It isn’t uncommon that students are showing different behaviors at school compared to home. Whether it be students behaving badly at home compared to school or vice versa there can definitely be a disconnect. Having clear and consistent behavior expectations at home and school can make such a positive impact in both areas.
The disconnect students have actually makes a lot of sense. Students are often found having different expectations in different areas. For them, this can be very hard to try to get those to meld together in a way that makes sense.
Here are some ways that I think can help alleviate that confusion and let there be a better balance between expectations at school and expectations at home.
1.Communicate with the parents.
Sometimes it often seems like common sense that parents know what’s going on within the classroom or that we assume the students will tell their parents when they get home. That definitely isn’t the case. We will sometimes have parents be confused wondering what happened, why did their child get in trouble etc.
The reality is sometimes we can do a better job at explaining what’s going on in the classroom. Alternatively it’s also very important that parents are communicating with you. Sometimes something may be going on at home that attributes to the behavior within the classroom.
I always make sure to communicate with parents using my take home folders. In them, I also placed our monthly behavior charts. Whether it was good or bad behavior, I always made sure I was putting something on there that let them know how the day went. There are also great apps out there that can help you with this like the Remind app or ClassDojo. Even if we were using apps I was making sure to send home weekly newsletters so parents knew what was going on in the classroom itself and what learning standards we are working on.
While it may seem like “just another thing to do” I quickly learned that taking those 10-20 minutes to create these, meant a lot less emails and time taken away trying to answer everyone’s questions. When everything is added up, it actually ends up being way less time creating these in the long run.
2. Teachers and parents should communicate what the expectations are with one another.
Maybe a parent has something that works very well at home?
Maybe you have something that works very well at school?
Either way both parties should have a general understanding of what is to be expected in both areas. That way parents can work at home with the students to ensure their success.
Take the time to sit and have a clear conversation about what the behavior expectations are at home and at school and how you can get them to be a bit more balanced.
3. Try to make the expectations as similar as possible.
It could be very hard for children to go back-and-forth between the vast differences of expectations that each place holds. Having something that similar will create those goals and keep students on track to do their best.
4. Document behavior.
Documenting behavior is so important when it comes to a student’s success. Sometimes you might find similarities between a trigger at home and in the classroom and that can help both parties involved. Oftentimes knowing the trigger can help you monitor situations so they don’t get elevated. Having parents keep an eye out and monitor the behavior will be very helpful as well.
5. shared some similarities with one another.
Again, communication is key. Like I said before, sometimes certain triggers might help you realize what’s going on with the student and help you manage the situation before it gets worse.
An example of this could be a child skipping a meal because they don’t like it. With both parents and teachers noticing changed behavior, they can work together to try and eliminate that.
I hope these tips help to bring some calm to your classroom and at home. Do you have anymore tips? Share away in the comments!
