When the Honeymoon Period is Over: Maintaining Consistency in Behavior Management

Have you ever felt like your school year starts strong but then everything seems to fall apart? The negative and disruptive behaviors are few and far between at the beginning of the year, but it doesn’t take long before you feel like you’re constantly redirecting and responding to behavior. In this post, I’m going to share how consistency in behavior management can help!

What is a Honeymoon Period?

In the school setting, teachers often refer to the honeymoon period at the beginning of the year. This is when students generally are on their best behavior! The novelty of the new classroom setting and the promise of a fresh start can go a long way in encouraging students to try their best. 

But, as we all know, the honeymoon phase doesn’t last forever. Many teachers grow frustrated by the increase in negative behavior and assume their students now feel comfortable enough to exhibit these behaviors.

It doesn’t have to be this way! I think there’s another explanation for this increase in challenging behavior once the school year is up and running.

Why the Honeymoon Period REALLY Ends

While it’s true that behaviors can increase as children become more comfortable with you, I think there’s another root cause: Lack of consistency due to unsustainable systems. 

Many teachers begin the new year with a fresh behavior management system to try. Unfortunately, the system often isn’t sustainable and it isn’t used consistently. This leads to an increase in negative behaviors and can feel like the honeymoon’s over.

There are several reasons why a behavior management system isn’t sustainable:

• Loss of Appeal – What might be fresh and exciting for students at the beginning of the year can quickly become stale and unmotivating.

• Complicated – Many behavior management systems are unnecessarily complicated. Not only does this impact student buy-in, but it also impacts a teacher’s ability to follow through with the behavior management system. As the school year progresses, the days become more packed with things to take care of. The behavior management system needs to be straightforward and simple in order to be sustainable.

• Delayed Gratification – Another reason why behavior management systems become inconsistent is because the reward is pushed too far into the future. When students feel like the reward is unattainable, they will be less motivated by it and this will be reflected in their behavior. That lack of excitement and increase in negative behavior can definitely impact a teacher’s consistency in continuing with the behavior management system.

How to Maintain Consistency in Behavior Management

With those hurdles to consistency in mind, here are some ways that you can make that honeymoon period last longer than just the first couple months of the school year.

1. Have Fewer Rules to Enforce

One of the best things you can do to help your students continue to meet classroom expectations is to have fewer rules to enforce. It’s not feasible for young students to remember a list of ten behavior expectations all year long. It’s also more difficult for you to enforce your rules consistently when you have too many!

I have always found the ideal number to be between three and five. In fact, I’ve written an entire blog post on this topic if you want more tips for establishing classroom rules in kindergarten.

2. Use Visuals

Visuals are such a powerful tool for reminding students of behavior expectations. They also help to keep your behavior expectations at the top of mind so you can enforce them consistently. This could be a bulletin board display of your classroom rules, visual schedules, or whole group reward charts. All of these visuals can help you be more consistent in encouraging positive behavior and helping your classroom run more smoothly.

3. Focus on One Specific Behavior at a Time

When those negative and disruptive behaviors start to show up in your daily routine, address them through a sustainable reward system. As I just mentioned, the visual nature of a whole-group reward chart can be a great way to be more consistent in managing classroom behavior. 

In order for the reward system to be sustainable, it’s important to focus on one specific behavior at a time. This makes the reward more attainable for students and it’s easier for you to reward your students consistently.

4. Display Progress Toward a Reward

My final tip for increasing consistency in behavior management is to display your students’ progress toward their reward. The Build-a-Reward charts are perfect for this! Students can see, at a glance, how close they are to earning their next reward. This keeps them motivated to keep working toward the reward with positive behavior choices! 

Plus, it’s a great reminder for you to be on the lookout for those positive choices. You always notice more of something when you’re looking for it! This small shift can go a long way when you feel like the honeymoon might be over. You’ll be able to see all of the great things that are still happening in your classroom.

Printable (and Sustainable) Whole-Class Rewards 

I have put together a bundle of printable whole-class rewards that are easy to use consistently all year long. The consistent format means that recognizing positive behavior choices will become a routine in your classroom. Plus, the wide variety of charts and rewards will keep it feeling fresh for you and your students all year long. This will help your class stay motivated to work toward each behavior goal and extend that honeymoon period!

If you’d like to take a closer look at everything included in this bundle, you can find it in the Teaching Exceptional Kinders shop and in my TPT store.

More Tips for Increasing Consistency in Behavior Management

We discuss even more strategies for consistent behavior management in the Kindergarten Behavior Blueprint course. This self-paced course is designed to help you set up a behavior management system that you can stick with all year! 

You can also check out this video with more tips to help you be more consistent with behavior management in your classroom.

Save These Tips for Behavior Management Consistency

Be sure to save this post if you’d like to come back to it later! You’ll be able to quickly find these tips and resources when you feel like the honeymoon period in your classroom is coming to an end.