Micro-skills of

Behaviour
Management
A Model by
Christine Richmond
Presented by
South Western Sydney Regional Behaviour
Team

Participants Booklet Three

The Language of
Acknowledgement

Contents
Language of Acknowledgement ....2
Skill 5 Body language encouraging.4
Skill 6 Descriptive encouraging....5
Other verbal strategies .6
Concrete acknowledging strategies7
Peer review for the use of the language of acknowledgement.....12

Language of
Acknowledgement
Review Date: _____________________

Acknowledging Students
Suggested Minimalist Organisational Strategies and Concepts

Yes/No/Consider

I deliberately cultivate an engaging demeanour with all students.

I use body language cues to convey approval to those students who
apparently deserve it least and need it most.
I use single words or short phrases to convey approval to those
students who apparently deserve it least and need it most.
I use praise discretely with individuals.
I use praise generously with groups.
I use descriptive encouragement regularly to enhance on-task and
cooperative behaviour in all students.
I use concrete evidence of incremental improvement with students
who have particularly challenging behaviours.
What I plan to do in order to refine my approach to acknowledgement:

Richmond, (2007) Teach More Manage Less: A Minimalist Approach to Behaviour Management. Scholastic: Sydney

Giving Acknowledging
Feedback
Once you have organised essential elements of your classroom and established clear
expectations, it is time to refine the quality of feedback that you give to students about their
behaviour. This workshop focuses on one part of that feedback, namely acknowledgement.
This is otherwise known as positive feedback.

Timely Correction of
Inappropriate
Behaviour

Acknowledgement of
Prosocial Behaviour

Clear
Expectations

Ideally, teachers give acknowledging feedback when students are behaving

appropriately and corrective feedback when students are behaving inappropriately
but, like most aspects of human interaction, it is not quite as simple as that.

ACTIVITY
With a partner discuss times when you find it difficult to acknowledge
students appropriate behaviour. Record your ideas in the space below.

3
33

Skill 5

Body Language
Encouraging
Smiling, nodding and moving near

Why body language encouraging an effective management skill?

It takes no time

It promotes a positive tone in the classroom.

Body language is an integral part of communication and strengthens

relationships.

It promotes on-task behaviour when used intentionally.

Hint: By moving around the room and interacting non-verbally with students,
the teachers level of classroom monitoring increases and should therefore help
to reduce episodes of inappropriate behaviour.

How to use body language encouraging

1. Set students to task. Immediately move around the room to non-verbally signal to
students that they should be working on the task. Walk near all members of the class.
2. Touch the work of students who are on-task. This ensures you circulate throughout
the classroom.
3. Pause after you have made one tour of the room, maintain minimal teacher talk then
walk slowly toward students who may be off-task. This is a quiet prompt for them to
resume on-task behaviour.
4. Smile and make eye contact to acknowledge appropriate behaviour. These are
powerful, positive signals that help students feel valued and noticed. This intentional
use of encouraging body language does not describe or preclude all spontaneous
body language messages that teachers send.
5. Make discrete nodding movements and finger signals where appropriate as
acknowledgment for on-task behaviour.

Avoid the following:

Standing too close to a student. This can be intimidating and cue hostility.
Moving too fast towards a student. This can induce a fight or flight response.
Holding eye contact, since it can become a stare-out challenge.
Showing irritation or annoyance through tapping your foot, pursing lips,
crossing arms or frowning.

Skill 6

Descriptive
Encouraging
Describing the appropriate behaviour you see

Why is descriptive encouraging an effective management skill?

It describes to students the behaviour that will enable them to learn.

It reinforces the rules.

It promotes a positive, supportive learning environment.

It focuses on strength and builds self esteem.

It tells students about their competence.

It directs attention to strategies that are useful for problem solving.

It strengthens your relationship with students.

Hints: This skill appears far easier to master than it is. Pay particular attention to the
timing of its use and the tone of voice you use. Descriptive encouraging will require
sustained intentional practice.

How to use descriptive encouraging

1. Describe exactly what you see or hear from students that you want to see or hear
more frequently. In other words, state the obvious that is positive, e.g. :
Steven has started work.
This group is on-task.
You have responded to my direction straight away.
Most students have moved to the correct place.
You sat in your seat as soon as I gave the direction.
Year nine, you are all working quietly on the questions.
2. Use a respectful, measured tone rather than an exaggerated tone.
3. Be genuine, and use descriptive encouraging sooner rather than later. If you wait
too long this technique can become ineffective.
4. You may use it privately towards individual students.
5. Use it collectively to the group
6. Use frequently.
7. Avoid conditional praise (eg good, but why didnt you do it like this all along?)

