Implementing behavior intervention strategies in middle school can be challenging. We all know middle school can be tough for a lot of our students, and finding behavior intervention strategies that work for our student can throw a whole other level of challenge on our plates. In this episode, I chat with Angela from @spedtacularinclusion about strategies she has found effective in her middle school students.
We talk about so many different strategies, from playing games, to building rapport, to token economies. Angela shares it all and give us actionable steps we can use in our classrooms to help promote behavior change.
We know all students love to play games and playing games allows us to teach so many different skills. In middle school we want to focus on building social skills and games are a great way to do this. We also want to help reinforce other skills like taking turns, how to lose, and how to encourage others. Again, games are a great way to do this. Students love the competition aspect of this and they love being able to work together. As much as you can work games into your day, do it!
Building rapport can be challenging as well at the middle school level. We know rapport with our students is vital to a positive classroom culture. It is also so important when we have challenging behavior episodes. We want our students to know we are on their side and want them to do their best each and every day. However, in middle school our students are starting to seek out more peer connections for support. We talk about strategies for how to build relationships with our students while also allow them to seek out peer support as needed.
Lastly we talk about token economies in the classroom. Using a token economy is a way to help motivate behaviors that are already in our students repertoire. Sometimes we might think this are a little childish, but I would point you towards our economy and you will see that we function in one big token economy! This is not to say we should be rewarding every student with tokens and tickets all the time, because research shows this can decrease intrinsic motivation and this is not something we want at all. What we do want though, is to build skills to fluency and allow them to start to contact naturally occurring reinforcers. A great way to do this is through token economies. Angela talks all about how she uses a token economy in her classroom.
If you are a middle school teacher and are desperately searching for behavior intervention strategies that will work in your classroom, this episode is your place to start. Listen today, start implementing tomorrow.
Join the Teaching Behavior Together Community
Grab a FREE behavior guide for feasible classroom based behavioral interventions (Click Here)
Visit my website for more strategies and interventions you can use daily in your classroom. (Click Here)
Follow me on Instagram for daily behavior and social emotional learning tips (Click Here)
Follow me over on Pinterest for all things behavior and social emotional learning (Click Here)