For most students behaviors are learned and learned behaviors can be changed with patience, persistence, and positive reinforcement. Using form 47 on page 213, discuss these questions with your colleagues and decide upon the answers you will give your paras. Choose two to report on in your post and respond to 2 people.
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p 215Okay the behavior stuff is my fav!! I do tally sheet data all the time. So really I don't know if that is helpful. Of course if our kiddos are on bd, ed goal then they have to be signifiant from peers and we do that through data collection.
ReplyDeletepage 213: I am doing this at para meeting Monday morning will give you results after that. Have a great weekend. I am so tired.
Best laid plans of mice and men, due to absent para and reshifting schedule, no para meeting. One para did lookit over and she pretty much said ask me or end to principal if teacher not there. .
DeleteLike I said I do the old every 10 second record behavior and then once a minute do peer, for 15 mnutes minimally. then do comparison. Last one I did showed student doing inappropriate behavior 40% of time and peers 14% of time. Therefore observed student in classroom was off more than 2.8 times than peers. That appears to be significant in that class. Of course you have to do another sampling later to see if it is over time or not. THat will happen later.
Last week I had a para do a time sample in the classroom with a kid. She checked every five minutes for on task behavior for 60 minutes. I did not have her do a peer comparison but I will. It is good information to have in order to develop a monitoring chart. I need to do a better job at making behavior charts for a couple of my kids. I know they would benefit, but it's always put at the end of my list. Maybe this weekend...
DeleteI have a simple idea. I give out old pogs for work. They get one "task token" for each task they complete and give their best effort on. They trade them for prizes. They get the idea when they don't get tokens that other kids do. Counting tokens is good data too.
DeleteSo I did the tally sheet and observed one of my students and two peers. Fast fact time is interesting. A lot of my students do not know thier facts and are ok with it (me, maybe not so much) so they do not feel the urgency to be on task. Of course there is a big chart in class to show who has passed which fact tests. This is also not a motivator for my students. Each kid gets to do facts on a lap top and the site is in thier math curriculum. They got started and I took tallies for time on task every 10 seconds. In 20 minutes, student A was on task 102 times, student B was on task 72 times and student S(ped) was on task 66 times. I realize 85% time on task is a lot to hope for during independent study time, but 55% does leave room for improvement. The plan is to first discuss the results with the student. I will ask for their help in improving time on task to get buy in. We will also discuss main issue, memorizing facts. I will also find a less distractive area and reward increases in on task behavior. I can observe from outside the room and behind them to get a true measure. Outside of that environment, my paras will help track progress of time on task and facts. The students chosen reward will be applied when they reach an incremental goal. If there is no improvement after a week, we will go to paper/pencil practice instead of computer and discuss the issue again.
ReplyDeleteNice job. I like that. Observing from outside of room is much more independent and true to behavior.
DeleteI worked on page 213 form 47. I have not had time to recently discuss this with my colleagues because we are all busy finishing state assessments. However these statements have been discussed in the past not just between sped teachers but among regular education teachers as well. Our school has recently redesigned the last 34 minutes of the day to provide students with intervention and enrichment time. Another component of that time frame is a site called "Must do homework". This is for students who did not do their homework, they are to go to the cafeteria and under the supervision of several teachers including ESL and a sped teacher they finish their work. If they do not show up they are found, if they can not be found their name is turned in to the principal. This restructuring of 8th hour takes care of alot of the comments on page 213 about assignments and homework. Some of the other comments listed are behavior related. These can be handled in various ways. Simply isolating the student works well, whether in the back of the room or even in the hall for a period of time. Some of the more aggressive comments need to be directed to the administration. Threats whether verbal or physical need to be addressed immediately and with a no tolerance policy. The best way to handle behavior is to be consistent!!!!!! If the consequence for running out of the classroom is after school detention then that needs to be the consequence for every time the student runs out of the classroom, unless it is an emergency. In my experience consistency is the key.I do appreciate the comments in this chapter about choosing your battles wisely. Not everything has to be a battle, some things can be ignored. This probably comes with experience and personality on the teachers part. What bothers some teachers does not bother others. I find I am more tolerant of certain behaviors than other teachers, but I am still consistent.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this book study. It is not only useful for para's but for teachers as well. I think this would be especially good for first year teachers!! Sorry I could not reply to anyone. My school computer has a java script problem in regards to replying to posts. I tried my IPad and my lap top and both were a no go! I didn't try my home computer but by then I had just about given up! I appreciate your replies to me!! Hope the rest of your school year is good and have a great summer!!!!