8. Avoid replacing descriptive encouraging with generic praise (eg good, great,
terrific, nice work).

The Use of Praise

Praise can take the form of single word utterances and short phrases such as:
good, fabulous, great, terrific, wonderful, youre a legend and top effort
team which are like verbal confetti, warming up the atmosphere of the classroom
and setting a positive tone. These are discrete, charming statements that convey
any number of meanings, depending on the context and tone of voice of the
speaker.
Praise can contribute meaningfully to the balancing of correction feedback.
Praise can be very useful when given to whole class groups. Convincing a group
of students that they are your favourite class can really enhance relationships.
Praising the whole class at the beginning of a lesson, rather than waiting until it is
deserved can be very useful.
With older primary and secondary students, praise can be problematic if it is used
to single out one person in front of their peers.
Praise is limited in content so should not be used to the exclusion of descriptive
encouraging.
While the differences between praise and descriptive encouraging appear subtle,
each strategy has the potential to prompt different responses from students.
Different strategies will work best for you in different situations.

The Differences Between Praise and Descriptive Encouraging

Praise

Descriptive encouraging

Owned by the teacher, such as, I like

the way you are working quietly.

Not owned by the teacher, such as, You

are working quietly.

Sometimes said in an emphatic,

pleased tone.

Said in a conversational tone.

Approval statement.

Descriptive statement.

Increased potential for embarrassment

of recipient.

Reduced potential for embarrassment of

recipient.

Designed to reinforce appropriate

behaviour through recognition.

Designed to reinforce appropriate

behaviour through meta-cognitive
awareness.

Concrete
Acknowledging
Strategies
The evidence that teachers provide to students to help them
track their improved behaviour

When is concrete acknowledgement useful?

When you have students exhibiting particularly troublesome behaviour who are
not responding to less intrusive acknowledgement and who continue to attract
inordinate amounts of corrective feedback.

To interrupt problematic behaviour before it becomes even more habitualised.

In the initial stages of helping students to learn new, more positive behaviour
habits.

When you find yourself in a negative rut of over-correction, these strategies may
help you too shift to a more positive focus in your feedback to students.

Hints:

Ensure that you continue to use the less intrusive forms of

acknowledgement with students while implementing these strategies.

For most students concrete acknowledgement is best used in short bursts in

order to encourage the development of new, more appropriate behavioural
habits.

Examples of concrete acknowledging strategies

Sticker charts
Behaviour contracts
Tracking charts
Points systems
A celebration chart
Token economies

The sticker chart strategy

Mr Shen teaches an energetic Year 2 class. He says they are like a basket full of
puppies and he frequently struggles to maintain enough order to teach well. Two of
his students, Boyd and Samantha, have been diagnosed with ADHD, and Mr Shen
suspects that Darren might have similar difficulties.

Example One
Mr Shen uses a sticker chart strategy to acknowledge all of his Year 2 students for
following directions. Most of the students have ten or more stickers while Boyd,
Samantha and Darren dont have any at all. Samantha did earn a sticker for
following a direction yesterday, however, when she was given it she got so excited
that she ran around the classroom disrupting other students. Mr Shen then changed
his mind and removed the sticker because he did not feel it was inappropriate to
reward a student who disrupted. He thought it would send the wrong message to
the other students

Example Two
Mr Shen uses a sticker chart strategy to acknowledge the developing following
direction behaviour of Boyd, Samantha and Darren. Each of these three students
has a small chart stuck to his or her desk daily. When Mr Shen is about to give a
direction he holds stickers in the air, and says, Listen up to me, students start
work now. When any of these students follow the direction, Mr Shen puts a sticker
on his or her chart. As any child achieves ten he or she is allowed to choose a game
that the entire class plays before the next break. All students are pleased when
Boyd, Samantha and Darren earn stickers because they benefit by enjoying the
class game. Every now and then Mr Shen gives every one of his students a sticker
as they leave at the end of the day.
What was the key to success in example two?

The contract strategy

Ms Shandowski finds Cheryls behaviour particularly problematic. Cheryl comes late
to class, doesnt bring her textbook, forgets her homework and interrupts the class
many times each lesson. Ms Shandowski requested a one-to-one discussion after
class. Cheryl agreed that her behaviour was not good and she apologised as she
had done many times before. Ms Shandowski set up a behaviour contract with
Cheryl.

Example One
If Cheryl arrived on time, brought her textbook, did her homework and kept quiet
during the next three classes she would be able to go on the class excursion to the
museum. Cheryl arrived at the first lesson on time, remembered her textbook and
actually had attempted her homework. Ms Shandowski was excited. Unfortunately,
half way through the lesson Cheryl turned to her mates in the back row and started
chatting loudly about who she wanted to sit with on the bus. Cheryl didnt make it
successfully through one lesson. She knew she was not going on the excursion so
she said I didnt want to go to the stupid museum anyway. Cheryl behaved
appallingly for the rest of the term and Ms Shandowski became increasingly
frustrated and unwilling to try any other concrete acknowledgement strategies
because, in her opinion, they didnt work.

