6 Ways to Control Those Crazy Kids: Behaviour Management Tips

My first time conducting a group speech therapy session was simply a nightmare, by the end of the short 15-minute session the seven five year olds had gone from cute innocent angels to horrifying monsters who I am convinced could smell my fear and lack of experience. I had to deal with the minimal concentration of some students, the inability to sit still of others and the constant fidgeting with anything within arms reach of just about every single one. Five sessions on however and these children can now get nothing passed me…. I am in complete control all thanks to these 6 behaviour management tips:

1. Signal to Begin

The signal to begin in my eyes in a saviour for when you loose control of the entire group, and trust me you will. The signal begin can include anything from the ringing of a bell, hands on heads or some pattern of clapping which the children repeat back. It is critical that the signal to begin is explained at the beginning of the session. The simple steps for carrying out an effective signal to begin are:

1.Signal to begin

2.Active pause (silence)

3. Scan all the children to ensure all eyes are on you, if not use gesture

4. Do not start talking until you have gained 100% attention

5. Repeat if necessary

2. Proximity

Proximity comes in two forms, preventative and responsive.

Preventative proximity is preventing the expected misbehaviour from occurring. In most cases after the first session with a group it it easy to pick out the trouble maker(s). Once you are aware of who these children are before the session begins sit them as close as possible to you, this makes it 100 times easier to prevent any undesired behaviour occurring.

Responsive proximity however is when you act once the undesired behaviour has occurred. This incudes separating two children who are mucking around, moving a child closer to you or simply standing next to the child who is misbehaving for a short time while the session continues.

3. Minimal Verbal Cue

The list of simple cues below is effective and straight to the point. By saying a one word cue the child is instantly aware you are on to them and the session is barely if at all disrupted. It is important to frame the cue in the positive, what I mean is to say the desired behaviour to the child i.e. ‘listen’ opposed to ‘stop talking, you are not listening to me’

- Saying the child’s name (e.g. ‘Jack’)

- ‘Shh’

- ‘Stop’

- ‘Quiet’

- ‘Eyes’

- Ears’

- ‘Listen’

4. Non Verbal Cue

Non verbal cues are a fantastic way to management behaviour without disrupting all the children, these include simply placing you hand in the face of a child who is speaking when they should not or placing your hands over the fiddling hands of a child.

5. The Pause

Silence leads to silence. By pausing mid sentence if you find the children are not listening or attentive I can guarantee they will soon realise you are not happy. The pause cue is often effective when coupled with one of the other techniques in this list. It is important that you do not re establish talking until the undesired behaviour is fixed.

6. The Look

This has to be my favourite cue; it is simply either scanning the area to ensure all children are listening to prevent any undesired behaviour or in response to naughty behaviour. When responsive the look is simply a pause and some form of unhappy or disappointed look, I often go for a slight eyebrow raise, squint of the eye, tile of the head and and an unimpressed frown. It can also be effective to pair the look with a verbal or minimal verbal cue.

I hope these tips help you keep your children under control.