Sometimes when behaviour escalates it can do so in a pack fashion. It can be very hard to control if you have got more than a few kids that are off task and their behaviour is escalating; so I want to give you a few strategies you can use to bring the pack under control.
Prefer to watch the video, Click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFhz1HqNOGI&t=1s
The first thing you have got to understand about “packs” is the dynamic in a group with social behaviour issues. Very often we tend to target the misbehaviours and the child that is the loudest or the most off task. They get all our attention and all our energy.
If attention-seeking is their mode of operating, then giving all your attention to that child is only going to encourage them to keep misbehaving because you are giving them exactly what they want. If control is what they are going for and you are giving them your attention and not teaching the class, you are not controlling the class. Again they are getting everything that they want. Maybe it is revenge they want and if you get frustrated and angry, they are getting satisfaction because they know they are affecting you emotionally. It’s counterproductive. As you focus on that child, the rest of the class will continue to escalate. I want to demonstrate this and how you can focus on it more effectively.
The behaviour in your class is really split up into three main categories.
Whether you are in a really rough school or a really well-behaved school, your children will generally fit into these categories. Statistics on various demographics across the board, show that this is true. If you want to read more about the evidence-based research, have a look at the research done on the school-wide positive behaviour system. They talk a lot about this.
Basically, your class can be broken up into three categories, 80%, 15% and 5%.
The 80% – Low Level Behaviour
What are the 80%? They are generally well-behaved kids that want to do the right thing. They want to get along with their teacher in any class. There will be a majority that really want to do the right thing and get along with you.
The 15% – Medium Level Behaviour
There is also going to be a small group of 15%. They are a little bit escalated and generally attention seekers. They are not necessarily malicious. They are the sort of kids about whom you usually say, “He is a really nice kid when he is not with his friends or in that group. When he is by himself he is actually great.” These kids generally feed off peer affirmation. They feed off the 5% group. They are not generally the ringleaders or the leaders of the trouble, they will follow the ringleader.
The 5% – High Level Behaviour
This, of course, will differ according to what your scale of high and low is. If you are in a really good school, your high-level behaviour might be a couple of kids that talk too much. If you are in a really rough school, your high-level behaviour comprises of chairs going flying, children swearing at the teacher or storming out. So your scale of high to low is going to be different but the breakdown is the same.
These high-level kids are generally leaders. They normally know how to get a group going. They also, very often, have some kind of diagnosis. They might have ADHD, autistisim or objection defiance disorder etc. Now I am not saying that all kids with the diagnosis are high needs. I am saying that very often kids that fall into this category have an accumulation of challenging situations that they are dealing with. They might be from a domestic violence situation or have some broken relationships at home. There is usually some kind of challenging situation that’s driving their behaviour.
Minority Vs Majority
The good news is they are actually in the minority, they are not in the majority. Do not get sucked into the trap of giving all your attention to the five percenters. They can be the loudest and the most difficult to work with so you can be tempted to give all your attention to them. When you give your attention to the 5%, the 15% who are generally medium level will follow the 5%. Once they see you are not focused or not watching the class, they will start to escalate. They will start to become your high-level behaviour.
All of a sudden what started out as 1 or 2 high escalating kids in the class, suddenly becomes 5 to 7 kids. Now you are dealing with not 1 or 2 high-level kids, you are dealing with 8 or 9 that are highly escalated. Once you have got a group, that is, 8 to 9 who are off task taking all of your energy and focus, what happens is, the group that is generally good will realize that there is nobody monitoring them. Sometimes they are not given work to do or might be finished. Maybe they are just being a bit opportunistic and looking for a break. So very quickly, your 80% which is about 20 kids escalate to medium level behaviour.
This is why it feels like your class is out of control. It is not that all of your kids are poorly behaved or have high-level behaviour needs. What happened is you gave all your attention to the 1 or 2 that are high level. The medium levels escalated and then the 80% just got off task and it became very, very hard to manage the class.
