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Understand behavior. Respond with confidence.
Quick, practical lessons to help you understand what you’re seeing and choose more effective supports.
Understand Behavior
Core concepts for observing and making sense of what you see.
The ABCs of Behavior
When behavior feels confusing, start with what you can actually observe. ABC stands for Antecedent, Behavior, and Consequence. It is a simple way to organize what happened around an event.
Describe What You See
The way we describe behavior affects how well we can understand it.
What Is a Possible Function?
Behavior often makes more sense when we stop asking, “How do I stop this?” and start asking, “What might this behavior be accomplishing or communicating in this situation?”
Behavior Is Contextual
Behavior does not happen in a vacuum. What is happening around the student matters.
One Incident Isn’t a Pattern
A memorable incident can feel meaningful, but one event rarely gives us enough information to understand why behavior keeps happening.
Understanding Possible Functions & Influences
Explore common reasons behavior occurs.
Escape / Avoidance
Sometimes behavior is more likely when a student is trying to delay, reduce, change, or get away from something difficult or uncomfortable.
Attention / Interaction
Interaction with other people is important. Sometimes a behavior may be more likely when it reliably produces adult or peer interaction.
Access to Items or Activities
Behavior may sometimes occur when a preferred item, activity, turn, or privilege is unavailable or delayed.
Sensory / Environmental Influences
Noise, crowding, temperature, lighting, movement, textures, physical discomfort, fatigue, and other experiences can influence behavior.
When the Pattern Isn’t Clear
Sometimes the data do not point to one clear explanation. That is useful information too.
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Respond Effectively
Strategies for responding in the moment and teaching skills.
Replacement Skills
Reducing a behavior is not enough. A student needs another way to accomplish what they need.
Reinforcement Made Simple
Reinforcement is anything that makes a behavior more likely to happen again.
Am I Accidentally Reinforcing This?
Adults can accidentally strengthen behavior while trying to help.
Why “Just Ignore It” Isn’t a Strategy
“Ignore it” is often too simplistic to be useful.
What to Do After Behavior
What happens immediately after behavior can affect what happens next time.
Antecedent Strategies
One of the most effective times to support behavior is before a problem occurs.
Practical Classroom Tools
Actionable supports for everyday routines.
Make the First Step Easier
Sometimes the hardest part of a task is starting.
First–Then
First–Then language makes expectations and access more predictable.
Visual Supports
Spoken language disappears as soon as we say it. Visual information stays available.
Teaching Waiting
Waiting is a skill. Telling a student to “just wait” does not necessarily teach it.
Supporting Transitions
Transitions can be difficult when they involve stopping something preferred, starting something uncertain, or shifting quickly between expectations.
Processing Time
A student may need time to understand a direction and organize a response.
Teaching Help and Break Requests
If a student needs help, space, clarification, or a break, we want them to have an effective way to communicate it.
Looking for more resources?
Find practical tools, visual supports, and comprehensive guides to support behavior in your classroom.
More ResourcesDealing with a specific behavior?
Explore our behavior support guides for practical next steps in common classroom situations.
Explore Behavior Hub