We all know that behavior communicates something. The trick is to figure out what the "something" is and then react in a way that does not reward the "bad" behavior but honors what the child needs/wants. Let me tell you...that's a great trick!!!
Behavior analysts will tell you that every behavior supports a person's needs/wants (not just a child, not just a student....adults, too.) Behaviors are exhibited to get us what we need/want. Most of the time we identify the four reasons (functions) for behavior as: to get attention, to escape a demand or task, to get something..tangible, to stimulate our senses...sensory.
My teaching partners and I found the following "bad" behavior to be quite humorous. Of course, we have to deal with the behavior and why the student was doing it, but.....the process of that can be quite funny. (Note: Make sure when "bad" behavior is funny, you don't let your student know that it's funny because they could get conflicting messages. Chances are it's only funny the first or second time....after that it's just "bad.")
See if you can figure out what the following student is telling us.... :-)
Libby is a three year old student with Down's Syndrome. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we set up a 6 center rotation where children travel from center to center according to a timer. We organize this within two classrooms that are connected by a middle door. This can be quite demanding for some students.
Libby reached her 4th or 5th center for the day which happened to be her Language Therapy lesson. In the middle of the lesson she decided she was done!
Libby hopped off of her chair and ran from the Language Therapy room to my classroom. (The speech/language pathologist (SLP) was right on her heels.) She tried to shut the door on the speech pathologist! keep in mind...a 3 yr old, shutting the door on the speech path!
Well, the SLP and I happen to be good friends, so when we saw a 3 year old attempting to shut the door in her face, we both wanted to laugh. :-) Fortunately for us, we had our wits about us. Libby was redirected back to her group with a firm voice and reminded that group was finished when the timer "beeped." (by the way....we laughed later!!!!)
What was Libby telling us through her behavior? What was the reason/function for her behavior?
If you guessed "escape," then your hypothesis matched ours. We suspect that she was telling us that she needed to get away from work at that point.
What did we do? We try to get Libby's group within the first few rotations before she gets fatigued. This way we can ensure that her time at language therapy is time well spent. We follow up her groups with gross motor or low demand activites that support her need/want for escape. In short, we go straight back to the "Pre-mack principle." (see previous post: http://michellespecialeducation.blogspot.com/2008/04/benefits-of-daily-routine.html ).
Showing posts with label humor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label humor. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Memorable Moment 1
One of the most valuable tips I can offer to teachers and parents is to enjoy your students/children. As a teacher, one of the ways I enjoy my students is by taking note of moments during the day that I classify as "memorable." Sometimes these moments happen when a student makes a breakthrough or a connection; sometimes it's when a lesson for a group goes particularly well and sometimes it is just a funny moment when kids are just being kids.
I would like to share some of my memorable moments with you. I also invite you to share your memorable moments in the comments section. It is my goal to make "Memorable Moments" a weekly feature. (note: I have changed the names of the students and other persons mentioned to protect their privacy.)
Memorable Moment #1:
Arabela entered my pre-kindergarten class as a three year old with developmental delays. We worked on communicating wants and needs with words and we also worked on task related skills such as "raising a quiet hand." After Arabela had been in school for about a year and a half, her skills in these areas developed quite nicely.
She decided to showcase her skills for us when we had Fireman Will come to visit the class. Now, Fireman Will happens to be a 30ish stud, who is good looking, friendly and somewhat flirtatious. He loves coming to the elementary school for visits and consequently, this was not his first visit to our classroom.
Fireman Will's topic during this visit was his protective clothing. He showed the kids all of his gear and explained that it protected him from the fire. He put each piece on and repetitively talked about how it was not scary, it just protected him when the fire was hot.
After repeating numerous times that his gear protected him when it was hot, Arabela decided to raise her hand to comment. Now at this point here is 4 1/2 year old Arabela sitting "criss-cross applesauce" just a nicely as can be, raising her quiet hand and waiting patiently to be called on. She is the picture of pre-k perfection. So Fireman Will calls on her, and in perfectly clear speech with wonderful articulation, she blurts out "My mom's hot!"
The speech pathologist, my assistant, the teacher next door and I busted out laughing! Fireman Will was rendered speechless by a 4 year old!
(And by the way, her mom is gorgeous.)
The point being, as teachers and parents we all face stressful and seemingly "impossible" situations. It's important for all of us involved with children to acknowledge and enjoy the humor and honesty of children. They add to our lives!
I would like to share some of my memorable moments with you. I also invite you to share your memorable moments in the comments section. It is my goal to make "Memorable Moments" a weekly feature. (note: I have changed the names of the students and other persons mentioned to protect their privacy.)
Memorable Moment #1:
Arabela entered my pre-kindergarten class as a three year old with developmental delays. We worked on communicating wants and needs with words and we also worked on task related skills such as "raising a quiet hand." After Arabela had been in school for about a year and a half, her skills in these areas developed quite nicely.
She decided to showcase her skills for us when we had Fireman Will come to visit the class. Now, Fireman Will happens to be a 30ish stud, who is good looking, friendly and somewhat flirtatious. He loves coming to the elementary school for visits and consequently, this was not his first visit to our classroom.
Fireman Will's topic during this visit was his protective clothing. He showed the kids all of his gear and explained that it protected him from the fire. He put each piece on and repetitively talked about how it was not scary, it just protected him when the fire was hot.
After repeating numerous times that his gear protected him when it was hot, Arabela decided to raise her hand to comment. Now at this point here is 4 1/2 year old Arabela sitting "criss-cross applesauce" just a nicely as can be, raising her quiet hand and waiting patiently to be called on. She is the picture of pre-k perfection. So Fireman Will calls on her, and in perfectly clear speech with wonderful articulation, she blurts out "My mom's hot!"
The speech pathologist, my assistant, the teacher next door and I busted out laughing! Fireman Will was rendered speechless by a 4 year old!
(And by the way, her mom is gorgeous.)
The point being, as teachers and parents we all face stressful and seemingly "impossible" situations. It's important for all of us involved with children to acknowledge and enjoy the humor and honesty of children. They add to our lives!
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