rules limits their freedom and ability to act independently. Such students often tend to bully others if they feel that their freedom is restricted by teachers or school administrators. Additionally, one should speak about assumed inadequacy (Joseph, 2001, p. 125; Belson, 1996, p. 79).

Some learners can assume that they do not belong to the class or that they cannot meet certain performance standards. Some teachers can often accuse children of being deviant or lazy. In some cases, such an accusation can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. In other words, a student can come to the belief that his/her actions cannot change a teacher’s opinion about him or her. This is why teachers should avoid using such labels as “deviant” or “lazy” when talking to a child.

The discussion of these internal factors can also be linked to the Choice Theory developed by William Glasser (1988). In the opinion of this scholar, a student’s behavior is driven by the need for belonging, willingness to acquire power or freedom, and the desire to have fun (Glasser, 1988, p. 7).

Provided that these needs are not satisfied, a student is more likely to violate the rules that are set by the teachers. This theory can have profound implications for those people who design instruction models. Their task is to create such an environment in which a student can meet various psychological needs.

Apart from that, scholars argue that there are some causes of misbehavior that can be attributed to school environment. In particular, they point to such factors as lack of meaningful interaction with teachers, unequal power relations, or inability to fulfill ones talents or skills (Sagor & Cox, 2004, p. 177). Therefore, educators should take into account that sometimes they can cause the misbehavior in the classroom.

For instance, a student can act defiantly in those cases when teacher adopts a very authoritative attitude toward learners. Additionally, one can refer to the study carried out by Salee Supaporn (2000). This scholar shows that misbehavior can be linked to the activities in which students are engaged (Supaporn, 2000, p. 124). In particular, a student, who perceives a learning activity as interesting, is less likely to misbehave in the classroom.

Overall, boredom is one of the main factors that contribute to misbehavior in the classroom (Tauber, 2007, p. 134). Moreover, many students can misbehave when a teacher does not accommodate the lesson to their learning style (Haggart, 2004, p. 32).

For instance, auditory learners, who need to discuss ideas or topics with a teacher, may talk out of turn when a teacher does not encourage them to show their understanding of the material (Haggart, 2004, p. 32). This is why misbehavior should not be always explained by lack of self-control or discipline.

There is another aspect of this problem, namely the way in which educators perceive misbehavior and its causes. For instance, some of them think that its causes are fully controllable by a student (Evertson & Weinstein, 2006, p. 203). For instance, some teachers believe that poor performance or misbehavior during lessons can be attributed to chronic laziness or unwillingness to learn (Evertson & Weinstein, 2006, p. 203).

Usually these people believe that punishment is the best response to such a behavior. They do not consider the possibility that such conduct could have been caused by lack of social skills or attention-deficit disorder (Rubie-Davies, 2011, p. 225). More importantly, they do not change their strategies in any way when dealing with such a child. As a result, such students continue to underperform.

The statistical survey conducted by Pamela Kulinna (2007) indicates that teachers usually attribute misbehavior to such factors as peer pressure of family problems (p. 21). As a rule, they do not say that their strategies or instructional models are flawed. Overall, this study suggests that to cope with misbehavior educators should take a critical view at their teaching methods.

Thus, this discussion indicates that there could be numerous causes of student’ misbehavior. In some cases, it can be explained by internal motivators such as the need for attention or the willingness to gain power and authority. Yet, very often it can be attributed to school or classroom environment. This is the main issue that teachers should not disregard.

At present, there is no universal method of managing misbehavior in the classroom. Yet, researchers do describe ways in which a teacher can avert or minimize this problem. One of them is the use of instruction methods encourage a student to participate in learning activities (Landrum, 2011, p. 33; Casas, 2009, p. 85). In particular, the teacher should encourage students to demonstrate their understanding of the material (Landrum, 2011, p. 33).

Moreover, it is always necessary to provide feedback to learners and explain where they could have made mistakes. This approach enables students to take a more active part in their studies; they will not be only passive recipients of information.

Moreover, in this way, learning activities can be made more interesting because students will be able to interact with the teacher, instead of just following his/her commands. The learners will also see that a teacher genuinely cares about their successes and there will be fewer reasons for them to violate the rules that this person set. Thus, improved instructional methodology is one of the ways to reduce misbehavior in classrooms.

Additionally, a teacher should take into account that any class is made up of students who may have different learning styles. These people can acquire or develop new skills in different ways. As it has been said before, boredom can be a cause of misbehavior. Some students can feel in this way because they are not allowed to learn in a way that is most suitable for them (Walters & Frei, 2007, p. 7; Rayner & Cools, 2012, p. 166).

For instance, some students are kinesthetic learners; this means that they have to carry out physical activities in order to better understand new material. Their misbehavior is usually expressed through body movements or gestures that may seem strange to others (Haggart, 2004, p. 32). Teachers should pay more attention to the needs of such learners. For instance, those people, who teach algebra, usually let these students use pan scales. In this way, they can help them better understand the notion of equation (Kelly, 2000, p. 77).

This example demonstrates that the likelihood of misbehavior can be reduced provided that a teacher uses proper instructional methods and appreciates the differences in learning styles.

Apart from that, educators should try to show the practical use of the knowledge or skills that they want to teach students. Provided that this task is achieved, they will find it easier to keep the attention of these learners (Wadhwa, 2004, p. 121). Therefore, improved instructional models and flexible teaching methods are instrumental in preventing misbehavior.

Another issue that should be discussed is the use of punishment as a response to the misbehavior of students. One of the main arguments is that such punitive measures are aimed at excluding the child from the classroom, rather than helping him or her. In many cases, teachers may place a misbehaving child at the very back of them room (Noguera, 2003, p. 342). In turn, fighting or bullying can lead to suspension or expulsion from the school (Noguera, 2003, p. 342).

The main problem is that such strategies do not actually encourage a student to change his/her behavior. The main logic of this approach is that this punishment will deter other students from misbehaving. It is based on the assumption that a student will behave appropriately in order to avoid negative consequences. Yet, it can also lead to such problems as alienation from other pupils, negative attitude toward school or learning, or anti-social behavior.

It does not emphasize positive experiences associated with learning. This is the main drawback of this method. Furthermore, teachers, who continuously rely on punishment, run the risk of losing their authority. The thing is that the power of a teacher can come from various sources. It may rely on coercion or the ability to render punishment. Yet, as it has been argued by William Glasser (1990) such teachers cannot ensure that students are willing to comply with the rules (p. 5).

More importantly, students will regard them only as some authority figures who do not want to offer students sympathy or respect. Overall, the power of the teacher should rely more on his/her expertise and interpersonal skills, rather than coercion. Therefore, coercion and punishment are not the best methods of preventing or responding to student’s misbehavior.

Currently, researchers believe that in many cases, a teacher can respond to misbehavior without relying on punishment that excludes a student (Tate, 2006, p. 15). For instance, a teacher can ask a student to write an essay on the causes of his/her misbehavior and the reasons why such conduct is not appropriate.

Secondly, a teacher should keep in mind that misbehavior can be caused by anxiety or domestic abuse. In some cases, it may be necessary to ask a student after the lesson whether there is anything that disturbs him/her. Furthermore, humor can be much more effective than shouting in the classroom (Tate, 2006, p. 15). Moreover, researchers argue that a sudden pause or silence can be a very good method of attracting a student’s attention to the fact that he/she does not behave properly.

Such a method can be applied to students talk to one another at the time when a teacher explains a new topic. Additionally, teachers should take time to explain what kinds of behavior are inappropriate in the classroom. For some students, such an explanation can be more effective than punishment. This is how teachers can respond to misbehavior in the classroom without using coercive power.

Overall, this discussion indicates that the misbehavior in the classroom cannot always be blamed only on students. Very often, this conduct can be attributed to poor methods of instruction or failure to involve students into learning. The task of educators is to create an environment in which students feel themselves a part of the class. They must see themselves as active participants of educational process. Finally, teachers should remember there are ways of influencing the behavior of students without the use of coercive power.

