Colvin: Defusing Disruptive Behavior in the Classroom

In the first chapter of the book Defusing Disruptive Behavior In The Classroom it talks about seven key behavioral principles – Goals of correction procedures, the role of the teacher attention in correction procedures, the nature of behavioral intensity, escalation, and diffusion, the nature of behavioral chains, the role of behavioral extinction and extinction bursts, the power of personal reactions and establishing fluent responses. After engaging with this chapter I came to the conclusion that when disruptive behavior does occur in your classroom your first response will more than likely determine how quickly the reaction is resolved. This chapter provides teachers with many strategies to not only resolve the disruptive behavior but also ensure appropriate behavior in future situations. In this chapter there was a big focus on acknowledging the students who are doing as expected and ignoring the problem behavior. I believe this is a good strategy to use because, by doing this you are not calling out a student, which can lead to escalation and embarrassment for that student, but rather giving them the chance to figure out that the behavior they are partaking in is not what is expected of them and they will learn to correct their behavior by themselves. I also want to note that in the chapter it talked about how every student needs some level of teacher attention, which I believe is very important because as teachers we need to take time to get to know our students and build relationships with them, this will not only improve their learning but also their behavior in the classroom, students want to know that we care. There was a lot to gain from this chapter and I look forward to engaging with the rest of the book!