Example Two
When Cheryl arrived on time and brought her textbook for three lessons in a row she
would receive a homework free pass for use in Ms Shandowskis class (excluding
assessable assignments). Cheryl achieved her first pass after four lessons (she had
one false start). Ms Shandowski then changed the criteria. For a homework free
pass, Cheryl had to arrive on time, bring her homework and only be reminded twice
in a lesson to stop chatting for four lessons in a row. Cheryls behaviour was
improving. Ms Shandowski was still frustrated because it was hard work, but she
recognised the small positive steps that this student was achieving. Ms Shandowski
looked forward to the day when Cheryl would not need a contract to help her to
remember to use appropriate behaviour.
What was the key to success in example two?

The tracking chart strategy

Mr Stephens, the mathematics teacher was very concerned about Tims disruptive
behaviour.

Example One
Mr Stephens arranged for Tim to keep a personal record of the number of times that
he disrupted the Year 8 mathematics class. Mr Stephens then signed the record,
added a comment and sent it home to Tims parents. Mr Stephens encouraged Tim
to graph each lessons total number of disruptions. A slight dip occurred in the
second lesson after setting up the tracking chart. However, subsequently there was
no positive change in Tims behaviour. Mr Stephens abandoned the strategy.

Example Two
Mr Stephens arranged for Tim to keep a personal record of the number of five
minute intervals that he stayed on-task in the Year 8 mathematics class. Mr
Stephens encouraged Tim to graph the total number of on-task intervals in each
lesson. A slight dip occurred in the second lesson after setting up the tracking chart.
However, subsequently there was a discernable change in Tims behaviour. After a
few weeks, Mr Stephens suggested that Tim might not need to monitor his own ontask behaviour anymore. Mr Stephens then phoned Tims parents to tell them how
much he appreciated Tims efforts in Mathematics and how he looked forward to
seeing better academic results as the term progressed.
What was the key to success in example two?

10

The celebration chart strategy

A celebration chart is a whole class concrete acknowledgement system for a
specific behaviour.
This strategy makes use of peer group pressure to maximise its potential
No individual can be responsible for success, it is a class effort
This strategy is useful when the whole class needs to master a new behaviour or
routine

How to implement a celebration chart

1. Identify a behaviour that you would like to shape
2. Brainstorm ideas for celebrations with the class and agree on the first
celebration.
3. Put a point value on the celebration (this will depend upon the number of
students in the class and how often you will use the chart). The aim is to reach
the celebration point target in about a week the first time and then within one to
three weeks for subsequent celebrations, depending on the age of the students.
4. Clearly describe to students the specific expected behaviour.
Example: to be standing in line when the second bell rings
5. Explain how points will be allocated for meeting the expectation
Example: the students who are present when the bell sounds earn a point each
for the class. The more students present on time, the more points and the
sooner the target is reached, therefore the sooner the celebration is enjoyed.
6. Emphasise that as soon as the target is reached, the celebration will occur within
a day or two, if not immediately.
7. To encourage behaviour change in particular students, you could introduce a
lucky dip where all names are in a hat (some more often than others) and each
day (or session) a name can be drawn out and that person becomes the 10 point
bonus person.
Example: if the 10point bonus person is in line when the bell sounds they earn
an extra 10 points for the class.
There can be one, two or three names drawn out and this may need to be
balanced by having a higher target in the first place.
The aim is to have a celebration, NOT to punish.
ALL students must participate in the celebration even if they did not contribute to the
points
Points MUST NOT be taken away once they have been earned
Only work on ONE behaviour at a time and be specific (Obeying the class rules is too
general)
If the first one doesnt result in positive behaviour change, have another one but
consider.. Was the points target too high? Was it too easy to reach the target? Was the
celebration motivating enough? Was I consistent in my approach?

11

Peer Review Language of

Acknowledgement

Organise a peer review session to provide feedback on your use of the language of
acknowledgement.

Discuss the factors that will make the review a positive experience, such as
maintaining confidentiality, or being non-judgmental in the follow up discussions.

Have your peer reviewer record the instances of your use of the language of
acknowledgement - verbal and non-verbal - during a 30-minute teaching session.

After the observation, evaluate if your estimated instances of the use of

acknowledgement matches the observation data of your peer reviewer.

Name of peer reviewer:

Time and place of peer review:
Tally of instances of the use of verbal and non-verbal language of acknowledgment
Time interval

Verbal acknowledgement

Non-verbal acknowledgement

5 minutes

10 minutes

15 minutes

20 minutes

25 minutes

30 minutes
Total instances:
My estimated instances of the use of the language
of acknowledgement was:

The peer reviewer and demonstrating teacher should discuss the outcomes of the

12

peer review before the next follow-up session.