Belson, M. (1996). Understanding classroom behaviour . Melbourne: Arena.

Casas, M. (2009). Enhancing Student Learning in Middle School . New York: Taylor & Francis.

Evertson, C. & Weinstein. C. (2006). Handbook of Classroom Management: Research, Practice, and Contemporary Issues . London: Routledge.

Glasser, W. (1988). Choice Theory in the Classroom . New York: HerperCollins.

Glasser, W. (1990). The Quality School: Managing Students Without Coercion . Melbourne: Thomas Nelson.

Haggart, W. (2004). Discipline and Learning Styles: An Educator’s Guide . London: Worthy Shorts Inc.

Joseph, J. (2001). The Resilient Child: Preparing Today’s Youth For Tomorrow’s World . New York: Da Capo Press.

Kelly, B. (2000). Patterns, Functions, and Algebra . New Haven: Brendan Kelly Publishing Inc.

Kulinna, P. (2007). Teachers’ Attributions and Strategies for Student Misbehavior. Journal Of Classroom Interaction, 42 (2), 21-30.

Landrum, T. M. (2011). Classroom misbehavior is predictable and preventable. Phi Delta Kappan, 93 (2), 30-34.

Moles, O. (1990). Student Discipline Strategies: Research and Practice . New York: SUNY Press.

Noguera, P. A. (2003). Schools, Prisons, and Social Implications of Punishment: Rethinking Disciplinary Practices. Theory Into Practice, 42 (4), 341-350.

Rayner, S. & Cools, E. (2012). Style Differences in Cognition, Learning, and Management: Theory, Research, and Practice . London: Routledge.

Rubie-Davies, C. (2011). Educational Psychology: Concepts, Research and Challenges . New York: Taylor & Francis.

Sagor, R. & Cox, J. (2004). At-Risk Students: Reaching and Teaching Them . New York: Eye on Education.

Supaporn, S. (2000). High School Students’ Perspectives About Misbehavior. Physical Educator, 57 (3), 124-130.

Tate, M. (2006). Shouting Won’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Techniques for Managing a Brain-Compatible Classroom . London: Corwin Press.

Tauber, R. (2007). Classroom Management: Sound Theory and Effective Practice . Philadelphia: Greenwood Publishing Group.

Wadhwa, S. (2004). Modern Methods Of Teaching History. Delhi: Sarup & Sons.

Walters, J. & Frei, S. (2007). Managing Classroom Behavior and Discipline. New York: Shell Education.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, October 28). The Causes of Students’ Misbehavior and Ways of Managing It. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-causes-of-students-misbehavior-and-ways-of-managing-it-essay/

"The Causes of Students’ Misbehavior and Ways of Managing It." IvyPanda , 28 Oct. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/the-causes-of-students-misbehavior-and-ways-of-managing-it-essay/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'The Causes of Students’ Misbehavior and Ways of Managing It'. 28 October.

IvyPanda . 2023. "The Causes of Students’ Misbehavior and Ways of Managing It." October 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-causes-of-students-misbehavior-and-ways-of-managing-it-essay/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Causes of Students’ Misbehavior and Ways of Managing It." October 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-causes-of-students-misbehavior-and-ways-of-managing-it-essay/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Causes of Students’ Misbehavior and Ways of Managing It." October 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-causes-of-students-misbehavior-and-ways-of-managing-it-essay/.

• Discipline, Inclusion and Misbehavior in Classroom
• Handling Child Misbehavior
• Sexual Harassment as Organizational Misbehavior
• The Difference Between Organizational Conflict and Misbehavior
• Why Do Students Misbehave?
• Classroom Management: Johnny’ Case
• Enhancing Gifted Learning in a Regular Class
• Spare the Rod or Spoil the Child: Outline
• Time-Out Rooms for Classroom & Behavior Management
• Family-Community Partnerships Creation
• Gender parity in higher education
• Adolescents with Learning and Behaviour Disabilities: Graduation and Employment Difficulties
• Verbal Dyspraxia in Children
• Class Tardiness
• Classroom Behavior and Culturally Diverse

Stress and short tempers: Schools struggle with behavior as students return

The behavior issues are a reflection of the stress the pandemic placed on children, experts say. (skynesher / Getty Images)

Alyssa Rodriguez expected a rocky readjustment this school year. The Chicago social worker figured she’d see more students who felt anxious, frustrated by their schoolwork, or disoriented by unfamiliar routines. 

A month into school, she says she underestimated the challenge ahead. Student behavior referrals are up, as middle schoolers hurt each others’ feelings with comments they’d usually only be bold enough to say online. She and other social workers have seen more verbal and physical fights, and worried parents are calling with concerns about their child’s shorter-than-usual temper. 

“It’s definitely a lot more than I think any of us were mentally prepared for, even though we tried to prepare for it,” Rodriguez said. 

Schools across the country say they’re seeing an uptick in disruptive behaviors. Some are obvious and visible, like students trashing bathrooms, fighting over social media posts, or running out of classrooms. Others are quieter calls for help, like students putting their head down and refusing to talk. 

“This is a prolonged adjustment period,” said Dr. Tali Raviv, the associate director of the Center for Childhood Resilience at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. As children return to school, “There’s much more interaction, there’s much less downtime to recharge, there’s much less flexibility.” 

The behavior issues are a reflection of the stress the pandemic placed on children, experts say, upending their education, schedules, and social lives. For students dealing with grief, mental health issues, or the layered effects of poverty and racism, big transitions can be even more challenging. 

Anxiety and chronic stress also trigger a child’s “survival brain,” as Raviv put it. While some students retreat, others feel like they’re on high alert — turning a nudge in the hallway into cause for an outburst, for example. “You can get these really big reactions over really small things,” she said. 

Coupled with staff exhaustion, the behavior challenges are making school environments more tense than educators and students had anticipated — and underscoring how much support students need right now.

‘It’s like we’ve forgotten how to socialize’​​

Alex Magaña saw behavioral challenges crop up last year at the two Denver middle schools he oversees as executive principal, Grant Beacon and Kepner Beacon, when students were largely confined to one classroom. Students would occasionally rip off their masks and storm away, leaving staff members to chase them around the building, trying to prevent more disruption. 

When classes resumed last month, the acting out intensified, Magaña said. There was a fight on the first day of school instigated by a social media slight, plus more defiance and challenging of authority. 

“It’s hard when there are bumps,” said Kelsy Schmidt, the schools’ dean of instruction. “We want everything to be nice and smooth, and have high academic growth for students. But there are bumps now.”

Across the district, fights are up 21% this fall from the pre-pandemic fall of 2019, according to statistics shared publicly by Denver Public Schools officials. Mike Eaton, the chief of safety for the 90,000-student district, said he doesn’t know for sure what is driving the increase but suspects staff shortages are playing a role.

Chanyce Johnson, a junior at Houston’s North Forest High School, has also noticed more student fights this year, especially among freshmen and sophomores. Social interactions feel different, too.

“Everybody is off in their own little la la land. It’s like we just go there, get to class, get out of the class, go home,” said Johnson, who’s also a member of Houston’s student-led congress. During group projects in class, teachers have to urge students to talk with one another. “It’s like we’ve forgotten how to socialize since we’ve been out of school for so long.”

Among teachers of younger students, it’s not uncommon to hear that students seem two grade levels behind socially. Educators have noticed that elementary schoolers who spent much of the last two years learning online are — to no one’s surprise — struggling to share and walk slowly in the hallway. 

One challenge is that teachers often can’t point back to established rules and expectations, because those looked very different last year. 

