Katie Troutman – Senior Year Blog

So the behavior contract that my student and I made together worked well for a while………

And then there was spring break… and then a short week… and we both kind of forgot about it for a while.  I should have done a better job of reinstating it.  In the next week or two, he would make comments about whether he would get to eat lunch with his friend (this was his reward), but usually by that point he had misbehaved to where he didn’t deserve his reward anymore.  It began to be a negative cycle.  After the newness of the behavior contract wore off, it was difficult to keep it implemented in a way that kept the student working to reach his goals.  I’m not sure what the next step should be….

The reason I chose to read this article is because “defiant” is one word that automatically makes me think of my student.   He will often argue with adults, or blatantly do things that he knows he shouldn’t.   When I started reading the actual article, specifically the definition of defiant behavior, it became even more clear that this would be the appropriate article.

I realize that positive behavior supports are the most helpful way to encourage a child to behave, and because of this I try to emphasize when this student is doing what he should be doing.  Especially in whole group discussions, if he is quietly raising his hand I am sure to thank him for waiting so quietly and then call on him.  Our class gets dollars for good behavior, and this is something I try to use as often as possible with the student to encourage him to continue good behaviors that are earning him the money.  Unfortunately, often the student is not doing what he should be and I don’t have the opportunity to let him earn dollars.  Instead, inappropriate behaviors are usually addressed and this is when the student tends to become defiant.

When the article talks about FBAs and making hypotheses about why a student may be showing defiance, I began thinking…. and I think that my student is yearning for attention.  Unfortunately, I think that at home the attention he gets isn’t the most positive and being defiant is the way he gets reactions out of people.  So then it begins to carry over into school, and he shows defiance, and he gets reactions.  Like I said before, I try to give him appropriate positive attention when he is showing me that he knows how to follow expectations, but this doesn’t keep him from showing defiance in other situations.

One thing that I think I can try more is to try to listen to his side when he becomes defiant instead of entering into a power struggle, like the article warns against.  Maybe this would give us a way to talk about the situation and for him to realize, in a less threatening way, why I am expecting him to do the task at hand (OR maybe for me to understand why he has a reason to be defiant!).

The behavior contract shown in the article is almost exactly like one that I have made with this particular student.  It worked!! For a little while… but then lost some of its influence.  I am not quite sure how to keep it as a priority to the student.   I am glad that this article showed me some new things to attempt with the student!

Until lately, I have struggled with how to handle situations with my student.  Then one day I said, “DUH!”  Behavior contract.  It doesn’t have to be this thing that I constantly deal with and hope he handles it better next time (because he most likely won’t).  I asked him what it would take to get him to behave better.  I suggested things that I thought he might like to do (basketball?), and also asked if there were any friends that he would like to be able to spend more time with.  He named a student in another 2nd grade class, so I said “Perfect!”   At first I just said that if he behaved, he would be allowed to have lunch with the other student on Friday of that week.  Then, I realized how difficult it would be to keep track of his behavioral events without having set guidelines/restrictions of some sort.  We sat down and agreed on 2 goals that he would work on this week.  The first one is “Have a good attitude.”  Honestly, what I really wanted to say was, “Don’t get a crappy attitude when someone tells me something I don’t like.”  But obviously that wouldn’t be very effective!! …. And I was trying to keep it positive!  The 2nd goal is to not argue with adults.  This is typically something that coincides with having a bad attitude, but still necessary to work on.

Later in the day, the student told me that “Friday is a long ways away.”  I had also been thinking about the fact that only having one goal for him at the end of the week might be a stretch – considering the student and his habits.  We changed it to a Wednesday lunch with his buddy if he met the goals the first half of the week, and then a Friday lunch if he met his goals the rest of the week.  This system has just really gotten started, so I’m keeping my eyes open for results!  I hope it will prove to show some improvement, but I don’t know that it necessarily will….  I’m trying to keep thinking for what to do next!

The first section to immediately draw my attention was the “Disruptive Behavior” section.  My student for this assignment is, without a doubt, the most disruptive child in my class.  It mentions that if the behavior is reinforced, it will continue.  I am fortunate enough to have a class to that (usually) understands and recognizes that this child’s behavior is not appropriate, and therefore they do not reinforce it by laughing or mimicking.  I also do my best to reinforce students who do not call out by saying, “Thank you for raising your hand,” but it doesn’t phase this particular student in his actions.  He very frequently has off task talking.  Not only is it off task, but often it is even inappropriate comments for a second grader. He also has been known to play with things (toys, rubber bands, etc) at his desk that he shouldn’t have in his possession.

