Describe an incident of working with a special child in your classroom. What advice/guidance did you receive from your teacher or another school professional?
When working with a child with major behavior issues I have just tried to keep the other members of the class safe and engaged while a possible incident is occurring. I enlist the help of other teachers at my grade level for support and assistance while I am dealing with the situation at hand. I have the support of the administration and can call them at any time. I have used behavior charts as motivators and a way to document incidents and issues. I am in constant communication with the family and have the support at home, we are working together as a team for a common goal. I work closely with the student and want him to feel empowered and in control, motivating him to conform and follow the rules and procedures in our classroom. Having the opportunity to earn special privileges within the classroom setting, computer time, sitting at the teachers desk, helping to put stickers on the spelling tests after I have graded them can be possible motivators. Staying positive and consistent is the key throughout this process, every day is a brand new opportunity.
In the current first grade classroom where I am student teaching, I have had the opportunity of working with several children who are on the autism spectrum. One boy, who is a new student at the school, is in the process of becoming fully included in our classroom with the help of his family, aids, teachers, and his peers, which would mean he would eventually work independently in the classroom without assistance. He is high functioning with strong verbal skills, has a particular affinity for math and science, and is motivated by interactions and activities with his classmates (i.e. group projects, sharing stories at circle time, dancing on the rug, etc.). Unfortunately, at his old school he had less of a support system, and “break-downs” would happen frequently. Small changes to the schedule or confusion about directions would cause him emotional distress, and ultimately disrupt his and his classmates’ learning.
Since starting my practicum, I’ve had the opportunity to sit in on behavioral plan meetings with my supervising practitioner and the student’s aids, so that I can understand and follow the strategies and steps necessary to help him become fully included. Most of these strategies and plans developed in these meetings and implemented in the classroom have involved simple accommodations, such as reading the daily schedule, outlining clear instructions before each task, and providing written instructions. Although these accommodations help all of the students, they set clear expectations and are particularly important for maintaining consistency with this student. One challenge for this student has been writing during writing workshop, so another accommodation has been offering additional trips to the school library after he has completed a task (he loves learning about animals!). He is also allowed to take water breaks when he is feeling fidgety or use modeling clay or play-dough with a timer to regain focus.
The teacher has also set high standards for how children interact and speak with one another, and continuously guides children in helping them problem solve using words. This has been especially important since this student is motivated by activities with his peers. I’ve seen him begin to develop and use some of this language to problem solve on his own, or with some assistance. During indoor recess recently, there was an incident over the use of one particular musical instrument. This student and a peer got into a argument over who’s turn it was next. Initially the student began to get distressed, and throw and knock several instruments over. Previously, this kind of incident would have escalated to a point where he would have needed to be removed from the classroom. With the help of the head teacher and his peer (who did not overreact), he was able to understand that grabbing a toy and not sharing was not kind or acceptable behavior. He was highly motivated by maintaining a positive relationship with the other student who he repeatedly refers to as his best friend.
Just in the past few months that he started at this school, he has been able to participate in morning meeting, math and science consistently, and has had several great days and weeks working independently or just with the help of his classroom teachers in writing workshop and work-board. Like Kate mentioned, even when there are minor or major setbacks positivity and consistency are the most important elements to help this boy succeed.
Reading both Kate and Casey’s comments reminds me of situations with students in my classroom. I am student teaching in an inclusive, co-taught, first grade classroom, and four of the students in our class are on the Autism Spectrum. When I first arrived to the class I was informed about one of these students, “Hannah” and was given specific guidance by the teachers and the district’s behaviorist on how to deal with her. After extensive data collection, the behaviorist found that much of Hannah’s misbehavior is attention-driven. For example, she becomes upset and breaks down if other students are receiving attention, and she will often misbehave in order to receive attention. Because of this I was told to ignore many of Hannah’s misbehaviors (i.e., whining and shouting out), and to give her excessive praise when she behaves positively. Since December she has been receiving ABA (applied behavior analysis) training for two thirty minute sessions a day, and working to earn a reward during each session. In the short time I have been in the class, I have seen significant improvements in her behavior, and I hope to see her continue on this path. I must admit though that when I first began working in this class, ignoring Hannah’s problem behaviors was difficult. Working as a classroom aide for two years prior, I had learned that promptly addressing misbehaviors, and implementing consistent consequences is what helps children to learn the rules. After working with Hannah longer though, I realized that my ignoring was the consequence, and this was what Hannah needed to learn appropriate behavior and social skills. Through this process with Hannah, I also realized that I need to begin thinking more about student’s motivations for acting a particular way, and not just about the student’s actions as they appear. This reinforces the idea that all children learn differently and have different needs. Moreover, these needs must be considered for both social and academic skills.