In Los Angeles, Cabrillo Avenue Elementary principal Nathan Mac Ainsh is hearing from parents asking why their children are getting hit on the playground. The reality is they’re just playing “a little too rough,” and not used to the rules on the playground after last year’s recess consisted of socially distanced walks.  

“We’re doing a lot of conflict resolution,” Mac Ainsh said. “But it takes time.”

Some students have responded differently. In Chicago, Rodriguez has watched students who are fearful of the virus refuse to get out of the car or hover at the entrance of school, afraid to go inside. 

Other schools that expected to see more emotional outbursts and disruptive behavior haven’t seen them . In some places, staff have noticed behavior improvement, as students regain the structure and schedules they didn’t have last school year — though they acknowledge it may be a “honeymoon phase.”

“Kids are excited to be in this social environment. They missed each other,” said Shirley Brown, the high school principal at Detroit Edison Public School Academy. She’s noticed behavior is better than usual, perhaps because students don’t want to risk being suspended. “The students really want to be in the building, and they’re not quick to jeopardize that.”

Holiday exhaustion hits early for teachers

Complicating how schools are responding to disruptive behavior is the fact that many educators are on edge, too. Staff shortages and quarantines have stretched teachers thin, leaving many with less of the patience needed to de-escalate student conflicts. Some say they’re already as tired as they’d typically be by Thanksgiving.

“Normally we are really energized and rocking and rolling at the end of September,” said Roxanne James, the principal of Jerome Mack Middle School in Las Vegas. This year, staffers are already exhausted. “They’re being asked to be those emotional supports for kids, for their families, for each other,” she said. “And they themselves have gone through the trauma of the pandemic.”

That community-wide stress takes a toll, Raviv said.

“One of the things different about COVID is that it’s not something just happening to one student and one family, and the teacher is on the outside. Teachers are right in there,” she said. “What we see a lot of is teachers feeling overwhelmed and burned out, and that does make a difference in how available they can be for their students.” 

Sixteen-year-old Johnson has seen that dynamic at her Houston high school.

“You can tell some teachers really, really do love their job, but I feel like some teachers over the course of the pandemic, they really got a short temper,” she said. 

She’s seen educators yell at students for talking and assign punishments usually used for younger students, like silent lunch. Johnson wants to see her school hire more counselors so they can spend more time talking with students and less time building schedules. Her counselor, she said, is always busy.

Teachers and students look for solutions

Schools are making changes meant to help, often with the help of COVID relief funding. Missoula County schools in Montana, for example, hired a dozen additional staffers to focus on student behavior and mental health. Now they have staff at every elementary and middle school to teach coping strategies to kids who are getting frustrated quickly.

Brown’s school in Detroit adjusted schedules this year so every morning begins with 15 minutes students can spend on deep breathing, discussing something in the news, or venting about personal stress.

“The needs are different than in a typical year because there’s such a high level of grief,” Brown said. “If they don’t have the opportunity to talk it out, they’ll act it out.” 

Schools within the Indianapolis-based Phalen Leadership Academies charter network expanded their art and theater programs, and brought in adults — “semi-therapists,” as the network’s CEO Earl Martin Phalen dubbed them — to help kids make connections and sort through their emotions. The organization also boosted staffing by 10% across its 25 schools, with a focus on coaches and teachers who spend time daily with students to build “sticky relationships,” Phalen said.

Students are working to improve school environments, too. When school was remote, 15-year-old Carlos Alvarado, like many teens, realized that LGBTQIA+ students were experiencing less bullying away from school. When Alvarado, who uses he and they pronouns, returned this year to Houston’s Furr High School wearing a skirt, they were called names and filmed by older students. 

He’s now planning a week of activities to make his school more welcoming, including a day where students will be asked to wear pins with their pronouns. 

“I know people’s judgments and other people’s opinions. I was like: ‘Why not make an activity where people can learn?’” they said. “I feel these activities that we’re creating helps.”

At the two Denver middle schools, leaders are trying to take an empathetic approach. They have incorporated more downtime into daily schedules and loosened some rules, too — if students want to wear their hoodies up, they can.  

One day earlier this month, Schmidt was making coffee when she saw another staff member consoling a former student sobbing in the hallway. She took the eighth grade boy under her arm, walked with him outside, and listened.

“Don’t we all sometimes just need a safe person to walk with?” Schmidt said. “A lot of our kids need that right now.”

Melanie Asmar, Matt Barnum, Sarah Darville, Eric Gorski, Tracie Mauriello, and Sharon Noguchi contributed reporting.

Celebrating 25 Years

• Join ADDitude
•  | 

• What Is ADHD?
• The ADHD Brain
• ADHD Symptoms
• ADHD in Children
• ADHD in Adults
• ADHD in Women
• Find ADHD Specialists
• New! Symptom Checker
• ADHD Symptom Tests
• All Symptom Tests
• More in Mental Health
• Medication Reviews
• ADHD Medications
• Natural Remedies
• ADHD Therapies
• Managing Treatment
• Treating Your Child
• Behavior & Discipline
• School & Learning
• Teens with ADHD
• Positive Parenting
• Schedules & Routines
• Organizing Your Child
• Health & Nutrition
• More on ADHD Parenting
• Do I Have ADD?
• Getting Things Done
• Relationships
• Time & Productivity
• Organization
• Health & Nutrition
• More for ADHD Adults
• Free Webinars
• Free Downloads
• ADHD Videos
• ADHD Directory
• eBooks + More
• Newsletters
• Guest Blogs
• News & Research
• For Clinicians
• For Educators
• Manage My Subscription
• Get Back Issues
• Digital Magazine
• Gift Subscription
• Renew My Subscription
• ADHD Parenting

12 Teacher Strategies to Inspire Listening, Learning and Self-Control

Detention doesn’t work. neither does criticism. or yelling. in fact, they may actually aggravate and encourage a child’s defiance. what does work these strategies for managing negative adhd behavior in the classroom — and teaching students better skills for the long run..

Challenging Classroom Behavior

Let’s start with the bad news: Teachers can’t actually control their students’ behavior . That’s because the only behavior a person can control is his or her own. And when teachers try to directly restrict what students say or do, they’re usually left feeling frustrated and helpless.

The good news? Teachers can apply some evidence-based strategies to help students take charge of their own behavior and learn how to interact with their environment in a positive way.

Why Do Kids Misbehave?

Behavior is a form of communication. For kids with ADHD, poor behavior usually blossoms from a skill deficit. A child who’s unable to express his frustration verbally may instead throw his pencil across the room; a child who feels socially ostracized may respond by pushing a classmate on the playground. The only way to prevent these undesirable outcomes is for teachers to identify the root causes of bad behavior — and set up systems that promote greater self-awareness and self-control.

What Can Teachers Do?

Of course, this is easier said than done because each child and situation is unique. But children with ADHD do tend to exhibit certain behavior patterns that stem from common triggers. To avoid these, teachers can use these 12 strategies to create structure, reduce boredom, and help children with ADHD connect causes to effects.

[ 10 Back-to-School Promises from a Very Cool Teacher ]

1. Make expectations clear.

Kids feel more in control when they know exactly what’s expected of them, which is why teachers should begin each new school year by establishing clear behavioral expectations. Begin by asking the class to help you devise a list of rules to keep everyone’s attention focused on learning. Be sure to state the rules in a positive way whenever possible to give children positive behavioral goals. “Raise your hand and wait to be called on before speaking” is better than “Don’t speak unless you’re called on.”

2. Have a predictable daily schedule.

Kids also feel in control when teachers post a clear, easy-to-follow schedule for everyone to see. For younger kids, the schedule may include pictures — an image of a book to represent quiet reading time, for instance. For older kids, it may include homework specifics and main objectives of the day’s lessons. Teachers should check off or erase items as the day progresses to help kids with ADHD learn to manage their time and prepare for upcoming transitions — a common trigger for bad behavior.

