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In many school P.E. and recess have been shortened or gone away with all together. Many students spend their free time staring at tablets. Providing sports clubs and/or resources for sports outside of school will be a way to help them improve their physical wellness.

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This page gives information on adult, youth and other athletic competitions/leagues offered at our public parks.

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Camp Out in the Back Yard

Kids today spend 55 hours a week indoors using electronics, and less and less time outdoors. But how do you get your kid to experience the wonders of nature, develop creativity and learn to appreciate the virtues of quiet? Here, The Daily Green presents some ideas in conjunction with the National Wildlife Federation's Be Out There campaign, which urges parents to give their children a "Green Hour" each day: one hour outdoors engaging in unstructured play ( BeOutThere.org).

One idea? Camping. The outdoor vacation is making a comeback! Hiking and camping have been increasingly popular in recent years, and there's no better way to introduce your child to the wonders of the outdoors. But if your family's not quite ready for wilderness camping, organize a campout in your own backyard! It's cheap, fun and easier than you think. The Great American Backyard Campout is June 25, 2011. For more information, visit BackyardCampout.org.

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Camp Out in the Back Yard Kids today spend 55 hours a week indoors using electronics, and less and less time outdoors. But how do you get your kid to experience the wonders of nature, develop creativity and learn to appreciate the virtues of quiet?

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Some students may not be thrilled about their current occupation...school. They may struggle in school so it becomes dreadful to them. I will strive to make school an fun and exciting place.

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How you and your nanny can turn the 'dreaded school day' into something your kids enjoy. As the summer starts to wind to a close, kids know what's coming. It's the evil "s-word": school. Blek! But school doesn't have to be synonymous with fear, loathing, hatred, etc. for your kids.

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There are few things more aggravating to parents than a kid who "doesn't try." Whether it's math homework, dance class or those guitar lessons they begged for but now never practice, we want our children to be eager learners who embrace effort, relish challenges and understand the value of persistence. Too often, what we see instead is foot-dragging avoidance and whiny complaints of "This is boring!"
Finding the fun
Sometimes motivation is easy. When a task is fun and interesting, trying hard feels effortless. A child who loves basketball may endlessly practice free throws. A child who is fascinated by Greek gods may devour books on this topic. All of these are examples of intrinsic motivation because the motivation comes from the enjoyableness of the task itself.

When we can, it's a good idea to muster intrinsic motivation by turning have-to-do learning tasks into fun-to-do activities. Being playful, using humor, letting kids explore, arousing their curiosity...these are all ways to make learning tasks more enjoyable.

But intrinsic motivation will only take our kids so far. Sometimes learning is just plain work, and motivation needs to come from something beyond the task.

The risks of rewards
Often, when children's motivation is lagging, adults offer rewards to get kids moving. These tend to work temporarily. Using a sticker chart or offering to buy a small toy will often lead to a short-term increase in the behavior you want. Sometimes that's all you need. If it's a just-getting-over-the-hump situation, a small reward can help kids move past a bit of reluctance, especially if the task will become easier or more enjoyable with practice.

But using rewards to inspire motivation has drawbacks. After about three weeks, children tend to get bored with reward systems and parents get fed-up with them. Rewards imply that the task is optional. Kids may decide, "It's not worth it!" and give both the task and the reward a pass. The may also try to work the system by arguing about the criteria or doing the bare minimum just to get the reward.

Frequent use of rewards can also lead to a very unattractive bargaining attitude in children. You don't want to train your kids to respond to your every request with a demand of "What do I GET if I do that?"

Rewards can also undermine intrinsic motivation when they imply to children, "This is not something you would choose to do on your own! You're only doing it for the reward."

Rewards are about external control. But what we want for our kids is internal motivation that comes from who they are and what they value-motivation they can muster even when the task isn't pleasant, and when we're not around to prod them.

Building internal motivation
Based on their extensive research, Edward Deci and Richard Ryan at the University of Rochester point to three essential needs that underlie internal motivation: competence, autonomy and connection. By addressing these needs, we can help children develop internal motivation.

Competence
Mastery is tremendously motivating. When children first learn to ride a bike, they want to do it all day, every day. It's thrilling to have mastered an important new skill! On the flip side, children will resist and avoid activities which they think they're bad at doing. Whether it's writing, baseball or violin lessons, when kids think they're noticeably worse than their peers at doing some activity, they don't want to do it. They're likely to feel embarrassed or ashamed and to complain that the activity is "stupid and boring."

