When you have a student who is exhibiting difficult behavior it can become so emotionally and physically exhausting. Especially when you have that difficult student, who requires 100% of your attention, and you also have 8+ other students who need 100% of your attention for their education. You can't split yourself in two, and you'll drive yourself crazy trying to do both.
Sometimes there is a stigma in the education field about asking for help. Especially when you are trained to deal with this kind of thing, right? You are an intervention specialist. Isn't that your specialty? Dealing with and managing difficult behaviors? Sure, that's part of your job, but it isn't your WHOLE job. You have a ton on your plate. Do yourself a favor, and request help from a behavior specialist.
I have had access to two behavior specialist's in my 10 year career. We hire from an outside source, and they would come once or twice monthly, hang out with me in my classroom and intervene, coach, and guide me in new strategies. Here are the top five things I have learned from working closely with a behavior specialist.
1. Have an open classroom AND an open mind
One thing that drives me crazy as an educator is when you are called in for a meeting to give advice, guidance, or support to a teacher and you are completely blown off. It's happened to me, on multiple occasions. I have been called in to consult on certain behaviors, help develop behavior plans, etc. and the teacher sits in the meeting, writes everything down, and decides that your suggestions are "silly" or "not going to work". My question that I pose is "How do you know that, unless you give it a try"?
I welcomed my behavior specialist with open arms. Some people, for some reason or another, can feel offended or even defensive when a behavior specialist gets involved. They feel like that the behavior specialist is there to almost "critique" their teaching (I have never understood this, but have seen this reaction with my own eyes on multiple occasions). When mine came, I sang from the rooftops, "hallelujah!" cause I was on the struggle bus and she was there to help. She wasn't there to judge me or critique me, she was there to coach me, guide me and help me so that I could help this student.
If you need help and you request the help, I urge you to do this: listen. Try new things. Learn from them. They have extensive knowledge and training in this field. They are there in your classroom to help. They aren't going to give you suggestions that are meant to set you up for failure, they want success for you too. They are on your side.
When I worked with my behavior specialist's I always, always, followed through with their suggestions. Sure, I had those thoughts "well this isn't going to work" and you know what? Sometimes things worked and sometimes things didn't work but we figured it out together. Stick with the plan, be consistent, and work together and you will see results.
2. Data is absolutely essential
Data Sheet from Autism Resources (link below!)
We obviously know this as intervention specialist's because this is literally what we do all day every day. Dealing with and figuring out the function of a student's behavior takes a lot of work, a lot of diligence and a lot of data. Without that data, you won't be able to proceed.
When I was working with my behavior specialist, I had two days of just straight up data collection. That's it. Data all day, the whole day. I carried clip boards, and counters, and timers, and pens around on me for two days and just took data. We cruised through our day with the paraprofessionals stepping up and covering some of the routines, so that I could step back and observe. I learned new ways of collecting data, new data forms, how to analyze the data and use it to determine what needed to be changed or what I could do to re-design some things, with the guidance of the behavior specialist.
My absolute favorite data collecting tool!
My Favorite Data Resources :
Behavior Data Sheets Mega Pack by Autism ResourcesUltimate Data Sheet Set by Especially Education
3. Structure the structure
I thought I was so structured in my classroom. Our routine is literally the same every day, with different activities sprinkled into the time slots. When my behavior specialist said to me, "he needs more structure" I was like, how? I am so structured already! So, she taught me that some students need to have structure within the structure. How many times can we say structure in a sentence? Ha!
So we developed a little "check box" system. The student earns the checks as we are completing work so that the student can see the end. This was even within a task drawer system! We structured, a structured task drawer system! For example: This particular student needed to see that visual that he had to answer five questions within that first task drawer system in order for that task be "finished". He would then earn a reward for completing those five questions. As we would check off the boxes, we would say "Look! You finished this question, now you only have 4 more left!" and we did that after every question.
I use this ALL the time now when I get a student with challenging behaviors and/or anxiety. It has become one of my "go to" behavior interventions because it works so well!
Easy check box system implemented with dry erase marker and white board.
Check box system at work during a task drawer!
4. Consistency and Communication
When you have a challenging student, your communication and staff need to be on point. You all need to know what's going on, when to do what intervention, how to react to specific behaviors, etc. She suggested monthly "debriefings" where we would meet and "staff" each student. A way to meet, plan and provide trainings on student behaviors. Her suggestion was to have the students come in once a month for a two-hour delay. Our district never fully adopted that suggestion, so we developed another way to stay informed.
We have a communication binder where we log noted in to each other without communicating in front of the students. We write down things in this log such as behavior, student needs, or even questions about situations. This has been beyond helpful, and we use this strategy in my classroom ever since she introduced me to this.
I also created a specific behavior plan chart. I wrote down which behaviors I want ignored or redirected, how we should manage that behavior, what that looks like for staff, and how we should implement that strategy etc. My paraprofessionals each get a copy and we keep a copy in the communication log. My paraprofessionals have reported back that this is extremely helpful to them.
5. Positive reinforcement is magic
I am a big positive reinforcement kind of teacher. I have always used this in my classroom, but I never really saw how scientifically evident the process can be, until you have a behavior specialist working with you, and she has a literal binder of strategies and reasons why it works. Like it's crazy. I have witnessed a few teachers use negative reinforcement strategies in my career, and to me, it just seems awkward. It's just not my thing-- and there is always that one person who says "I wish I could bribe my student's with goldfish to get them to listen" and I'm always like--" no, it's called positive reinforcement, it's a real thing, look it up." (My literal response, as I am rolling my eyes).
To me, my biggest lesson, was reframing my language. I am sure we all use the words "no" and "don't" on occasion. I still do, I'll admit that. However re-phrasing my directives into a more positive instruction worked like magic. Instead of saying "don't hit" I re-phrased to "hands to self" or "don't kick" to "feet to self", others we use on occasion "quiet hands" "safe hands" and "walking feet". Even cutting out verbals to pointing gestures and using visuals to re-direct have been so life-changing for me, it's amazing.
Token Reward System for Positive Reinforcement
My Favorite Positive Reinforcement Resources:
Super Hero Token Reward SystemPrincess Token Reward System
Conclusion
I am not a behavior specialist, however, I have become very good at managing difficult behaviors because I took advantage of my situations and I learned from them. I often get the challenging students for this reason, and am even asked to step in to meetings to develop behavior plans. Here is my suggestion to anyone who may be struggling with a challenging kiddo- if you feel like you are drowning, ask for help. Go for it and if you get that help, soak up every little bit of new information from the behavior specialist you can. I literally took notes, I kept binders of information, I asked for handouts, asked for lunch meetings to learn about new strategies and data tracking, and you know what--- I absorbed it all. I use it all the time. I am not perfect by any means, however I am not afraid to learn, change, and follow the guidance of another. You do you and keep on learning!
No comments