We have one female student in our class that lacks social cues. She tends to speak out and say inappropriate things. Today, she cut her nails with scissors while working on a science project. The teacher had her do a time out on the rug, and then she spoke calmly to her about why she was upset with the student's behavior. The teacher who I work with has a lot of patience, and she definitely has suggested being patient with her. When the student acts out, she always speaks to her in a calm manner and explains the appropriate behaviors. For example, if the student speaks out, the teacher will remind the class that they need to raise their hands if they want to share something or have a question. The teacher never raises her voice and always explains appropriate behaviors which helps students to understand what is expected of them in the classroom.
One of the students in my classroom is extremely challenging due to his defiant and disrespectful behavior. In a whole class setting, he is loud and disruptive; after getting to know him better, I noticed it is mostly attention-seeking behavior, wanting to get a rise out of his “audience”. I have had the opportunity to tutor this student on a one-on-one basis all year. During our time together, I have found that he is not only extremely intelligent, but also that he does contain a softer side. Knowing this about his inner character, I have found myself in particularly dedicated to change his seemingly unmanageable behavior. I have set up intricate, individualized behavior plans for him, I have held meetings with his parents, I have even had lengthy honest conversations with him, trying to understand his outbursts. A few months ago, during math class, I saw him playing with a stack of pens on his desk, folding up lined paper, and untangling paperclips (this type of blatant disregard is a behavior we had previously discussed working on). I walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder, he looked right up into my eyes and said, “Can I help you?” I cannot describe the anger that I felt at that moment. It was so rude, I felt so disrespected, almost embarrassed. The remainder of the day, as much as I tried to unfurl my eyebrows and put a smile on my face, I was furious! I know that you aren’t supposed to let a student who is aiming to get a reaction, see a reaction, but I could not help it. At the end of the day, the teacher I work with asked me what was wrong. I told her what happened, and she knew how much time and effort I had put into working with him specifically. It was then that she gave me some of the best advice that I have gotten regarding teaching difficult students in all of my experiences, “Don’t take it personally.” It was so simple, but it made so much sense, the student was rude and did deserve to be reprimanded, but I learned that his behavior was not because of me, it was not meant to hurt my feelings or anger me. Working in an inner city school with students who have experienced so much hardship throughout their short lives, it is sometimes easy to forget that at the end of the day they are just kids. I have learned to focus on my role in the classroom and my obligation to all of the students rather than taking each incident to heart.
I wonder which student it was. I can't guess from today's visit! It is also fine for you to use your eyes to indicate improper behavior. Sometimes that is the calmest thing to do. Now that you have Behavior Bucks, can you take away some for incidents like this?
In the pre-kindergarten classroom where I worked as an associate teacher for the first half of the year (before beginning my student teaching), there is a child (we'll call him "J") who is on the autism spectrum. One of the most helpful things about getting to know J was that his mother is a former teacher, so she was able to talk and share information with me and my teaching team in a way that was relevant, informative, and tailored to exactly what we would need to know in terms of helping J be successful in our classroom. I felt fortunate that J's family was so supportive of our school, classroom, and teaching techniques, because his mom knew what it was like to be on BOTH sides of helping a child with special needs (teacher and parent). She provided us with a great deal of information (assessments, special snacks, information about colors, numbers, routines) at the beginning of the year, but she also made it clear that she wanted to have open communication regarding J's school experience. It was helpful to work with a parent who was so open and upfront about her child's needs and abilities.
Throughout the first months of school, my teaching team and I tip-toed around J, unsure of when/where/how we could push him. Like the MIT article mentions, we weren't sure when J, often seemingly calm, could actually be on the verge of a breakdown. We definitely gave him some special treatment (like putting on his shoes for him, or not requiring him to line up with the rest of the class) in those first few months of school, and I think it was mostly because none of us felt totally confident or experienced in working with a child on the autism spectrum. However, by the time the fall conferences came around, we felt comfortable talking to J's parents about starting to push him outside his routines and comfort zone. His parents were totally on board and actually told us, "Push him! Please!" Once we were all on the same page, we began (for the most part) treating J like the other children in the class - we held him to the pretty much the same standards of behavior as the rest of the students. Though we experienced quite a few more meltdowns, we realized how quickly J was able to adapt. It may have taken two weeks and five outbursts, but we finally had J putting on his own shoes, lining up, etc.
