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What habits or reactions do you want to adjust in your own approach to behavior management?

How has your view of children’s behavior as communication changed after this training?

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What is one concept or strategy from today’s training that really resonated with you?

Which part feels like it will be most challenging, and why?

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Predictable routines reduce anxiety, help children feel safe, and make behavior expectations clearer.

Predictable Routines and Transitions

Are students involved in routine rituals

Do I give verbal or visual “warnings” (e.g., 5-minute countdown) before a transition or end of an activity?

Do your students know what to expect?

Do I give students time to prepare before we transition activities or locations?

Do I use music, chants, or call and response to signal transitions?

Am I supporting individual children who struggle with transitions using visuals, timers, or personal prompts?

Clear Expectations

Have I involved students in co-creating classroom norms

I'm clearly communicated the expectations for this activity or space?

I've practiced the expectations with students—not just told them?

Restate expectations before transitions

Student Voice & Inclusion

Have I asked students what helps them remember and follow expectations?

Do students have a chance to reflect on how they’re doing with expectations (e.g., self-assessment, group check-ins)?

Can all learners (including multilingual or neurodiverse students) access and understand the expectations?

CONNECT: Build the Relationship

Connection should come before correction

Children are more likely to follow directions, engage in learning, and recover from challenges when they feel seen, safe, and connected to a caring adult

How do we do that?....

Greeting Rituals & Daily Connection

examples?....

Emotion Coaching & Co-Regulation

examples?

Attuning to Body Language & Nonverbal Cues

examples?

Relationship Rituals and Positive Attention

examples?

Encouraging Student Voice and Choice

example?

Respond: Supportive, Consistent Follow-Through

Stay Calm and Regulated

examples?

Redirection and Choices

examples?

Use Calm, Respectful Language

examples?

Restore and Repair Relationships

examples?

Teach Replacement Skills

examples?

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Slide 3

How would I feel if I were in this child’s shoes?

What is this child’s body language telling me right now?

Am I responding with calm and connection, or with control and correction?

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How am I feeling right now? Am I regulated enough to be supportive?

Am I responding from a place of curiosity or frustration?

What is my goal in this moment—control, compliance, or connection?

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Is this child regulated enough to hear or respond to me right now?

What can I do right now to help co-regulate with the child? (e.g., lower my voice, offer space, provide a sensory tool)

What strategy has helped this student calm down in the past?

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Is the environment overstimulating, under-stimulating, or unpredictable?

Have expectations been clear and developmentally appropriate?

Has there been a recent change (routine, relationships, home life) that could be impacting the child?

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If we believe that all behavior is communication, then when a child is escalating or showing challenging behavior, our job is to decode that message and respond supportively.

What might this child be trying to tell me through their behavior?

What unmet need could be driving this behavior? (e.g., connection, autonomy, safety, attention, competence)

Is there a pattern to this behavior (time of day, environment, activity)?