Episode 7

Written By Caylee Carullo
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Episode 7. Behavior Problems? We’ve got 4 MORE Strategies for you to try!

This is PART 2 of a series that will give you LOTS of behavior management strategies to help turn things around in your classroom.

This is part 2 of a 2 part series giving you 7 behavior management strategy ideas!


#4- Whispering-

Do you have trouble getting your kids attention when they get too loud?


If it gets too loud in your classroom ...the next strategy that we’re going to give you is one that will help you to bring everything back down… when things start to get loud and amped up, my go to response to that... is to start whispering…






How are you going to get all the kids to do hear you if you’re whispering to get their attention when they’re loud or yelling?


Haha, great question, you don’t just stand there whispering, and hoping it will get quiet… hahaha, we usually start with some sort of attention getter I like to use “match me”…

So I would say “match me” and then I would do something for them to match-- I would touch my toes, or stick out my tongue, or raise both of my arms, or stomp my feet… and then the kids will start to do whatever I’m doing.. and then I would do it again, “match me” and then I would do another movement… I usually start with big noticeable movements and bring them down as I go, because more kids are catching on… so the more kids you have paying attention to you, the less dramatic your movements have to be… 

And then as it gets quieter, I have that platform to step up and start talking-- but instead of talking in a normal voice level I would start talking in a whisper…

Why? Because it forces them to listen.


I would give whole announcements whole lessons in a whisper voice because everybody’s got to stay calm and focus on what I’m saying.


I had observers that would say my classroom feels like a spa…(I would usually play calming music when my kids would be working independently, I think that’s where the term spa came from, haha)  but I am telling you this because I used tactics like this whispering one a lot of the time and it just keeps the whole noise level down low… I’m not saying kids can’t talk and have fun, but I find that so many times, the increasing volume is just a spiral that has no limit, because two kids start to get loud, so the other kids can’t hear what they’re doing so they have to get louder...and everyone just keeps getting louder to be able to hear what they are doing, but if you can just bring it ALL back down to a lower level… it’s just a great skill for kids to have… to be able to regulate their own volume level… 




#5- Capes-

  • Do you have kids who are SUPER IMPATIENT? 

  • Kids who have trouble sharing, No matter what you’ve tried?

  • Do you have kids who only think about themselves and have trouble empathizing or connecting with friends?

  • Are there certain behaviors you’d like to improve on with your students but you haven’t found a fun way to make the behaviors stick? Like using their own words instead of tattling?

  • Are you looking for a way to motivate your kids to work hard? 






If you are dealing with any of these things, here is a solution for you...


What is it? 

Capes.

Yep capes.




You can get them on Amazon pretty cheap and capes are so much fun.

Like there’s almost nothing more fun than getting to wear a cape for a child.





I’ve bought a few different sets of capes from Amazon but then I also went on to make my own capes with fabric and Velcro, like you’ve heard me talk about before... and I had about 25 of them we would use on the playground most of the time, but I would also use them in my classroom...

There are multiple reasons why capes are so awesome.

First, immediately when I child is wearing a cape they feel more proud and excited to do whatever we’re doing.

Second, the way that the capes move around from kid to kid is that they get to pass them on… so say that you’re highlighting patients you’re going to find a kid who’s being very patient and you’re going to put the Cape on them but then from then on they are the ones who look for kids who are being patient to pass the Cape on…Or maybe you’re looking for kids who are working hard ...this is a perfect one to use during our we would use it during our our independent work time when kids are all supposed be working hard they are getting the key put on them in for a few minutes they would wear it and then after a few minutes their job is to go look for someone else who’s working hard so before you know it you have a whole classroom full of four and five-year-olds who are working as hard as they can to earn a cape and it’s just a great morning work time…




This makes it so easy to highlight a certain behavior that you want to see more of and then designate that as the Cape behavior and kids are already looking for that behavior trying to do that behavior and then they get to wear the Cape when they’re doing it.



If you have never tried using capes in your classroom I certainly recommend that you try it I think that you’re gonna love the way that you see your kids faces light up as they try to earn the privilege of wearing a cape… And it doesn’t have to be some huge distraction you can teach them to put it on their peers very carefully and they can all practice gently on doing the Velcro and going to find their friend and putting it around their neck in a way that doesn’t hurt anyone but feels good for all involved.. even the kids giving the Cape away have a huge smile on their face.



#6-Slap sticks-

OK, I was a little hesitant to share this one because I shared this A few years ago as like my third Instagram post ever and people were ridiculous.

What I did was I bought some of those slap bracelets that you slap onto a person's wrist and kids love these… so I thought of the idea of using the slap bracelets to give as a warning for volume level during center time…

So what I did was I put a little piece of clipart onto each of the bracelets that had a little face join doing a “shh”  signal…..

because kids getting too loud during center time is something very real that happens a lot at the beginning of the year, so maybe you turn off the lights to get everyone’s attention but it seem to be one of those things where the kids volume so just go back up no matter what so this was a fun way for me to enforce the volume limit in a positive way that the kids seriously had so much fun with.

So maybe two boys playing in the blocks center would keep getting too loud OK so you can keep reminding them quiet lower your voices or you can use this memorable tactic to teach this lesson…

So I would walk over to them with my slap bracelets and I would hold out my hand and they will put their hand in my hand they would have the biggest smile on their face and I would slap the slap bracelet onto their wrist OK... it doesn’t hurt there’s no sort of physical torture…

I mean they would laugh in their face would light up immediately and I would say hey here’s your warning now that you have this bracelet on your wrist and you see the little shhh face, this will remind you to keep your volume down and if you can’t remember or if I have to come over again because your voices are too loud then you’ll have to clean up and pick a new center… it was a very real very clear warning that they had right there, on their wrist, their hands —what they were using to play with— that would help them to remember to be quiet so that they didn’t have to go pick a different center…

Usually the only problem I had was that I didn’t want to give them back later on because they like to slap bracelet so much…

But it absolutely helped keep the volume under control in my classroom there was a very small number of times that I would have to go over and say oh you’re very loud again and you’re already wearing a warning shhh bracelet right now so it’s time to clean up…

And they wouldn’t argue because they had the warning clearly on their hand… it was just a simple system that worked, Because the purpose was very clear and it was fun.

