Pam Ponders

Ok, we can’t ‘tick’ children all over to mark their behaviour as we can in maths and science books. There must be a rule somewhere to say we’re not allowed to do that… I suppose that’s reasonable.

Think about what you are doing when you mark children’s work. You’re letting them know when they’ve got something right. You’re telling them that you’re pleased with them and acknowledging the efforts made in class and also that they seem to have gained an understanding of the subject. You’re also letting them know what they’ve got to achieve to move on to a higher level and have a greater level of understanding of a subject.

It’s equally important that children (and the teacher) know when something is wrong. It could be through making a mistake, misunderstanding a concept, not listening well enough or not making sufficient effort in class. Marking work will make sure any misconceptions can be sorted out, either with more input or consolidation exercises.

Marking work that’s wrong has to be done – but it can be done sympathetically – if a child hasn’t understood I wouldn’t cover their work with crosses. Further explanation and redoing the exercise is important – some children just find some aspects of their work harder than others. If the incorrect work is down to a child not understanding then I’m always happy to give extra tuition, but a lack of effort or laziness is another and this has to be addressed and probably a consequence implemented.

And this has what to do with the management of children’s behaviour in class? Quite simply, they have to be told when their behaviour is right and also when it’s wrong. Children don’t automatically know what you expect – it has to be explained clearly and has to be reiterated often to reinforce your expectations. Children will tell you they need to ‘be good’, but maybe won’t be able to explain what this ‘being good’ means. The difference between maths and science is that behaviour isn’t a stand alone subject – it’s ‘taught’ minute to minute, all the time you’re in contact with the children. And you should always ‘mark’ the children’s behaviour, good and not so good.

Effective behaviour management isn’t difficult. When you’re getting the techniques right managing behaviour is really quite easy – but you have to know what to do from the outset to ensure high standards of behaviour in your classroom and school. Nothing else should do – it’s too easy to lower expectations of behaviour to those demanded by some of the children – but, as seen in so many schools that’s the path to chaos. Remember that it’s the adults who should set the behaviour standards, not the children! Behaviour Bible tells you how…

Liz Marsden is a behaviour management expert who deals daily with potentially extreme behaviour. She trains teachers, students and classroom assistants, increasing their expertise in classroom management. Liz’s widely recommended book, Behaviour Bible offers essential advice. Read about her daily experiences in mainstream classrooms and gain further advice and insight into Liz’s work.