Part 1
Ms. Rollison has a comprehensive behavior management plan in place. Why isn’t it working for all of her students?
Ms. Rollison fails to realize that today’s learning environment is extremely diverse and, therefore, the task of the teacher is to provide students with greater assistance. Because students have different levels of skills and background knowledge, a firmly established plan fails to foresee unpredicted situations, such as those that happened to her in the classroom.
How can Ms. Rollison determine what behaviors she should address and when she should address them?
In case Ms. Rollison notices any display of disruptive behavior, such as aggression, angriness, resistance to work, she should act at the early stages to prevent its further development. As per Tameka, greater assistance should be introduced to find the actual reasons for writing difficulties. It is also possible to introduce writing activities in combination with Tameka’s favorite ones.
List three reasons for students’ misbehavior even if there is a good classroom management plan in place
First, the teacher often fails to apply their management plans in practice, though the theoretical framework of the proposed intervention is consistent. Second, the teacher cannot define the actual reasons for disruptive behaviors because of a lack of experience. Third, gaps in lesson plans can lead to disorders in class, regardless of a well-designed management plan.
Discuss at least one benefit and one challenge of intervening early in the acting-out cycle to prevent problem behavior from escalating.
The benefit of an early intervention lies in the timely prevention of disruptive behaviors. However, the challenge of preventing the first phase of irrelevant conduct lies in the difficulty to notice the first sign of triggers and agitation.
Three triggers of disruptive behavior
The first trigger indicates Patrick’s inattention that can be displayed as shifting on the chair or looking around. The second sign can involve inattentive listening. The third one is preventing other students to learn.
You do have enough information to figure out what Tameka’s trigger is?
Because Tameka dislikes writing, any written assignment is followed by frustration and irritation.
Once either Patrick or Tameka enters the Agitation Phase, what would you recommend that Ms. Rollison do?
As soon as Ms. Rollison notices this stage, she should recognize the problem and offer instant help to those students. Directing students and helping them to accomplish the assignment step by step is the best way to cope with the stage.
What are the primary reasons that teachers are often reluctant to engage in debriefing during the Recovery Phase?
Teachers are reluctant because they think it is useful to intervene at this stage since previous interventions were inefficient. Despite this, teachers should still be patient and recognize the problems at all stages of disruptive behavior development.
Part 2
What aspects of these students’ behaviors do your think Ms. Rollison should focus on?
While managing Patrick’s behavior, Ms. Rollison should pay greater attention to the social and cultural background of the child to analyze the reasons for his misconduct. Therefore, she should be more attentive to the days when he is low mood.
Who can Ms. Rollison go to help?
Ms. Rollison should talk to Patrick’s parents to evaluate the atmosphere in the family and define which factors affect the students’ misbehavior. She should also explain to parents about the problems she has with their child.
What can Ms. Rollison do to encourage initial compliance to her requests?
Ms. Robinson can talk to Patrick individually and persuade him his parents are proud of him and his achievements and they are really upset when something is going wrong in school. She can also enumerate Patrick’s positive traits of character to emphasize his advantages over the others.
What techniques can Ms. Rollison use to manage disruptive and non-compliant behavior?
Ms. Rollison should choose passive tactics. In particular, she should agree with Patrick when says something like “I don’t want to talk to anyone” or “Your assignments are boring”. In response, she should agree “Yes, you are right. Sometimes they are. But I am sure that you are patient and hardworking enough to tackle this assignment”.
What is a special education teacher a good resource to help deal with student behavior problems?
At the primary stage, Ms. Rollison can address school counselors who can talk to Tameka and persuade her to do written assignments. Family members can also serve as support for the teacher. For instance, Tameka’s parents can ask her about her assignments in school and ask her to read the essay she wrote to give either positive or negative appraisal.
Explain how high-p requests work and why they increase the probability that a student will comply with a teacher request.
The high-probability request is composed of systematic steps of accomplishing the assignment (Elliott & Gresham, 1991). Usually, the majority of steps include the ones that the students will likely perform. The teacher should encourage a student during each step and recognize that this is, indeed, hard work.
Imagine you have a student in your class who acts out during independent math activities. Would you use high-p requests or choice-making with this student?
Using choice-making can allow Tameka to avoid frustration because she can do her work without the pressure of instructions. Approaching the assignment individually, Tameka, for instance, can present a concept map of a report rather than the report itself.
For what types of behaviors would you implement a DRL procedure? Give one example
I would implement DRL to eliminate problem behavior because encouragement and reinforcement can reduce the frequency of inappropriate behavior displays (Elliott & Gresham, 1991). For instance, I would encourage students who raise hands and participate actively in the discussion. I would also discourage students who are distracted by other things.
List a consideration for teachers who implement DRI
Teachers should first identify the behavior they want to eliminate because implementing DRI. Then, they should define the strategies for reinforcing positive behavior. Finally, they should find ways to discourage negative behaviors by introducing alternative assignments and engaging a student in a class discussion.
Mary Jo often spends time talking to her table group about topics not related to the instructional task. Design a DRO procedure to decrease non-instructional talk and increase instructional talk
- Identify the behavior: non-instructional talk;
- Brainstorm alternative behaviors that would distract students from being engaged in disruptive behaviors;
- Deliver appropriate consequences in case students still engages in negative behavior.
- Encourage a student when he/she provides the correct answers on the topic.
What aspects of your initial answers would you change?
A structural approach should be implemented to manage disruptive and non-compliant behaviors. Specifically, the use of high-probability requests, choice-making, and DRI can significantly simplify the procedures of conducting a lesson. For instance, students can be more rewarded and encouraged when they take an active part in discussing a topic or doing assignments that are challenging for them.
Reference
Elliott, S., & Gresham, F. M. (1991). Social skills intervention guide. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance.