Writing report card comments for students with challenging behaviour can be challenging. No pun intended. It’s important to remain non-judgemental, positive, and also truthful. There’s an art to craft strong report card comments, especially for these students. This blog post will share important tips and examples of report card comments that you can use.
The Age Old Sandwich Method
When writing report card comments for students with challenging behaviour, the classic “sandwich method” applies. That means you share positive remarks before and after the challenging behaviour that you share.
Those positives have to be genuine, though. I know that it can be difficult. Remember, every single student has strengths and it’s our job to see them. Here are some prompting questions if you’re struggling to see those strengths.
- Are they inquisitive?
- Do they have a bright smile?
- What are they enthusiastic about? Passionate about?
- Do you have anything in common?
- Are they helpful in the classroom?
- Do they have a great sense of humour?
- Are they loving?
- Are they a good friend?
- Do they show compassion?
- Do they participate in class?
- Are they artistic?
- A great leader?
Tips for Report Card Comments for Students
Have Conversations Ahead of Time
Be truthful and share those things that may be difficult to address. I strongly suggest having any difficult conversations with parents before the report cards go home. That way, it’s not the first time the parent(s) have heard about the challenging behaviours.
Be Non-Judgemental
While being truthful, make sure you remain non-judgemental. There’s a certain craft in writing these report card comments for students with challenging behaviour and having difficult conversations with students’ parents. There are different ways to say that a student struggles to keep their hands to themselves.
Instead of saying, “Amber is constantly hurting her peers,” try “Amber is learning to keep her hands to herself when she is frustrated, by taking a break.”
The Formula for Report Card Comments for Students with Challenging Behaviour
Report card comments for students = Student name + behaviour + frequency + the strategy
Frequency of Behaviour
A marker for the frequency of the behaviour such as often, at times, and occasionally are helpful for parents to understand how frequently the behaviour is happening. You’ll see these frequency markers in the comment examples below but they should be changed to reflect what matches your particular student.
Strategies
You’ll also find examples of strategies in the report card comments for students below. When challenging behaviours are brought to students’ parent’s attention, they often feel reassured when it’s shared what strategies are working or are being tested. That might sound like “Student name is working on…” or “Student name has shown progress when…”
Example:
Amber often becomes frustrated during writing assignments. She is most successful when she can take quick breaks at regular intervals. After focusing on her writing for ten minutes, she takes a quick three minute break, using a timer.
Another example:
At times, Amber will engage in different behaviours, like refusing to complete tasks or shutting down, to avoid tasks that she finds challenging. She is learning to seek help from a peer or adult with those tasks instead of avoiding them.
Examples of Report Card Comments for Students with Challenging Behaviour
Struggles to Follow Directions
Following directions is often challenging for Amber. She does best with step-by-step directions written on her assignment or the whiteboard.
Lacks Empathy
At times, Amber struggles to show empathy for others’ feelings. Developing empathy and understanding for others will support her in her friendships and is something she is practicing.
Struggles with Emotional Regulation
At times, Amber needs support with emotional regulation. She is most successful in regulating her emotions when she takes a break from a difficult task or situation to calm before returning to it.
Struggles with Transitions
Amber occasionally has difficulty with transitions within the school day or when there are changes of routine. Our class schedule helps support her with transitions and she’s learning to adapt when things change unexpectedly.
Difficulty Attending to Class Lessons
Occasionally, Amber has difficulty attending to class lessons. She benefits from sitting near the front of the class and using a fidget to keep her hands busy.
Loses Materials
Amber often needs support to keep track of her materials. Weekly reminders to clean out her desk and cubby, as well as storing extra materials away have supported her in better keeping track of her things.
Hurts Peers
Amber is working on keeping her hands to herself, especially at recess. At times, when she becomes excited or upset, she resorts to pushing or hitting. She is learning to identify her emotions and to take a break from a situation before she uses her hands.
Struggles with Friendships
Amber frequently has difficulty working through conflict with her friends, especially at recess. To support her with this, Amber greatly benefits from coaching and support from other adults to problem-solve during these situations.
Struggles to Finish Assignments
Amber often has difficulty completing assignments on time. To improve in this area, she keeps track of missing assignments on a personal list and works on those tasks when she has spare time throughout the day. Amber also benefits from sitting in a quiet space to improve her focus.
Refuses to Complete Tasks
Occasionally, Amber will refuse to complete classroom tasks. She is learning to seek help from a peer or an adult for tasks that she finds challenging instead of refusing to complete the task.
Struggles with Problem Solving
Amber is encouraged to attempt to solve problems independently, when possible. If she is not successful, she’s encouraged to ask her peers or adults for coaching with problem solving.
Needs to Improve their Quality of Work
Amber often needs reminders to try her best when completing assignments. She tends to complete tasks quickly which doesn’t yield her best result. Amber is encouraged to go over her work before she hands it in.
Struggles with Attendance
Amber has had some difficulty keeping up with class work due to frequent absences. I’m confident that with consistent attendance, she would see considerable improvement.
Is Often Off Task
Amber is often off task when working on assignments or projects. She benefits from a quiet space to work and frequent check-ins by an adult to ensure she’s making progress.
Disrupts the Class
Amber is enthusiastic to share her ideas. It’s wonderful to see her engaged but this can be disruptive to her peers. Amber is learning to raise her hand to share her ideas and when it is and isn’t an appropriate time to share.
Has Difficulty Working in Groups
Group and partner work can be challenging for Amber. She is working to create balance between participating within a group and giving space for others to share their ideas.
Copy & Paste Report Card Comments for Students
Want even more support with writing report card comments for students? Save some serious time writing your report card comments with these copy & paste comments. You’ll find general comments for core subjects (Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies) and tons of comments for students’ learning skills, behaviours, social skills, etc. There are also opening and closing sentences you can use.
That’s over 300 comments for you to choose from! Talk about a time saver!
All you need to do is swipe the comments you want to use by copying & pasting them, adding in your students’ names, and then proofreading to make any edits needed to best represent your students.
By the way, the report card comments for students are 100% editable so you can adjust them however you want. Grab the copy & paste report card comments here.
MORE REPORT CARD COMMENT HELP
Want support for writing those report card comments for teachers? Check out this post on Real-Life Examples of Report Card Comments for Teachers or 23 Positive Report Card Comments You Can Use. Through these posts, you’ll have access to report card comments for teachers that you can copy and paste.
