As a Teaching Assistant, behaviour management is more than likely a key part of your job description and is something we deal with in all aspects of our lives. How often do we change the way we communicate with people, based on their temperament?
Part of your work as a Teaching Assistant will involve positive interactions with pupils to encourage the best outcome in any situation. The Teaching Assistant’s Guide to Managing Behaviour, written by Jill Morgan (available on Amazon.co.uk), is a helpful and engaging handbook for developing strategies and encouraging pupils to understand why their behaviour may be unacceptable and enabling them to take responsibility for their actions.
Competition
** THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED **
We have generously been provided with two copies of The Teaching Assistant’s Guide to Managing Behaviour by Bloomsbury Publishing for two winners. All you have to do is ‘leave a reply’ below with an example of a behavioural problem you have faced and how you dealt with it. You don’t have to give your real name, but your answers will help other Teaching Assistants in similar situations.
Competition Terms & Conditions
- The closing date for all entrants is 30th June 2014.
- We will notify two winners after the closing date, who will receive one copy of the book each.
- Our competition is open to UK residents only.
- The prize is offered as stated and is non-exchangeable or transferable. No cash alternatives will be provided.
- Once notified by us, the winners will need to provide a UK address to send the prize.
- Your email address is required for the competition and will not be shared with any third parties.
- The winners will be notified by email.
- We reserve the right to pick an alternative winner if the original winner does not contact us within 14 working days of being told they have won.
- The prize is only open to entrants aged 18 or over.
- We reserve the right to cancel or suspend the prize at any point, without liability to the prize-giver or winner.
- Our decision is final on all matters and we will not enter into any further correspondence.
- By entering, you agree to be bound by these rules in relation to this competition.
About Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury’s academic division publishes around 1,100 books a year, with a significant presence in the humanities, social sciences and visual arts. For more information about their full range of digital services, textbooks, course books, journals, research monographs, reference works, and professional books in your subject area, please visit the official Bloomsbury website.
Read more about The Teaching Assistant’s Guide to Managing Behaviour by Jill Morgan
Rebecca Lindley on May 31, 2014 at 11:00 am said:
Everyone should have a behaviour tool kit and keep it well stocked and refreshed at all times!
Joy Judge on May 31, 2014 at 8:08 pm said:
Quite right!
I❤️education on May 31, 2014 at 4:37 pm said:
One child struggled with reading and didn’t enjoy being asked to read. He would insert words like ‘stupid’ into the text as he grudgingly read to me. He may have wanted a reaction so he didn’t have to continue. However, I completely ignored this and carried on as if it hadn’t happened and offered praise when appropriate. In the end his comments diminished and his reading improved. Sometimes we have to pick our fights!
Joy Judge on May 31, 2014 at 8:07 pm said:
Lovely, thank you.
Lydia Marconi on June 1, 2014 at 2:38 pm said:
I worked in a school several years ago and was assaulted by one of the children. I didn’t handle it very well as I had not been trained how to do so. I’ve not been assaulted since, but now I would report it accordingly, unlike last time.
Tina Cambell on June 1, 2014 at 5:30 pm said:
I was involved with a pupil who was bullying others. I documented my observations and communicated with his parents. Bullying is rife in our school, but nothing seems to be done about it. The pupil’s parents were very cooperative and things improved to a certain extent. We got him to write an essay on how it feels to be bullied.
Val on June 2, 2014 at 9:01 pm said:
I worked with a student who had anger management problems. When I could see he was getting stressed I used to take him outside, sit on the wall with him and give him a bottle of bubbles to blow so that we could talk and chill.
Stephanie Mayne on June 10, 2014 at 7:23 pm said:
I’m hoping to become a TA very soon and would love to be in with a chance of winning this book! Thanks to those who have shared their stories!
Christine Barnwell on June 10, 2014 at 8:18 pm said:
I am hoping to become a TA very soon – a book like this would be so valuable to me if I were to win 😀 x
zelda17 on June 10, 2014 at 8:19 pm said:
A child I very often see at playtime gets very angry whilst playing with friends which often results in fighting. When I see him starting to get angry I go and calmly talk to him about deep breathing and clenching and relaxing his hands. It has been working to help him calm himself.
natalie pike on June 10, 2014 at 8:35 pm said:
I would love to know how to deal with the same difficult child. I know its not the work that he finds an issue but something causes him to misbehave constantly. What do I do when he refuses to listen to me??