3. Explicitly teach routines.

Daily, repeated tasks like lining up for recess, sitting through roll call, or copying down homework assignments don’t always come naturally to students with ADHD. Teachers may interpret the child’s forgetfulness or confusion as defiance, when it’s really just a product of underdeveloped executive functions.

To prevent schedule slip-ups — and the problem behaviors that often come with them — a teacher may need to work one-on-one with some students to explicitly teach the daily routine. If a child repeatedly acts out at certain times of day, for instance, a “cue card” designed especially for those trigger situations can be helpful. An example: If a student struggles to settle into quiet reading time after recess — and instead provokes other children or moves around the room — he may benefit from a small card that spells out all the steps he needs to follow the moment he returns from recess. On days when he successfully completes all the steps, a small reward can help reinforce the correct routine.

4. Be consistent.

When kids with ADHD don’t follow directions, it’s sometimes due to defiance — but more often it’s because they failed to understand or pay attention to each step. Teachers can avoid this by establishing an auditory or visual cue that alerts the entire class that you’re about to give a direction — clapping your hands twice, for instance, or standing in the same spot every time you impart an instruction. Once students become accustomed to the cue, you’ll be amazed at how much better they tune in!

[ Free Handout: ADHD 101 for Teachers ]

5. Give better directions.

Kids are better able to follow the instructions of teachers who do the following:

• Make eye contact. Of course, you can’t hold eye contact with 25 children at once while you speak. But you can do a quick scan of the room to make sure every child is looking at you before you begin speaking, and make eye contact with the few who are struggling to maintain attention.
• Break tasks into steps. Chunking large amounts of information into smaller pieces makes it easier for children to digest. Writing each step on the board as you go is also a good idea for children who process information visually.
• Ask kids to restate. Check for comprehension by asking a few children to repeat back what’s expected of them. Rephrasing instructions in their own words makes it more likely children will understand — and follow — them.

6. Teach emotional regulation.

Kids with ADHD feel emotions more intensely than do their peers. This makes it tough to put on the brakes when a situation triggers feelings of anger or excitement, which can result in aggressive or inappropriate behavior. And since emotions are abstract, many children can’t identify what they’re feeling — and don’t know what they need to do to calm down again.

Teachers can help students regain emotional control by helping them recognize physical signs of strong emotions, and offering strategies for reacting appropriately. There are many different ways to do this, including a structured program called The Zones of Regulation. Teachers can learn more at zonesofregulation.com .

7. Create external structure in the classroom environment.

Structure is more than a daily routine. It’s also possible to arrange the classroom’s physical environment in ways that make it less likely students will act out. This can be done by positioning the desks in a specific way — a U-shape helps children manage their behavior since they’re all easily accessible by the teacher — or by setting up “stations” around the room for different activities. Group work, for instance, might always take place in the corners of the room, so kids with ADHD are less likely to get distracted or involved in what other groups are doing.

8. Make consequences immediate.

When children do misbehave, consequences should follow swiftly. Kids with ADHD struggle to connect delayed punishments — like after-school detention — to negative behavior during the day. If the child is able to directly associate the punishment with the undesired behavior, she’ll be more likely to change that behavior in the future.

9. Make better behavior a class-wide goal.

Singling out children who act out can backfire and lead to more bad behavior. Instead, set up a systematic behavior management framework — like a token system — that the whole class adheres to, so no one child feels the teacher is fixating specifically on him. If you prefer a more high-tech approach, apps like ClassDojo (for younger kids) or RedCritter Teacher (for older kids) can help you measure and track the behavior of your entire class.

10. Provide students with options.

One way to avoid oppositional behavior — and help children feel they can control frustrating situations — is to present them with a choice. For instance, if a child is refusing to work on an assignment, ask her, “What would help you get this done: working with a partner or going to a quiet room to finish on your own?” When the scenario is presented this way, completing the assignment isn’t optional — but the student retains some control over exactly how it gets done.

11. Make good behavior a game.

Boredom is a common trigger for kids with ADHD. When the ADHD brain is bored, it seeks stimulation — sometimes in the form of disruptive behavior. Teachers can provide some novelty to a restless brain by turning good behavior into a game. A straightforward point system — where earned points can be exchanged for rewards each day or each week — is an easy way for teachers to encourage good behavior.

Other teachers choose to split students into teams that compete to obtain a desired behavior — which team can read quietly for the longest amount of time? Or who can organize their desks the fastest? A quick behavior game will break up the long school day and plays to the ADHD desire for novelty and competition, while clearly modeling the expected behavior.

12. Allow movement.

Decades of research directly link physical movement to mental stamina, improved cognitive ability, and better behavior. All children — but especially those with ADHD — learn and conduct themselves better when they’re given frequent opportunities to move throughout the day. Having children march in place while reciting math facts, for instance, won’t just help them with memorization. It will also burn off excess energy and reduce the chance of outbursts later. And remember: recess should never be taken away as a punishment — doing so only increases the chance that a child will redirect his unused energy in a negative way.

Teachers Can't Fix Everything

These rules aren’t exhaustive. The goal of each is to teach better behavior over the long-term AND design a classroom environment where students are more likely to behave. But children will still act out. It’s important to remember that, as a teacher, sometimes a child’s behavior will be beyond your ability to correct. If a child is repeatedly engaging in behavior that’s dangerous to himself or others, seek additional help — from a qualified behavioral psychologist, the student’s IEP team, or the child’s parents.

[ Free Resource: How Teachers Can Manage Classroom Behavior ]

For Teachers: Read These Next

9 Things I Wish the World Knew About My Students’ ADHD

How Do You Reassure Your Anxious Child When You’re Scared, Too?

When ‘Careless Mistakes’ Aren’t: Dyscalculia & Math Anxiety

Practical Strategies & Tools to Help Kids with Dysgraphia

Adhd newsletter, success @ school, strategies for homework, accommodations, ieps, working with school & more..

It appears JavaScript is disabled in your browser. Please enable JavaScript and refresh the page in order to complete this form.

IELTS Mentor "IELTS Preparation & Sample Answer"

• Skip to content
• Jump to main navigation and login

Nav view search

• IELTS Sample

IELTS Writing Task 2/ Essay Topics with sample answer.

Ielts essay # 505 - schools have severe problems with student behaviour, ielts writing task 2/ ielts essay:, in many countries, schools have severe problems with student behaviour. what do you think are the causes of this what solutions can you suggest.

• IELTS Essay
• Writing Task 2
• Cause and Solution Essay

IELTS Materials

• IELTS Bar Graph
• IELTS Line Graph
• IELTS Table Chart
• IELTS Flow Chart
• IELTS Pie Chart
• IELTS Letter Writing
• Academic Reading

Useful Links

• IELTS Secrets
• Band Score Calculator
• Exam Specific Tips
• Useful Websites
• IELTS Preparation Tips
• Academic Reading Tips
• Academic Writing Tips
• GT Writing Tips
• Listening Tips
• Speaking Tips
• IELTS Grammar Review
• IELTS Vocabulary
• IELTS Cue Cards
• IELTS Life Skills
• Letter Types

• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Copyright Notice
• HTML Sitemap

California college savings accounts aren’t getting to all the kids who need them

How improv theater class can help kids heal from trauma

50 years later: How Lau v. Nichols changed education for English learners

Patrick Acuña’s journey from prison to UC Irvine | Video

Family reunited after four years separated by Trump-era immigration policy

School choice advocate, CTA opponent Lance Christensen would be a very different state superintendent

Black teachers: How to recruit them and make them stay

Lessons in higher education: What California can learn

Keeping California public university options open

Superintendents: Well-paid and walking away

The debt to degree connection

College in prison: How earning a degree can lead to a new life

March 21, 2024

Raising the curtain on Prop 28: Can arts education help transform California schools?

