Running in the classroom, cafeteria or hallways can cause distraction or even injury to other children. Often times, children display this behavior when playing roughly, to garner attention or when displaying disregard for authority. If running is a problem in your classroom, consider implementing behavior control strategies. Such strategies can range from establishing standards for classroom behavior to restricting privileges for students who run to meeting with the student's parents. To ensure these strategies work, remain firm in your interactions with your students.
Establish ground rules for your class. On the first day of class, write down each of the rules you expect your class to follow.These rules might include "no talking," "be respectful" and "no running." Rather than dictate rules to your class, have your class tell you what rules they think they should follow. Of course, if the class does not include "no running" themselves, add it to the list. Call on students to explain why the rules will be beneficial to the class and school environment. Doing so will help students respect and hold themselves accountable to the rules they have set for themselves.
Post "no running" signs in the hallways and classrooms. Have your class decorate the signs themselves so they take ownership for them. Post the signs in areas where students are likely to run, such as open spaces and long halls. You may even assign a student hall monitor to remind students that running is not permitted. If students are not comfortable being the monitor, rotate hallway or cafeteria monitoring duties with other teachers to limit running in these areas.
Speak to individual students who run. Call the student to your classroom and explain to him that running indoors is not acceptable behavior. Notify him that this will be the only time you speak with him before involving school administration or his parents. If students continue to repeat this behavior, restrict their class privileges, such as field trips or assemblies. You may also assign after-school detention if the student fails to follow your instructions.
Contact the school administration or the student's parents. Have a meeting with the principal and student who runs. Offer your explanation of how the student's running has become a problem. Allow the student to speak as well. Offering the student an ultimatum between continuing to run and punishment -- such as detention for a month -- is a good way to influence her to stop. Contact the student's parents to reinforce the seriousness of the situation if the student does not respond to any other communication.
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Writer Bio
Christina Whitaker began her writing career in 2005 in newspaper journalism. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from UCLA and a law degree. Her legal experience includes work in Federal Court, and civil and criminal litigation. She also maintains a blog on social, pop-culture and cultural matters.