Purpose
This technique is a good “tool” to have when students are exhibiting certain inappropriate behaviors in a classroom and asking them to stop in front of the class has not worked.
Examples
Everyday certain students may exhibit behaviors that interfere in the performance, concentration or facilitation of learning for both the teacher and his/her peers. For instance, a student may continuously talk to another student, interfere with his/her work, disrupt lessons, call out, or bring the negative spotlight to him/herself in some manner. These negative, attention seeking behaviors will disrupt the flow of teaching and place you in a very difficult position.
What May Not Work
Many teachers will confront the student in front of the other students. This technique usually has very little success, especially with students who have more serious issues. This technique will actually offer the student more of a spotlight. Secondly, the student, who is already fragile, needs to save face in front of his peers so that there is a good chance he will talk back or become verbally resistant to your request.
Try This
The important issue here is to realize that a student who chooses this type of behavior pattern is actually very fragile and feels powerless. Confronting him/her in front of the audience provides him/her “power” that can prove to be a problem for both you and the student. You never want to allow yourself to be “caught” as you would be if you discipline this type of student in front of a crowd.
What we suggest is that you allow the class to enter the room and ask him/her to stay behind outside. Have the assistant cover the class while behind closed doors in the hallway you speak to the student. What you have now done is remove the audience and thereby removing a source of “power” for the student. The next thing is to set the boundary. Many teachers make the mistake by saying, “I want you to stop doing what you are doing…” If the child was able to stop it he would, but since we already know that he/she lacks internal controls saying it this way asks him to control his own behavior.
What you need to immediately establish is who is in charge. Therefore, you will need to say, “I can no longer allow you to i.e. interfere with John when he is working. I will no longer allow you to disrupt the class and my teaching. Then place the responsibility directly on the student by saying, “And if you choose to act inappropriately, I will take action to stop your behavior. Do you understand?”
If the student conforms to the boundary then you will need to reward him/her verbally or through some classroom experience so that you begin to shape his/her behavior. Remember reward tells a student what to do, punishment tells him what not to do.
Placing the responsibility for consequences on the part of the student by making him/her see that they are “Choosing to behave inappropriately” provides you with more power and control if they should continue his/her behavior.
Purpose
The purpose of this technique is to learn how to prevent and short circuit potential outbursts and inappropriate behavior.
Examples
- John, an 11-year-old student classified as a student with an emotional disturbance, strikes out at the boy sitting next to him without provocation.
- Mary, an 8-year-old girl with impulse control issues, quickly gets up out of her seat in the middle of a lesson and begins to walk around the room.
- Roberto, a 14-year-old boy with behavior issues, begins to yell out and make fun of another student in the class.
- Zach, a 6-year-old with emotional issues, gets frustrated and begins to destroy things on his desk.
Keep in mind that all of the above examples represent behaviors initiated by the students rather than reactive behaviors to someone else’s behavior.
In all of these cases, the teacher first becomes aware of a problem at the time of the explosive outburst. However, these children exhibited a prior pattern of discomfort, tension or symptoms prior to the behavior which was not observed by anyone. For instance, if I am traveling in a car at 60 miles an hour and someone says, “Did you see that?” my first reaction will be, “No, we were traveling too fast.” If we go 5 miles an hour, then I will see everything. Well, behavior often travels at 60 miles an hour, and as a result, we miss the signals given off by a student of a impending problem.
The symptoms exhibited prior to the emotional outburst are referred to as “emotional aura”. — For example, people with epilepsy will experience auras prior to the episodes which may allow them to pull over if they are driving, or take precautions not to hurt themselves when the episode occurs. While this aura may be a short period of time, it does provide an opportunity to do something that may prevent a more serious problem.
What May Not Work
What is often very frustrating for a teacher is disciplining the student for the same pattern of behavior with the student never seeming to incorporate the disciplines into self-control. While you may not be able to do anything on the first or second outburst ever observed, after that, you should have control over seeing what the trigger symptoms may be in order to step in before the outburst. What does not work is constantly disciplining the child after the behavior has occurred over and over and over. The child’s lack of ability to use internal controls is evident by the consistent pattern of inappropriate behavior. Therefore, the better use of energy may be in prevention rather than crisis management.
Try This
After a student has exhibited a certain behavior pattern, have your aide or assistant closely observe him/her, recording all behaviors which may show discomfort, tension, or agitation to see which behaviors occur prior to the outburst. If for some reason you do not have an aide or assistant, ask the school psychologist to come in and do a classroom observation to record the behaviors that precede the outburst (antecedent behaviors). Once these are recognized, you will have a prior indication of a potential problem. When you see these symptoms beginning (e.g., restlessness, daydreaming, head down on desk, scribbling etc.), take action immediately by either going over to the desk and using proximity teaching (see prior management tool on Proximity Teaching https://www.naset.org/2736.0.html ), or have your aide take him/her for a walk or errand. Short circuiting an inappropriate behavior and turning it into a positive experience will not only help you but offer the student a more positive outcome.
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