It's easy to look back now and say that we likely could (and should) have treated J the same as the rest of the children from the get-go, but I think it required a bit of an adjustment period (for J, my teaching team, the class as a whole, and his parents) for everyone to feel comfortable and confident to make changes. However, this experience served as a good reminder to never underestimate my students, regardless of their needs and/or abilities. It also served as a great reminder about the importance of knowing each child in my class individually - including their parents, family, and background. I believe that part of the reason we've seen such growth and success with J is because his teachers and parents came together as a team, and routines at school were reinforced at home. Though this kind of partnership might not always be possible, it's a standard of teaching and learning to strive for in my classroom in the future.
Great experience. Sometimes it's impossible to get cooperation from parents, if the child lives with them! Thinking about each child as a unique individual takes a little of the stigma off very special kids.
While reading Understanding Autism by Anne Trafton I started thinking about a former student of mine who was diagnosed with Asperger’s. He was a very bright but very emotional boy who often misread social cues and had severe crying fits when this occurred. I always struggled with why he reacted so severely and why he assumed that people had the worst of intentions when speaking with him. Although I knew he was diagnosed with Asperger’s, he also had divorced parents and this often caused him emotional stress. At any rate, I often chalked up his emotional insecurities to the insecurities he felt with his family. While reading this article, I was able to better understand his reactions and why he saw things the way he did. The article referred to a study dealing with morality and the way people with Asperger’s view morality. To people with Asperger’s ignorance to ill will doesn’t play into whether or not someone has bad intentions. It made me realize that my student perceived ill will even when his peers had good intentions. If he perceived it as rude or mean, there was no way for his brain to process that that wasn’t intended by his peers. Had I realized that at the time I would have dealt with him differently and possibly written some social stories with those types of scenarios for him to read. Due to this student’s reactive nature, I often found it difficult to speak with him during his outbursts. Often they would occur in class and he was quite loud, making it hard for his peers not to stare. Often my goal was to just have him leave the classroom so he could begin the process of calming down. Although that would work sometimes, occasionally he would shut down completely and not listen to my requests to step outside. After speaking with another teacher, she suggested that when he was unable to listen to this direction that I should possibly write it down for him. This worked like a charm! He was able to process the information differently with fewer sensory distractions. We would continue out to the hallway where I would write more to him about what happened. Although it was time consuming, it helped him calm down and focus on reading. There was no eye contact or noise to set him off further and we were able to achieve the ultimate goal of getting him back to the classroom in a calm and productive way.
The idea of writing things down sounds very sensible! In older classes you could ask another student to do it for you, if he/she has the right personality! Have you ever used social stories?
In the fourth grade classroom I am working in the majority of the boys play this unspoken game of one-upping one another; whether it's distracting one another, getting the biggest reaction out of the class, or getting the teachers attention. So as you can imagine, it can be a bit of a domino effect once one of the students gets a reaction. This week, I actually had an incident with a student who is autistic, which I was quite surprised at how much of a battle it was because I'm so use to "battling" with the group of "one-uppers." It was during writing workshop where the students were given an open-response question after they had read a reading comp. Before the teacher left the room to work on something, she had reminded of the expectations and the consequence if he does not do his work. After a few minutes, I noticed the student was not writing and was instead playing with the things on his desk. I sat down with him to get him to write and he answered he didn't know what to write. I told him to read the question to me, but he kept refusing. He then kept saying he wanted to go home and that he couldn't do the work. However, he and I both know he is able to do his work and that he is just choosing not to. I gave the student two choices- he can either do the work now in class or it's extra homework and he has to write in his daily page. He refused to do both and went underneath his desk. At this point I didn't know what to do because he wouldn't budge. Since the lead teacher was right outside the classroom, I stepped out and updated her with what was going on. She suggested that I hand him the take a break card and if he doesn't go, I was to give him the "follow me to the buddy room" card. I did both and he still did not move from his seat. Again, I filled the lead teacher in and she came in to help. She again gave the student two options. After some time he made the choice to write in his daily page and the teacher left the room again. When I checked in with the student, he was not writing something that was appropriate. I reminded him of what is and is not appropriate and walked away. At the end of the day I asked the lead teacher if this student actually gets sent to the buddy room because of his IEP. She informed me that he does not, but it's good for him to know that the same consequences apply to him as the rest of the class. She reminded me that we, as teachers, just have to choose our battles. The lead teacher was and is super supportive with behavioral issues when I need advice/guidance. I've quickly learned this semester that the behavior management skills I had last year for the first graders I worked with, is not as effective with 4th graders.
