Behavior Interventions

Fortunately, I have had very few instances in my 20 year teaching career where I had to escalate a student behavior plan to include parents, administration, or a team of teachers. With the vast majority of chronic behavior issues, I have been able to work directly with the students in order to develop plans that were effective in motivating students to exhibit behaviors that were supportive of learning for themselves and others. With that said, I have gathered information this week that will be helpful for the teachers in my district and I to be more effective when dealing with chronic behavior issues.

I have often been asked to participate in teaching team meetings in order to discuss the disruptive behaviors of various students. In many cases, the behaviors that these students were displaying in other classrooms, simply did not happen in my classroom or occurred infrequently. I attribute this primarily to creating a classroom where the vast majority of students are interested and engaged in what is happening in the classroom. Jones and Jones describe the most important factors succinctly when they state, “there is no substitute for effective teaching in a caring environment” (2007, p. 390).

In the handful of chronic behavior issues that I have elevated, I realize now that I could have had more effective results if I had done a better job at consistently documenting the student behavior over time and if I had created behavior contracts that were signed by everyone and which clearly delineated the responsibilities of each stakeholder.

Dr. Wolfgang presented a simple technique and form for documenting interactions with a child in regards to inappropriate behavior which recorded in two columns, what happened and the actions taken (Laureate Education Inc., 2008). In the past, I have not kept track of those quick knee to knee discussions with students but from now on I will consistently document behavior issues and my responses because, “collecting and analyzing data can prevent teachers from continuing an ineffective behavior change strategy or terminating an approach that is having significant but gradual success.” (Jones & Jones, 2007, p. 393).

Additional information from Dr. Wolfgang that I find particularly helpful is the questioning technique for the confronting-contracting escalation step which focuses on getting the student to reflect on their behavior and to develop a contract with specific actions the student needs to agree with (Laureate Education Inc., 2008). The following websites contain behavior contracts and forms that can be modified and utilized with students:
http://specialed.about.com/cs/behaviordisorders/a/behaviorcontrac.htm
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/classroom-discipline/resource/6283.html
I also like the steps Dr. Wolfgang outlines for conducting a staffing meeting which focus on developing specific contributions that each stakeholder can make to solve a clearly defined problem (Laureate Education Inc., 2008).

One thing that I have learned over my career is that it takes considerable time and effort to work with students with chronic behavior issues. The reward is that by helping students recognize and modify their inappropriate behavior, they become more aware and in control of their actions. The result is that their learning improves and they experience increased success not only in my class but also in other classes and even in other areas of their lives.

Resources:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program twelve. Interventions for Severe and Chronic Behavior Problems [Motion picture]. Classroom management to promote student learning. Baltimore: Author.

Jones, V., & Jones, L. (2007). Comprehensive classroom management: Creating communities of support and solving problems (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom 8th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.