So I have fallen in love with applied behavior analysis. It is exciting to collect behavior data and discuss behavior through the lens of DATA! Gone are the days of "well um bobby is throwing chairs in the class room um like about twice a day I think" and hello to "based on the data we have collected bobby throws chairs and average of 4 times per day, his higher rates happen on Monday with an average of 6 instances..." How amazing will the behavior plans be with all of this data.
Stay tuned for the picture of my beautiful excel data tracker. If you are interested in ABA check out the online (yes I said online for all you working mommies out there who don't know how they could ever go back to school with the endless list of responsibilities) Masters in applied behavior analysis at Arizona State University. It is awesome!
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Growing a Reflective Child Series: Grieving
My experience with being a behavior teacher this year has shown me that children experience grief, and they experience it even when a person has not died. Children experience grief when someone one 'leaves' them. They grieve when their parents get a divorce and one parent moves away. Children grieve if a sibling, or parent goes to prison. Children grieve if a close friend or cousin move very far away. The point I a making is children grieve and their grief does not have to be associated with death. And because they grieve they go through the five Step grieving process which is:
Many children get caught somewhere in steps 2 or 4. That results is a child that is labeled "difficult to deal with" it can also be the cause of explosions (and of course they happen right in the middle of literacy class). This child may be having a hard time reaching step 5. That's where we, the caring adults in their lives, come in. This takes planning, and in some cases professional support. Here is a snap shot of my 3 week grieving lesson cycle (yes I teach students how to grieve... It's just as important as learning subtraction).
Week 1- Identifying grieving: Students will identify when others are experiencing grief and then be able to recognize it in themselves. They will be able to identify grief as being very sad because you miss someone that has moved far away or someone who has died.
Week 2- Identify each stage of grieving in an age appropriate way. Students will be able to recognize the stages in others and then in themselves through hands on activities.
Week 3- identify strategies that will help them accept what has happen and be happy in spite of what has happened. This week is often followed up with mini lessons through out the following weeks on participating in activities that will help them reach acceptance. Sometimes this includes a journaling time. or creating a video of something they would like to say to the person and then watching it themselves, poetry is also a great outlet for children to get to acceptance.
This must be done during times when the child is not melting down. Try morning meeting, closing circle, or have a special lunch bunch time. It is important to note that some children will need more than what you can give them and you will need to seek out professional support for them and someone who can give you more strategies to use with them.By teaching children how to grieve you are growing a reflective child and helping children develop a skill they need for life.
1. Denial- They will be back. They are only gone for a little while. It will back to the way it was before
2. Anger- Cue the throwing chairs and the pushing other students or violence towards siblings
3. Bargaining- If I am good then ____ will come back. (this stage does not last very long with most children)
4. Depression- Crying with no clear reason, unwillingness to play with others, difficulty sleeping
5. Acceptance- The place many children have a difficult time getting to.
Many children get caught somewhere in steps 2 or 4. That results is a child that is labeled "difficult to deal with" it can also be the cause of explosions (and of course they happen right in the middle of literacy class). This child may be having a hard time reaching step 5. That's where we, the caring adults in their lives, come in. This takes planning, and in some cases professional support. Here is a snap shot of my 3 week grieving lesson cycle (yes I teach students how to grieve... It's just as important as learning subtraction).
Week 1- Identifying grieving: Students will identify when others are experiencing grief and then be able to recognize it in themselves. They will be able to identify grief as being very sad because you miss someone that has moved far away or someone who has died.
Week 2- Identify each stage of grieving in an age appropriate way. Students will be able to recognize the stages in others and then in themselves through hands on activities.
Week 3- identify strategies that will help them accept what has happen and be happy in spite of what has happened. This week is often followed up with mini lessons through out the following weeks on participating in activities that will help them reach acceptance. Sometimes this includes a journaling time. or creating a video of something they would like to say to the person and then watching it themselves, poetry is also a great outlet for children to get to acceptance.
This must be done during times when the child is not melting down. Try morning meeting, closing circle, or have a special lunch bunch time. It is important to note that some children will need more than what you can give them and you will need to seek out professional support for them and someone who can give you more strategies to use with them.By teaching children how to grieve you are growing a reflective child and helping children develop a skill they need for life.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Growing a reflective child
As a teacher in a behavior support room I have seen my fair share of maladaptive behaviors. What I have noticed about each behavior is that the all were a method of communication. So often we speak to what the child is doing by saying, "that is unacceptable", " I am going to count to ___ and I need you to calm your body", "Do you want me to call your parents" and with these words we end up with one of two possible situations.
1. A child who learns that the way they are feeling is unacceptable so they suppress it until they explode again and the explosion is worse.
