What are some behavior modification techniques that work with students who are disruptive?
It is important for a teacher to understand why a particular student may choose to behave in disruptive ways. For some children, disruptive behavior results from a biological immaturity in their capacity to develop self-control. Thus, behavioral interventions alone for these children are not likely to lead to much improvement in the classroom. For other children, disruptive behavior is the consequence of feeling unintelligent or hopeless in the classroom. For these children, simple rewards and punishments will also be ineffective unless their skill weaknesses are identified and supported. Once teachers understand the reason a particular child may be disruptive, the most effective techniques are those that are preventive rather than reactionary. That is, rather than waiting for a problem to occur, strategies involving positive reinforcement for appropriate behavior are more effective than punishment. I particularly like the use of differential attention. In this technique, teachers igno