Glad to see you are learning! At the very beginning of the incident, what if you said to the student please let me know when you are ready to write, or I will write it for you if you wish, to avoid the confrontation?
In the first grade class that I’m currently working in we have several challenging personalities. We have 19 children in our class, and of those 19, there are two boys and one girl who consistently call out, have very big reactions to very small things and often disrupt the flow of a lesson. It is no secret which children are the “challenges” in our room. None of these three children are diagnosed with any specific learning or developmental disorder, and none of them are on any kind of behavior plan. B meets with the school psychologist once a week and also receives OT once a week. The other two, L and J, meet with the school social worker once a week (separate of each other). We do not have many specific ways of dealing with their outbursts in our classroom. The lead teacher that I work with most often uses a loud, stern voice to try and correct the behavior. She will say “excuse me” to interrupt side conversations those children may be having, or will dismiss them from the meeting (rug) area if they are being too distracting. She has threatened that J should “leave the room” if he can’t stop talking because he “didn’t deserve to be there”. Granted, that was said after a long morning of trying to redirect the behavior, but that response did nothing to help the child want to change his behavior. It only made him sad and ashamed of how he was acting. When I am the one teaching and children are calling out or running around the room at unexpected times I will walk over to the child, or call them over to my desk, and ask them quietly to lower their voice and show “kavod” (respect) to their classmates and myself. If a child calls out during meeting, I will praise a child who is quietly raising their hand and call on them. If L, J, or B continue to call out, I will give them the option to return to their table seat if they need to “take a break”. If they choose to stay at the meeting, but call out again, I make the choice for them and ask them to take a break at their seat and rejoin the group when they are ready. I still acknowledge them and call on them from their seat if they are able to sit there and stay involved in the lesson. If they continue to call out from their seat, I may give them a reminder of what I expect, and then redirect my focus back to the children at the rug. Our method for handling this behavior in our class seems to just serve as a way to put out little fires as they come up. It does nothing to encourage better behavior in general or to reinforce the positive actions of L, J and B. I do make an effort to point out when they are dong the right thing but I think a behavior chart of some kind would be more beneficial.
I pull a small groups of students to the back of the room for blending and phonics skills. Sometimes I pull one student at a time. I have one student who I work with sometimes 2xs a day. She is very sweet and loves to chat. She tells me all sorts of stories about her at home life and some can be concerning. However my supervising teaching has told me many times that she makes up a lot of these stories. How am I supposed to decipher which stories are true and which are false?
There is one student in my first grade class that simply does not like school. He is a good reader but lacks confidence. I know he has a twin brother in the first grade next door that is a confident reader. I think he may believe that he is not a good reader because he is not at the same reading level as his brother. I have received advice on how to get this student interested in reading again. One suggestion was to find books about topics the student was interested in. Well this student really likes wwe wrestling. I have been looking for books on this topic and have found none. I really want this student to enjoy learning and coming to school. I spend one on one time with him after school and he enjoys being read to and reading to me but he get self conscious during class time. I think this might be because he gets teased by his siblings. What can I do to get this student confident, motivated , and excited about learning again?
oh gosh. That's sad. I wonder how he could build up some confidence by listening to a small group of readers or partner reading about something he is interested in, with some other children on his reading level, that way he doesn't feel like he has to competing with them or feel discouraged.
There were a few behavioral and learning incidents in my class this week. As I am not the lead teacher, the students sometimes test to see how much they can get away with, although they were being a little rowdy for the teacher too. As I was going over a math test review, I constantly had children talking, getting out of their seats, starring into space. I was able to coral them back by telling everyone to put all eyes on me so I know they are paying attention. In first grade, no one really wants to be the student that the whole class has to wait for. I also count backwards from 3 when I am in transitions. Its a great way to help students monitor how quickly they are moving, getting settled and being quiet. I eventually got their attention, but as it kept happening the teacher had to step in. She eventually started putting names on the board that would lose a few minutes from break time. After school she told me she was going to have to bring back out a "game" she plays with them. Every 20 min or so they are quiet and pay attention they "earn" five minutes of their break time at the end of the day. I love this idea. Its a way to have them EARN their break time than take it away.