Sometimes, the answer is to increase children's competence by addressing skills gaps, learning disabilities or attention issues. Sometimes kids need help understanding how to become competent.

Emphasize effort and strategy. Research by Carol Dweck and her colleagues shows that praising kids for effort, rather than their innate abilities, makes them more willing to take on challenges. Children can also benefit from learning study strategies. For instance, studying for a test by actively doing math problems works better than passively glancing over notes. Focusing on effort and strategy gives kids a path toward competence.

Clarify the criteria. It's discouraging for children when they try hard but then hear, "You did it all wrong!" or "You skipped a big part!" If your child tends to jump in without reading the directions, going over the instructions or grading rubric together before your child begins work can prevent tears and wasted effort. Encourage your child to circle or underline key instructions and to check off completed parts of projects, so nothing gets missed.

Point to progress. Seeing their own progress helps kids feel capable. Break down big tasks into smaller steps so your child can see movement toward the goal. "Only one more section left!" Tell stories about times when your child struggled initially and then triumphed. You could say, "You used to have trouble with those kinds of problems, but now you really understand them!"

Autonomy
Nobody likes to feel controlled. Sometimes children are unmotivated because they feel they're being forced to do something. Obviously, we can't give kids total freedom to do only what they want to do, but we can minimize resistance by allowing some independence.

Offer choices. Giving children some say in how they do a task increases their motivation to do it. Let your child choose between equally acceptable alternatives. This or that? Now or then? Stick to just two or three options, because more can be overwhelming.

Give a rationale that makes sense to your child. It's easier for children to do things when they understand why they need to do them. Kids often complain, "Why do I have to learn this stuff that I'm never going to use?" One possible answer is "Because it gives you a chance to practice skills you'll use throughout your life, such as getting your work done efficiently, getting information to stick in your head, and working with others."

Encourage problem solving. The best solutions to motivation problems often come from kids themselves. In a calm moment, ask your child, "What do you think would help you get this done?" You may have to be persistent to encourage your child to move beyond complaints toward making a plan.

Connection
Relationships are an important source of motivation. Children want to do things that bring them closer to people or groups they care about.

Acknowledge your child's feelings. Sometimes what kids need to get themselves moving is just to know that someone understands their reluctance. You could say to your child, "You think it's unfair that your teacher gave you so much to do."

Find role models and social support. Motivation doesn't have to be solitary. A role model can help kids imagine what they want to become. Having a beloved teacher or being part of a close-knit team inspires children to try hard. Studying with friends can lighten the load of learning. Even just sitting next to someone while working can minimize avoidance and make effort seem less isolating.

Have reasonable expectations. Kids generally want to please their parents. This isn't their only motivation, but it's an important one. Children never outgrow their wish for their parents to be proud of them. False praise won't help, but we also don't want to be stingy with our approval.

No one is 100 percent motivated with all tasks at all times. We all have off days and tasks we'd rather avoid. And children aren't supposed to show adult-level productivity.

It takes practice and maturity to learn to muster internal motivation for less-than-fun tasks. In the meantime, we need to be patient and have reasonable expectations that reflect what our children typically do now, or just a bit beyond that. And we need to keep in mind that warmth and encouragement are more motivating to kids than criticism.
Have you ever had a special teacher who inspired and motivated you? How did your teacher do this?

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Teach Your Child to Love Learning: Keys to Kids' Motivation

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Sometimes learning is just plain work, and motivation needs to come from something beyond the task.

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Although it is a horrifying idea to think about their are young children who develop mental problems. I will make sure that my classroom is a caring and supportive environment.

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Mental Health may not be the easiest topic to discuss with young people so we have created several activities that help you begin the conversation.

The activities can be adapted for virtually any age group and address several different modes of learning including dramatic arts, creative movement, visual arts, and language arts.

Some of the activities, like the creative movement and discussion activities, focus on group interaction and may not result in a submission for Open*Up. They will, however, get your students thinking about mental health and perhaps help them be more understanding and accepting of each other.

Getting To Know You
PDF of Lesson Plan
This activity invites students to identify their own special qualities and then to learn about the special qualities of others. We sometimes allow differences among us to keep us apart. This activity encourages students to recognize and articulate what they have in common with others but also what is different or "unique" about their fellow students.

How Are You Feeling?
PDF of Lesson Plan
Empathy comes from an understanding of what other people are feeling. This activity will encourage empathy by helping students recognize the emotions of another person from the situations that person experiences and through his or her expressions.