Cheryl on June 10, 2014 at 8:41 pm said:
I work 1:1 with a child that has Asperger’s. Their behaviour can sometimes be very difficult to manage and without experience, difficult to understand. I have had many times of book throwing, hitting and a nice right hook to the nose! BUT as long as I didn’t take it personally and understood he was frustrated but chatted after he calmed down about how he’d hurt me but I knew it wasn’t on purpose, they were able to move on from it! I find I’m always learning and changing my tactics with them so this book would be good for ideas!
Miss S on June 10, 2014 at 8:57 pm said:
Within our setting we have some children with anger issues. We have established a ‘tent’ area in a central area, where the children can go to when they are experiencing difficulties. They can go into the ‘tent’ for a short amount of time (as deemed appropriate by the support staff) to calm down. Prior to this we would have children running off and hiding in the toilets/cloakroom. They now know they have somewhere safe and secure to go.
Clare on June 10, 2014 at 9:11 pm said:
A child that I worked with would hit out at other children if he felt threatened or that his friends were being threatened, we made a contract with him that he should come and find either of the 2 TA’s that worked with him, should he start feeling this way, at first he refused to comply with this, but one day I was on duty in the playground and he ran over saying he was scared of how he was feeling, we walked away from the situation and talked about his feelings. He then came with me to where the issue had started and helped me to sort the problem with the other child calmly.
alison on June 10, 2014 at 9:53 pm said:
I have been working with a 6 yr old boy with lots of low level disruptive behaviour. I decided to ignore negative behaviour and really focused on positive behaviour. I made phone calls home when he really tried hard. Each day before class starts I spend 2 minutes with the child talking about good choices he made the day before and reminding him of school rules. It has made a huge difference to his behaviour and the quality of his work! The high point today was getting a letter from mum telling me that his behaviour at home is excellent and how pleased they were with him. Thats a win wi situation!
Jo on June 13, 2014 at 9:18 pm said:
I used to have this child in an phonics intervention class that was classed as ‘difficult’ throughout her time at primary- she’d been known to throw objects, scream, shout, swear, hit and leave without permission.
Of course she displayed these traits when we first begun the group intervention yet everyday I made a point to greet her warmly, smiled, say that I enjoyed seeing her and enjoyed her in my class. At first she didn’t stay long (her choice) but I kept it up. She wasn’t given anything different than the others and my expectations were clear and the same for all present… After a while she stayed more and more and her behaviour lessened. One day she made it to the end and stayed because she wanted to chat- turns out she was being abused by a family member and wanted to tell someone she felt she could trust. I was shaking as she told me and in tears but so proud she did it. I don’t see her anymore but things changed for her. She taught me that under all that ‘bad behaviour’ is a vulnerable young person- I now tell all other TAs that it’s not the child you will dislike, just their choice of behaviour and there’s always reasons for it.
Stephen on June 23, 2014 at 12:56 pm said:
After quite a few singing lessons a timid and shy pupil of mine stood up in the school assembly in front of the whole school and brought some of the teachers to tears with her rendition of I dreamed a dream from Les Miserables. her classmates were speechless as she never bragged in the slightest about her ability so they had no idea.A good example of being quietly confident
sue willis on June 27, 2014 at 11:01 pm said:
There is always a reason behind behaviour, it is getting to the root of the problem and finding triggers that is the key. Getting to know the child in question, showing you are approachable at all times is paramount to the childs trust. Most behaviour is dhown as a cry for attention be it good or bad, modelling behaviour required and praising the good behaviour shown ‘catch them being good’ is important as it shows you are watching them and taking an interest in them. Sometimes taking a look at your delivery and work set for the child is also a factor as behaviour could be displayed because work is too difficult or too easy and the way you are teaching may need to be adapted to the ability of the child to keep them on task and engaged to reach success criteria.
Joy Judge on July 1, 2014 at 7:38 pm said:
Thank you all so much for contributing. These are fantastic examples. We’ll be choosing the winners in the next few days.