When working with a child with major behavior issues I have just tried to keep the other members of the class safe and engaged while a possible incident is occurring. I enlist the help of other teachers at my grade level for support and assistance while I am dealing with the situation at hand. I have the support of the administration and can call them at any time. I have used behavior charts as motivators and a way to document incidents and issues. I am in constant communication with the family and have the support at home, we are working together as a team for a common goal. I work closely with the student and want him to feel empowered and in control, motivating him to conform and follow the rules and procedures in our classroom. Having the opportunity to earn special privileges within the classroom setting, computer time, sitting at the teachers desk, helping to put stickers on the spelling tests after I have graded them can be possible motivators. Staying positive and consistent is the key throughout this process, every day is a brand new opportunity.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have the situation well in hand. Do other students ever object to one student getting what might seem like special privileges?
DeleteIn the current first grade classroom where I am student teaching, I have had the opportunity of working with several children who are on the autism spectrum. One boy, who is a new student at the school, is in the process of becoming fully included in our classroom with the help of his family, aids, teachers, and his peers, which would mean he would eventually work independently in the classroom without assistance. He is high functioning with strong verbal skills, has a particular affinity for math and science, and is motivated by interactions and activities with his classmates (i.e. group projects, sharing stories at circle time, dancing on the rug, etc.). Unfortunately, at his old school he had less of a support system, and “break-downs” would happen frequently. Small changes to the schedule or confusion about directions would cause him emotional distress, and ultimately disrupt his and his classmates’ learning.
ReplyDeleteSince starting my practicum, I’ve had the opportunity to sit in on behavioral plan meetings with my supervising practitioner and the student’s aids, so that I can understand and follow the strategies and steps necessary to help him become fully included. Most of these strategies and plans developed in these meetings and implemented in the classroom have involved simple accommodations, such as reading the daily schedule, outlining clear instructions before each task, and providing written instructions. Although these accommodations help all of the students, they set clear expectations and are particularly important for maintaining consistency with this student. One challenge for this student has been writing during writing workshop, so another accommodation has been offering additional trips to the school library after he has completed a task (he loves learning about animals!). He is also allowed to take water breaks when he is feeling fidgety or use modeling clay or play-dough with a timer to regain focus.
The teacher has also set high standards for how children interact and speak with one another, and continuously guides children in helping them problem solve using words. This has been especially important since this student is motivated by activities with his peers. I’ve seen him begin to develop and use some of this language to problem solve on his own, or with some assistance. During indoor recess recently, there was an incident over the use of one particular musical instrument. This student and a peer got into a argument over who’s turn it was next. Initially the student began to get distressed, and throw and knock several instruments over. Previously, this kind of incident would have escalated to a point where he would have needed to be removed from the classroom. With the help of the head teacher and his peer (who did not overreact), he was able to understand that grabbing a toy and not sharing was not kind or acceptable behavior. He was highly motivated by maintaining a positive relationship with the other student who he repeatedly refers to as his best friend.
Just in the past few months that he started at this school, he has been able to participate in morning meeting, math and science consistently, and has had several great days and weeks working independently or just with the help of his classroom teachers in writing workshop and work-board. Like Kate mentioned, even when there are minor or major setbacks positivity and consistency are the most important elements to help this boy succeed.
Seems like you have a very good mentor! You might take notes on some of the teacher's strategies in case you need them later!
DeleteReading both Kate and Casey’s comments reminds me of situations with students in my classroom. I am student teaching in an inclusive, co-taught, first grade classroom, and four of the students in our class are on the Autism Spectrum. When I first arrived to the class I was informed about one of these students, “Hannah” and was given specific guidance by the teachers and the district’s behaviorist on how to deal with her. After extensive data collection, the behaviorist found that much of Hannah’s misbehavior is attention-driven. For example, she becomes upset and breaks down if other students are receiving attention, and she will often misbehave in order to receive attention. Because of this I was told to ignore many of Hannah’s misbehaviors (i.e., whining and shouting out), and to give her excessive praise when she behaves positively. Since December she has been receiving ABA (applied behavior analysis) training for two thirty minute sessions a day, and working to earn a reward during each session. In the short time I have been in the class, I have seen significant improvements in her behavior, and I hope to see her continue on this path.
ReplyDeleteI must admit though that when I first began working in this class, ignoring Hannah’s problem behaviors was difficult. Working as a classroom aide for two years prior, I had learned that promptly addressing misbehaviors, and implementing consistent consequences is what helps children to learn the rules. After working with Hannah longer though, I realized that my ignoring was the consequence, and this was what Hannah needed to learn appropriate behavior and social skills. Through this process with Hannah, I also realized that I need to begin thinking more about student’s motivations for acting a particular way, and not just about the student’s actions as they appear. This reinforces the idea that all children learn differently and have different needs. Moreover, these needs must be considered for both social and academic skills.
