Taking a Proactive Approach

 A designed intervention will not be effective if teachers on the same teaching team are inconsistent in its implementation. The student in question will not be receiving the proper instruction or support which will allow the misbehavior to continue. To prevent further damage to the plan, it would be best if the teachers all meet to discuss the steps of the plan and how best they can each reinforce it. Perhaps one or both of the teachers feel that they do not have the correct tools to implement the steps correctly, so training would be required. The team designing the intervention plan needs to know all the steps and must be sure that everyone involved understands what is expected of them in order for the plan to be effective. Taking the time to check for understanding before rolling out the plan, would be a proactive step in the process. Lack of communication is often the cause of the inconsistency.

Parental involvement in the development and implementation of intervention plans for challenging students is incredibly important to maintain communication and consistency between school and home. If parents are given the opportunity to help design a plan for their child then they are more likely to commit to that plan at home. “When practitioners listen to parents and show genuine concern, parents and practitioners can begin to build a trusting relationship”(Park, Alber-Morgan, & Fleming, 2011, p. 22). With this relationship established and getting to know them and their unique family, the school learns what may or may not work for that child, which is necessary in designing an effective plan. The parents are now accountable to the whole team at school who are also committed to following the intervention plan. As we know, if a plan is followed with fidelity, it is more likely to be effective.

Collaboration between school, home, and community-based professionals is vital when discussing the plan or devising a plan for a student. As discussed before, communication and consistency are key to making a plan as effective as possible. Having a relationship of trust with every party involved with the student allows for the most information of all parts of the students’ life. With this knowledge, a team can create a plan to best fit the needs of that student. Any adults outside of the school may not know what the day to day life holds for the student within the school and vice versa. Having frequent meetings with all the professionals involved will keep the communication open, maintain correct and consistent practices and allow for conversations should a change be required. Keeping a proactive approach will more likely lead to positive results. 

References

Park, J., Alber-Morgan, S. R., & Fleming, C. (2011, Jan/Feb). Collaborating with parents to implement behavioral interventions for children with challenging behaviors. Teaching Exceptional Children, 43(3), 22-30. Retrieved from https://go.openathens.net/redirector/ace.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/846788053?accountid=31683

Assessing Factors That Influence Behaviors

 Incentives can be useful tools for reinforcing and encouraging appropriate behavior in class, if they are done correctly. What is a meaningful prize to one student may not be for another, so making sure to know the interests of your students is important to developing the most effective incentives plan for your class. In my classroom we have several types of rewards systems in place. After the first month or so, the honeymoon is over and that is when I introduce the incentives. After getting to know the class, with their likes and dislikes, I am able to tailor the rewards to fit what I know will drive their motivation. This is a discussion that we have as a whole class when reviewing the rules and expectations. They all understand what is expected and what they can individually earn if they meet those objectives.

It would be great if they stayed eager to please all year long, and for some of them, that is the case. However, many of them need those incentives as a reminder and motivation to display the appropriate behavior. The incentives, whether they are praise, stickers on their card, or something tangible like a prize, are plentiful at the beginning of the school year and taper off as the months pass. As they mature and learn to better use their social, emotional, and behavioral skills, I make the incentives a bit harder to reach as a reminder to them that they do not need to get a prize for every positive act. This also allows us to change up the incentives plans for the rest of the school year (Hamlett, 2018). Even when I have identified the most motivating incentive for a specific student, it may not always work. In this case, I believe that a consequence is the most appropriate route to take as the rules have already been set, incentives are desirable and available, but the student is still not meeting the behavior expectations. Just like the incentives, the consequence should be meaningful to each student, for example, missing a desired activity or losing time for free choice, chromebooks, etc. 

The peer group, even at this young age, is highly influential. When thought out carefully and used correctly, teachers can use peers as a positive role model for students who are not showing appropriate behaviors. When implementing a behavior plan and the peers are reinforcing inappropriate behaviors, I provide individual and group incentives for the peers who show positive behaviors. Some students may have a specific goal in their behavior plan about staying on task and having that peer group around can help them be successful in meeting their goals if they are motivated to do so. I give verbal praise for the peers who are encouraging the student to stay on task and allow the group as a whole to earn crystals in their jar for overall group behavior. When their jar is filled, the group can earn a tangible reward from the prize box. When the peers are encouraged and rewarded for their positive behavior, it prompts the student to engage in the same positive behaviors. This type of team building activity helps the students to “support each other, develop boundaries, and establish ground rules within their peer relationships” (Hamlett, 2018, p. 1). Providing these opportunities for peer engagement improves their self-confidence and practice of appropriate social skills. 