I love this idea. I never tried it in my classroom ….did you do this when we were co-teaching? 

No, I actually started using these at my next school. 

Man, I wish I had this in my toolbox back then.   

Did you ever find kids wanting to get the slap-stick bracelet ? I can see my kids being loud on purpose to get to wear the bracelet ha ha ha ha! 

They never got loud just to get the bracelet, because they knew that wasn’t going to work…it was like, I’m glad you guys like the bracelets, but we use them for a specific purpose.

I think I’m going to try this…. We are working on waiting and being quiet when I'm on the phone. I'm not on the phone very much because I hate talking on the phone but when I am it's usually a pretty important call...like doctors, school or the vet. I think i'm going to make one with the shhhhh face and use it during phone calls. It's an easy way to remind them that I can't talk right now and you need to lower your voice without having to verbally tell them. Love it!  

I remember when I first posted this,. Most people responded well, but some people were just ridiculous… “So you’re saying I get to slap my kids?”

I was just like, I don’t even know what to say to you right now…and, now I just block people like that… I’m sorry that you don’t have something better to do with your day, I wish you well but I ain’t got time for this....brene brown’s netflix special, call to courage, changed my way of thinking on this, and i’m going to say it because I think some listeners might gain something from hearing this too...she said, “if you’re not in the arena, getting your ass kicked, on occasion, because you’re being brave… I am not interested in or open to your feedback about my work. Period”…. She goes on to say, “there are millions of cheap seats in the world today.. Filled with people who will never once step foot in that arena, they will never once put themselves out there, but they will, make a full time job to hurl criticism and judgement and really hateful things towards us and we have got to get out of the habit of grabbing it and taking it to our hearts...don’t let it near your heart- don’t stomp it, don’t trip over it, just step over it and keep going… don’t take criticism and feedback from people who are not being brave with their lives… it will crush you.”

God, it gives me goosebumps.. And I know it’s a little dramatic to take that from a few people commenting negatively on a post, but those people are everywhere..sometimes they do little jabs, sometimes they do big jabs, but I just love her thoughts on this… don’t let it get to your heart… keep going… I have developed a pretty thick skin as I’ve moved along this journey of changing career paths and moving from teaching to now, supporting teachers and being vulnerable here on this podcast… but I hope that this helps someone with something they’ve been carrying, or maybe it will help you not to trip on somebody’s words next time… but instead, you’ll be able to just keep walking… 

Oh my...people sometimes have too much time on their hands.

This is a way to enforce a limit with your students while you both have a smile on your face...isn’t that a beautiful thing?

Did you order them on amazon? Yup



#7- Uh-o/Oops

Sometimes you need to address negative behaviors… it’s just a part of the reality of being the adult in the room, kids look to you to hold them accountable and keep the peace in the room…

but there’s a fine line here… you don’t want to bring too much attention to that negative behavior, but you can’t just carry on through your day acting like no one ever needs redirection… kids want limits...they are trying things but they want to know that when they or another student act out, that the adults in the room are going to do something to keep the peace… 

That’s where this strategy comes in…



OHHHHHHHHH the “uh-o” is my favorite or the” BUMMER”  This is a love and logic tool that I use DAILY! I also used it daily in my classroom. In fact … didnt Love and Logic use a little uh-oh song? 

YUP, THe Uh-O song is a love and logic strategy to start using with children as young as toddlers… and, then, I prefer to adjust it slightly, for my older students by transitioning to a new phrase... I just say, “oops”... and it’s enough to make kids stop, think, and adjust what they are doing, without taking much time or putting too much attention on any one negative behavior…  

Similar to the magic sprays, it’s a switch up that gives them a cue, without shaming or pointing them out, because when you say “oops” you don’t have to stare down one student… you can be throwing “oops” out there when you’re sitting and getting ready for a whole group lesson and you might specifically be thinking of one kid in your head as you say it, but all the kids that hear it are going to react to fix whatever else they may be doing… usually a quick glance and an “oops” will be enough to jump start a kid back to a good choice, and I say it like that because there’s something about the way you say it “oops” that just incites action. It’s just a perfect cue to signal hey, you gotta change that up… and then it can be followed by a quick thank you!


Ok, so we hope that these ideas have been helpful for you guys… if you have questions, we love hearing from you-reach out to us on instagram! As always, we have room in the Pre-K Teacher family, there’s room for all of you… if you’ve been thinking about joining but aren’t totally sure, I would love to talk to you… I have been getting to know teachers all over the place and even though we might feel so different the more I talk with them, the more I realize we are the same… we are experiencing the same problems and we have solutions that have worked for lots of teachers, and they will work for you too… visit my website to learn more about the pre-k teacher family - triedandtrueteacher.com and there’s a tab that says join the pre-k teacher family and you’ll find tons of information there… I also want to let everyone know, I have a teacher’s pay teacher’s store..where I have some of the documents i’ve created…(not all of them, because it takes a lot of time to make the cover pages and previews and everything) but you can purchase some of the documents i’ve created there, there are a lot that are exclusive to the pre-k teacher family but you can get an idea of my resources by visiting my tpt page… I will put a link in the show notes. 

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Caylee Carullo
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