The Extraordinary Educators Podcast
Best practices, tips, and stories to help you be extraordinary in your classroom and beyond, featuring Curriculum Associates' Manager, Voice of the Customer, Hayley Browning.
The Extraordinary Educators Podcast
Behavioral Management: The Secret Curriculum with Dr. Anita Archer
Today we sit down with Dr. Anita Archer to unpack how clear, compassionate behavior systems transform a room from reactive to ready. The big shift isn’t about control; it’s about removing guesswork so students know what to do and teachers can teach.
To begin, Dr. Archer dives into why behavior management is important. From there, she breaks down how to mapping key activities into simple, teachable expectations. You’ll hear routines in action, the power of specific praise, and the art of pre-correction so success is more likely before the first direction is given.
If you're feeling overwhelmed tackling behavior management in your own classroom, Dr. Archer talks through a reset plan: pick a date, relaunch core routines, use “Looks Like / Sounds Like” charts, and keep expectations visible for a few days while habits take root. We wrap up with some memorable "Archerisms:" avoid the void for they will fill it; predictability predicts ability; if you expect it, pre-correct it; and teach with passion, manage with compassion.
When expectations are explicit, feedback is specific, and routines are predictable, students feel safe, respected, and ready to learn. If you’re aiming for fewer disruptions, stronger focus, and great instruction, listen to this episode today.
IES Practice Guides: ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/practiceguides
Read Dr. Anita Archer's blog: CurriculumAssociates.com/blog/effective-behavioral-management-in-the-classroom
Follow us on Twitter: @CurriculumAssoc
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Have feedback, questions, or want to be a guest? Email ExtraordinaryEducators@cainc.com to connect with us!
Curriculum Associates, an education technology company and the makers of iReady, presents the Extraordinary Educators Podcast. Join host Haley Browning to hear tips, best practices, and successes to improve your teaching and leadership and drive student growth and learning. We believe all educators are extraordinary and we are here to support you.
SPEAKER_01:Hi everyone, welcome to today's episode of the Extraordinary Educators Podcast. Today I am joined by the incredible Dr. Anita Archer. And Dr. Archer joins us today to talk through the effects of great behavioral management. We dive into the importance of behavioral management, the impact of having a good system in place, and she also provides some great recommendations that you can use in your own classroom and even your school hallways, your buses, things of that nature. And of course, we do wrap up with some great archerisms that you can use to guide you in your behavioral management journey in your own classes. So with that, we hope you enjoyed today's episode with Dr. Anita Archer. Hi, Dr. Archer. Welcome to today's episode of the Extraordinary Educators Podcast.
SPEAKER_02:Well, welcome to you, Haley. The sun has not actually come up yet in Portland, Oregon. We're doing this really early on a Friday morning because I'm off to go to a great niece's uh wedding. Um, but the content of looking at behavior management, I join you because it is so important.
SPEAKER_01:It truly is. And you wrote an incredible blog about it that we'll make sure to link in the show notes that dives into seven key actions for effective behavioral management. And so we're going to kind of jump off of that blog today, taking a little bit more of a deeper dive into overall behavioral management. So with that, Dr. Archer, I'm curious, why is behavioral management so important for teachers?
SPEAKER_02:Wow. And you've been a teacher, you know it. I've been a teacher teaching for 58 years, and I'm constantly uh working with principals and coaches and observing teachers and listening to their videos. Uh and so here's how we could look at this. First of all, behavior management. That tells us that it is behavior. Uh, and we have so much behavior in our classroom. But as a teacher, my sort of moral obligation, uh, my career obligation is to teach students. Uh, teach them reading, teach them math, teach them language arts, teach them science, teach them social studies, uh, and other teachers, teach them music, teach the PE. But in order for me to teach, I have to have students understand the behaviors necessary for all of the activities that we have. Uh, and so for me to do my job, which is teaching, I have to have taught behavior. But then we have students, and they're in an environment that they need to know the expectations. They need to know where do I put my things? What do I do when I enter the classroom? What do I do when I exit the classroom? What do I do in whole group instruction? What do I do in small group instruction? What do I do when I work with a peer? What do I do? And they have to know all of these expectations so that they can learn. And that is sort of the big message of behavior management is that it allows the teacher to teach and for students to learn all the information that opens the doors of opportunities to them. So, my goodness, it's important. Uh, and it's something that we need to really seriously look at as sort of the curriculum that all teachers have to teach. And it is behavior management.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it is kind of the backbone of your day-to-day, making sure that you have those expectations and and it's really being able to help support your students, giving them the opportunities to learn. And I love how you said allowing teachers to teach and allowing students to learn, that really it just hits home. So, with that, Dr. Archer, what must teachers understand about behavior management? Just to kind of level set before we really dive in.
