Are you looking for genius tips for teaching students to take care of other people’s property? If so, keep reading.
1. Teach the student how to handle property belonging to others (e.g., keep property with them, always know where property is, secure property in locker, etc.).
2. Give the student an appropriate space to store/secure others’ property (e.g., desk, locker, closet, etc.). Make the student store all property when not in use.
3. Assess the clarity and quality of directions, explanations, and instructions given to the student for use in the care and handling of others’ property.
4. Give reminders (e.g., a list of property or learning materials) to help the student keep and care for school property.
5. Restrict the student’s freedom to school property if they are unable to remember to return such things.
6. Restrict the student’s chance to use others’ property if they are unable to care for their own personal property.
7. Do not permit peers to let the student use their property if the student is not able to care for it properly.
8. Teach the student safety rules in the care and handling of others’ property and learning materials (e.g., pencils; scissors; compass; science, industrial arts, and home economics learning materials; etc.).
9. Require that lost or damaged property be replaced by the student. If the student cannot replace the property, compensation can be made by working at school.
10. Remove others’ property from the student if they are unable to properly care for and handle the property.
11. Make sure the student is not inadvertently reinforced for losing or damaging property (e.g. replace lost property with used or damaged learning materials, copies of the learning materials, etc., rather than new learning materials).
12. Provide mobility throughout the classroom to supervise the student’s care and handling of others’ property.
13. Give sufficient transition time between learning activities for the student to organize themselves.
14. Teach the student rules for the care and handling of others’ property (e.g., always ask to use others’ property, treat the property with care, inform the teacher if the property becomes damaged, return the property in the same or better condition than when it was borrowed, etc.).
15. Minimize the number of learning materials for which the student is responsible. As the student shows appropriate responsibility for property, increase the number of learning materials for which the student is responsible.
16. Permit the student to use only the amount of property that they can care for and handle appropriately. As the student shows success, slowly increase the amount of property.
17. Consider using a classroom management app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
18. Consider using an adaptive behavior management app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
19. Consider using Alexa to help the student learn to behave appropriately. Click here to read an article that we wrote on the subject.
20. Click here to learn about six bonus strategies for challenging problem behaviors and mastering classroom management.
