Behavioral Interventions

Table of Contents

General

Rules and Procedures

Social Skills

Preferred Activity Time (PAT)

Cafeteria

School Bus

Proposal for School Bus and Cafeteria Intervention: Using Your Quiet Voice

Rules, Procedures, and Routines

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Introduction

Effective classroom teachers develop an organizational structure composed of a specific set of rules, procedures, and routines to manage their classrooms. These rules, procedures, and routines are taught to students at the beginning of the school year. They reduce teacher time with discipline problems, reduce teacher work load, and help build a secure, affirming envronment which maximizes student learning.

The following material identifies typical classroom rules, and specifies a variety of classroom procedures and routines developed to bring consistency and order to the environment.

Classroom Rules

  • Expected norms of general behavior.

  • Prevent or encourage certain behaviors.

  • Govern relationships with others, time, space, and materials.

  • Consistent across situations.

  • Do not change.

  • Are limited in number from five to eight.

  • E.g. "Show respect for others' property."

[General rules often translate into specfic procedures.]

Classroom Procedures

  • Ways of getting class activities done.

  • What you want students to do.

  • May change according tothe needs of the situation.

  • Makes tasks routine.

  • Achieve continunity, predictablility, and time savings.

  • No prescribed number.

Example: Procedure for getting students' attention

"Give Me Five!"

  • Eyes on speaker

  • Be quiet

  • Be still

  • Hands free

  • Listen

[Schloss, P. & Smith, M. (1998). Applied Behavior Analysis in the Classroom. Boston: Allyn & Bason.]

Example: Morning Procedure

Immediately upon entering the classroom:

  • Place all school materials on or in desk.

  • Place back-packs, jackets, etc. in cubbie/closet.

  • Place lunch money, permission slips or notes from home into teacher's "In Basket."

  • Pick up scratch paper; deposit homework into "Homework Basket."

  • Read assignment on blackboard.

  • Begin seat work on assignment.

  • Pass in seat work.

  • Listen attentively to "News and Announcements."

Social Skills Training

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Introduction

Students who lack adequate social skills are at a higher risk for academic underachievement, dropping out of school, lack of friends, and unsuccessful employment. The erosion of the family unit and other traditional social structures has forced schools to assume a larger role in the development of social skills in children in order to promote psychological health and school success.

What are social skills? They are "socially acceptable learned behaviors that enable a person to intercat in ways that elicit positive responses and assist in avoiding negative responses." (Cartledge & Milburn, 1986).

The material in this section identifies social skills needed by children to ensure their successful adaptation to the school environment. In addition, it includes a systematic approach to teaching social skills in a classroom setting.

Rationale

  • Child may not know the appropriate behavior.

  • Child may have the knowledge but lack the practice.

  • Emotional responses may inhibit performance of appropriate behavior.

Method:

  • Describe, explain, and discuss.

  • Model through demonstration.

  • Role play.

  • Give performance feedback and reinforcement.

[McGinnis, E. & Goldstein, A. (1984). Skillstreaming the Elementary School Child. Champaign, Il: Research Press Company.]

Steps in Teaching a Social Skill

I. Describe, Explain, Discuss

1. Introduce the context for the skill

(Statement: "There are times when we get upset and angry."; Question: "What makes a good listener?"; Read a relevant story [Turtle Story].)

2. Describe the components of the skill

a. Stop and think. (Verbalize what the student might be thinking.)

b. Take a deep breath and count to five.

c. Say the problem and how you feel.

d. Go inside your shell and calm down.

e. Wait until you feel calm, then come back out of your turtle shell.

II. Model the Skill

Demonstrate to the students the steps in executing the skill. Use a live vignette with the teacher modeling the steps in the skill. Make it realistic by struggling to execute some of the steps.

III. Role Playing

Help students learn how to perform the skill. Select two students to play the main roles.

1. Student describes a situation in which the skill might be helpful.

2. Student chooses a co-actor with whom he or she has a problem.

3. Relevant information about the event is presented.

4. Skill steps are reviewed. (Have a chart with the skill and the steps.)

5. Direct the main actor to "think out loud."

6. Designate responsibilities of observers.

7. Assist / coach main actor through the role play.

IV. Performance Feedback and Reinforcement

Be specific and concrete regarding how well the steps in the skill were followed. Solicit feedback from the co-actor, from observers, and finally the teacher. If feedback is too negative or off target, the leader may go first and model the appropriate way to give feedback. Provide reinforcement (e.g. praise/encouragement: "Nice job, Billy... You covered all the steps.")

Decision Making Model and Social Skills Training: Good Choices vs. Bad Choices

What are good choices?

  • Respectful: "Thank You!" "Please!" "Yes Ma'am!"

  • Responsible: keeping the rules, following the procedures.

  • Cooperative: being helpful to othersm lending a hand.

What are bad choices?

  • Disrespectful: "Shut up!" "You're a jerk!" Making fun of someone.

  • Irresponsible: jumping aheadin line, shouting out in class, throwing trash on the floor.

  • Uncooperative: taking two cookies when there is only one per person, refusing to help clean and straighten the classroom at the end of the day.

Emphasize the following points:

  • Each person is responsible for his or her own behavior.

  • Others don't make us do something.

  • Our behavior and actions are a matter of personal choice.

  • Each person has the freedom to make good choices or bad choices.

Identify some common situations where it would be very helpful to think about your choices:

  • Someone teases you in the lunchroom.
  • You are tempted to throw your trash under the table rather than walk to the trash can in the back of the room.
  • A teacher asks if you did something. (You did it!) Do you tell the truth or do you lie?

There are two steps we can take to help us with our choices and decisions: Stop and Think.

1. Stop

Before doing or acting in a situation, stop yourself from taking any immediate action. How can we do this? Count to five (5) and / or take two slow breaths. This will slow us down and give us time to use our minds. Now we are ready for step two.

2. Think

Let yourself think for a few seconds about:

  • the situation
  • the actions you are about to take
  • whether the actions are respectful, responsible, and cooperative
  • the consequences of these actions
  • whether there are other (better) actions available
These two Stop and Think steps will be very helpful as part of the conflict management series of skills:

I. Dealing with anger / self-control

II. Accepting consequences, correction, complaints

Example: Dealing with your angry feelings

  • Stop.
  • Take two deep breaths and count to five.
  • Think about the problem situation and how you feel.
  • Think about your choices (good choices vs. bad choices)
  • Good choice options:

1. Walk away.

2. Talk to someone about how you feel.

3. Ask somone for help in solving the problem.

4. Go into your turtle shell and wait until you are calm before coming out.

5. Talk to the other person in a calm way.

  • Act out your best choice.

Preferred Activity Time (PAT)

Student Responsibility Training through Preferred Activity Time

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Introduction

"The ultimate goal of discipline is to train young people to be responsible for their own actions" (Jones, 1987). The more this occurs, the more self-control will children possess and the more effective will they be in managing their own lives.

Responsibility Training is a strategy that will have as its outcomes (1) an orderly classroom environment, (2) cooperative students, (3) higher levels of academic achievement, and (4) increased student self-esteem.

The materials in this section are taken from Jones, F.H. (1987). Positive Classroom Discipline. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Developing responsible behavior:

  • Something for which to be responsible.

  • Control over consumption.

  • Living with consequences.

Preferred Activity Time (PAT): Time to engage in fun, action-oriented learning activities. It is:

  • Gifted by teacher each day / week.

  • Earned by students through positive behavior.

  • Wasted by students through negative behavior.

  • Consumed by students engaged in fun learning-related activities.

[Jones, F.H. (1987). Positive Classroom Discipline. New York: McGraw Hill.]