SPEAKER_02:Well, first of all, it is proactive. Uh, it is very intentional acts of the teacher, very intentional planning of the teacher, uh, so that we would actually teach this as the uh sort of secret curriculum in our room. And so a teacher would sit down and say, uh, okay, these are the activities in my classroom. I need to very intentionally come up with the expectations for each so that I can convey them to my students, reinforce them when they do it, remind them when they need it. Uh, but it is all about intentionality. Uh, and so you sit down and you say, okay, this is how I want the students to enter the classroom. Let me just take that as an example. So if you look at the research on management, you're going to come across greet them at the door. Uh, and there's a whole series of behaviors that greet them at the door that we could teach to students. So one day I had the opportunity, and it was a great blessing to me, uh, to teach a class of kindergarten students right after uh lunch. Uh, and so I said to the teacher, could I introduce a new routine, which would be uh greet them at the door? And the teacher, so gracious as teachers are, said, Absolutely. And so the students finished lunch, they came and I had them line up outside of the door. And I told them uh that uh I was going to walk down the line and meet each one of them, uh, since I was gonna be new to the classroom. Uh and then I told them that when we go into the class, you are gonna go in silently, you're gonna put everything away, you're gonna sit down at your desk, uh, and you're gonna fold your hands ready to learn. And so then we reviewed it. We're gonna go into the class, put everything away, sit down at our desk, fold our hands, ready to learn. So then we opened the door, they went in, uh, and the teacher is just amazed. They sat down, uh, they put things away, they folded their hands. I came in. Ooh, excellent. Uh, your desk is cleared off, gave them feedback. Oh, excellent job. The whole group over here uh is all ready to learn. Eyes up here, let me begin. We're gonna learn vocabulary, and you'll get so smart. Uh, and the teacher said, Oh my goodness, it's a miracle. No, it is clear expectations with high res uh reinforcement and deep clarity. And they were just adorable kids, but they could learn and they learned the vocabulary words. So uh it is going back to your question, what uh would we want to do to make this proactive uh management system work that would create the environment where the teacher could teach and the students could learn? We would look at each activity we have, we would ask ourselves, what are the behavioral expectations? Uh, and then uh we would clearly, before the activities, and we would clearly communicate the behaviors we desire. Many times we have to model them and practice them. Uh, and we would do that for each thing. So entering the classroom, exiting the classroom, small group instruction, large group instruction, uh, working with your partner, independent work, all of those, plus many more, uh, we would have sat down, thought about, so we could be very proactive. It's the necessary but secret kind of of the curriculums that we teach.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I hadn't even thought about it, but truly it's the secret curriculum. That makes a lot of sense. And it it ends up with all of these, the ability to kind of think about it with every single activity. It kind of ends up as like a heartbeat, you know, of the classroom, making sure that it's consistent. You are setting those expectations, especially. I like how you mentioned you're setting them before the activity starts. And then with that, checking in, setting, giving feedback, celebrating, giving praise to those that are doing it correctly, meeting those expectations. And it's always kind of coming back to the secret curriculum. It's very powerful.
