Before you can hold students accountable for behaving properly, you must ensure that these students know what proper behavior entails. Start your elementary discipline program with lessons in character development. In these lessons, teachers can educate students on desirable traits that they should aim to possess, such as respect, kindness and consideration. After teaching these traits, educators can expect their students to embody them more effectively.
Elementary students often benefit from a scaffolding structure in their discipline plans. Scaffolded discipline requires the teacher to provide extensive support at first then gradually withdraw it, expecting the students to act with increasing independence. You can begin this type of approach by giving the students several warnings before assigning a consequence, allowing them to get used to the rules before they receive sanctions for violating them. As you withdraw this support, you can gradually reduce the number of warnings you give or expect students to take on certain tasks, such as writing down lists of students who are tardy, to encourage independence and self-sufficiency.
Instead of presenting your students with a proscriptive list of rules at the start of the school year, allow them to play a part in deciding about these behavioral guidelines. On the first day of school brainstorm a list of things that students should not do with the help of your pupils. This list could include, for example, being late to class, yelling in the classroom or hitting other people. Discuss this list with your students, narrowing it down to four or five specific behaviors that they feel should be against the rules. Have the students make posters displaying these rules and put them up around the classroom.
When dealing with elementary students, positive reinforcement often proves more useful than constant sanctions. While you certainly must punish students for misbehavior from time to time, it is most effective to focus on the positive, giving rewards to those who do as they should. By using rewards to recognize the positive performers, you can give these successful students attention instead of constantly focusing on those who don't do as they are told.