OVERVIEW OF BACK-UP SYSTEMS WITHIN THE CLASSROOM
A back-up system is designed to deal with severe or persistent
disruptions of any magnitude. The bottom half of the back-up
system consisting of small and medium back-up responses is primarily
in the hands of the classroom teachers. It is their responsibility
to put the lid on as early and as gently as possible in order
to keep the problem from growing and continuing. When teachers
do their job quickly and effectively, they protect the student
from getting into any big trouble by their calm and by their
constructive use of negative sanctions.
It is easy to imagine being in a situation in which a small
back-up response might need to be used, but it is difficult
to imagine being in the same situation in need of a small back-up
response repeatedly. The first or second time it happens
to you, chalk it up to experience. The third or fourth time
it happens to you, chalk it up to ineptitude or inaction.
A successful back-up system will be self-eliminating because
it works - it consistently raises the cost of intolerable behavior
above any possible benefit. But a total management system that
is successful will also eliminate its back-up system by design
- by quickly implementing an incentive to remedy any
problem which recurrently calls forth the use of the back-up
system. In an analogous fashion when the bottom half of the
back-up system is used appropriately within the context of effective
limit-setting and incentives, the remainder of the back-up system
is rarely needed. When teachers use negative sanctions ineptly,
however, they all but guarantee the frequent use of the top
half of the back-up system.
Obnoxious behavior is frequent enough to require the use of
small and medium back-up responses from time to time in many
classrooms. Ugly behavior can occur suddenly and throw the teacher
into using large and extra-large back-up responses on rare occasions.
But if the teacher is using positive discipline properly, such
blow-ups will typically be between peers rather than between
student and teacher. The main determiner of whether most obnoxious
behavior turns ugly is, as usual, the teacher's initial response
to it. Consequently, the frequency of teachers' need for help
with discipline from outside their classroom serves as a barometer
of the effectiveness of their management within the classroom.
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