SPEAKER_02:And it's not just for teachers. So let me just tell you, Haley, a story that really pinpointed this. So uh I was asked by a friend uh who is a principal, uh, Anita, we are going to go uh to a farm. Uh, and the children have never been on a bus because they walked to school. Uh, would you come and be on the bus with them? And I said, Okay, Linda, I'll do that because you're a very dear friend, but you must allow me uh to teach them how to be on the bus. Okay. So I made a chart of uh what we would do on the bus. Uh, and uh that uh you would stay in your seat, that your whole body had to be in the bus. See, I'm anticipating what might happen. Uh, and you must be involved in one of the appropriate bus behaviors. You're in your seat, your whole body's in the bus, and then here are the bus behaviors you could engage in. One, you could talk to the person that's sitting with you at your seat. Uh, you could look out at the scenery uh and see what's around us. Uh, you could take a book out and read. Reading on the bus is always a good behavior. Or uh you could take a nap. Those are the bus behaviors that your whole body is in the bus, that you're in your seat and you're engaging in one of the bus behaviors. And we had this little chart and we had put it up in the front and went through it. Well, the bus driver said, Oh my gosh, teaching them the bus behaviors is such a good idea. I think we better do that. Uh, and so then he went to Kinkos and he made it a really good sign. Uh, and he made it for all the bus drivers for the beginning of the school year. He was actually head of the bus driver union. And uh I said, yeah, uh, it's all about teaching the expectations uh very clearly. And then you've got to get up and say, thank you. You were perfect on the bus today. You stayed in your seat, your body was in the bus. Uh, and you did some of those best behaviors that made it so I could drive safely and you got to school safely. Isn't that cool? I love that. It tells us the whole story about teaching behavior management.
SPEAKER_01:Truly. And it goes to show like it is not just in the classroom, it's outside of the classroom too, whether that be the bus, the hallway, coming back in from recess, re-entering after lunch. Like if you are strategic and specific about these expectations, it really is a tenfold return.
SPEAKER_02:And telling that story, I missed number two, which was uh that you would be in your seat and you'd use your quiet voice because it wasn't safe for the driver to drive with all the noise in it. So, anyway, yes. All right. What else would you like to know, Haley, about management?
SPEAKER_01:I'm curious. What is the impact? You're talking about all of these great strategies, great stories about behavioral management. What is the impact of having a solid behavioral management system in place?
SPEAKER_02:Well, it goes back to in the classroom, the teacher can teach and the students can learn. In the bus, the students can have a successful ride to the school, and the bus driver can drive safely. Uh, and everybody knows what the expectations are. It's not about control, it is about knowing the expectations, making it an environment that is safe for everyone and productive for everyone. And also, if I have taught very clear expectations, then I also have the opportunity to be very positive with my students. Excellent! Everybody is cleared off their desks and are ready to go. The bus driver. Excellent today. Uh, everybody stayed in their seats, they used their quiet voices, they used their bus behaviors, and I drove you safely here. What a great start to our day! And it's not a little thing about the bus drivers because they set the tone for so many children as they enter the school. So it gives me an opportunity to give feedback. Uh, in fact, one of the critical things uh with part of the feedback would be uh specific praise. Excellent! Everybody's looking at me, ready to go. Terrific job. Everybody has things put away, uh, and I see that you only have your whiteboards out. So uh it gives us a way to uh have positive praise, but also there is something else that I love to think about, and it is being able to actually pre-correct what we want. Now, if the kids know the expectations and you anticipate they're not going to follow it, you can pre-correct it. So outside the door, you've met the children, uh, you are greeting each one as they come in, uh, and you have said to them, when you get in, uh, this is the behaviors you want, so you can pre-correct. If we know the expectations, we can give positive feedback and use it as a pre-correction also.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's really powerful. And and I like how you had mentioned this opportunity for feedback, opportunity for specific praise. And in your blog, you said something that resonates with me and echoes a lot of what you just said. You said it's not about control, it's about creating an environment where every student has the support to succeed. And and that echoes a lot of what you just mentioned.
SPEAKER_02:But you know, okay, I'm going to a wedding, right? Uh, and it is a great niece, uh, a beloved great niece. And I know the expectations. I know when the service begins, uh, that I won't be talking anymore, uh, as the music comes on, that I will turn and watch the bride and all of the groomsmen and all. I mean, I know the expectations. And so it makes it feel better for me knowing them as well as for the environment is established. So this is all through our life, looking for what are the expectations that make it better for you, better for me, and better for the whole.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's really powerful. And it it truly does carry over outside of the classroom again, maybe even on the bus.