Sounds like this was a great teaching experience for you. Hope it continues to help you, especially when you have your own class!
DeleteWe have one female student in our class that lacks social cues. She tends to speak out and say inappropriate things. Today, she cut her nails with scissors while working on a science project. The teacher had her do a time out on the rug, and then she spoke calmly to her about why she was upset with the student's behavior. The teacher who I work with has a lot of patience, and she definitely has suggested being patient with her. When the student acts out, she always speaks to her in a calm manner and explains the appropriate behaviors. For example, if the student speaks out, the teacher will remind the class that they need to raise their hands if they want to share something or have a question. The teacher never raises her voice and always explains appropriate behaviors which helps students to understand what is expected of them in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteBrie
Great role model!
DeleteOne of the students in my classroom is extremely challenging due to his defiant and disrespectful behavior. In a whole class setting, he is loud and disruptive; after getting to know him better, I noticed it is mostly attention-seeking behavior, wanting to get a rise out of his “audience”. I have had the opportunity to tutor this student on a one-on-one basis all year. During our time together, I have found that he is not only extremely intelligent, but also that he does contain a softer side. Knowing this about his inner character, I have found myself in particularly dedicated to change his seemingly unmanageable behavior. I have set up intricate, individualized behavior plans for him, I have held meetings with his parents, I have even had lengthy honest conversations with him, trying to understand his outbursts. A few months ago, during math class, I saw him playing with a stack of pens on his desk, folding up lined paper, and untangling paperclips (this type of blatant disregard is a behavior we had previously discussed working on). I walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder, he looked right up into my eyes and said, “Can I help you?” I cannot describe the anger that I felt at that moment. It was so rude, I felt so disrespected, almost embarrassed. The remainder of the day, as much as I tried to unfurl my eyebrows and put a smile on my face, I was furious! I know that you aren’t supposed to let a student who is aiming to get a reaction, see a reaction, but I could not help it. At the end of the day, the teacher I work with asked me what was wrong. I told her what happened, and she knew how much time and effort I had put into working with him specifically. It was then that she gave me some of the best advice that I have gotten regarding teaching difficult students in all of my experiences, “Don’t take it personally.” It was so simple, but it made so much sense, the student was rude and did deserve to be reprimanded, but I learned that his behavior was not because of me, it was not meant to hurt my feelings or anger me. Working in an inner city school with students who have experienced so much hardship throughout their short lives, it is sometimes easy to forget that at the end of the day they are just kids. I have learned to focus on my role in the classroom and my obligation to all of the students rather than taking each incident to heart.
ReplyDeleteI wonder which student it was. I can't guess from today's visit! It is also fine for you to use your eyes to indicate improper behavior. Sometimes that is the calmest thing to do. Now that you have Behavior Bucks, can you take away some for incidents like this?
DeleteIn the pre-kindergarten classroom where I worked as an associate teacher for the first half of the year (before beginning my student teaching), there is a child (we'll call him "J") who is on the autism spectrum. One of the most helpful things about getting to know J was that his mother is a former teacher, so she was able to talk and share information with me and my teaching team in a way that was relevant, informative, and tailored to exactly what we would need to know in terms of helping J be successful in our classroom. I felt fortunate that J's family was so supportive of our school, classroom, and teaching techniques, because his mom knew what it was like to be on BOTH sides of helping a child with special needs (teacher and parent). She provided us with a great deal of information (assessments, special snacks, information about colors, numbers, routines) at the beginning of the year, but she also made it clear that she wanted to have open communication regarding J's school experience. It was helpful to work with a parent who was so open and upfront about her child's needs and abilities.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the first months of school, my teaching team and I tip-toed around J, unsure of when/where/how we could push him. Like the MIT article mentions, we weren't sure when J, often seemingly calm, could actually be on the verge of a breakdown. We definitely gave him some special treatment (like putting on his shoes for him, or not requiring him to line up with the rest of the class) in those first few months of school, and I think it was mostly because none of us felt totally confident or experienced in working with a child on the autism spectrum. However, by the time the fall conferences came around, we felt comfortable talking to J's parents about starting to push him outside his routines and comfort zone. His parents were totally on board and actually told us, "Push him! Please!" Once we were all on the same page, we began (for the most part) treating J like the other children in the class - we held him to the pretty much the same standards of behavior as the rest of the students. Though we experienced quite a few more meltdowns, we realized how quickly J was able to adapt. It may have taken two weeks and five outbursts, but we finally had J putting on his own shoes, lining up, etc.
