Monday, October 18, 2010

Crazy Week...

If I could use one word to describe last week it would be a simple choice: CRAZY!  This was fueled by new students, substitute teachers/aids, meetings, field trips, parents, and illness.

Monday was the most frantic and frustrating day of the week.  I had a sick student who was sent to school, even though her illness was known.  I called home at 9:00, and was told that she would be picked up soon.  By 10:00, the office Secretary called home again, and was told that my student would be picked up soon.  Finally, at 11:15, she was picked up.  My entire classroom had been contaminated with deification.  Midway through our calendar/circle time at 10:30 I was left with the option to have all of my non-ill students chauffeured outside in an effort to reduce the risk of contamination and/or spread of the sickness.

At approximately 11:00 on Monday, I had the opportunity to meet and talk with a new student and her mother.  This student does not have an IEP and has never been to school before.  I am currently working with the General Education Kindergarten Teacher to create a program that allows her to be in the classroom, and supervised by an assistant.  Her first day of school was Thursday, and although she appeared to be overwhelmed, she adjusted well and (I was recently told) enjoys coming to school each day!  The first three days of the student's school year we were allowed to pay a substitute to take the place of an assistant, who then shadowed the new student offering support and/or direction when needed.

Also on Monday, I had a student's mom show up (unannounced) to observe her son on the playground.  Not a problem, I would just like to be made aware in advance so that I can prompt the parent on how to properly "observe" with no interference...

Tuesday was a better day, I attended a CDS Networking meeting with fellow CD teachers (see blog titled "Positive Attitude").

Wednesday was a little off because I had two assistant subs., and some of my students felt the need to manipulate and take advantage of the sub.'s naivety to their abilities.  I felt very motivated to remain positive all day long, and worked on not saying "no" to my students.  When working to not use the word no, I have found that it helps you to remain positive and sets a good example for students (especially students who overuse the word in an inappropriate fashion).

Thursday was a better day!  New student did well, despite being very inexperienced socially, and when faced with situations of structure.  Instituted a "Chance Card" reward system earlier in the week with one of my students who has trouble controlling his body and words.  The chance card system requires him to carry a clipboard with three chance cards and a description as to what the student is working toward and how they can achieve this goal.  Any adult that comes into contact with the student and/or observes inappropriate behavior has the option to turn a chance card over.  If one chance card remains flipped up at the end of a specific amount of time the student gets their reward.  It acts as a visual reminder for the student (they must ALWAYS have their clipboard with them), and a motivational tool.  My student has been WONDERFUL this week!  I love the chance card system!

Friday was a no-pressure theme day.  We talked about pumpkins, looked at pictures of their various stages of growth, created a pumpkin/jack-o-lantern craft, and ate pumpkin torte.  We also popped popcorn in a stir crazy machine, and ate popcorn while watching Winne the Pooh's Boo To You movie at the end of the day.  The kids appeared to love all of the experiences and lessons as they were presented in a very sensory diet manner.

Overall, a good week :)

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Positive Attitude!

I went to a CDS Networking Meeting today, and learned some things about challenging behaviors and children with developmental disabilities.  There are three parts to addressing and solving behavior issues amongst students with CD, LD, or EBD.

Part one:  Attitude Attitude Attitude
Contrary to what you may have initially thought, this section refers to the teacher's attitude, and not the student's "problem" attitude.  When dealing with challenging behaviors hour after hour, day after day, we have to remember that our attitudes as educators is a contributor to the actions and reactions our students may display.  Here are some strategies that may be helpful in achieving this goal:

-Focus on the future, rather than the past
-Focus on solution, rather than the problem
-Use humor to boost morale
-Address issue then create a diversion for yourself
-Take a time out
-Exercise
-Eat foods that are good for you
-Get enough sleep at night
-Remember to be thankful :)

Avoid saying "no."  When possible, turn each no into a positive comment or reaction.  Let the student know that you hear them, but redirect to help them accomplish the task before them.

Example:  Student runs through the halls.  Instead of saying "NO, we do not run in school!" say, "I love to see you using your legs like that, but it is not appropriate or safe when we are in school.  Please show me how you can walk."  Sounds easy...but is it?  This is something that I will be trying in my own classroom, and I will let you know how it goes!

Part two:  Support Teams
Support teams are people who work with the student with challenging behaviors.  The members of the support team can include, but is not limited to, special education teacher, aids, general education teacher, therapists, and parents.  The job of the team is to observe the antecedent and reaction and to learn how to better support the student.  At times, the team may develop support plans which remove stimulus that could be causing or harmful to the acting out student.  Once a team is developed, meetings are generally held to discuss observations and found successes.  It is important to, again, keep morale among the support team positive and child-centered.

Part three:  Considerations
There are many considerations we need to keep in mind when addressing challenging behaviors.  One of them is how the child's disability affects his/her behavior.  Take the time to research (even if it's not indepth) the child's disability and what teaching strategies are proven to work.  You may then want to share this information with team members.  Another consideration is a child's environment (school, daycare, home, etc.), and how this may effect their success when in the classroom.  Questions you may want to ask yourself when a child is acting out include:

-What has the child eaten today?
-Is the child tired?
-Has the child been exposed to inappropriate behavior?
-Does the child have structure/discipline in other environments?