References

Hamlett, T. (2018). Module 4: Incentives, Peers, and the Educative Time-Out Process Part 1 Transcript: Incentives [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://www.ace.edu

Hamlett, T. (2018). Module 4: Incentives, Peers, and the Educative Time-Out Process Part 2 Transcript: Peer Support [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://www.ace.edu

Creating an Incentives Program

In order to have a successful incentives program, we need to have a few things in place:

·     Clear, defined expectations

·     Meaningful, student-driven incentives

·     Visuals of the expectations and incentives

·     Teachers/Aides on the same page

·     Consistent and frequent distribution of incentives

·     Parents help reinforce at school and home

“When involved in the design of the system, students are more likely to accept and work within it” (Hamlett, 2018). We know that students work best when they are motivated and have had some say in the process so something as simple as having meaningful incentives for the varying age and interest levels should be something that is high on the priority list when discussing and effective incentives program. All these in place as well as regular meetings for faculty and staff will help us stay on path with our behavior expectations. Our strategies need to be “grounded in defined goals with agreement about sources of data that will be used to monitor progress.” (Wahlstrom & York-Barr, 2019, p. 25). Our focus is to be proactive rather than reactive, consistent and positive, to have an effective incentives program.

References

Hamlett, T. [Course Lecturer]. (2018). Module 1: The Positive Behavioral Support Classroom Part 2 Transcript: The Positive Behavior Interventions and Support Classroom [Video file]. Retrieved from http://ace.edu

Wahlstrom, K. L., & York-Barr, J. (2019, August). Leadership: Support and Structure makes the difference for educators and students. Journal of Staff Development, 32(4), 22-32.

Developing Intervention Plans

There are many factors that can contribute to challenging behaviors in the learning environment including inappropriate expectations from the teacher, lack of responsiveness to the developmental needs of the students, and the learning environment arrangement. These challenging behaviors often indicate extensive issues outside of the classroom. Before teachers can introduce an intervention to solve the problem, they first need to discover the source of the behavior that is impacting the learning and/or the learning environment.

 A Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) is a method followed by the classroom teacher, student, and parents that will determine the underlying cause of the inappropriate behavior so that the intervention is directly related to the problem behavior. The main purpose of the FBA is “to ultimately eliminate a problem behavior and this can only be done by addressing what is causing it to occur” (Hamlett, 2018, p. 1)
. A behavior plan is only effective when it is developed carefully using the gathered data that is made for eliminating that specific behavior for that individual. All children have unique learning and behavior needs so their interventions must also reflect these distinct qualities. 

References

Hamlett, T. (2018). Module 5: Consistency in Classroom Management and Outcomes Evaluation: Part 1 Transcript: Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://ace.edu

Planning For Behavioral Interventions

 A couple of years into teaching, I had a student who had a lot of difficulty demonstrating the appropriate social, emotional and behavioral skills while interacting with his peers. He would often grab others and squeeze them a bit too tight. A few times he would become very frustrated because he was not able to express exactly what he wanted of his peer so he would lash out in a big outburst which often led to screaming and hitting. I often pulled him aside and spoke with him one on one and asked him if he could tell me what it was that he needed. We worked on giving ourselves a big squeeze to help keep our hands to ourselves. We also worked on closing our eyes, taking deep belly breaths in and out until we felt that we could let go of our squeeze. These calming techniques seemed to take the edge off for him but I knew that I needed to get to the root of the problem to prevent these outbursts from occurring. I wanted to help him to find a better way to meet his needs by replacing the misbehavior with more appropriate outlets (Cairone, 2016).

In order to prioritize my intervention, I knew I had to first keep a log of the when and how often this behavior was occurring in class what were the antecedents prompting that behavior. Once I saw that there was no real pattern to his misbehavior, I collaborated with my grade level team for advice and different perspectives since his behavior was also an issue on the playground. I was able to have their information of his actions when they were on recess duty which was added to the file of data I collected. I reached out to the parents a few times with little to no support. The parents admitted that they saw this same behavior at home but were not sure what to do about it. I decided to meet and shared all the data and information I gathered from the parents with my Student Success Team (SST) where it was decided that the counselor would come to observe him in class and out of class. Together, we worked on a Functional Based Assessment (FBA) to determine what our next steps should be. Since I had already compiled a lot of data, after her observations we concluded that the function of his behavior was positive seeking, primarily due to his need for tangible, sensory stimulation (Young & Martinez, 2016). She helped me to create a plan to include replacement behaviors and consequences for the misbehaviors. 

I believe the most important elements of a behavior intervention plan (BIP) are collaborating with the students and the parents about the plan and being consistent. Just as we do in our classrooms, the students are more engaged and more vested in something if they have had a hand in its production. When creating the BIP, having an open conversation with the parents and the students about the expectations of the class and school is a crucial first step to ensure that all parties are fully aware of what is intended with the plan. Creating the BIP together prior to the formal implementation allows for checking for understanding and alterations to be made, if necessary. Having everyone on the same page shows the student that home and school do communicate and are in partnership to make sure he/she is getting the correct support wherever they are. Consistency is a crucial element because a team is only as strong as its weakest link, and if one of the parties is not following the BIP, then the BIP will not be as effective.

