Summary of PD session 1
Characteristics of Children with Challenging Behaviour
- Anxiety
- Energy
- Withdrawn
- Expressionless
- Does not engage
- Avoidance
- Hurting-hitting
- Lack of ability to self manage
- Little self-regulation
- Noisy
- Impulsive
- Few friends
- Defiant
- Tactile/fidgety
- Struggle to verbalise
- Blaming others
- Calm needed
- Intimidating
- Loud
- Aggressive
- Tells tales
- Class clown
Te Whare Tapa Wha: How the IYT concepts apply in the New Zealand context.
Building Relationships with Students/The Proactive Teacher:
Recap of Characteristics of Children with Challenging Behaviour…
Hard to reach children (Tough/waxy exterior)
What is it like for the child – how do you think they feel about themselves?
- Low self-esteem
- Lack of belonging
- Fear
- Frustration
- Discouraged
- Alone
- Inadequate
- Helpless
- Pain
- Gets picked on
- Low self-esteem
- Lonely/isolated
- Frustrated
- “Everyone hates me.”
- Sometimes oblivious
- Anxious
- Confused
How do the parents of these children feel or behave in regard to these?
- Shame
- Anger
- Frustration
- Guilt
- Misunderstood
- Told off
- Embarrassed
- Defensive
- Oblivious
- All or nothing (always in or never in)
- “Teacher problem”
- In denial
- Grateful
- Seeking help/strategies
- Supportive
- Frustrated
- Helicopter parents
- Go overboard with extra stuff
- Overwhelmed
How do teachers feel and behave towards these difficult children?
- Frustrated
- On tenterhooks
- Second-guessing themselves
- Lack of confidence
- Sadness/pity
- Exhausted
- Personally attacked
- Challenged
- Stereotyped by their behaviours
- Sympathetic
- Increased workload
- Frustrated
- Inadequate
- Anxious
- Get into a negative cycle
- Motivated – go beyond
Barriers to knowing challenging children and their families
- Parent engagement – relationship building
- Parents’ past school experiences
- Time to build relationships e.g. parents working full-time
- Child engagement, the perspective of school
- Confidence/fear
- Administration/school systems
- Avoidance
- Cultural experiences
- Trust
- Teacher time – attention to all children
- Excuse from parents – busy
- Internal beliefs
- Parent background e.g. make up of family
- Multiple caregivers
How to Make/ Build Connections with Quiet Children:
- Personal connection (nickname/handshake)
- Build habits/rituals
- Personal acknowledgements
- Use calm time
- Find interests
- Give an important job
- Aware of child pace – not pushing to quickly
- 1:1 time
- non-verbal cues
- build 1:1 time into your timetable
- Play alongside
- Personal touch- handshake
- Bring ‘treasured items’ to school
- Magic word
- Hand signals to ask for help
- be aware of pressure points
- calm, consistency- build trust
- Approach the child on their terms.
- Use open-ended Qs.
Routines for Starting and Ending Each Day- Routines build a safe predictable environment.
- Karakia/ Waiata
- Personal welcomes
- Handshakes
- Card on wall with a greeting
- Circle Time
- Morning song
- Check in- Zones of Regulation
- Kids Yoga
- Velcro visual aides
- Sign in sheet
- Morning monitors
- Greetings in different language
- Talk to timetable- use visuals
- Routines – roll, notices
- Singing
- “Hello” in morning
- Morning Time – School café
- Action Stations –child/parent/teacher
- Blog on school website
- Morning hui
- Check in check out.
Building Positive Relationships with students
- Pronouncing names correctly
- Circle Time activities
- Class Treaty
- Commonalities
- Brag book
- Meet the teacher
- Welcoming children
- 2 years with children
- Sharing time – parents invited into school e.g. food nights, science events
- Student voice know your students
- Communication – email, reading notebook
- Converse with parents – before and after school, on school and non-school topics
- Positive feedback to parents
- Know/ask best forms of communication
- Cultural Inclusion
- Build commonalities/connections
- Sharing/interests book
- Time in the playground with children
- Respect conversation around values
- Link school and family values
- School entry interviews – every child
- Welcome ceremony for all new families – families share at assembly
- 1:1 time with the child
- FUN
- Modelling laughter/enjoyment
The Proactive Teacher- use Preventative classroom strategies to minimise disruptions.