February 27, 2024

Keeping options open: Why most students aren’t eligible to apply to California’s public universities

Teacher Shortage

Covid challenges, bad student behavior push teachers to limit, out the door

Thousands of california teachers quit midyear.

Diana Lambert

June 2, 2022, 14 comments.

Lynda White, who taught English, creative writing and social studies at El Monte Middle School in the small Central Valley town of Orosi for 21 years, started having panic attacks this school year as she drove to the campus.

“I would sit in my car, taking slow breaths, trying to calm myself down because I knew when I got on campus it would be horrible,” White said.

The veteran educator was among thousands of California teachers who quit their jobs before this school year ended. Some teachers left because of the challenges of teaching during a pandemic, while others were fearful they would contract Covid-19 and some were offered higher-paying jobs. Many just burned out.

White was exhausted and disillusioned from dealing with bad student behavior, which had escalated since schools reopened after the pandemic closures. Students regularly arrived late to classes, fought with one another, interrupted lessons and ignored her direction. White said she sent disciplinary referrals to the principal’s office, but no action was taken.

“I had thought about it, and I was planning on retiring in December,” said White, who is 58. “I thought, it is just a couple of more months. I was counting the days. The way I thought of it in my mind is, I don’t want to be a quitter.”

Teachers, already stressed from distance learning, believed things would get better after schools reopened. They knew it would be difficult for students to adjust to returning to school after almost a year away, but they weren’t prepared to deal with the social-emotional trauma the kids had experienced and their reaction to the shift in their routines, White said.

To make matters worse, school administrators didn’t respond to requests for help, and parents often didn’t return calls, she said.

“I realized I’m on my own in this,” White said.

White attempted to restore order in her classroom by giving students who misbehaved lunchtime detention. Most didn’t show up. Those who did were often disruptive. It was during one of these sessions, after a student yelled at her and stormed out of class, that White realized she was done with teaching.

White went to the principal’s office and told administrators she was leaving for the day. The next day her doctor put her on stress leave, which continued until her retirement in December.

California teachers are retiring earlier than they planned

In the last six months of 2020 – after the pandemic began – there were 5,644 teacher retirements , a 26% increase the same period the previous year, according to the California State Teachers’ Retirement System. By the end of the school year, 12,785 teachers had retired – 8% higher than the previous year. Data for this school year is not yet available, but CalSTRS reports that the number of retirements has leveled off since 2020.

Most of the retirees who completed a CalSTRS survey said they retired earlier than they had planned. Almost half of the retirees surveyed in the 2020-21 school year said challenges related to teaching during Covid were among the primary reasons for their early departure.

“I can’t speak for others, but even in our worst years prior to Covid, we did not see the mass exiting that we do now,” said Lindsay Mendoza, president of the Cutler-Orosi Unified Teachers Association.

These resignations come as California school districts are already struggling with staff shortages that have meant larger class sizes and more teachers giving up preparation and lunch periods to cover classes when other teachers are sick.

Teachers are feeling overworked and underappreciated

It hasn’t been an easy year for teachers, said Kurtis Obispo, a school psychologist. Many haven’t recovered from the emotional stress brought on by the pandemic, school closures and the many changes they have had to endure since.

“I know a lot of them felt like things were changing too quickly,” he said. “Every time they adjusted, they had to readjust. There were Covid protocols, monitoring of attendance for synchronous and asynchronous instruction. Some of the teachers are fed up and at that point where any little change is triggering.”

Teachers also are not feeling appreciated, he said. Families, stressed and worried about whether their children are behind, often have taken out frustration on teachers.

The social-emotional needs of students this school year were so high and staffing so low that Obispo also quit his job midyear. There were more fights on campuses and more students being designated as a threat to themselves or others, said Obispo, who worked for Escalon Unified School District in San Joaquin County. Students had a hard time communicating with one another and were more anxious than before the pandemic, he said.

“It was an extremely difficult time,” Obispo said. “I was breaking up fights. I was put on TikTok recently because I broke up a fight.”

Obispo was responsible for the mental health of students at one high school and two elementary schools. The district had three counselors at the high school, one at the middle school and none at its four elementary schools. It had three school psychologists for its 2,906 students.

Obispo said that parents and students called him on weekends and nights. He took the calls because he knew the students needed him.

“I couldn’t maintain the workload with any type of fidelity,” he said. “I felt I was so overworked I was going to miss something.”

Obispo gave his notice to Escalon Unified in December and is now the director of special education at Team Charter Schools in Stockton, where he also serves as the school psychologist.

Burnout is a serious problem nationwide

The exodus of teachers from the profession is not just a California problem. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that about 600,000 teachers in public education in the United States quit between January 2020 and last February.

The National Education Association, the nation’s largest union, surveyed its membership in January on key educational issues. More than half of the union’s members indicated they are considering leaving the profession earlier than planned. Nearly all, at least 90% said burnout and pandemic-related stress are serious problems.

Caitlin Santos was in her second year as a special education teacher at Norristown Area School District, in a suburb of Philadelphia, when she quit in October after being put on stress-related leave by her doctor. Now she works from home as a corporate trainer.

Santos was quickly overwhelmed by the behavior problems of her students and her own health concerns after school began this year. Students in her special education class were required to wear masks because of the pandemic, but they seldom kept them on. She worried about her son, who was born prematurely and had asthma. Sometimes student behavior escalated to shouting at and shoving their teacher, she said. Sometimes they threw furniture. Students she sent to the office were often sent back to the class.

Then the district doubled her caseload.

“The stress of everything completely did me in, and I realized if I stayed I would not be healthy in any shape or form,” she said.

More teachers want out of their contracts

There can be repercussions for teachers who decide to leave their jobs before the end of the school year. Although each school district’s contract with its teachers is different, many can prevent a teacher from taking other jobs if they quit during the contract. Additionally, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing can take disciplinary action, including suspending a credential for up to one year if the teacher does not have a good reason for quitting before the contract expires.

Officers from local teachers unions across California report a dramatic increase in the number of teachers calling them for information about how they can break their contracts with districts.

Lodi Education Association President Michelle Orgon said teachers who contacted her wanted to take better-paying jobs with less stress or wanted to move to school districts closer to their homes. Others, scheduled to return from maternity leave, didn’t think returning to school was worth leaving their newborns.

United Educators of San Francisco President Cassondra Curiel attributes the recent increase in resignations, in part, to the shift in the national narrative about teachers.

“No one wants to live with a nation full of vitriol and continue in the profession when pundits are pumping out the message that something is wrong with what you are doing,” she said.

Teachers across the country have been reaching out to Daphne Gomez with questions about whether they should leave teaching and how to do it. The founder of Teacher Career Coach , based in Los Angeles County, uses her podcast to dole out advice on breaking teaching contracts, whether teachers should stay for the pension and how to find a job outside education, among other topics. She also offers digital courses that help teachers identify a new career path. People are listening: She has more than 86,000 Instagram followers.

When Gomez decided to quit her job as a fifth-grade teacher in Burbank Unified in 2017 because of stress, she had no idea how to leave the profession and find a new career. Eventually, she found a job as a professional development trainer for Microsoft. After training sessions with teachers, she was often asked for advice on how to transition from education to a corporate job.

She says teachers are taking part in the Great Resignation because they are feeling, for the first time, like there are other opportunities.

In Oregon, White, now spends her time writing poetry and short stories.

“Despite all of this, I still miss teaching,” she said. “For years it was tolerable. It was challenging. At the end of every year, I could look back and think I made a difference. I could name specific students whose lives I had impacted in a positive way. I made them believe that they could do the work and could be successful. The last year, I couldn’t look at any students and say I had made a difference for them and would make a difference for them.  It was an exercise in futility. I was frustrated. They were frustrated.”

To get more reports like this one, click here to sign up for EdSource’s no-cost daily email on latest developments in education.

Share Article

Comments (14)

Leave a comment, your email address will not be published. required fields are marked * *.

