Approaches to Managing Classroom Behavior Positively

Guiding techniques in Early Childhood Education (ECE) are essential for fostering a nurturing classroom environment where children feel safe, understood, and empowered to grow. Strategies like positive reinforcement, redirection, and active listening not only shape behavior but also strengthen students’ social-emotional skills building empathy, self-regulation, and confidence. For example, during a group art activity, offering choices (“Would you like to use crayons or markers?”) promotes autonomy; modeling respectful dialogue during story time teaches communication; and using logical consequences (“If paint spills, we clean it together”) reinforces responsibility. These techniques transform everyday lessons into opportunities for character development, helping children thrive both academically and relationally. When consistently applied, they create a classroom culture rooted in trust, respect, and meaningful learning. 🎨 Offering Choices during Art Time: When you ask, “Would you like to use crayons or markers?” you’re not just giving options you’re fostering independence and decision-making. This small act empowers children to feel ownership over their learning, which boosts confidence and reduces resistance. It’s especially effective for neurodiverse learners who thrive with structured autonomy. • 📚 Modeling Respectful Dialogue during Story Time: Imagine reading a book about friendship and pausing to say, “When someone feels left out, we can say, ‘Do you want to play with us?’” By modeling this kind of language, you’re teaching empathy and social problem-solving. Children begin to internalize these scripts and use them in real-life peer interactions. • 🧼 Using Logical Consequences in a Science Experiment: If a child spills water while exploring volume with measuring cups, guiding them to clean it up reinforces responsibility without shame. You might say, “Spills happen let’s grab a towel together.” This teaches accountability and nurtures emotional resilience, especially when paired with calm, supportive tone.

Six Phrases That Disempower Students—And How to Flip Them When I returned to the U.S. from the Middle East training, I accepted the Principalship of a school labeled “low-performing” for ten consecutive years. But it wasn’t just about test scores—discipline referrals were sky-high, morale was low, and the culture was crumbling. It was clear: We couldn’t wait for students to change. The adults had to shift first. That summer, I came across a 2016 issue of Teaching Tolerance. The theme? “Rethink Control and Power Dynamics.” One article stood out: “Six Phrases That Disempower Students—And How to Flip Them.” Instead of just reading it, we used it. I assigned each teacher a phrase and asked them to reflect, reframe, and lead discussions on how we could do better. This wasn’t about blame. It was about building a new culture—together. Here’s how we flipped the script—our way: 1. “I get paid regardless.” 🟩 “I’m here for you—every single day.” 🟩 “Even when it’s hard, I show up because you matter.” 2. “You know what you did!” 🟩 “Let’s talk about what just happened.” 🟩 “Help me understand your side of the story.” 3. “If you had been paying attention, you’d know.” 🟩 “Let’s go over that again together.” 🟩 “I want to be sure we’re all caught up.” 4. “What is wrong with you?” 🟩 “What’s going on? You seem off today.” 🟩 “You’re not alone. Let’s work through this.” 5. “We always…” 🟩 “Let’s build what works best for this group.” 🟩 “We’re growing together—starting now.” 6. “In my classroom…” 🟩 “In our learning space…” 🟩 “This is our classroom. We rise together.” 💥 What Changed? ✅ Teachers corrected their language—with intention ✅ Students opened up—with trust ✅ Referrals dropped ✅ Connection grew We weren’t just managing behavior—we were restoring dignity, power, and belonging. Final Reflection: Language builds culture. If we want empowered students, we need empowered educators—brave enough to flip what no longer serves.

Here’s an example of teaching first-time listening without forced compliance: There’s a lot of preteaching that had to go into this example of my daughter choosing to listen and follow directions, including: ✅ Behavior Skills Training: Why is it important to listen? This is what listening looks like? Watch me listen. You practice listening. Let’s do it again, and this time, try… ✅ Differential Reinforcement: first-time listening gets higher magnitude, higher quality reinforcement than second-, or third-time listening ✅ Access extinction: “I’m sorry, you can’t have that right now. You didn’t listen. Show me (x behavior), then you can have it. ✅ Behavior-specific praise: “I love how you listened the first time by (behavior) after I said it one time. That’s so amazing!” ✅ Setting expectations, priming, and then holding boundaries: “We’re going to do 2 more slides and then we’re going. Okay, you have 1 more slide, and then we’re leaving. Okay, it’s time to leave.” Sometimes I’ll describe this and people will say, “Well, that’s just good teaching, not ABA.” And to that, I would say that ABA is the science of operant conditioning based on learning histories and the manipulation of antecedents, consequences, and function. Good teaching is based, in part, on a grasp of learning histories and motivation, which can be explained by the science of human behavior and analyzed to support changes. Of course, deep understanding, complex critical thinking skills, and a love of learning need much more than what ABA can learn and are the realm of skilled educators. But, so much important learning can happen with ABA in a way that doesn’t involve forced compliance. My daughter’s ability to listen to me based on the ABA-based strategies I use in my parenting not only help our family life move more smoothly (and protect my mental health), they, more importantly, help her function in her preschool setting in a way that allows for more enriched learning and play. #AppliedBehaviorAnalysis #ABA