Proactive Strategies:
- Build strong relationships with all children in the class
- Proximity
- Roaming/supporting
- Getting down to the child’s eye level
- Repeating instructions in order
- Modelling books e.g. behaviours, photos to refer back to, before lunch and break times
- Roleplay
- Red-green choices
- ‘How to fill your bucket’ – onYouTube
- Take a child away quietly
- Talk about the school values
- Routines – consistency
- Teacher modelling
- Teaching emotions – see emotional coaching, Session 3
- Celebrating successes at home or with another teacher
- Home - school communication book
- Ask questions- open-ended
- Look for positives
- Use a praise ratio of 4:1.
Classroom Rules- Teach rules, practise routines, revisit and reward often!
- Use daily Visuals –(Give me 5, voice, Treaty/Team Agreement/Values/Restorative thermometer, Active listening, share with the home.)
- Age appropriate
- Put time frames on for older children.
- What you want students to do
- Students create their own
- Positive
- Discussion of value – what values do we need to use?
- Red/green choice
- TEACH, MODEL, PROMPT, PRAISE
- Teach rules in each setting across the school.
- Classroom Environment- calm and welcoming.
- Mat space big enough
- Clear, clutter-free, organised class spaces.
- Placement of ‘hard wax’ children
- See materials easily
- Share expectations
- Have a calm down area
- Set up e.g. mathematics equipment not by the mat
- Can see whiteboard
- ILE – same as single cell
- Consistent terminology
- Use class seating squares to begin year.
Classroom Routines
- Singing, music
- Modelling
- Repetition
- Similar routines across MLE
- Catchphrases
- Kindy – primary school, same transitions e.g. song, movements
- Listening games for memory and focusing
- Let children finish conversations
- Non-visual cues
- Countdown in numbers and fractions
- Mexican wave
- Ensure transitions are taught, smooth and organised.
- Gaining Attention- reward often
- Quiet voice – lower voice
- Rain stick
- Count down
- Iceblocks game
- Phrases with voice
- Look at watch
- Music
- Bell/ shaker/ triangle
- Finger games where children have to copy the teacher
- Board to 5 marks
- One. Two, three, eyes on me.
- Praise those who respond quickly.
- Use Wiggle breaks (ideas):
- Songs/dances
- Simon says
- Dance/Jump Jam/ Go Noodle
- Hee Haw Hay
- Heavy work, push-ups, the wall pushes.
- Paper/scissors/rock
Key Principles
- Building a relationship with a child requires time, commitment and perseverance.
- Showing personal interest in a child helps build a relationship with a child.
- A positive child/teacher relationship increases co-operation, engagement and motivation.
- The behaviours a teacher attends to are those that are perceived to have value and will increase.
- Shine the light on the behaviours you want to increase. PRAISE.
- Take the time to build positive relationships with parents as it encourages the relationship with the child.
- Modelling and coaching are unobtrusive ways of teaching a child behaviour expectations.
- Children who need love the most, ask for it in the most unloving ways; the same can be said of children most in need of positive attention, praise, and encouragement
- Build into your programme routines for teaching rules. They have a positive influence on class culture. They also create security and predictability and problem behaviours are less likely to occur.
- Develop class rules and express rules in positive terms.
- Actively teach class rules around behaviour expectations and transitions.
- Practice, reward and revisit.
- Class rules and organised environments support pro social behaviours.
- Place students carefully in the class so that everyone can see a lesson and hear it. It tells students that they are valued.
- Provide time for movement breaks as they allow students time to refocus and self regulate.
- Use calm down activities if children are heightened after a movement break.
- Ensure your commands are clear, concise and respectful.
- Give choice… WHEN, THEN. Put less desirable activity first.
- Allow students to make a choice of two activities to ensure the balance of power is maintained. Shows trust in a child’s decision making. Avoids defiance/battles.
- Use non verbal signals to break over reliance on teacher voice.
Behaviour Plans:
All behaviours are designed to GET something or AVOID something. To change behaviour, we need to change the context around the behaviour. ( ie, what happens immediately before or after it). Children can’t do this, it is the adults who can.
- Identify target behaviours.
- Positively state the opposite of the behaviour you are targeting.
- Have a best guess as to the cause of the behaviour. (Functional assessment)
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