A behavior support plan is important for building positive behavior and getting rid of unwanted ones. It may include enhanced communication, developing positive relationships, and using critical interventions (Kaiser & Sklar, 2017). For example, the teacher observed three behaviors demonstrated by Jose. These behaviors include teasing and sarcasm, responding rudely to the teachers, and disturbing other students in class. These misconducts had to be replaced with the right ones to create a conducive environment for learning. However, it was important to understand the triggers before selecting the most appropriate intervention. Therefore, a behavior support plan was important in Jose’s case because it helped eliminate negative behaviors.
Behavior Support Plan
Schedule: The plan will be reviewed every three months to record the changes in the member’s behavior. The member will be monitored for three months, and the observed conduct will be recorded.
Who Included: the people to be included in the review are the caregivers, the member, parents or guardians, educators, and a licensed behavior health expert.
Staff Training: the staff to implement the plan will be equipped with appropriate skills and knowledge to achieve the anticipated outcome.
Diagnoses/Allergies: There is no record of any diagnosis or allergies reported to the school that would require attention.
History
Jose is a young boy in grade 3 who lives with his parents. However, the parents are always busy and travel more due to the nature of their jobs. Jose has received little attention from the parents because he is often left under the care of a house manager. Although the parents provide financial support, he lacks social and emotional support from them. Jose is an active student in both in and out-of-class activities. He likes playing and engaging in fun games such as football with others. In terms of physical appearance, Jose appears gloomy, especially when he fails to get the attention he seeks.
Description of Challenging or Dangerous “Target” Behaviors
There are two adverse behaviors that Jose demonstrates while in class or when interacting with classmates. One of the behaviors is making sarcastic and teasing comments to other students in class. This is a pervasive problem in schools, and it can be very hurtful for the people who are teased. Teasing and sarcasm can cause anxiety and low self-esteem, and if it happens often and continues for a long time, it can leave psychological scars that last longer than physical ones. The behavior can be grouped under provocative, disruptive, and offensive misconduct due to their impacts on other students. In this case, Jose attempts to seek attention from others, and the emotion that may be linked is irritability.
The second behavior shown by Jose is making rude comments when called upon or spoken to by the teacher. The problem caused by the behavior is confusion, fear, uncertainty, and shame. This is likely to cause confusion and destruct learning in class. The behavior can be classified as verbal aggression towards others because it involves using cruel and unkind remarks intended to cause pain and distress. For example, when Jose rudely responds to the teacher, the purpose is to cause havoc and seek attention. He believes by doing that; he will be able to get the attention of the teacher. Thus, the emotions associated with the behavior are irritability and being mad. The third behavior demonstrated by Jose is physical aggression toward other children.
Behaviors and Interventions from the Last Review Period
In the case of Jose, there was a behavior change when the educator applied the appropriate interventions. The teacher was supposed to instruct the class to ignore instances of Jose’s sarcastic, teasing, and rude comments. The students were expected not to laugh, smile, or acknowledge the comments in any manner when Jose reacted. The intervention was supposed to address the primary function of Jose’s behavior. To maximize the initiative’s success, the teacher was expected to check their social validity, implementation fidelity, and maintenance.
The recent target behaviors were making sarcastic and teasing comments to other students in class and rude comments when called upon or spoken to by the teacher. Based on this, Jose was becoming troublesome to their classmates and teachers. After the interventions, Jose’s overall behavior changes were witnessed. He started listening to other people without commenting and responded positively and respectfully. The changes include the class environment being unreceptive to the unwanted behavior and lack of attention. There was no record of medical and health changes reported. It was observed that the triggers were a new environment and a lack of social skills. In addition, he has low language skills, making it hard for him to express what he wants.
