Below is Paul Dix's answer to a behaviour question asked by a TES reader. The response was published in the TES:
The Problem
I have very loud Year 1 class that are driving me mad. One boy, who has been mothered a lot, has tantrums where he ends up sobbing a lot and upsetting the rest of the class. Should I make him sit on a special cushion when he behaves like that?
The Expert View:
Be clear, tantrums are not going to work in your classroom. You are not going to play this game. To change the behaviour you need to remove the benefits of negative attention, directly address the tantrums and teach new behaviours that work for the child and the class.
The instantaneous move to a thinking spot with a cushion, chair, mat or carpet gives the attention-seeking child all the physical cues they need to realise that something has gone wrong.
Do not speak to the child about their behaviour while they are crying. Be prepared to repeat the same lines and walk away for a minute or two, ‘I will come and speak to you when you have stopped crying', ‘Crying doesn't get you what you want here'. Obviously, we are talking about persistent, deliberate crying and not crying due to genuine upset.
When the child has stopped crying (or at least the breaths in between lengthen sufficiently), confront behaviour. Run through the same script every time. Sustain your poker face, let the child know what they have done and which rule it contravenes. Practice a routine that is predictable, safe and easily repeatable. Most importantly the same smile at the end of the conversation and make sure he knows the behaviours you are looking out for. Simple, consistent, repetitive rituals targeted at specific behaviours will accelerate change.
Re-focus your reinforcement and reward around the tantrum behaviours and take every opportunity to tell him 'on' rather than 'off'. Mark the moment with the child with stickers, stamps and smiles. Tell home at the end of the day or send a note home with the child. Let everyone know that new behaviours are welcome and appreciated.
Deal with ‘he said, she said' triggers by refusing to discuss hearsay evidence in ‘learning time'. Tell the children that they can speak to you a lunchtime if they are still worried. You may find that the clamour at the door at break reduces to a trickle by lunch.
Encourage all adults to send exactly the same message with the same words. At first the child might try to amplify and elongate the sobbing to see if this will get them what they want. Expect and plan for this. Ride through the eye of the storm and the tantruming will slow and then stop. It might still work at home, it will never work in school.