Click here to cancel reply.

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

Comments Policy

We welcome your comments. All comments are moderated for civility, relevance and other considerations. Click here for EdSource's Comments Policy .

Chris 6 months ago 6 months ago

I quit my teaching gig after 19 years in the profession before this school year started. The students are feral and off the hook now (I taught high school). Language, physical threats and sometimes contact, menacing body language and getting up in your face. Not worth it. I know so many teachers who want to quit, but they can't get out. I am lucky that I have a CompSci degree … Read More

I quit my teaching gig after 19 years in the profession before this school year started. The students are feral and off the hook now (I taught high school). Language, physical threats and sometimes contact, menacing body language and getting up in your face. Not worth it.

I know so many teachers who want to quit, but they can’t get out. I am lucky that I have a CompSci degree and worked in corporate before I went into teaching. Mid 40’s, back in IT, and loving life again. I was miserable for years, and there are so many other teachers who are. There will definitely be a crippling teacher shortage in this country soon.

Jim 2 years ago 2 years ago

When I had kids at LAUSD I was involved with a number of parent groups. The #1 reason people sent their kids to charter schools was the perception that they had better discipline. This was a function of both policy as well as the simple fact that if parents have enough of an interest in their kids education to sign up for a charter the kids will be better behaved. My wife taught at a … Read More

When I had kids at LAUSD I was involved with a number of parent groups. The #1 reason people sent their kids to charter schools was the perception that they had better discipline. This was a function of both policy as well as the simple fact that if parents have enough of an interest in their kids education to sign up for a charter the kids will be better behaved.

My wife taught at a title 1 middle school for a couple of years before the pandemic. She could not endure the disruption then. It must be a real zoo now.

Vonny 9 months ago 9 months ago

Too bad this district lost Lynda White, an experienced educator. I'm so sorry you had to go through this. And, sad for teachers entering the profession. Another instance where admins failed to step up for teachers, especially when the lessons are disrupted, which likely occurred here. I wondered how many teachers this district loses each year. So, I asked my friend who works there. She said administration from the superintendent is poor. One school is … Read More

Too bad this district lost Lynda White, an experienced educator. I’m so sorry you had to go through this. And, sad for teachers entering the profession. Another instance where admins failed to step up for teachers, especially when the lessons are disrupted, which likely occurred here. I wondered how many teachers this district loses each year.

So, I asked my friend who works there. She said administration from the superintendent is poor. One school is losing five teachers. She said counselors work all the time. Last year, teachers nearly walked out twice over poor contract negotiations from the district. One teacher said to her, you work there and you leave. I really do hope that this is an isolated incident because, while this is informative, this isn’t a good read for new teachers/interns paying for college, credentialing, and then a 2-year induction period.

Bob 2 years ago 2 years ago

“White said she sent disciplinary referrals to the principal’s office, but no action was taken.” That was your first mistake; Admins don’t care about your referrals. LOL Heck, I haven’t wrote one in five years and they give me the inclusion classes with ADHD, EDs and other Special Needs. I take their phones at the door and text parents, uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents or whoever I can get ahold of for situations … Read More

“White said she sent disciplinary referrals to the principal’s office, but no action was taken.” That was your first mistake; Admins don’t care about your referrals. LOL Heck, I haven’t wrote one in five years and they give me the inclusion classes with ADHD, EDs and other Special Needs. I take their phones at the door and text parents, uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents or whoever I can get ahold of for situations (because who answers their phones or listens to voicemail anymore?).

Richard M Wittie 2 years ago 2 years ago

I agree. Part of the issue though is that principals force teachers to deal with these troubling students all alone. So teachers have no support.. I was working in one school where all we had to do was call the office and help was on the way. But my last position the principal literally told me that's not her job, it's mine. That the only reason students misbehave is because they disrespect … Read More

I agree. Part of the issue though is that principals force teachers to deal with these troubling students all alone. So teachers have no support. .

I was working in one school where all we had to do was call the office and help was on the way. But my last position the principal literally told me that’s not her job, it’s mine. That the only reason students misbehave is because they disrespect me and to pull such disobedient students would be undermining my authority making the situation worse. So we were forced to deal with the trouble makers and teach. Once the students realized there was little we could do other than call their parents. Respect went downhill. Especially having 20 students were as 5 were the instigators and only one teacher attempted to teach and address their behaviors, while the rest of the class supported their actions. Addressing it as accidents or trying to deny what they were doing.

You can’t work as a teacher if you have no support.

Next time she says it’s not her job, tell her; “We’ll, don’t bother doing walkthroughs in my classroom either!”

Sarah 2 years ago 2 years ago

As a parent, I often wonder what teachers and admin thought would happen once children returned to school after so much time away. Did they genuinely think kids were “resilient” as we were so often told during distance learning? Of course kids are having a hard time. And of course the focus is on how hard it is to be an adult paid to be in the system, rather than focusing on the children having a hard time.

Buddy 2 years ago 2 years ago

Teachers are expecting parents to act like…well parents. I’m mean we’re not the primary authority and teachers in your child’s life…you are! Basically you’re saying you let your child run wild until they could be back in school…nice.

Well, the parents are culpable for their children acting this way (even if they don’t want to believe it and scapegoat the teachers). Honestly, as a long-time teacher, I can tell you that many parents don’t want to do anything with/for their kids and appear to be sorry they ever had them. So, yeah, parents need to grow up and take responsibility for their kiddos.

Concerned Public Educator 2 years ago 2 years ago

I am a teacher in Southern California. I saw a video that was taken at one of the schools in the district I work for of a student, a girl, hitting an employee in the head with a computer and striking the VP several times. Two security guards were also present and the girl continued hitting these two male employees. Not sure if any disciplinary actions were taken, but this is a prime example of … Read More

I am a teacher in Southern California. I saw a video that was taken at one of the schools in the district I work for of a student, a girl, hitting an employee in the head with a computer and striking the VP several times. Two security guards were also present and the girl continued hitting these two male employees. Not sure if any disciplinary actions were taken, but this is a prime example of bad student behavior, that in most cases, results in a verbal reprimand and a return back to class.

Brenda Lebsack - Teacher 2 years ago 2 years ago

California laws and policies are incentivizing lawlessness not only in the classrooms but in our neighborhoods. Teachers send kids to the office for cussing them out and the student gets sent back to class with little to no consequences because admin's are told not to suspend. (Supt's don't want red on their DASH BOARD due to the LCFF) Thus bad behaviors increase, and kids who are in school to learn, can't. … Read More

California laws and policies are incentivizing lawlessness not only in the classrooms but in our neighborhoods. Teachers send kids to the office for cussing them out and the student gets sent back to class with little to no consequences because admin’s are told not to suspend. (Supt’s don’t want red on their DASH BOARD due to the LCFF) Thus bad behaviors increase, and kids who are in school to learn, can’t.

My friend who manages a store in Anaheim aka: “Anacrime” deals with teens stealing merchandise up to $900 and the security guard got fired by the company for locking the doors on them so they could not get out. Why? Because Calif laws reward criminals and punish law enforcers.

I see billboards of adults handing vapes to kids with a warning of a $200 fine. What! $200 is no deterrent, it’s a slap on the hand. These billboards are having the opposite effect. Another billboard has the body of a 15-16 year old girl in a bikini and it says,” EAZE Speedy Weedy Delivery so stay home in your undies.” This billboard is right across from our high school.

We need better leadership in California on state and local levels, because we cannot continue this downward spiral of stupidity. And it’s time to stop blaming Covid for everything.