Situations/Circumstances When Behaviors are Likely to Occur
Prior to the behaviors, Jose becomes restless and disruptive to the class. He constantly engages in disorderly behavior by disturbing other students. The activity that may have prompted the behavior is being in a new environment and a lack of social skills. Jose becomes rude when he fails to get the right words to use in a conversation or class. When he becomes rude and teases, all the students laugh at the comments, disrupting the session. The first actor involved in the confrontation is the teacher, who is supposed to ensure that the students are in a conducive environment for learning. The other actor is Jose, a student in the institution who is expected to follow the school’s rules. The observable attributes of the confrontation are chaos caused by students laughing at Jose’s comments.
Jose has never been denied a chance to respond to questions asked during class. Everyone in class is usually encouraged to speak to allow the teacher to gauge their learning capabilities. Based on the observation, Jose may be reacting to the educator not seeing what he is doing, not being listened to, and being unable to communicate his feelings. The changes in Jose’s environment include new rules to guide class activities and creating a platform unconducive to unruly behavior. The negative stressors that Jose might have been experiencing prior to the behavior are anxiety and discomfort because he is unable to socialize with others in class effectively.
Behavioral Signs and Signals Prior to Exhibiting Target Behaviors
There are several signs indicating that the behavior will be eradicated soon. Jose becomes aggressive when other students are not laughing at his teasing and rude comments. He feels that people are ignoring what he is saying. The fact that he understands the change in the environment makes it easy for the behavior to be eliminated. Jose refuses to follow directions when the teacher overlooks his rude responses in class. This shows that he understands that the behavior is unwanted in class. It explains why Jose shifts to other behaviors, especially when the previous misconduct is ignored. Therefore, changing his behavior when the environment is unreceptive indicates that the unwanted behavior can be eliminated.
How Staff/Others Can Support and Encourage Appropriate Behavior
The job of the teacher in supporting and promoting good behavior is crucial. They need to pay greater attention to the issues of the students and show that they understand and care about them. When students are aware that their instructors understand their physical requirements and their pain, discomfort, and hunger, they are more likely to behave well and respect their instructors. If the educator makes an effort to meet these requirements, the student will understand that the educator cares about them and will be more likely to behave appropriately.
Spending time with a student in a one-on-one setting is the most effective method for developing a relationship with that kid. Students have a greater chance of experiencing feelings of isolation and of having their voices go unheard when they are in huge classrooms (Webster, 2018). When a student works one-on-one with a teacher, the teacher’s attention is completely focused on the student. Since they do not feel the need to put on a show for the other students in the classroom, they are more likely to speak openly and straightforwardly. As a result, this will strengthen the connection that exists between a teacher and their students.
Praise and reassurance can be used in various ways in the classroom to encourage students to adopt appropriate behaviors. The first method is when a pupil exhibits positive conduct. A teacher might, for instance, tell the class to applaud Jose for making a very insightful observation when responding to the question. The second way that praise can be used in the classroom is when a teacher wishes to demonstrate to a student that they are performing an activity in the appropriate manner. For example, the teacher may compliment Jose on his hard work and commend him for completing his assignments.
There is a wide variety of strategies that can be utilized by educators to generate positive responses successfully. The first approach is to repeat the question multiple times to verify that the students have grasped its meaning. If the students are unable to understand the inquiry, the instructor is likely to receive a negative reaction. The second method is called deconstruction, and it is advantageous for the instructor since it enables them to break down the questions into formats that the students can understand and reply.
The most preferred activities of Jose are playing football with friends and running around the field. He likes to undertake these activities in the evening after class. This usually takes place before they go home after learning. Jose loves the well-lit room where people are many because it provides the best platform to disturb others and get the attention of a good number of people. Thus, the teacher should always communicate the change of behavior to the parents and the social worker in the school. Positive reinforcement, such as gifts for good behavior, should be introduced to support the process.
How Staff Should Respond When Target Behaviors Occur
- The staff should maintain direct eye contact with the students. This will enable the learner to know that he is being watched.
- Teachers should approach the student because they have the mandate to make sure that the class is orderly and everyone follows the established rules.