It's easy to look back now and say that we likely could (and should) have treated J the same as the rest of the children from the get-go, but I think it required a bit of an adjustment period (for J, my teaching team, the class as a whole, and his parents) for everyone to feel comfortable and confident to make changes. However, this experience served as a good reminder to never underestimate my students, regardless of their needs and/or abilities. It also served as a great reminder about the importance of knowing each child in my class individually - including their parents, family, and background. I believe that part of the reason we've seen such growth and success with J is because his teachers and parents came together as a team, and routines at school were reinforced at home. Though this kind of partnership might not always be possible, it's a standard of teaching and learning to strive for in my classroom in the future.
Great experience. Sometimes it's impossible to get cooperation from parents, if the child lives with them! Thinking about each child as a unique individual takes a little of the stigma off very special kids.
DeleteWhile reading Understanding Autism by Anne Trafton I started thinking about a former student of mine who was diagnosed with Asperger’s. He was a very bright but very emotional boy who often misread social cues and had severe crying fits when this occurred. I always struggled with why he reacted so severely and why he assumed that people had the worst of intentions when speaking with him. Although I knew he was diagnosed with Asperger’s, he also had divorced parents and this often caused him emotional stress. At any rate, I often chalked up his emotional insecurities to the insecurities he felt with his family. While reading this article, I was able to better understand his reactions and why he saw things the way he did. The article referred to a study dealing with morality and the way people with Asperger’s view morality. To people with Asperger’s ignorance to ill will doesn’t play into whether or not someone has bad intentions. It made me realize that my student perceived ill will even when his peers had good intentions. If he perceived it as rude or mean, there was no way for his brain to process that that wasn’t intended by his peers. Had I realized that at the time I would have dealt with him differently and possibly written some social stories with those types of scenarios for him to read.
ReplyDeleteDue to this student’s reactive nature, I often found it difficult to speak with him during his outbursts. Often they would occur in class and he was quite loud, making it hard for his peers not to stare. Often my goal was to just have him leave the classroom so he could begin the process of calming down. Although that would work sometimes, occasionally he would shut down completely and not listen to my requests to step outside. After speaking with another teacher, she suggested that when he was unable to listen to this direction that I should possibly write it down for him. This worked like a charm! He was able to process the information differently with fewer sensory distractions. We would continue out to the hallway where I would write more to him about what happened. Although it was time consuming, it helped him calm down and focus on reading. There was no eye contact or noise to set him off further and we were able to achieve the ultimate goal of getting him back to the classroom in a calm and productive way.
Molly Urban
The idea of writing things down sounds very sensible! In older classes you could ask another student to do it for you, if he/she has the right personality! Have you ever used social stories?
DeleteIn the fourth grade classroom I am working in the majority of the boys play this unspoken game of one-upping one another; whether it's distracting one another, getting the biggest reaction out of the class, or getting the teachers attention. So as you can imagine, it can be a bit of a domino effect once one of the students gets a reaction.
ReplyDeleteThis week, I actually had an incident with a student who is autistic, which I was quite surprised at how much of a battle it was because I'm so use to "battling" with the group of "one-uppers." It was during writing workshop where the students were given an open-response question after they had read a reading comp. Before the teacher left the room to work on something, she had reminded of the expectations and the consequence if he does not do his work. After a few minutes, I noticed the student was not writing and was instead playing with the things on his desk. I sat down with him to get him to write and he answered he didn't know what to write. I told him to read the question to me, but he kept refusing. He then kept saying he wanted to go home and that he couldn't do the work. However, he and I both know he is able to do his work and that he is just choosing not to. I gave the student two choices- he can either do the work now in class or it's extra homework and he has to write in his daily page. He refused to do both and went underneath his desk. At this point I didn't know what to do because he wouldn't budge. Since the lead teacher was right outside the classroom, I stepped out and updated her with what was going on. She suggested that I hand him the take a break card and if he doesn't go, I was to give him the "follow me to the buddy room" card. I did both and he still did not move from his seat. Again, I filled the lead teacher in and she came in to help. She again gave the student two options. After some time he made the choice to write in his daily page and the teacher left the room again. When I checked in with the student, he was not writing something that was appropriate. I reminded him of what is and is not appropriate and walked away.
At the end of the day I asked the lead teacher if this student actually gets sent to the buddy room because of his IEP. She informed me that he does not, but it's good for him to know that the same consequences apply to him as the rest of the class. She reminded me that we, as teachers, just have to choose our battles. The lead teacher was and is super supportive with behavioral issues when I need advice/guidance. I've quickly learned this semester that the behavior management skills I had last year for the first graders I worked with, is not as effective with 4th graders.
