Managing Behavior with Games

 Tired of playing the behavior game with unruly students? You're not alone. Teachers everywhere deal with daily behavior issues that disrupt their classrooms and student learning. Instead of handing out more detentions though, you can make a much bigger impact by simply playing games.

For Hyperactivity

If you have a class or two of students who can't sit still or focus for more than a minute, then you'll want to focus on M&M game traits:

• Movement: Incorporating space and time for physical movement allows hyperactive students to expel excess energy. When they are allowed to move their bodies, you'd be surprised at how well it focuses their mind for mental tasks like brainstorming, reviewing, reflecting, and more. For example, some of my students struggled with paying attention to the reading long enough to identify figurative language. To combat this, I use Lit Grid. It's like a giant game of team Connect 4 with a twist of relay race, and instead of dropping chips, you drop literary devices from the reading. This gets my students listening and sweating and gives me plenty of meaningful quotes to discuss after the reading.

• Manipulatives: If you don't have space for moving students, you can create a similar effect by having students move game pieces instead. Manipulatives give students something tangible and textural, which, like fidgets, are great for distracting the body so the mind can focus. Many of the games I use incorporate moving parts in some way, but one I've had a lot of success with is Plot Puzzle. This game gets students to review important events by placing cards in chronological order faster than the other teams. To make it easier on the teacher, it even has a secret coding system for quick winner checks. 

For Apathy

If your students are less energetic and more apathetic, you'll need to find a way to incorporate meaning into your games. As much as I'd love to tell you that your subject has great meaning to students like this, it just doesn't, which means you need to find something that matters to them:

• Competition: This may seem like an obvious part of a game, but the right kind of competition can create something that matters to most students, and that's the judgement of their peers! I like to set up class and team competitions that require participation from everyone to win. This gets students who care to "encourage" students who don't to get involved. In my Romeo and Juliet unit, I get a lot of pushback from the very first mention of Shakespeare, so I like to kick off all that background information with a team scavenger hunt. To keep all teams motivated to the end, I also offer a prize for the overall fastest class completion time. This gets my apathetic students through a lot of information very efficiently, and it gives me a good hook for the unit.

• Incentives: Another great way to get students engaged in a learning game is through the use of incentives. The higher the stakes, the more likely they'll work hard to win. I find food to be the most motivating incentive, but if you don't allow eating in the classroom or if you don't have money for all those snacks, check out the Offering Incentives section of my "10 Ways to Gamify Your ELA Class" blog for some free and cheap ideas for prizes.

For Defiance

When we dreamed of teaching, we certainly didn't dream of students who would outright refuse to work or follow directions, and we definitely didn't think we would be seen as the opposition. For some students though, this is how they've decided to deal with authority. So what do you do? You give them control:

• Choice: At their core, a defiant student does not want to give up control. Doing that would make them appear weak. That means, as scary as it may sound, you need to give them a little bit of power, and you can do this through choice. Throughout the years, I have created and collected a variety of learning games as well as fun class activities that allow students to process and practice skills. This allows me to offer students choices in the activities we use for each unit. I also survey my students at the end of the semester to get feedback on what they liked, learned, etc. This helps me improve and tailor my lessons to their preferences.

• Differentiation: Sometimes defiance stems from low confidence in the skills being taught, which means students need extra support. Unfortunately, they would never accept obvious help from you, but you can pull it off with differentiated games. A game that has teams with different roles can provide a safe space for an insecure student. I also like to use games in which students can self-differentiate as they play. RIOT!, for example, is a card game that gets students reading the class text out loud in order to punish other players with cards (causing them to lose). Within a hand of cards, a student can choose the more challenging reading tasks, or they can play for easier tasks depending how they feel. However, as the game progresses and their confidence grows, I usually find even my most reluctant readers are willing to read entire pages just to win the game.

For Disrespect

Sometimes, it's not about a student's refusal to do something, but a student's nasty comment every time they are asked to. These students are rude to you and other students, and their disrespect for others creates a toxic culture in your classroom. You don't have to put up with this, but you do have to teach them appropriate ways to socialize and communicate. Don't worry, there are games for that too:

• Interactions: By facilitating more student interaction with your classroom games, you'll allow rude students to get to know different types of people and how they interact in positive ways. Additionally, simply being exposed to and learning about others can erase prejudices and foster new, positive relationships. Most teachers like to start the year with popular team builders and ice breakers, but I tend to sprinkle them throughout the year as well. This reminds snarky students that their classmates are interesting people deserving of their respect.

• Humanity: Speaking of respect, you deserve some of that too! A lot of teachers introduce themself with a background slide and maybe a few stories here and there, but they don't normally facilitate the same kinds of interactions with themselves as they do with their students. It's important that your students see you as human and safe, so get on their level. When you're playing those community building games, get involved as a player, so they can get to know you too. They'll love competing against you, and you'll love the relationships that will grow from your playfulness.

For Immaturity

Are your students more likely to make animal noises than inferences? Then you may be dealing with a maturity problem. Just because they act like simpletons doesn't mean they can't grasp complex concepts though. You just need to be willing to get a little crazy with your games:

• Humor: An immature student loves to be silly for attention. You can give them the chance to show off and be funny by adding a little humor to your games. This can be as simple as dropping a joke answer for them to notice in a multiple choice game. The key is to let them notice it and declare its existence to the class. If you point it out, it won't be funny. Sorry. One of my go-to funny games is Mad Vocab. It randomly pairs difficult vocabulary with random and silly words the students predetermine. This results in some hilarious sentences for the competition and a lot of laughter.

• Chaos: Many classes are very routine and structured. They also come with a lot of rules. For an immature student, this is torture. While they do need to learn this structure, it's also important to mix it up every now and then and allow them a little controlled chaos. This may mean more noise, more movement, and more silliness, but it can also mean more fun and engagement during learning. A game that can get a little chaotic in my classroom is Story Swap. Students write stories one sentence at a time, but they have to rotate through other people's stories and add to them as well. This allows for some hilarious and unpredictable storylines that students love to share.

Although it can't solve every behavior problem, gamification can make a big impact on your classroom management. Plus, it makes it a lot more fun! Hopefully, these tips will get you started, but if you need help or ideas along the way, leave a comment below.