ReplyDeleteCarol - Thanks for trying:) I am aware that there have been some issues in the Ulysses schools and the java script. Your comments have been beneficial to our discussion. Thank you for your idea about using this book for first year teachers. I will incorporate some of it into our mentoring program. It would be a good resource for all.
DeleteI agree this book study was enjoyable. I know my paras were interested. I had trouble finding the book two weeks, because they were looking at it. I want to use it for training paras in the future. Also, I think first year teachers could utilize it. I know they are given lots of info at first and this they could go back through later and reread and fill up their bag of tricks. I do like the forms in the back and plan to utilize some of them.
ReplyDeleteHave a great summer. See you'all in August.
Thanks Dot! Your consistent postings have contributed to the discussion immensely. I, too, plan to use portions of the book at the August in-service for paras.
DeleteI think this book would be great for experienced teachers too, who sometimes just forget that modifications don't have to be huge - little things can make a difference. I think most of the teachers I know would like the refresher.
DeleteCan our paras use this book for points? I think it is awesome and they could really learn a lot from it.
The tally activity is very insightful. It does change one's perspective on what is really happening with a student. My experience has been that what I perceive is not always the reality. The sample behavior change plan, form 48, points out the importance of what happened before the incident of misbehavior. It is so important to find out what the antecedent is to the misbehavior. Sometimes if is recurring all one has to do is change up the schedule or eliminate the antecedent for the behavior to disappear. It all seems so simple, doesn't it? Lol. If only...
ReplyDeleteWhen a student refuses to do an assignment, I have suggested walking away and giving him some breathing room. Come back after a while and ask what I can do to help, ask how he's doing, let him know he is welcome to work in class or at recess or after school - his choice. This happens with my kids more in 5th and 6th grade and at some point they need to become responsible for their actions and grade. I would visit with him when he's feeling cooperative and discuss that all assignments must be done - they're not optional, and we need to find a way to make sure they get done.
ReplyDeleteAnother behavior issue would be if a student refuses to leave a small group. I think I would move the rest of the group, or even send them all out to get a drink for a minute. Then, even if he won't leave, they have left him. Might not work, but maybe...
Above all, I remind paras and teachers to stay calm, don't engage in power struggles or arguments. My kids recognize my "calm" voice, which is soft and quiet, accompanied by a smile. It is much more effective than raising my voice or getting flustered. Sometimes ignoring the situation works too. I had given pretty in depth instructions about writing a conclusion paragraph, gave examples for his, and pretty much walked him through it. He took about 20 seconds and wrote down 2 incomplete sentences that had nothing to do with my instructions. Honestly, I was pretty irritated. I told him it didn't look like he followed my directions and that he had some time to sit and chill out. The other student was ready to listen and work so I was going to help her for a while and that I'd check back with him later. After about 5 minutes of doing nothing, he picked up his pencil and wrote a decent conclusion paragraph. I thanked him for his hard work and the rest of the day was fine. That's how I try to do things - I'm not always successful!
I have a few students that don't like to write. When they begin to struggle or slow down I let them know that I sympathise with them and offer solutions like, "Just get some thoughts down first, then you can check for capitals and such later." Sometimes when I have the data to show them how much time they spend off task I share that with them (they know I share the information with their parents as well).
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