Behavior Management: High School

High School Behavior Management - Supporting Teachers and Administrators

By: Lilia Hueso and Katalina Chacon 

Common Behaviors

●           Disengagement and independence

●           Daily technology use - phones, iPods, ect

●           Peer pressure

●           Disruptive behavior - clowning around

●           Cliques and crowds

●           Dating and romantic relationships - PDA

●           Complaining and whining

Risky Behaviors                                                                                           

●           Drug and alcohol use

●           Tobacco use

●           Violence, aggression, bullying (fights, gangs)

●           Sexual activity

●           Unhealthy diets

●           Dropout

Developmental Behaviors

●           Self-Identity - Who am I?

●           Body image - boys want to be muscular, girls idolize Hollywood models

●           Exploring sexual identity

●           Autonomy - finding their independent

●           Self-esteem - decline of self-esteem

Strength-based Strategies

●           Self-Development and Identity Interventions

○           Self-Identity, Individuality, The Unique Self

○           Goal: Help adolescents identify personal attributes, such as interest, values, preferences, spiritual beliefs, family, etc.

○           Examples

■           Personal Collage: “All About Me” “Future Self”

■           Artist Self-expression: Poems, songs, stories

●           Self-Expression Interventions

○           The Emotional Self

○           Goal: Help adolescents identify and refine their own preferred means of self-expression

○           Examples

■           Music, art, role-playing, circle of trust, “I” statements, board games - find meaning and identify emotions

●           Social Development Interventions

○           “Teens select friends on the basis of compatibility, shared experiences, and their contribution to the relationship as well as on their personality” (Vernon).

○           Goal: Increase social skills and help identify expectations of appropriate relationships

○           Examples:

■           Model boundaries, group projects, mentor/mentee

●           Build Relationships with Students

○           Goal: Get to know your students, socialize

○           Complement, recognize, and praise when needed and deserved

○           Ask students directly, do not assume

○           Open-door policy, have office hours, free-periods

●           Solution-Focused Program

○           Goal: Make problems solvable

○           Find the exceptions, help students identify them

○           Create the opportunity for change

Resiliency and Grit

●           Administration

○           Address community needs

○           Help create a curriculum that supports all students

●           Teachers

○           Solution-Focused

○           Motivational Interviewing

○           Make the Miracle Question your own

Supporting Administration and Teachers

●           Revisit strategies and techniques

○           What is working? What needs modifying?

●           Recognize strengths

○           Build on skills and success

●           Pay attention to student needs and define goals

●           Focus on the solutions not the problems

●           Collaborate and consult