These topics need to be addressed before considering behavior modification because if the behavior stems from it, EASY FIX!  If not, the team needs to be informed and jump on the behavior modification band wagon.  In order to make behaivor mod. work, support team members need to be open minded, creative, and positive Positive, POSITIVE.  Also, always remember that behavior modification needs to be realistic and reward positive behaviors.

Remember that there are no quick fixes when dealing with challenging behaviors, and change is slow.

I feel as though I learned a lot at this meeting, and the wheels are already turning as to how I can incorporate these strategies into my every day teaching.  The information I rehashed here is from Paul White of the Waisman Center located out of Madison.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Ahh...

I have received an idea from a friend and fellow teacher to allow my student who cannot keep his hands to himself feel the success of earning a star for a short period of time.  Using this success as fuel to help him get through the rest of the day, hopefully he will be able to make good choices.  I will try this tomorrow if he is in school (was out sick today).

Also, here is a neat article I read:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/07/hertzog.down.syndrome.son/index.html

Have a happy day :)

Sunday, October 3, 2010

What to do?

This week was a l o n g week.  I love my job and I love working with my students, however there are those weeks that I am more than willing to wave farewell to.  Here's a recap:

Monday:  Good day!  Students worked hard...overall fab day.

Tuesday:  Another good day!  I can see that some of the students are getting sick, we had a lot of coughs and noses being blown.  One student got sick, and we ended up sending him home just as a precautionary measure.  Another student, who had been out of school in the hospital for two weeks returned today!  Everyone was so excited to see him again.  His spirits seemed to be high as I completed some of the lessons he missed with him in the morning.  It was a relief to see him doing well and willing to participate with his teachers and fellow classmates.

Wednesday:  Challenging day.  Behaviors were abound.  One kindergartner went on a field trip the School Forest with an assistant, leaving us with a substitute aid.  While I understand and completely appreciate all that the subs in the room do, the entire room (schedule, tone, students, even myself!) gets thrown off when this happens.  At about 9:00 a first grader was brought into my room to be disciplined for stubborn, defiant, and inappropriate behavior.  The rest of the morning/early afternoon went alright, but at about 1:30 all of that changed.  There were many, many things going on at this time so I apologize if it gets confusing, but here it goes...I had two groups going at the time, one was a lower math group consisting of four students, the other was a high math group consisting of two students.  Typically, I work with the group of two leaving the other group to one of my aids we attempted this and it did not work out.  One of the students in the lower math group was quite grumpy due to lack of sleep, and was only happy when being fed.  He joined my higher group and I had to change my plans to letting the two complete a worksheet with my verbal help while I fed my hungry student.  As I was working with these kids, I could hear the nurse and the sub instructing and pleading with a student to have good behavior, which was quite obviously a futile cause.  At the same time a co-worker of mine came in to ask some questions that ended up distracting me from feeding which resulted in applesauce and chocolate milk all over the table, floor, and surrounding chairs.  After my co-worker left, I was being called across the room to retrieve a band-aid for another student and while I was there, to discipline the defiant/stubborn student.  When I returned to the aforementioned post, more applesauce and chocolate milk had been spilled and splattered all over.  Next thing I knew, I looked up at the clock and saw that it was 2:00, and we needed diapers to be changed, snacks to be eaten, work to be finished, and packing up to be done.  At this time in the day I decided it would be best if we stopped the school work, and simply attempt to maintain behaviors and moods until the school day came to and end, which seemed to work out.  The tone in the room was changed from one of high stress to one of neutral, and once the kids were on the bus I was able to take one deep breath before cleaning and setting up my room for an IEP meeting.  The meeting went well, and all information (although it wasn't all favorable to the parent's ears) was received well, and arrangements were made to encourage success for the student at hand.

Before I go on, I would just like to say how blessed I feel to be working with the general education teachers that I am this year.  They are wonderful, and I absolutely love working with them, and seeing them strive to help each one of my students succeed.  YAY :)

Thursday:  Typical day, some trouble at recess, but overall a good day.

Friday:  Honeymoon period for my students is 100% over.  Behaviors, Behaviors, BEHAVIORS!  One student in particular was being very defiant and inappropriate throughout the day.  Toward the end of the day he ended up sitting in the safe place for blurting (after being encouraged and reminded in many ways) answers and silly phrases without raising his hand and waiting quietly.  After a few minutes he was able to rejoin the group, but would only last up to 5 minutes before the next outburst.  Unfortunately, this student did not receive 5 stars and was then expected to sit on a shape until it was time to pack up.  Somehow, he ended up pushing a fellow classmate, which then prompted another student to do the same thing.  They were both told to apologize and that they could not pack up to leave until their classmates had finished packing first.  I was met with a response of swearing, which then caused the student to wait until all the other classmates were on the bus before packing up.

Here's the issue that I struggle with the most:  How do you teach a student the difference between right and wrong behavior when he seemingly feels no remorse for imposing pain and/or discomfort to those around him?  Each time I talk to/discipline this student he has a smirk on his face, and does not appear to have any compassion for anyone outside of himself.  So, that is the question and I am hoping that I will find the answer soon...maybe even this week!

I am looking forward to a new week with new experiences and a clean fresh slate!  See y'all later :)