Just as children can read your body language you can learn to read theirs. Learning this will help you to predict if they have a change in their behavior or they have just changed enough to get you off their backs. Kids are very good at bluffing and faking their behavior. One of the best ways to tell if a student is faking is to read his body language. When they are sitting in their desks check the position of their legs and feet. If their feet and legs are facing out to the side and from the waist up they are facing forward they are faking you. They want you to feel like it's over and they have complied. So the teacher will stop their discipline and follow through. This is called pseudo-compliance or faking compliance. There are four steps to this process:

Smiley face - they have a repentant look (don't let this fool you), Who, me?

Book posing - they open their books to see if that gets you off their backs

Pencil writing - they touch their pencil or pen to their paper, See I'm writing.

Pseudo scholarship - they begin to write long enough to make you believe
During all of these activities they keep looking up periodically to see if you are checking on them. Remember just enough activity to reach acceptable compliance. Teachers you need full compliance or the behavior will continue. After you have done your turn toward them you begin to walk toward them:

Say their names so to get their attention remember your voice must have no expression.

Review the position of their feet and legs to see if they have complied if not continue

Choose the instigator and start with this student

Stand very close to the instigator's desk, but done touch their desk or you'll get a verbal reaction from student you don't want this because this complicates the situation into arguing and back talk

Teacher gives visual clue by resting your hand on the desk and gives a non-verbal signal for student to turn chair under and sit facing forward

If the students gives you full compliance your finished

If not continue with another visual clue

No compliance (this is where it can get hairy) add a verbal clue, up to this point you have not said anything verbally

Request should be pleasant tone of voice no sneaky or high remember no emotions
This should help with most behavior problems, but there are always those hard-core problems that you need to deal with. This will eliminate most of your basic behavior problems. The hard-core behavior problems will need another article. Remember compliance no less or you'll pay for it later.

Happy teaching

Written by a veteran teacher of 32 years who hopes to give new teachers tried and true strategies that work. Come join me at http://www.squidoo.com/classroomanagement and look for the education fairy.