My Favorite Behavior Management Tool

My favorite behavior management tool is the easiest ever.  Ever found yourself humming commercials one day?  About 10 years ago I was humming the song from an Arid Extra Dry deodorant commercial ("get a little closer, don't be shy") when a fight broke out in my second grade class---it was over a pencil.  I'm not talking a little tiff....it was a full blown out punch-in-the-gut fight.  However, the student that was punched never got in a hit because I was able to pull them apart.  Because I was able to pull them apart, the administration did not consider it a fight and merely talking to the boy that threw the punch.

Despite being frustrated about the whole thing, I kept my calm manner and kept on humming, when all of the sudden it occurred to me--those boys needed to get a little closer!  So, I stood them up in the back of the room and made them hold hands and look at each other in the eyes.  Within 5 minutes, both were laughing at each other.  It is very difficult to hold some one's hands and look them in the eyes and stay mad.  So....that became a major part of my discipline plan.  Tattle tales?  Stopped  Stealing?  Stopped  Bullying?  Stopped.  

Above you see 2 of my wonderful friends holding hands at dismissal.  They are 2 of the 46 children that I had in my room waiting for buses to arrive.  The student in the red is cracking up because he has to hold hands with his 'enemy' until their bus is called. By the time their bus rolled up, they were friends again. This was a cure-all for a terrible afternoon at dismissal.  Try it and let me know how it goes!

Enjoy!