Martin Blythe 2 years ago 2 years ago

Pamela, instead of attributing teacher burnout to "progressive discipline policies" perhaps you could clarify what you mean. We may as well do additional research on why "traditional" discipline policies don't work either. This is a complex issue and in my view the best results would come from looking at schools where things are working. Would you be down with that? They do exist. Schools reflect their communities, for better or worse, and we can all … Read More

Pamela, instead of attributing teacher burnout to “progressive discipline policies” perhaps you could clarify what you mean. We may as well do additional research on why “traditional” discipline policies don’t work either.

This is a complex issue and in my view the best results would come from looking at schools where things are working. Would you be down with that? They do exist. Schools reflect their communities, for better or worse, and we can all learn from each other.

Jay 2 years ago 2 years ago

Agree. Simply asking a student to put away their cell phone in the classroom does not work anymore. We need a way to bring respect into the classroom as a detention should not be given, but the phone must disappear during any instructional time.

Finally, class sizes matter. Averages are misleading, but caps are a must at all grade levels. Perhaps, 22 K-3, 25 4-6, 30 7-12. This will provide more attention for learning, SEL, and hopefully less discipline.

Pamela Castleman 2 years ago 2 years ago

Additional research should be done on the impact of progressive discipline policies on teacher burnout .

EdSource Special Reports

Research shows having a Black teacher in the classroom has a positive impact on students, but the number of Black teachers is declining.

Disrespect, low pay, lack of support keep Black teachers out of the profession

The cost of earning a credential and the disrespect they face while teaching are keeping Black teachers out of the classroom.

UC has enrolled more Californians, but lawmakers say it’s not enough

The system has enrolled more in-state residents, but not enough to meet targets set by the state.

English learner advocates in California oppose ‘science of reading’ bill

Two prominent organizations say the proposal would dismantle progress made to improve reading instruction for those students.

EdSource in your inbox!

Stay ahead of the latest developments on education in California and nationally from early childhood to college and beyond. Sign up for EdSource’s no-cost daily email.

Stay informed with our daily newsletter

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar

Teaching Expertise

• Classroom Ideas
• Teacher’s Life
• Deals & Shopping
• Privacy Policy

24 Effective Behavior Reflection Sheets For Students

August 30, 2023 //  by  Lauren Du Plessis

Crafting a compassionate classroom is about more than managing student behavior, it’s about fostering an environment where your students can learn from their actions, embrace responsibility, and cultivate emotional intelligence. Ultimately, this journey begins with understanding and reflection. Dive into our collection of meticulously curated behavior reflection sheets, each designed to empower your students to think, feel, and make choices that contribute positively to your classroom environment and beyond. Get ready to transform your teaching approach and inspire your students on their path to self-improvement with these resources!

1. What Happened Reflection Sheet

Let’s unlock the doors to understanding! Guide your students in pondering their actions and reactions. What led them down a certain path? This reflection sheet brings empathy and responsibility to life- culminating in a transformative journey that takes place within the very heart of your classroom.

Learn More: Pinterest

2. “Feelings Map” Reflection

Feelings, feelings everywhere! Help your students navigate their emotions  after any event by having them draw a map of their feelings. Let them get creative with this visual project, which will help them increase emotional literacy and regulation.

Learn More: Reward Charts

3. Behavior Consequences Sheet

Have you ever considered the impact of your actions? Ask your students to dig deep into their behaviours and think about how what they do affects themselves and others. 

Learn More: Laura Candler

4. My Behavior Plan Worksheet

Time to shape future success! With this worksheet, encourage your students to outline a robust behaviour improvement plan. To do so, have them write down concrete goals to improve their future actions. This activity is more than just planning; it’s about taking ownership and making a genuine commitment to positive change. 

Learn More: Have Fun Teaching

5. Behavior Journal Reflection

Open the doors to daily discovery! This behaviour journal reflection invites your students to engage in a self-dialogue. Have them check in with themselves as a good daily kick-off to your lessons by encouraging them to explore a variety of topics, ranging from their emotional well-being to their openness. The options are endless!

Learn More: Twinkl

6. Self-Evaluation Reflection Sheet

Guide your students in evaluating their behavior by taking a good look at who they are. Pondering, exploring, and growing – that’s what this activity is all about! Watch them bloom and flourish as they take stock of their lives in uncharted ways. 

Learn More: Squarehead Teachers

7. Peer Impact Reflection Sheet

Encourage your learners to be a positive addition to your classroom community by reviewing their impact with a peer impact reflection sheet. This sheet will help them see how their actions affect others and consider ways in which they can be more empathetic in the classroom. 

8. Goal Setting Reflection

Goals: Whether big or small, we all need them! With this tool, your students can set, strive, and achieve. Ask them to write down specific goals and detail how they plan to accomplish them.

Learn More: TPT

9. Time-Out Reflection Sheet

Time-outs aren’t just for toddlers or sports teams – a pause for personal growth can be beneficial to your students as well!! Encourage them to reflect and grow by taking a moment or two to sit in solitude.

10. Behavior Chain Sheet

Invite your learners to dive into the causes of their behavior by completing a behavior chain sheet. With this exercise, they’re offered an opportunity to deeply explore their triggers and reactions. Be sure to encourage them to be understanding and compassionate with themselves and others as they take time to reflect.  

11. Teacher-Student Conference Sheet

Bridging gaps and building connections is what this sheet is all about! Foster dialogue between yourself and your students to nurture trust and rapport. Ask your students to reflect on their interactions with you, and how both of you can be more understanding of one another moving forward. 

Learn More: Ninja Plans

12. Making Amends Reflection Sheet

Apologies can heal, and so can forgiveness. This reflection sheet helps your students make amends and embrace reconciliation. Ask them to put themselves in their peers’ shoes to understand why their classmates may have acted in a certain way. Empathy, humanity, and compassion take center stage here!

Learn More: Kid Pointz

13. Behavior Reflection Using Painting

Art and emotions blend in this colorful approach to understanding behavior. Break out your art supplies and have your students craft a painting that reflects how they felt or what they did in a specific scenario. Then, have everyone share their pieces! This creative approach may help reluctant students express feelings they otherwise might not have known how to express! 

Learn More: Kinder Art

14. Positive Behavior Reflection

Shine a light on positivity with this thought-provoking task! Celebrate and encourage the good things that your students do by asking them to spend time reflecting on them. If they struggle, step in to help them recognize the good and build on it; encouraging a culture of positive actions amongst your learners. 

Learn More: Social Emotional Workshop

15. My Behavior and Learning Sheet

With this sheet, your students can explore how learning and behavior influence each other. Encourage them to think of behaviors that positively impact their ability to learn and behaviors that could still use some improvement. Connecting life and learning in a harmonious dance, this activity acts as a delightful classroom tool that’s sure to have a tangible impact on your lessons. 

Learn More: Laugh Eat Learn

16. Respect Reflection Sheet

Honor and respect are two important foundational elements of any classroom environment.  Engage your students in understanding respect’s true meaning by asking them to reflect on what it means to them, and how they use it in their day-to-day lives. This sheet is perfect for nurturing self-esteem and encouraging your kiddos to consider their values. 

Learn More: Printable Word Searches

17. Behavior and Emotions Sheet

Unlock the world of feelings by bringing in a sheet that connects emotions with actions; shaping emotionally intelligent students. As your learners embark on a journey that’s sure to bring them closer to themselves, prompt them to consider how their emotions influence their day-to-day decision-making. 

18. My Impulse Control Sheet

Teaching mindfulness has never been easier! Guide your students to take a moment to pause before they react using this impulse control sheet. Have them practice staying calm and collected by considering their options before taking action. Their future selves will thank you!

19. Learning from Mistakes Reflection

Mistakes are meant to be embraced! Help your kiddos transform their errors into milestones by asking them to reflect on the mistakes they’ve made, and considering how they can ensure that they don’t happen again. Make sure to include themes of resilience in this activity, and let them know that with experience comes wisdom! 

Learn More: TeacherVision

20. Taking Responsibility Reflection

Accountability is the main focus of this reflective tool. Lead your students towards responsible learning by encouraging them to consider how their actions have direct consequences. 