- The teacher should approach the student gently to avoid attracting the attention of other students and causing confusion. For example, the educator can tell the student that what they are doing is wrong and they will be punished if it continues.
- The activities that work for Jose are other students laughing back at his comments and the teacher failing to recognize him in class.
- The behaviors to avoid include students laughing back when he rudely responds to the teacher and teases others.
Reflection
The Purpose of Behavior Management
Behavior management is an integral approach in class because it ensures a conducive environment to support learning. It can be about rewarding or punishing good behavior (Magliano, 2017). For example, Jose’s teacher is focused on helping to eliminate unwanted behavior, such as teasing and rude comments demonstrated by Jose in class. In addition, behavior management is about having plans to help children act in ways that will help them learn the most from school. For effective management of behavior, it is important to build positive learning relationships with children and help them want to learn on their own.
The purpose of behavior management is to determine which approach would be most effective in assisting the youngster with challenging behavior. Emotion coaching is connected with higher levels of adaptive behaviors, improved regulation of emotions, and lower levels of disruptive behaviors overall (Kaiser & Sklar, 2017). For instance, Jose’s teacher can control the behavior by showing the student that they understand the issues and finding solutions to some of the challenges experienced, such as discomfort. Therefore, to prevent inappropriate behavior before it begins, a teacher must act as a role model for appropriate behavior and encourage the child to communicate their feelings.
How The Student Will React to The Behavior Plan
Due to the fact that the proposal represents an untested strategy for the student, I anticipate a negative response. Because the behavior plan runs against Jose’s typical behavior, I believe he will resist complying with it straight away. On the other hand, I do not doubt that he will make gradual but steady progress and eventually agree to the idea. He requires the routines and regulations to have structure and be consistent with themselves. His social skills and his ability to communicate will significantly increase as a result of the routine activity that he will be undertaking and the method I will implement. Therefore, Jose will get used to the plan after undertaking a series of interventions.
An Alternative to Encourage Positive Behavior
Effective teaching methods that get students interested in academic success are an important part of any positive behavior support system. There is a strong link between how well students do socially, emotionally, and behaviorally and how well they are taught. It might seem counterintuitive to emphasize teaching more than traditional ways to run a classroom, like stoplights or behavior charts. However, positive behavior strategies like teaching good behavior, stepping in early, and making the classroom a good place to work best when combined with interesting academic instruction. By putting behavior supports into the lessons, teachers can strengthen the good behaviors and make it less likely that bad ones will happen. This makes it less likely that the teachers will need to use rewards or punishments to get people to behave well.
Summary
Having a conversation with Jose’s new teacher will be integral for his well-being and ensure that the behavior plan is followed to achieve the anticipated outcome. Prior to Jose moving to a different class, I will have a conversation with the teacher regarding his background information, including all of the documentation and observation that I did for him as well as the progression of Jose’s conduct. In addition, I will talk to his parents about Jose going to a different class, and I will have them sit down with the new teacher, and I will be there to support them. As a result, the conversation will make the new teacher feel comfortable knowing that they will continue assisting Jose with his developmental accomplishments.
Conclusion
A behavior support plan is an important instrument used to build desirable behaviors and eliminate undesirable ones in Jose. Enhanced communication, forming positive connections, and using appropriate interventions could all be part of it. For instance, the instructor was able to recognize the three different actions exhibited by Jose. These behaviors include being impolite to teachers and other students in the classroom, as well as engaging in disruptive behaviors such as taunting and sarcasm. To make the atmosphere more conducive to learning, it was necessary to find suitable replacements for these inappropriate behaviors. However, to choose the most effective course of action, it was necessary to first understand the precipitating factors.
References
Kaiser, B., & Sklar Rasminsky, J. (2017). Challenging behavior in young children: Understanding, preventing, and responding effectively (4th ed.). Pearson.
Magliano, J. (2017). Why a child’s social-emotional skills are so important. Web.
Webster, J. (2018). ABC: Antecedent, behavior, consequence. Web.