Are you looking for genius tricks for teaching students to behave appropriately while sitting at their desk? If so, keep reading.
1. Find the situations in which the student is most likely to take part in unacceptable behavior while seated. After you have identified these situations, think of ways to minimize their occurrences.
2. Assess the necessity of having the student sit facing forward, feet on the floor, back straight, etc.
3. Give learning activities that are exciting to the student to keep the student on-task and behaving properly while seated.
4. Urge the student to pay attention to the source of information by keeping eye contact, keeping hands free from other learning materials, and reducing other distractions. This should decrease unacceptable behaviors.
5. Embody for the student appropriate ways to sit in a chair or at a desk.
6. Praise those students in the classroom who sit properly in their seats.
7. Implement logical consequences for students who take part in unacceptable behaviors while seated (e.g., the student will have to sit on the floor, stand next to their desk to work, sit in a chair without a desk, etc.).
8. Connect with the student’s cooperative work experience/vocational education teacher to select a job that allows for a high degree of physical movement (e.g., jobs that let the student be on their feet, move from room to room, have frequent contact with people, and travel from one job site to another, etc.).
9. Get desks and/or chairs that can be fastened to the floor or that are designed to prevent tipping.
10. Put the student in a corner to lessen distracting stimuli that may cause the student to sit improperly in their seat.
11. Organize their surroundings so that the student remains active and involved in appropriate behavior.
12. Utilize logical consequences when the student touches others as they walk by (e.g., move the student to another place in the room, have others walk away from the student, etc.).
13. Allow the student some movement while performing tasks. Observe and limit the amount of movement.
14. Take into account the student’s age before expecting them to sit quietly for a period.
15. 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.
16. Assess the appropriateness of the taskto ascertain (a) if the task is too easy, (b) if the task is too complicated, and (c) if the duration of time scheduled to finish the task is sufficient.
17. Allow the student some movement while listening to instructions from the teacher. Observe and limit the amount of movement.
18. Consider using a classroom management app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
19. Consider using an adaptive behavior management app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
20. Consider using Alexa to help the student learn to behave appropriately. Click here to read an article that we wrote on the subject.
21. Click here to learn about six bonus strategies for challenging problem behaviors and mastering classroom management.
22. Consider using a socio-emotional learning app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
23. Consider using an emotional intelligence app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
24. Consider using a school counseling app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
