Behavior Management for Music Teachers

I've written a lot about behavior management on this blog, and get a lot of questions on social media about the topic, so I am rounding up some of my thoughts into one place today. Behavior management is a HUGE topic with a lot of factors to consider. I hope these ideas give you a helpful starting point if you are looking to make some changes in your own classroom.

Let me start by saying that "behavior management" is not my favorite way to describe the topic I am discussing. It is, I think, the most commonly recognized, and also fairly succinct, so I am using it here, but really what we are talking about is not "managing" the behaviors of our students but rather encouraging the development of our students' character. Right? If all the teacher cares about is handling whatever behaviors the students choose to exhibit in their classroom with the least amount of disruption to their instruction, they are never going to have a very happy or productive class. So, while I am using the term "behavior management", please understand that what I really mean is

RELATIONSHIPS.

The foundation of "behavior management" is really relationships. No classroom is run on systems alone. The systems provide structure, but it is the relationships fostered amongst students, between students and teacher, and beyond the classroom walls that truly foster healthy emotional, moral, social characteristics that then lead to appropriate, supportive, productive behaviors.

It's important to understand that before we start talking about any sort of system. In many cases, that relational foundation (and effective and engaging teaching) is all you need to encourage appropriate behavior and foster the development of students' character in the classroom. When I worked in a very high SES school who highly valued music (and all of education), that was pretty much what my classroom ran on. I had high expectations for my students but I also loved them dearly and cared about them as human beings, and I fostered the same relational attitude in my students. End of story.

Now, however, I work in a much different environment: a title 1, urban-ish, low SES school with a low sense of value for music class (from staff and parents, trickling down to students). I do not want to make any generalizations here about the particular characteristics of each school and how that affects the students' attitude towards music class and their behaviors in class, but in my case those are some of the contributing factors to the change in my systems. In my current school, relationships are still 90% of my "behavior management". However, my students also need concrete structures, routines, and procedures to demonstrate and remind them of what appropriate behaviors are. There is a whole lot more I could say on the why's and the how's here, but let's leave it at that for now. 

With all of that said, here are some of my thoughts on how I think about the way I speak to my students to better develop my relationships with my students and foster positive character traits. Click on the picture to go read each post.

The Phrase I Want to Stop Using in My Classroom ("worry about yourself")

Talking to Children to Encourage Self Identity

Two Words That Transformed My Behavior Management

Fostering Relationships with Students as a Specialist

Whew! OK. So now let's talk concrete systems. 

The first is really just an extension of my previous points about speaking to students- it's a way of building relationships and fostering a positive classroom community by giving students regular opportunities to feel heard, and practice listening to one another, through circles. Read about the 3 types of circles I use- community building circles, problem solving circles, and applied learning circles- in this post:

The most important element of my concrete procedures that I have implemented in my classroom to reinforce and demonstrate appropriate behaviors (the key in my student population being the appropriate expression of emotion) is the 3-prong individualized behavior reinforcement strategy. One component is the "rest area", which I present to my students as an opportunity for the students to reflect on their behavior and make positive changes on their own. The second is positive reinforcement through the "happy note", which I rotate through all students equally (as opposed to choosing "the best student" each time). The third is the "behavior slip", which is a note I send home when I need reinforcement of a particular, recurring difficult behavior outside of my classroom. Read more about each one here:

The second most important element is the routines I have established, particularly for transitions. Routines are so important for young children, especially for those who don't experience a lot of structure outside of school. Predictability gives all of us a sense of control and comfort. Read the posts below for more on my class routines for transitions:

One of the more difficult aspects of behavior (and relationships) for my students to master has been working in a group setting. So much of their learning in school is independent- they are handed an assignment, which they might do well on or not, but it doesn't affect the performance of the other students on their own assignment. In music this is often not the case- the success of one student depends on the success of the group as a whole. This is quite frustrating for most of my students! A big part of developing the social skills, beyond the fundamental relational component I already addressed (obviously HUGE for this), is practice. And concrete demonstrations of the importance of teamwork. I've created a "team system" in my classroom, which has since been expanded to the whole school. The particular way in which I use the teams in my classroom is a very intentional evolution over time as students develop their social skills and character, but the basic system has been highly effective in giving students a concrete demonstration of the importance of teamwork. Read more about the team system in this post:

The final element of my concrete systems and structures are the "rules" I use to establish the fundamental expectations for how everyone will relate to each other in my class, and the ways I reinforce those expectations for the whole group. These are probably the least important elements of the systems I have in place to concretely demonstrate the character traits I want to foster in my students, but they do provide more of the structure, routine, and rhythm to the class that provides students with a sense of control and predictability. Read more about those below:

My Three Classroom "Rules"

"Letter System" to Reinforce the "Rules", earn incentives

But what about those individual students who have different social, emotional, or behavioral needs? As a specials teacher I find I'm often left out of individual behavior plans that other school staff create for students, and even when I do find out what support staff have come up with, the plan isn't one I can realistically implement in my room. Here are some specific ideas for individual students that have been effective for me:

Sometimes you can't pinpoint one or two individuals, but the particular mix of students in certain classes can create extremely difficult groups. If you're struggling with a class that is highly negative, extremely needy, or very scattered, here are some specific strategies that I've used successfully:

Looking for more thoughts and ideas on the topic? You can catch up on all of my posts on the subject of "behavior management" here. Have some thoughts, ideas, or questions to share? PLEASE leave a comment! I love hearing from you!

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