SPEAKER_02:Even on the bus.
SPEAKER_01:So, Dr. Archer, I'm curious. This may feel overwhelming, a little daunting to some teachers. What recommendations do you have for teachers that may be feeling overwhelmed by behavioral management?
SPEAKER_02:You know, everything that we do in life and everything that we do in the classroom and everything we do instructionally is better when it's very intentional. So I know that some teachers, maybe this time of the year or any time throughout the year, often feel overwhelmed in terms of behavior of students in the classroom that is making their instruction difficult and the learning of others in the classroom difficult. But there's no quick fix. If I had that teacher sitting right here, I would say, All right, so things aren't going like you wish. Uh what you need is a makeover. You need to stop and very, very intentionally, you need to sit down and write out what are the activities in your classroom. And for each of them, uh what are uh the expectations? Very, very intentional. Now, here's one way to do this that I find to be very useful.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Maybe you have done uh ones where you looked at this situation and you asked, what does it look like? What does it sound like? What does it look like? What does it sound like? Now, let's say we take the bus driver. If the bus driver had made a look like, sounds like chart, uh, what does it look like? You're in your seat, uh, that your whole body is, you know, whole body, that's because we have arms sticking out of the bus and so forth. Your whole body is in the bus, uh, and uh that uh you might be talking quietly, you might be reading a book, uh, you might be uh having uh a conversation with your uh mate. And what does it sound like? Very quiet. You see, I could have told the bus drivers how to do a looks like sounds like chart. Now just picture this. I maybe I'm a new teacher, and before the school year starts, and I sit down and think of all of the activities, what the expectations was, and did looks like sounds like charts. I'm telling you, this works. It works in uh the cafeteria. Looks like sounds like charts when you're lined up, looks like sounds like when you sit down. Uh and it makes it so visually one that the teacher could teach from, remind you of, uh, do pre-corrections with. Uh, very powerful. And then if I would working, and I've had this happen. I've had right in my office teachers who said, I'm just overwhelmed, I I just can't do it. Uh uh, what can I do? And I say, okay, calm. And we're gonna look at the activities. Uh, we're gonna make looks like sounds like charts. Uh, we're going to actually, for your classroom, we're going to make them slides that you could show up on the screen for each activity so that you're all prepared. And uh, we're even going to practice very clear, very consistent language around them, uh, so that you have the ability to have a very proactive action and then set a date. If it's best, of course, would be before the school year starts. And so that you're doing this as the activities occur, you're teaching the expectations. But then when you have to do a do-over, pick a date. Hi, kids, you're off on Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for this Thanksgiving vacation as you are too. But you know, as we come back, I want to tell you that we're gonna start anew. Uh, and I am so thankful that we have that opportunity to be thankful about school and make an environment that allows you to learn and me to teach, and for all of us to be safe. I'll see you after four days. I'll see you on that Monday, and we'll do it then. So pick pick a time and then do it as you introduce activities. Here's the expectations that we have, uh, and pop it up then for a few days. Let's review the expectation for small group, let's review the expectations for uh, but you do have to do a do-over because it's not simple. There's no tricks, it's intentional, it's very intentional. It's a curriculum that you have to teach. You have to explain it, model it, even give them practice on some things, uh, but it's doable and you just have to do it. You might even want a friend to come over and do it with you. Yeah. Make it a friendship activity.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's that's really powerful. And I like how you kind of you kept it positive in that example as you're talking about, you know, restarting after Thanksgiving. It wasn't just a, okay, we're gonna come back to this and try again. It was, I'm so thankful for you. I'm so thankful for this opportunity. And we, you're communicating to your students this expectation ahead of time. You also are letting them know the date. It's they're involved in the process. That seems really powerful to me. Um, and you're just kind of starting over with this positive attitude, bringing them in all together.
SPEAKER_02:So, and you could uh also, Haley, uh, it would be helpful. If I was doing it, I would say uh go online and find uh the IES, the Institute of Educational Sciences uh Practice Guide on Management, which is a review of the research. And it will talk about the expectations and about positive feedback, and it will be very useful for you to read before you sit down to make a plan. And uh you could even read it just to find some polishes in that curriculum management in your own classroom and get some additional hints. So the IES practice guide on behavior management, get that downloaded and know that will share the research of what makes a difference.
