The REAL Role of Boredom in Classroom Behavior Challenges

Boredom is often blamed for misbehavior in the classroom; students aren’t engaged in an activity, so they act out. However, a teacher cannot possibly keep 25 different children engaged 100% of the entire school day. If boredom was the true culprit of challenging behavior, all students would misbehave at some point during the day. But, as we know, this isn’t the case. In this post, we’re going to talk about the REAL role of boredom in classroom behavior challenges.

Does Boredom Cause Misbehavior?

When we seek to identify the function of behavior, we might notice that a student is “bored” leading up to the misbehavior. However, boredom isn’t at the root of the negative behavior. In reality, kids who exhibit challenging behavior in the classroom are lacking the self-regulation skills they need to be successful in school.

When a student doesn’t know what to do when they’re feeling bored, they are more likely to act out in the classroom. In short, boredom is a sign of self-regulation skill deficits that should be addressed.

What to Do When Parents Blame Student Boredom for Misbehavior

When meeting with parents about negative behavior in the classroom, you might hear the opinion that the student is acting out because they’re bored. When parents use this excuse, we need to be able to articulate the skills that a student needs to master to avoid causing trouble when they’re “bored.” 

Here are a few tips to help as you work to address boredom in the classroom:

1. Remember That Educational Goals Go Beyond Academics

It’s helpful to remember (and remind parents) that the goals of kindergarten go far beyond learning letters and numbers. Kindergarteners are learning how to be in school because they’ve never been in the elementary school environment before! They need instruction and practice in the qualities of a good student. They’ve never been a kindergarten student before, so they need to learn what that means!

2. Identify the Source of Boredom

The next step is to identify the source of boredom. What part of the school day is the most challenging for the student? You can use your own observations and behavior data, as well as parent feedback, to determine if there is a pattern in the student’s behavior. For example, does the student often act up after finishing their math work during independent work time?

In addition to finishing a task early, sometimes kids are “bored” because they don’t like the activity or topic. This is a really important life skill to learn, since students will often be expected to complete non-preferred tasks. Even as adults, we have to do things we don’t like to do! Filling a child’s day with only preferred activities will not prepare them for the real world. However, identifying their least-preferred activities can help you add extra support for the student during this time.

3. Work on Applicable Self-Regulation Skills

Once you’ve identified the pattern and (what appears to be) the source of boredom, it’s time to work on the self-regulation skills lacking in the situation. In the example of our student who gets bored after finishing their math work quickly, they don't have the self-regulation skills to wait patiently by choosing another task.

Knowing what to do when you’re board is an important life skill. In today’s society, where people immediately pull out a phone or tablet when they have a few extra minutes, it’s more important than ever for students to identify appropriate activities to fill their time as they wait. However, this isn’t something they should be expected to figure out for themselves, which leads to the next tip.

4. Provide Opportunities for Guided Practice

Give students plenty of opportunities to practice what to do when they’re “bored” in the classroom. Be prepared to give students options for tasks they can do when they finish an activity early. These could include options like writing a story, reading a book, drawing a picture, or choosing an activity from an early finisher bin. 

When students have a variety of options to choose from, it gives them a chance to flex those self-regulation muscles. Instead of following a prescribed order of events all day or waiting for you to tell them what to do next, they are able to practice making choices about how to spend their extra time. This can go a long way in helping students make better choices when they’re bored in the classroom.

5. Reinforce Positive Behavior

As with any skill that we’re trying to teach, it’s important to provide positive reinforcement when students meet the expectation. During independent work time, you can praise students who are spending their extra time wisely and how they’re demonstrating the target behavior.

For some students, a source of “boredom” is when they don’t feel like they’re interacting with or getting attention from an adult or their peers.  When we motivate positive behavior, students learn that positive and expected choices will earn positive praise and attention. They will be less likely to misbehave in order to get attention from the teacher and their peers.

Behavior Toolkit for Kindergarten

When it comes to reinforcing positive behavior in kindergarten, it’s helpful to have a wide variety of reward charts and other resources available. You never know which behavior management tool will click with a particular student or class. 

That’s why I’ve created the Kindergarten Behavior Blueprint. In addition to self-paced video lessons about behavior management in kindergarten, this course also includes access to an entire collection of classroom management tools. This behavior toolkit can help you reinforce positive behavior and address challenging behaviors in effective and developmentally appropriate ways.

If you’d like to take a closer look at everything included in this course, just click below to take a closer look at the Kindergarten Behavior Blueprint.

Save These Tips for Addressing Boredom in the Classroom

Be sure to save this post if you’d like to come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite Pinterest board of classroom management ideas. You’ll be able to quickly find these tips and resources the next time a parent blames boredom for misbehavior.