I also think that the aggressive behavior section can be applied to this student.  He has actually had to be written up for slapping another student in music class.  His reason: none.  My CT and I think that most of these things that he exhibits are taken from his home life.  He has an older brother in middle school who probably treats him the same way that he is treating other students.

I have chosen to focus on a student who stands out to me as the behavior problem in my classroom.  He is the one child that you can always expect to act out, no questions asked.  So far, we have not found any things that work to influence him to regulate his own behavior.  A couple of weeks ago was especially noteworthy with him.  He was written up twice, once by the music teacher and once by the P.E. teacher, for instigating inappropriate situations.  One of them even included slapping another student.  In our everyday classroom time, he acts and responds as if he is seeking attention.  Also, whenever he gets reprimanded for a behavior, he will usually try to argue with the teacher and/or get an attitude with a scowl on his face.  It is difficult to know what will work for him since he is so different from how my other students act.

I love the idea that when thinking of interventions to attempt with a student, it is best to work WITH the student to create it.  This ensures that it is something they will be interested in and motivated by.  Having them take part in the decision making keeps them invested in the progress throughout.  For the student I am working with, I think it is going to be detrimental to go back to square one with him and have him talk about what would motivate him.  Nothing else that we have tried so far has really made a difference… collecting information about his behavior as well as about his interests might be just the key to getting to the bottom of his outbursts.  I hope that what I have learned about these strategies through the chapter will show me “the light” to getting things straight!

In my current placement, we use class cash to promote good behavior.  It is pretty simple, children earn dollars when they are caught behaving, and are fined dollars when they are misbehaving.  This is even reflected in things such as getting their homework notebook signed: if they don’t get it signed, they owe us a dollar.  At the end of the week, the students “cash in” and buy rewards.  These range from a $10 trip to the treasure chest up to $50 and $60 for things like an ice cream party or pajama day in the classroom.  We worked with the children to come up with the list of the rewards.  They told us things that they wanted to be on there, and we worked together to determine an acceptable price for each thing.  I think that this works well overall, but some children aren’t as into it as others.  Unfortunately, often the ones who aren’t into it are the ones that need more behavior guidance.

First of all, I think it would be great to be able to have a well managed inclusive classroom.  I know it would be tough starting out, but I can’t imagine a more fulfilling and successful experience.  Since inclusion is likely to bring more challenges into our classrooms, it is important for us to know from the start how we plan on managing behavior.

I think that using positive behavior supports is a wonderful way to run a classroom.  Students aren’t behaved because they are scared to misbehave.  Instead, they behave because it makes them feel better about themselves and they often get praised or rewarded for it.  I think when you state it like that, positive behavior support looks like the obvious option.  I foresee an overall happier feeling in the classroom.  Also, positive behavior can be versatile for the different needs in the classroom.  The types of rewards that students receive can be altered according to what a particular child will respond to.  Figuring out exactly what each child needs will be a challenge at first, but once I figure it out, I’d be set!  I think this is a great aspect of using positive behavior management, especially in an inclusive classroom where children may differ greatly.

I have to say, literature discussions aren’t something I feel like I see in my placement often.  They happen on small scales, more during read alouds when children just want to share everything that is similar in their lives, but I don’t feel as though they are structured as much of a learning tool.  I do, however, think they would be wonderful to implement!!  I think if students at that age (mine are 2nd grade) can have a discussion about something they just read, and talk about how they felt about it and what they liked or didn’t, and how they related, they will be totally set when they get to college literature courses!  I just feel as though literature discussions in a second grade classroom would be very mature, if guided properly, and extremely beneficial to the students involved.

In Flint’s Chapter 11, there is a lot of information about using non-fiction texts in the classroom.  I feel like I have been lucky in my experiences, because I think I see a good mix of non-fiction and fictional texts used.  My CT has an entire set of books (that also come with a stuffed animal) that correlate with her animal/life cycle unit.  These are useful as read alouds and as individual reading time.  I’ve also noticed that several of my students who may not be very sophisticated readers will also choose non-fiction animal books to “read” or look at when they have silent reading time.  It is obviously something that interests them, so why shouldn’t we use that as a lead in to get them motivated to find out more and check out more books on related topics?  Also, for people who think non-fiction texts are only boring, I think it is important to remember that there can be informational storybooks.  What more could we ask for in a book!?  Something with a story line and that teaches about a specific topic… how wonderful.