Course Description

The Advanced Classroom Management course was developed as an alternative to traditional behavior modification approaches to changing student behavior. Although the course discusses and supports several behavior modification techniques, it goes beyond the boundaries of this approach. Mending Young Minds (MYM) teaches a social-cognitive approach to behavioral remediation compares and contrasts the two approaches, allowing students to gain a knowledge and understanding of each, but not refuting the use of either approach.

(MYM) incorporates the use of cognitive restructuring to aid in the modification of student’s behavior. The course teaches how to assist students in retaining their thinking so they may break old thought patterns that led to many aberrant behaviors. The modification of a student’s thought process allows them to view situations differently, process them differently, and then, be able to react to those situations in a more socially acceptable manner. 

This course also teaches how to motivate students to be their own agents of change. It gives teachers useable strategies on how to teach self-motivation skills to classroom students. When students learn these self-motivation techniques, they

begin altering behavior and responding to social situations and events more positively without parent or teacher intervention. 

Essentially this course teaches teachers how to train students to recognize, evaluate, and respond to difficult interpersonal, classroom, school, and social situations with limited outside intervention. When students learn how to retrain their negative thought process and become better problem solvers, it takes the pressure of remediation off the teacher and places it on the student where it belongs. When this process is taught and used correctly, it will significantly reduce the number of interpersonal conflicts a teacher needs to deal with during school days and free up more time for academic instruction.

Since this is an advanced classroom management course, it is strongly suggested that students taking this course have some type of formal course training in either behavior modification or classroom management. Classroom experience can be substituted for actual course training, but even experienced teachers should have some background training in classroom management of behavior modification.