Get Curious Before You Get Furious: Decoding Behavior Triggers in the Classroom
Hey Reader!
Our philosophy at ECCN is that relationship is paramount for all young children. ALL learning happens in the context of relationships. Very often, the strength of the bond between a child and a teacher determines the level of behavioral challenges that we’ll face. Sometimes, though, even a really strong relationship between a student and their teacher still comes with behaviors that have become habits that are disruptive and difficult to manage in the classroom.
In a recent podcast conversation with Tiffany Crow, we covered an entire Behavior Suitcase of strategies. I won’t go into all of those strategies today but you can listen to the full episode HERE. You can also download her full slide deck from a similar session at our 2023 summer conferences HERE.
Tiffany talked about identifying the Antecedent to the Behavior. That’s where I’m going to land today. The question is “What happened immediately before the unwanted behavior started?” So often, we try to address the unwanted behavior with consequences – “Come sit over here by me so you can keep your hands to yourself.” “We don’t push. Go to the back of the line.” It’s so important to get “Curious Before We Get Furious”, though! What is happening immediately before the unwanted behavior? Stop for a moment and think about it – does this behavior happen every time we line up? Why? Is there an underlying need that I could meet in the moments before we line up? Does this behavior happen every day around the same time? Why? Is this child getting hungry or tired? Is there something I can do to adjust the schedule? Is this child trying to avoid a task? Why? Are they a perfectionist and afraid to make a mistake? Are they comparing themselves to other students? Are their skills actually developmentally ready to complete the task you’re asking of them?
Many times, when you can figure out what the “trigger” is, you can adjust your environment or you can intervene in the moments before the outburst, the explosion,or the implosion and completely change the behavior.
Listen to the podcast for ideas on consequences – with phrases like “sometimes you just have to sit in the stink and fix it next time.” I know you don’t want to miss this one!
Cheering you on this week!
-Your ECCN team
Listen to this podcast episode with Faith Rivera now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Have you checked out our online courses lately? We just added Gossip vs Gospel and Cracking the Code on Biting Behaviors.
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