References

Cairone, K. (2016). Helping teachers take the challenge out of behavior. Exchange, (229), 32-37.

Young, A., & Martinez, R. (2016). Teachers’ explanations for challenging behavior in the classroom: What do teachers know about functional behavior assessment? National Teacher Education Journal, 9(1), 39-46.

Reasons for the Behavior

“When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.”

The quote above by Alexander Den Heijer really spoke to me. Teachers often feel that negative behaviors from the student are directed at us which can cause us to react out of impulse and blame the student, which we know is not the best way to address the problem. Whether in a classroom, common area or at home, one knows that challenging behavior does not just happen out of nowhere for no reason. There are always reasons behind our behaviors, whether they are positive or negative. Managing a student’s challenging behavior can be difficult, but if we take the time to investigate the underlying factors influencing the behaviors, we gain a better understanding that we can use to create a positive plan intended for that specific need. One of the most important thing we can do as teachers is to create a warm and inviting environment that nurtures a positive student and teacher relationship. Being intentional with our teaching to model and facilitate the use of skills helps children to learn and use positive behaviors (Cairone, 2016)
.

References

Cairone, K. (2016). Helping teachers take the challenge out of behavior. Exchange, (229), 32-37.

Evaluating an RtI2 System

In this week we researched and reported our findings related to the problem solving process in a school and how that process is applied to understanding challenging student behavior. A problem solving process, such as Response to Instruction and Intervention (RtI²), should be in place at every school site as a means of determining a student’s lack of “response to instruction”. This can be students not mastering the skills, students having difficulty applying the knowledge they are taught, and/or some emotional or motivational circumstances impeding the learning process. 

The main goal of the RtI²​​​​ team should be to “maximize the academic and social, emotional, and behavioral learning, progress, and proficiencies of all students​​​​​​​”​​​​​​​ (Knoff, 2011, p.4). There is a process that must be followed within the classroom to determine if there is a need to progress from Tier 1 to Tier 2 and 3 interventions. Tier 1 within the classroom includes the classroom teacher providing differentiated instruction, working with colleagues/parents to collect student history, and based on previous findings, the teacher implements accommodations. 

References

Knoff, H. (2011). Integrating the school prevention, review, and intervention team (SPRINT) and response-to-instruction/intervention (RtI2) process: A model implementation guidebook for schools and districts. Little Rock, AR: Project ACHIEVE Incorporated.

Emphasizing Collaboration and Teamwork

There are many benefits of having a building-level problem-solving team with professionals from different disciplines. The first being that brainstorming with others provides more ideas and strategies than just one perspective; the whole ‘two heads are better than one’ mentality. Tying to that would be the benefit of teachers and colleagues working collaboratively toward a common goal. Often times at school sites, the grade levels are divided, each doing their own work and only coming together for the requisite staff meetings. Spanning the grade levels, and including professionals at our school sites that have other areas of expertise, would not only encourage the building of ideas but also strengthen the teamwork at the school. Finally, meeting on a regular or scheduled basis allows for the continued conversations and learning from one another and keeping on track with the shared goal. 

The types of behavioral and mental health professionals who are available to most school districts include the counselor, psychologist, paraprofessionals, and school nurse. At my school site our counselors are only here part time, two days a week and I believe our school psychologist is only at our campus on Fridays. If there is a student whose IEP requires that they have access to a counselor or psychologist on campus, I feel that this may not be enough time for them. It would be great if we had multiple mental health professionals on staff every day since we cannot pick and choose which day a student will and will not need assistance. Children should be able to grow and learn in the least restrictive environment and “school psychologists have the potential to help far more children thrive socially and emotionally” (Froiland, 2011, p. 41). If the school does not have the right behavioral or mental health intervention professionals available then they would and should have to reach to outside or private sources to provide the required services. 

It is important to use a data-based problem-solving approach because it helps to pinpoint exactly what the need is rather than blindly guessing and wasting valuable time on something that may not need attention. Communication with grade level teams, reviewing the collected data, and guidance from other professionals on campus can show that there were steps taken before automatically jumping to office or special education referrals. Multi tiered systems of support such as response to intervention (RTI) and positive behavior support systems (PBSS) are in place at school sites as preventative interventions that use data to determine the best solutions. (Ziomek-Daigle, Goodman-Scott, Cavin, & Donohue, 2016) Even though it may take more time to identify and develop needed interventions, it is better to have spent the time wisely to achieve the best results, than to have rushed into several different strategies that may not work.

References

Froiland, J. M. (2011). Response to Intervention as a Vehicle for Powerful Mental Health Interventions in the Schools. Contemporary School Psychology, 15, 35-42.

Ziomek-Daigle, J., Goodman-Scott, E., Cavin, J., & Donohue, P. (2016). Integrating a Multi-Tiered System of Supports With Comprehensive School Counseling Programs. The Professional Counselor, 6(3), 220-232. http://dx.doi.org/10.15241/jzd.6.3.220