21. Calm Down Reflection Sheet

In a world that is increasingly stressful, it’s important to have the ability to stay calm! Help your students learn this skill with a sheet that has them reflect on ways to relax during high-stress situations. Encourage mindfulness, breathing exercises, and self-reflection to help them explore and manage these feelings.  

22. Behavior Change Contract

Take your goal-setting sheet one step further and create a behavior change contract for your students. Let them commit to betterment by signing a piece of paper detailing what they will do to improve themselves within your classroom. Ensure they’re active participants in creating the contracts, and join them on the journey by signing it as well! 

Learn More: Scribd

23. My Choices Reflection Sheet

Choose your own adventure! With a choices reflection sheet, you can walk your kiddos through a series of decisions and detail how they often lead to different end results. Provide them with intriguing paths, full of twists and turns, and see how they start to connect the dots of their own choice patterns! 

24. Weekly Behavior Reflection Sheet

Encourage Your students to celebrate their improvements on a longer time scale by taking time to reflect on their weekly behavior. Point out patterns, and foster interest in their continual growth by using this exercise as a chronicle of your students’ improvement, and as a roadmap to their future success. Feel free to share with their parents at the end of the year! 

It pays to be mean: A 40-year behavioral study confirms your worst fears—kids who bully go on to make the most money

If movies have taught us anything, it’s that the school bully always gets their comeuppance before the end credits. Inevitably, their fall from grace will permeate into an adulthood of mediocrity and low income.

But in reality, a new study suggests that rather than becoming something resembling Back to the Future ’s Biff Tannen, the class jock is increasingly likely to become your future boss. 

Academics at the University of Essex in the U.K. found children who exhibited behavior like bullying and throwing temper tantrums were likely to go on to earn more money than other children in their forties, according to a study published earlier in March. 

The academics believe this behavior is more likely to come from an early acceptance of the dog-eat-dog world they’re about to enter into.

“On the other hand, problems with attention, emotions, and peer relationships tend to lead to poorer labor market outcomes,” the authors wrote.

“It is possible that what is often identified as aggressive behavior is the adaptive response to a competitive environment.”

The results of the 40-year analysis track with previous findings about the future earning potential of people who have typically shunned traditional curricular activities in their formative years.

Research from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that athletic students at Ivy League colleges would go on to earn 3.4% more than their non-sporty peers over their lifetime, equivalent to about $220,000.

The authors of the U.K. report think the findings should force a rethink in how school bullies are disciplined, given their potential future success. 

“Rather than a punitive approach, there could be more focus on understanding the causes of the disruptive behavior and teachers could be trained to identify strategies that help children to channel these tendencies in ways that fit better with the classroom.”

Bullies in the C-suite 

Peeling back the pages of historic C-suite culture, it seems the class bully doesn’t shake their meanness streak once they’ve made it in the corporate world.

A host of companies have found themselves embroiled in bullying and harassment scandals at the very top of their businesses in recent years, in a trend that is probably just the tip of an iceberg of toxic workplace culture.

There are several reports of CEOs engaging in controlling and manipulative behavior, even resorting to discrimination and harassment to get their way. Other times, they can just be jerks.

The most high-profile example is probably billionaire X owner Elon Musk, who in the past used his platform to mock a disabled ex-employee he had laid off after acquiring the social media company. But there are many other examples.

Earlier in March, the scandal-hit U.K. Post Office’s CEO faced accusations from the group’s former chair that he had exhibited behavior to the company’s head of HR that “constituted bullying.”

“She felt that she was being treated by Read and his henchmen as a ‘pain the arse’ for focusing on tackling the toxic culture rather than prioritizing Read’s salary,” former Post Office chair Henry Staunton wrote of CEO Nick Read’s behavior toward his HR chief.

Read is just the latest in a long line of bosses who have faced accusations of bullying. While it apparently helped them rise to power, it’s often the cause of their downfall.

In 2018, U.K. advertising millionaire Sir Martin Sorrell was ousted from his job as CEO at comms business WPP amid accusations that he bullied and harassed his staff, an investigation from the Financial Times found . 

One account details how he allegedly fired his chauffeur who refused to drive Sorrell on two hours of sleep after working a late shift previously. Sorrell denied the allegation.

These behaviors are often part of an endemic culture of aggressive behavior across an organization. 

The financial sector is one of the less surprising sources of this high-income bullying.

For one Goldman Sachs employee, it got so bad that he took the company to court demanding significant damages . 

Ian Dodd, who left Goldman in 2019, alleged meetings were marred by “high emotions, often tears,” while there were often casual threats of physical violence thrown around the workplace.

Of course, these are just some of the instances of corporate bullying that make it into the press, with several hidden under intimidation or big companies’ ability to pay off wronged parties .

And since the onset of COVID-19, it appears instances of bad behavior have only seen an uptick , with an Ethisphere survey last year reporting a 13-point increase in workplace bullying compared with pre-pandemic. 

Turn the other cheek all you want—it seems you’ll never fully achieve the minor childhood dream of evading your school bully.

Latest in Success

• 0 minutes ago

Tony’s Chocolonely is one of the world’s fastest growing chocolatiers. But its boss says selling chocolate isn’t the main goal—shaking up the entire cocoa industry is

‘Finfluencers’ could face up to two years in prison or unlimited fines for dodgy financial advice

Europe’s hottest talent is moving to the continent’s second cities like Manchester, Rotterdam, and Stuttgart for a better quality of life—so bosses are following suit

Avanti is offering dejected train drivers $760 to work on their ‘rest day,’ giving them the chance of a 6-figure payday

Tough Mudder’s millionaire founder lured investors for his immersive new gaming venture with a live demo and scoreboard to heighten ‘fear of missing out’

Most popular.

Don’t brush right after you eat. Dentists say there’s one thing you should do after every meal that’s better for oral—and overall—health

America will be left with ‘severe, irreversible scars’ if national debt goes unchecked. Now, a blockbuster report warns the bill is higher than believed, hitting $141tn by 2054

Ford is slashing two-thirds of employees at its F-150 Lightning plant as its ambitious electric-car plans sputter

Older office buildings ‘will be stranded,’ says Morgan Stanley: ‘They simply don’t have long-term cash flow growth potential’

Economists say you’re wrong for wanting prices to start falling—and they point to the Great Depression of the 1930s

Does Medicare pay for wheelchairs and scooters? That depends on whether you meet all of its requirements

Many schools these days have problems with poor student behavior. Why do you think these problems occur? What could be done to tackle these problems?

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Writing9 with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Your opinion

Don’t put your opinion unless you are asked to give it.

If the question asks what you think, you MUST give your opinion to get a good score.

Don’t leave your opinion until the conclusion.

Here are examples of instructions that require you to give your opinion:

...do you agree or disagree? ...do you think...? ...your opinion...?

Discover more tips in The Ultimate Guide to Get a Target Band Score of 7+ » — a book that's free for 🚀 Premium users.

• Check your IELTS essay »
• Find essays with the same topic
• View collections of IELTS Writing Samples
• Show IELTS Writing Task 2 Topics

should a nation invest in transportation? discuss both views ans express an opinion

Ielts task 2 writing the gap between the rich and the poor is becoming wider; the rich are becoming richer and the poor are even getting poorer. what problems can the situation cause what can be done to reduce this gap give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience. you should write at least 250 words., in some countries, even though the rates of serious crimes are decreasing, people feel less safe than ever before. what do you think are the causes of this problem and what measures could be taken to solve it, in many countries traditional foods are being replaced by international fast food. this is having a negative effect on both families and societies. to what extent do you agree or disagree, some people say that now we can see films on our phone or tablets,there is no need to go to the cinema. others say that to be fully enjoyed, films need to be seen in cinema. discuss both views and your opinions..