Management Plan

1. List three reasons why some students still cause problems even when there is a good classroom management plan in place? a) Their experiencing some temporary stressors in their life (ex: divorce) b) Their considered “at-risk” (ex: high poverty background) c) They have certain disabilities (ex: emotional or behavioral disabilities)

2. Discuss at least one benefit and one challenge of intervening early in the acting-out cycle to prevent problem behaviors from escalating. a) It’s much easier to deal with a child when they are only showing simple signs of agitation that it is to manage a child who’s already acting out. This also allows the teacher to intervene much earlier, when it’s easier to get behavior back on track. b) On the other hand, a trigger may go unnoticed and waiting too long may increase the behavior and escalate it towards more severe forms of behavior.

3. Think back to the Challenge at the beginning of this module. Ms. Rollison is having trouble with Patrick, who is a model student on some days and on others is rude and disruptive and refuses to work. Unfortunately, she probably does not have enough information to figure out what Patrick’s triggers are. Name three methods by which Ms. Rollison could determine his triggers. a) Observation and identifying patterns

b) Asking, in a non-judgmental way, Patrick about his actions. For example, “I noticed you are having problems with…[XYZ]” c) Contacting his parents to possible find out what his triggers are

4. Ms. Rollison is also having trouble with Tameka, who refuses to do any written work. In this case, you do have enough information to figure out what Tameka’s trigger is. What is it? a) It seems like Tameka may be struggling with written assignments, and so that may be a trigger for her. She may be embarrassed about her writing skill or may have had a bad experience with it in past academic situations.

5. Once either Patrick or Tameka enters the Agitation Phase, what would you recommend that Ms. Rollison do? If she doesn’t recognize the Agitation Phase, what would you recommend differently for the Acceleration Phase? a) During the Agitiation phase, Ms. Robinson should identify and interrupt the acting-out cycle. She could ask the child if she could assist them when she sees a child struggling or getting a little frustrated. Also, it’s important to recognize that sometimes it’s not a ‘within child’ problem and could be an instructional problem. A more engaging lesson can prevent agitation as well as the use of both contingent and noncontingent attention. b) During the Acceleration phase, it’s important to offer a prompt and walk away. Make the request known and then give the child the opportunity to respond. Once you see them engaging in the activity, give immediate reinforcement.

6. What is the primary reason that teachers are often reluctant to engage in debriefing during the Recovery Phase? Why is it important to debrief in spite of this reluctance? a) Often teachers feel that this will re-trigger the misbehavior. However, it’s important because by NOT debriefing, it may reinforce misbehavior. It sends the message that the student can get away with acting out without any consequences. Also, debriefing allows the teacher to further understand the child’s triggers and understand how to avoid future episodes.