Are you looking for strategies to teach students not to make inappropriate comments to teachers? If so, keep reading.
1. Teach the student appropriate ways to express displeasure, anger, etc.
2. Minimize stimuli that contribute to the student’s derogatory remarks or unacceptable gestures.
3. Give the student a quiet space to work. This is to be used as a means of reducing distracting stimuli, not as a punishment.
4. Give the student the chance to work with a peer who will be a model for communicating appropriately.
5. Make sure the student knows the logical consequences of their unacceptable behavior(e.g., teachers choose not to interact with him/her, exclusion from learning activities, etc.).
6. Require that the student find appropriate alternative behaviors after an instance of derogatory remarks or unacceptable gestures.
7. Solidify on-task behavior by providing a full schedule of learning activities. Stop lag time from happening when the student would be free to take part in unacceptable behavior.
8. Minimize the emphasis on competition. Competitive learning activities may increase the student’s anxiety and result in anger and frustration that may take the form of derogatory remarks or unacceptable behavior.
9. Place emphasis on individual success or progress rather than winning or “beating” other students.
10. Alter or adjust situations that contribute to the student’s use of obscene or profane language (i.e., if a task causes the student to become upset, modify the task to a level at which the student can be successful).
11. Talk regularly with the student to monitor language used.
12. Attempt several groupings to ascertain the situation in which the student is most successful.
13. Provide visibility to and from the student. The teacher and the student should be able to see each other. Make eye contact possible at all times.
14. Stop annoying or anxiety-producing situations from happening (e.g., give the student tasks only on their capacity and ability level, give the student only the number of tasks that can be successfully managed in one sitting, lessen social interactions that encourage the student’s use of obscene language, etc.).
15. Minimize learning activities that might threaten the student (e.g., announcing test scores aloud, having students read aloud in class, praising high achievers excessively, etc.).
16. Consider using a classroom management app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
17. Consider using an adaptive behavior management app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
18. Consider using Alexa to help the student learn to behave appropriately. Click here to read an article that we wrote on the subject.
19. Click here to learn about six bonus strategies for challenging problem behaviors and mastering classroom management.