Start with the 80%
Here is what you do instead of focusing on the high level escalated kids. You start focusing on the 80%. The 80% is your majority. If you understand peer pressure and social dynamics, you can get the majority on side very quickly. You will be able to get the stragglers back on board as well. So what you have to do is work with the kids that you know are generally well behaved. Set a task for them and remind them of the expectations. Bring them back into your control and your management.
Keep the 15% on track
Once you have got the 80% under control you can then start working on your 15%. Remember they are not leaders, they are followers. So if the 80% are calm then the 15% will be much easier to deal with. Walk around the room and say “Come on Jared sit down”, “Thank You, Noah, that’s enough. Get back on task.” You start to work the 15% all the while you’re 5% might be escalated pretty badly.
They might be shouting, wandering around the classroom or off-task but as long as nobody is in danger just ignore them. Do not give them your attention. Just focus on getting this 15 % calm. Once you have got the 15% de-escalated then you have actually got time to deal with the 1 or 2 who are really escalated.
Don’t focus on the 5%
Let me give you a little bit of an illustration to show you what I mean by this. When I was doing some behaviour teaching, I had to go to the grade 5 class and look after them for a while. They were known to be a class that was very difficult to work with. I lined them up in the usual fashion and sure enough, I had one or two kids that would not line up. There was the pack leader and his lieutenant sitting on the railing refusing to line up. Very quickly the 5 to 7 kids who were medium level joined him on the railing. They started calling out, telling me they were not gonna line up, all the while I have got 80% of my class that are standing there lined up ready to go in.
Very slowly that 80% started to break down. Some of them were getting out of line, some of them were getting noisy because they were waiting for the class. As always, the high-level kids were holding the class up. This is what I did. I just said to the 80% “All right we’re going into the class right now. Thank you for lining up”. When we get into the class, you get out a book, sit down and read silently”. Don’t walk around, don’t talk to anybody, just sit down and read silently.”
I opened the door and the 80% started to file in. Well, guess who else joined the line, yes my 15%. My 5% had jumped off the railing and wanted to come in. However, because they had not lined up properly or complied with instructions, I stopped them from entering the room. I said “No you cannot come into the room until you are ready to line up”. As soon as the 15% realized the majority was in the room they lined up very quickly. I had a line of five kids that were ready to go in and ready to learn. I gave them the same instruction, “When you go in, get a book you read quietly”.
My 5% wanted to come in but they did not want to line up. They wanted to do it on their terms. I simply said to them “When you are ready to come in, you knock on the door and you let me know.” I walked in and I closed the door. A couple of minutes later the lieutenant knocked on the door, the one who is not the absolute leader but he is very loyal to his alpha buddy. So he knocked on the door and says “I am ready”. I said, “Well line up and show me”. He did and walked in. All of a sudden my alpha boy who did not want to comply had no allies. He had no audience and the power of what he was doing was taken because I worked on the 80% rather than focusing on trying to get him in line.
He kicked a bag, he swore at me, he walked off. About five minutes later, guess who knocked on the door? Yes, my alpha boy knocked on the door and he said “I am ready to come in now”. So I asked him to line up and gave him the same instruction as the others. He came in, he complied and for the rest of that day, the class remained under my control. Instead of fighting the 5% what I did was, focus on winning over the majority. When you have got the majority, the 5% will de-escalate and they will be easier to handle and more willing to comply.
I hope that really helps you. That’s how I deal with pack mentality and that’s how I recommend you do it. Don’t go after the 5%, get the majority under control and the 5% will de-escalate.
Thanks so much for reading our blogs, I hope you got a ton of value out of that. Don’t forget to comment and let us know what you thought or if you have specific topics you would like us to cover.
If you would like to learn more about managing classroom behaviour effectively, why not check out our FREE video course Behaviour Management Blueprint. See below for details.
FREE eBook – Behaviour Management Blueprint:
5 Essential Strategies for Effective Behaviour Management