Glad to see you are learning! At the very beginning of the incident, what if you said to the student please let me know when you are ready to write, or I will write it for you if you wish, to avoid the confrontation?
DeleteIn the first grade class that I’m currently working in we have several challenging personalities. We have 19 children in our class, and of those 19, there are two boys and one girl who consistently call out, have very big reactions to very small things and often disrupt the flow of a lesson. It is no secret which children are the “challenges” in our room. None of these three children are diagnosed with any specific learning or developmental disorder, and none of them are on any kind of behavior plan. B meets with the school psychologist once a week and also receives OT once a week. The other two, L and J, meet with the school social worker once a week (separate of each other).
ReplyDeleteWe do not have many specific ways of dealing with their outbursts in our classroom. The lead teacher that I work with most often uses a loud, stern voice to try and correct the behavior. She will say “excuse me” to interrupt side conversations those children may be having, or will dismiss them from the meeting (rug) area if they are being too distracting. She has threatened that J should “leave the room” if he can’t stop talking because he “didn’t deserve to be there”. Granted, that was said after a long morning of trying to redirect the behavior, but that response did nothing to help the child want to change his behavior. It only made him sad and ashamed of how he was acting.
When I am the one teaching and children are calling out or running around the room at unexpected times I will walk over to the child, or call them over to my desk, and ask them quietly to lower their voice and show “kavod” (respect) to their classmates and myself. If a child calls out during meeting, I will praise a child who is quietly raising their hand and call on them. If L, J, or B continue to call out, I will give them the option to return to their table seat if they need to “take a break”. If they choose to stay at the meeting, but call out again, I make the choice for them and ask them to take a break at their seat and rejoin the group when they are ready. I still acknowledge them and call on them from their seat if they are able to sit there and stay involved in the lesson. If they continue to call out from their seat, I may give them a reminder of what I expect, and then redirect my focus back to the children at the rug.
Our method for handling this behavior in our class seems to just serve as a way to put out little fires as they come up. It does nothing to encourage better behavior in general or to reinforce the positive actions of L, J and B. I do make an effort to point out when they are dong the right thing but I think a behavior chart of some kind would be more beneficial.
Corey
Tonight remind me to ask Mallory to describe her classroom management technique. It might give you some ideas!
DeleteI pull a small groups of students to the back of the room for blending and phonics skills. Sometimes I pull one student at a time. I have one student who I work with sometimes 2xs a day. She is very sweet and loves to chat. She tells me all sorts of stories about her at home life and some can be concerning. However my supervising teaching has told me many times that she makes up a lot of these stories. How am I supposed to decipher which stories are true and which are false?
ReplyDeleteThere is one student in my first grade class that simply does not like school. He is a good reader but lacks confidence. I know he has a twin brother in the first grade next door that is a confident reader. I think he may believe that he is not a good reader because he is not at the same reading level as his brother. I have received advice on how to get this student interested in reading again. One suggestion was to find books about topics the student was interested in. Well this student really likes wwe wrestling. I have been looking for books on this topic and have found none. I really want this student to enjoy learning and coming to school. I spend one on one time with him after school and he enjoys being read to and reading to me but he get self conscious during class time. I think this might be because he gets teased by his siblings. What can I do to get this student confident, motivated , and excited about learning again?
ReplyDeleteoh gosh. That's sad. I wonder how he could build up some confidence by listening to a small group of readers or partner reading about something he is interested in, with some other children on his reading level, that way he doesn't feel like he has to competing with them or feel discouraged.
DeleteThere were a few behavioral and learning incidents in my class this week. As I am not the lead teacher, the students sometimes test to see how much they can get away with, although they were being a little rowdy for the teacher too. As I was going over a math test review, I constantly had children talking, getting out of their seats, starring into space. I was able to coral them back by telling everyone to put all eyes on me so I know they are paying attention. In first grade, no one really wants to be the student that the whole class has to wait for. I also count backwards from 3 when I am in transitions. Its a great way to help students monitor how quickly they are moving, getting settled and being quiet. I eventually got their attention, but as it kept happening the teacher had to step in. She eventually started putting names on the board that would lose a few minutes from break time. After school she told me she was going to have to bring back out a "game" she plays with them. Every 20 min or so they are quiet and pay attention they "earn" five minutes of their break time at the end of the day. I love this idea. Its a way to have them EARN their break time than take it away.
ReplyDelete