But what if we did things differently and instead of our goal being to build a submissive child, our goal be to grow a reflective child. Reflection is a learned skill and unfortunatley many adults don't have it which often cause volcanic behavioral erruptions well into adulthood. So how do we grow this reflective child:
1. Speak to the reason they are doing what they are doing, "I see you are crawling on the floor and I know that you have a strong emotion that you want to share, but crawling on the floor will not get you what you need..."
2. Give them reflection options in your classroom or at home:
a. Set up a reflection zone with a chair, journal, color pencils, markers
b. Put up reflection tickets where a child can set an appointment to reflect with you, or the school counselor.
3. Talk to them about expressing their feelings after they have calmed down, "I am so glad you shared, now I have a question for you did crawling around on the floor help you feel better or did getting your feelings out feel better.
4. Give them the consequence by seperating the emotion and the behavior: "Unfortunately you still have a consequence for crawling on the floor and knocking things over, you will need to clean up what you messed up. What could yo do next time to get your feelings out? Yes, you can go to the reflection corner and really get your feelings out or you can come to me and talk because I want to hear about whatever makes your heart sad."
The reflective child is not built over night, especially the longer the child has gone believing that what the feel doesn't matter. So let's be intentional about our speech and actions and also teach reflection when they are not using a maladaptive communication mechanism... More on how to including a reflection lesson in your daily classroom morning meeting, or at your evening family dinner coming next week, so stay tuned!
1. A child who learns that the way they are feeling is unacceptable so they suppress it until they explode again and the explosion is worse.
Or
2. A child who continues to perform the maladaptive behavior because they are not capable of suppressing it and they are more willing to release their feelings and accept the consequence But what if we did things differently and instead of our goal being to build a submissive child, our goal be to grow a reflective child. Reflection is a learned skill and unfortunatley many adults don't have it which often cause volcanic behavioral erruptions well into adulthood. So how do we grow this reflective child:
1. Speak to the reason they are doing what they are doing, "I see you are crawling on the floor and I know that you have a strong emotion that you want to share, but crawling on the floor will not get you what you need..."
2. Give them reflection options in your classroom or at home:
a. Set up a reflection zone with a chair, journal, color pencils, markers
b. Put up reflection tickets where a child can set an appointment to reflect with you, or the school counselor.
3. Talk to them about expressing their feelings after they have calmed down, "I am so glad you shared, now I have a question for you did crawling around on the floor help you feel better or did getting your feelings out feel better.
4. Give them the consequence by seperating the emotion and the behavior: "Unfortunately you still have a consequence for crawling on the floor and knocking things over, you will need to clean up what you messed up. What could yo do next time to get your feelings out? Yes, you can go to the reflection corner and really get your feelings out or you can come to me and talk because I want to hear about whatever makes your heart sad."
The reflective child is not built over night, especially the longer the child has gone believing that what the feel doesn't matter. So let's be intentional about our speech and actions and also teach reflection when they are not using a maladaptive communication mechanism... More on how to including a reflection lesson in your daily classroom morning meeting, or at your evening family dinner coming next week, so stay tuned!
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
I teach behavior!
In a conversation recently I was asked what do I teach. My answer was "I teach reading, math, writing, and behavior." The person I was talking to looked shocked. 'What do you mean you teach behavior?', was written all over her face. In public education we have focused a lot of attention on math, reading, writing, science, and social studies but one area we hear about in the news is the increasingly maladaptive behavior of many of our children served in public schools.
As a behavior support room teacher I have the opportunity to explictly teach behavior and what I am truly teaching is appropriate methods of communication. As many people know violent, aggressive, defiant behaviors are all means of communication. Think about it, when a person has engaged in a fight they are attempting to communicate that "I did not like something you did", however they feel they are unable to use their words to communicate that message. Or when a child runs away and attempts to hide it could mean that they are not feeling safe.
Behavior support is all about teaching appropriate communication. I have been learning so much and I am excited to share ways that people may be able to support their students, or their own child in the area of behavior by increasing their ability to communicate their messages in a safe, respectful, and independent manner.
Be sure to check out The Behavior Teacher every Friday for new tips, strategies and resources.
As a behavior support room teacher I have the opportunity to explictly teach behavior and what I am truly teaching is appropriate methods of communication. As many people know violent, aggressive, defiant behaviors are all means of communication. Think about it, when a person has engaged in a fight they are attempting to communicate that "I did not like something you did", however they feel they are unable to use their words to communicate that message. Or when a child runs away and attempts to hide it could mean that they are not feeling safe.
Behavior support is all about teaching appropriate communication. I have been learning so much and I am excited to share ways that people may be able to support their students, or their own child in the area of behavior by increasing their ability to communicate their messages in a safe, respectful, and independent manner.
Be sure to check out The Behavior Teacher every Friday for new tips, strategies and resources.
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