Blog 10: Anticipating and Preventing Behavior Problems

Jason Kounin states that preventing behavior problems is more effective than reacting to them (Bohlin, Durwin, & Reese-Webber, 2012, p.353). Some ways to prevent behavior problems would be using strategies like withitness, overlapping, and movement management.

Withitness refers to the ability to be responsive to student’s behavior at all time (Bohlin, Durwin, & Reese-Webber, 2012, p.353). My CT’s shows some incidents of withitness in her classroom like when they are restless before lunch or when certain students are being off task. Often, I find that I notice some behavior problems and attitudes happening in the classroom that she does not notice due to her either instructing other students or doing work on her computer while the students are supposed to do school work. In both instances, her back is turned to the students so they feel like they can get away with some behaviors.

Overlapping is described as being able to correct behavior without disrupting the flow of instruction (Bohlin, Durwin, & Reese-Webber, 2012, p.353). My CT exemplifies this in moments when students are talking class while she is giving instructions. She will walk over to where those students are sitting to indicate to them that she notices their behavior and they will stop talking. I wonder how often to use this strategy instead of verbally addressing the situation when behavior gets to becoming to excessive. Should overlapping be used for students who do not care what the teacher does to try to quietly mediate their behavior?

Another thing that I admire about my CT is her ability to have smooth movement management. She is able to connect her lessons with the frequent transitions that occur within the day like RTI, lunch, and the student’s specials. When I was implementing a lesson in her classroom, I saw that it was difficult for me to think of how to transition the whole classroom effectively to lunch time without them forgetting what I just taught them. What things could I do or say to have better movement management?

Bohlin, L., Durwin, C.C., & Reese-Webber, M. (2012). Edpsych Modules (Second Edition). New York. Mc Graw Hill Higher Education.

#withitnessoverlappingmovementmanagementprevention