SPEAKER_01:That makes a lot of sense. And for our listeners, I'll make sure to link that in the show notes so you have it easily accessible as you may want to incorporate these in your your day-to-day. So with that, Anita, I had one more question, but I think you kind of already knocked it. I was going to ask, what are some quick hit behavior management strategies? But it sounds like that's not really a thing. We can't necessarily dive into this and make it happen today. Is that correct?
SPEAKER_02:Well, you know, I was kind of smiled, and I know you've been a teacher, and I know that you would know that there's no little tricks here.
SPEAKER_01:Truly.
SPEAKER_02:Intentional action done on a daily basis, uh, and intentional action by the students on a daily basis. But, you know, probably what people know me best for is over time I've sort of summarized good practice in what the uh my teachers used to call, my teachers I was training, archruisms. And so I said to myself, okay, what are the archruisms that they shouldn't forget? So if you'll indulge me, I will give this as our parting gift on management. Big ideas that we should never forget. And the first one is avoid the void, for they will fill it. Avoid the void for they will fill it. Now that reminds us that the best way to solve management problems in your classroom is to teach and have them be successful. Because if they are being taught and they are actively involved and they know the objective, and you're teaching it with clarity, uh, and you're giving them the practice that they need and they experience success, I will tell you academic success is one of the best ways to reduce management problems. Teach them out of it. Uh learn out of it so that there's nothing left to do but teach her to teach and the students to learn. Avoid the void, for they will fill it. Particularly good for new teachers. And predictability predicts ability. Now just think about that one. Okay, I it's kind of clever, but it's mostly a message. Predictability predicts ability. You want your students to act in a way that allows them to learn, to focus, to put their attention on critical content. Uh, and to do that, they have to have an environment that is predictable. In this case, here's the expectations. In this situation, here's the expectation. On the bus, here's the expectations. Uh, you've made the environment predictable. Children actually really benefit from an environment that's predictable. And one that I would say that all my students over time remember is if you expect it, pre-correct it. Okay, wherever you are, repeat that. If you expect it, pre-correct it. Almost all management problems we can predict is gonna happen. And so what we would do out of graciousness and good teaching would be to actually pre-correct it before it occurred. I'm standing at the door doing a greet uh them at the door. And I turn to the whole group and say, don't forget that when you enter the classroom, everything is put away, and on the screen is your do now activity, which we will do in silence, and then I'll come in and give you feedback. I've already introduced it, I've already taught, uh, greet them at the door, expectations, but they don't always remember it, so I pre-correct it. So much better than having to go negative. And the last one, I guess I'll just uh use my very favorite one that was given to me by a child. I always tell this story because there's things in your life that you never want to forget. So I was in Salinas, California, teaching fourth graders demonstration lessons in a project there. Uh, and I taught a lesson, and I went out to check out recess. And across the field, this boy came running, running, running towards me. Uh, and when he got there, I said, Did you have something you wanted to tell me? And he gave me the very best advice that anybody could give uh to a teacher, and that is teach with passion and manage with compassion. And teach with passion. I'm going to teach so that you're successful, that you are learning, that I'm using all of the science of learning, the science of instruction in my class. And manage with compassion. I'm gonna remember that you are a beautiful human being. And that I have the gift of teaching you. And I do not want to put you in a position uh where uh behavior could be an inappropriate behavior could be avoided by teaching you the expectations, praising you for the expectations, reminding you of the expectations. Uh so may all of you have the great gift of teaching with passion and managing with compassion. And we remember that behavior, management, is just another curriculum area that we have to teach, that we have to review, that we have to practice, and may it come to your classroom. What a gift to talk to you, Haley, about management.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you so much for joining me, Dr. Archer. That was incredible. And I feel like those archerisms are the perfect way to wrap us up. Um, so with that, again, thank you for your time and to all of our listeners. We'll make sure to link Dr. Archer's blog in the show notes. Thank you.
SPEAKER_02:Goodbye to all of you. Have a great rest of your school year.
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