Taylor County Elementary School

October 23, 2009(9:00-11:30 am)

Strategies for the Active Child

•KNOW … What the research says about

reducing behavior problems in the elementary school classroom.

•UNDERSTAND… ways to modify the

classroom learning environment to increase higher rates of student engagement.

•DO… lessons and activities that incorporate

brevity, variety and structure to help maximize student attention.

What does the Research Say?

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/pdf/practiceguides/behavior_pg_092308.pdf

Fundamentals to the report’s recommendations…

• Behavior is learned• Behavior has a function. • Challenging behavior is communication. It can be used

to– Request something– Escape demands, activity– Request help, information– Request social interaction– Make a comment

• We need to find out what need is being sought so…• Behavior can be shaped and managed in the classroom

so teaching and learning can be effective.

1. Identify the specifics of the problem behavior and the conditions that prompt and

reinforce it. Concretely describe the behavior problem and

its effect on learning. Observe and record the frequency and context

of the problem behavior. Identify what prompts and reinforces the

problem behavior.

www.interventioncentral.com

2. Modify the classroom learning environment to decrease problem

behavior.

Revisit, re-practice, and reinforce classroom behavior expectations.

Modify the classroom environment to encourage instructional momentum. (BREVITY)

Adapt or vary instructional strategies to increase opportunities for academic success and engagement. (VARIETY)

3. Teach and reinforce new skills to increase appropriate behavior and preserve a positive classroom climate. Identify where the student needs explicit

instruction for appropriate behavior. Teach skills by providing examples,

practice, and feedback. Manage consequences so that

reinforcers are provided for appropriate

behavior and withheld for inappropriate behavior.

4. Draw on relationships with professional colleagues and

students’ families for continued guidance and support.

Collaborate with other teachers for continued guidance and support. Build collaborative partnerships with school, district, and community behavior experts who can consult with teachers when problems are seriousenough to warrant help from outside classrooms. Encourage parents and other family members toparticipate as active partners in teaching and reinforcingappropriate behavior.

5. Assess whether schoolwide behavior problems warrant adopting schoolwide strategies or programs

Address schoolwide behavior issues by involving a school improvement team.

Collect information on the hot spots throughout the school, such as the frequency of particular schoolwide behavior problems and when and where they occur.

Monitor implementation and outcomes using an efficient method of data collection and allow ample time for the program to work.

If warranted, adopt a packaged intervention program that fits well with identified behavior problem(s) and the school context.

If a child doesn’t know how to read, we teach.

If a child doesn’t know how to swim, we teach.

If a child doesn’t know how to multiply, we teach.

If a child doesn’t know how to drive, we teach.

If a child doesn’t know how to behave, we…

Tom Herner (NASDE President) Counterpoint 1998, p.2

teach?.....punish…?

Why can’t we finish this sentence as easily as we did the others?

RESPONSE TO INSTRUCTION/INTERVENTION (RtI)Three-Tiered Model of School Supports & the Problem-solving Process

ACADEMIC SYSTEMS

Tier 3: Comprehensive & Intensive Students who

need individualized interventions.

Tier 2: Strategic Interventions Students

who need more support in addition to the core

curriculum.

Tier 1: Core Curriculum All students, including students who require

curricular enhancements for acceleration.

BEHAVIOR SYSTEMS

Tier 3: Intensive Interventions Students who need individualized

intervention.

Tier 2: Targeted Group Interventions Students

who need more support in addition to school-wide

positive behavior program.

Tier 1: Universal Interventions All students

in all settings.

Sort it out

• Open your envelope and see the name of your student.

• Think of characteristics that

this child may have.

• Now, write the characteristics

on post-it notes (one characteristic

per note).

ReFraming

Line UP!!!

My teachers were directive. Factual knowledge and specificskills were directly taught. The teacher worked, welistened.

My teachers were suggestive. Often times they would organize the information for us and ask leading questions. They gave us the information but made us think about how it was connected by

asking leading questions.

My teachers were collaborative. They asked open, exploratory questions. We had to gather and organize information and use a lot of

critical thinking.

My teachers were facilitative. Our learning was reflective, more open to our individual learning styles and how we wanted to learn it.

• Remember…”If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten…”

Movie Time…

What the Silenced Say

Jonathan Mooney

Key Facts• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

is one of the most commonly diagnosed mental health disorders in the U.S.

• The exact cause of ADHD is not known.• Students with ADHD frequently have other

academic and behavioral difficulties. • There is no single diagnostic tool for ADHD. • Many children and adolescents with ADHD

improve as they grow up. • Children and adolescents with ADHD are at

risk for school under-performance, social isolation, and low self-esteem.

Normal Development of Attention

Birth to 6 years old –see handout

Brevity, Variety, Structure and Legal Movement

Dr. Clare Jones & Ms. Marilyn Brown

Interactive Teaching Network (ITN) Teleconference 11/19/1996

Brevity Variety Structure

• Activities of short duration

Attention and concentration are greatest in short activities. Frequent brief drills or lessons covering chunks of information will result in greater learning.

Variety

Children with attention difficulties tend to perform more poorly on a subsequent presentation of the task because they are hindered by what research calls," flagging attention”.

They will have difficulty staying on task if they perceive an activity as repetitive or “boring”.

By presenting the material in a slightly different way or with different applications, you can maximize students’ attention.

How can more variety be added in your lesson presentations?

Diverse activities with novelty; can be even a light change

Effective Discipline

The anchors of an effective discipline program that moves students to self-governance are Choice & Structure.– The program must emphasize that the

individual always has the choice – to follow or not follow the behaviors. With each choice comes a consequence – either desirable or undesirable.

– Structure consists of clearly outlined expected behaviors and consequences of not choosing those behaviors.

Structure• Routine, Organized format

A consistent routine, highlighted by a highly organized format of activities will provide a focused environment for distracted children.

Structure• Specific daily schedules that include well

planned experiences with smooth, well-defined transitions from one task to another are optimal for these children. Rules, expectations, and consequences should be clearly stated and specific.

We Are Trained Professionals!

• A Bug’s Life

Legal Movement• Finding ways and times to get the student

“legitimately ” moving within the boundaries of the classroom and beyond.

(If the student's 'fidgety' behaviors are relatively minor and do not seriously derail classroom instruction, the teacher should simply not pay attention to them.)

“Sum the Ranks”

• 10 groups of 4

• Look at the strategies you have and rank from favorite (4) to least favorite (1)

• You will appoint a speaker that will share your favorite strategy from your group.

• We now have 10 favorite strategies to implement next week!!!

http:www.kellybear.com/TeacherArticles/TeacherTip69.html

http:www.kellybear.com/TeacherArticles/TeacherTip69b.html

Reinforcing…Accentuate the Positive

Retrain your Brain

The emphasis is on…

“How can we change the system, setting, or structure to help Johnny stop talking out in class and learn to be academically and socially successful?” rather than on, “What can I do to Johnny to make him stop talking out in class?”

Randy Sprick…Safe and Civil Schools

Coping in the Classroom

As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a

tool for torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.

In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated

and a child humanized or de-humanized.

I’ve come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my

personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather.

Haim Ginott