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1. Set Clear Expectations

The first thing is this, you need to make sure that there is a clearly stated expectation. When you are setting up your classroom rules or expectations, you need to ensure that if it is important to you, then you have clearly said to them “You do not move around the classroom unless you have my permission, do not get out of your seat unless you have my permission”. As the teacher, it is really important that you state your expectations clearly because you ca not enforce anything that has not first been talked about. 

2. Explain Why

The second thing you need to do while you state your expectations is this, you need to explain why, this is especially important for older children. Boys also need a good reason for following instructions. As you state the instruction or the expectation you need to remain in your seat, you also need to explain why. What is the reason we stay in our seat?, it helps us all stay focused so that we are not distracting each other in the learning, you are not disrupting the lesson when the teacher is trying to teach. We are also keeping you safe, if you are wandering around the classroom there is a greater risk of having something happen to you or somebody else.

3. State the Consequence

You need to state upfront what the consequence is, what happens if they get out of their seat. This is a little bit tricky so I will need to unpack this a little bit further. Stating the consequence is really important, most children, before they do something will weigh up the pros and cons of what they are going to do. They will actually think to themselves what are the consequences of getting out of my seat, I do not see that as a big problem if I want to go and talk to my friend, that is a pro and so I will opt for that even though the consequence is whatever has been stated. You need to give them the opportunity to weigh up the pros and cons, so state a consequence upfront.

4. Low-Level Management System

My fourth point is, You need to have some kind of low-level management system. A lot of teachers I work with only use the school system. So the school system might be something like giving the first warning, you give a second formal warning and then you exit them from the classroom. Most school systems are based around a three-tier or a four-tier approach, a Verbal warning, firm warning, detention or timeout and then exit from the class, whatever it might be, the problem with those kinds of systems is the are designed for large escalated behaviour. Wandering around the classroom does not really fall into that category, so you have got to be able to manage that in a way that is still low level. Make sure you do not push your difficult children into a space where they are starting to escalate or get antagonistic unnecessarily.

So what would that look like, something like a point system? Like the Chris Biffle whole-brain teaching system, you get a point for following the instruction, the teacher gets a point for when you are not following this instruction. That is a low-level consequence where they can weigh up the balance of their decision. A verbal warning is appropriate, then it might go to a name on the board and then it might follow through to be kept in at lunchtime. So it is a stepped approach where you are not going straight to the biggest consequence, you are keeping it at a low level and trying not to escalate them.

Whatever this looks like for you, it might be class points, group points or individual points but it has to be some kind of low-level management system for you to enforce it in that way. You need to be able to do this consistently. That is why I talked about the low-level consequence system, in order to do this consistently, at least in the beginning, you need to be able to give out consequences on a regular basis. You need to be able to talk to students and address their failure to comply with the instruction on a consistent and regular basis, especially if this is a big problem in your classroom. Be consistent. That means you need to do it every time not just with the naughty kids but with the good kids as well. You need to have a system in place where you can address Stacy who generally follows the rules and generally does her work and then you can address Jared who is always out of a seat and always disrupting. Consistency means you deal with all permutations of that behaviour regardless of who is executing the behaviour. 

How to Respond ?

So that was the four ways that you can approach this. Now here are some strategies that you can actually respond to in the moment. If the child is getting out of their seat without permission, how do you respond to that consistently in ways that keep at a low level? Well, the first way that I would suggest that you do it is you use parallel acknowledgement.

Parallel Acknowledgement

Parallel acknowledgement is where you address somebody who is doing the right thing. Let’s say Jared got out of his seat but Stacy is in her seat, Stacy sits next to Jared, well you would immediately say “Stacy I love the way that you are sitting in your seat quietly and you are not moving around and disrupting other people”. Jared will immediately recognize that you are talking about his behaviour, you have not shamed him, you have not highlighted the behaviour, you have not drawn attention to him. You are actually showing him a model of what appropriate behaviour looks like.

The third aspect of our parallel acknowledgement that really works is that most kids want praise from their teacher. If Jared sees that you are praising Stacey, immediately he wants to get in on some of that action. So you may find that Jared will sit down very quickly and put up his hand to ask permission to get out of his seat. As soon as he does that , his is the second stage of parallel acknowledgement, you need to say to Jared “thank you so much for staying in your seat and not disrupting the class, how can I help you or what would you like to do”. Make sure you backup your parallel acknowledgement with an acknowledgement of change in behaviour as it comes.

When you address behaviour do it in close proximity to the student. Do not call out across the classroom, do not say “Jared sit down” if he is on the other side of the class because all you do is draw attention to Jared and if he is an attention seeker then you have just given him what he wants. Close proximity is key. Go and stand beside his desk or beside him, move around the classroom so you can address these kinds of low-level behaviours in close proximity.

Dont Take the Bait

Lastly do not take the bait. If children get caught out doing these sort of things, very often they will try and deflect, they will try and start an argument to get you off your game and to try and take control of the situation. You need to give your instruction and then move away from them.

If you are standing next to Jared you say “Jared time to take your seat” then you walk away. Do not stand there and let Jared give you excuses or catch you in an argument,  move away from Jared or if you are doing parallel acknowledgement then say, “thank you so much, Stacey, for staying in your seat I appreciate it” then move away so that Jared can not get caught up in any kind of banter. Then as soon as Jared does something, move towards him and say “thank you very much, Jared, for sitting in your seat well done”.

So remember parallel acknowledgement and give your instructions and your consequence in close proximity. Do not take the bait, do not get caught up in deflection or needless arguments. You will find that if you do this consistently then you have expressed the expectation, you follow through consistently with a low-level management strategy and you will find that sooner rather than later your students will begin to stay in their seat. They will ask permission before they leave their seat and you will have a much calmer small learning-focused classroom. 

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