It's All In Your Viewpoint
PDF of Lesson Plan
Situations aren't always what they seem. Using a well-known fairy tale, this lesson explores what happens when we take time to consider the different ways a particular scenario might have developed.

Simon's Hook
PDF of Lesson Plan
When teased, children often end up being hurt (emotionally, physically, or both), upset, and victimized. This activity will empower students so they can learn effective ways of handling the difficult situation of being teased or bullied and avoid being victimized.

Tools of Friendship
PDF of Lesson Plan
During the school years, children start to choose their friends more deliberately. This activity asks students to look beyond symptoms and behaviors of mental health disorders and appreciate people for their best qualities, not just their most obvious (and sometimes most annoying) ones.

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Mental Health may not be the easiest topic to discuss with young people so we have created several activities that help you begin the conversation. The activities can be adapted for virtually any age group and address several different modes of learning including dramatic arts, creative movement, visual arts, and language arts.

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Religion is a very touchy subject in schools. Some students have a family religion that they are born into and some discover their own later in life. I will always support my students and whatever they believe in.

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How to Teach About World Religions in Schools

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Ten tips for explaining today's most controversial subject

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Students that enter your classroom can have a wide variety of intellectual skills. They may not have learned well from a previous teacher or maybe their parents lack the ability to help them stay on track in school. I will do my best to find my students strengths and build on them.

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How to Accommodate Different Learning Styles - UMass Dartmouth

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We all have a way in which we best learn. Odds are, every student in your class has a different preferred learning style, which can make it difficult for you to be the most effective teacher. However, by trying to incorporate various methods into your teaching, you may be able to reach the majority of your students.

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Here is an example of fun ways for students to practice their math skills.

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Here is an example of fun ways for students to practice their math skills.

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Cool Math Games - Free Online Games for Learning and Fun

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Coolmath Games is a brain-training site for everyone, where logic & thinking & math meets fun & games. These games have no violence, no empty action, just a lot of challenges that will make you forget you're getting a mental workout!

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Some students (myself included) can be very shy in a busy classroom. They may not feel comfortable including themselves in group tasks or discussions. I will work on creating an environment that makes my shy students feel comfortable socializing with the other students.

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By: National Center for Technology Innovation and Center for Implementing Technology in Education (CITEd)

If you ask someone how they learned to read nonverbal cues in everyday conversations, they may reply that they learned these things through observing the interactions of family and friends; many people may reply that they aren't quite sure how they know that a certain expression means a friend is bored or annoyed — they just know. This is because for most people, the skills needed for social interaction come 'naturally' during the process of growth and development. However, for many individuals this process may not be so effortless and direct social skills instruction may be necessary (Canney and Byrne, 2006; DeGeorge, 1998).

Students who may benefit from social instruction

While many students — both those with and without disabilities — may struggle with reading nonverbal cues and engaging in social interactions, certain individuals are more likely than their peers to have difficulty with these interactions (Canney and Byrne, 2006; DeGeorge, 1998; Elksnin and Elksnin, 2000; Fussell, Macias and Saylor, 2005; Parsons, Leonard and Mitchell, 2006):

Students at risk for school failure;

Students with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD);

Students with learning disabilities (LD), particularly those with nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD or NVLD); and

Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The ability to navigate everyday social interactions can frequently present significant challenges for these students. While there are differences in the way these difficulties present themselves, most students who struggle with social interactions will exhibit difficulties in similar situations. For example, students with learning disabilities may interact frequently with peers on an informal level, but may have less experience and competence when it comes to engaging in more formal interactions (Schumaker and Deshler, 1995).

Social situations that present difficulties for students with disabilities can range from the fairly simple (engaging in a conversation with a peer) to the extremely complex (determining whether someone who seems friendly is actually harming you) (De Bildt et al., 2005). Because of this, social skills are often broken down into categories, or types of skill according to the level of complexity and interaction. An example of one way of categorizing social skills can be found in the table below:

Foundation Skills

Basic social interaction

Ability to maintain eye contact, maintain appropriate personal space, understand gestures and facial expressions

Interaction Skills

Skills needed to interact with others

Resolving conflicts, taking turns, learning how to begin and end conversations, determining appropriate topics for conversation, interacting with authority figures

Affective Skills

Skills needed for understanding oneself and others

Identifying one's feelings, recognizing the feelings of others, demonstrating empathy, decoding body language and facial expressions, determining whether someone is trustworthy

Cognitive Skills

Skills needed to maintain more complex social interactions

Social perception, making choices, self—monitoring, understanding community norms, determining appropriate behavior for different social situations.

Social interactions are incredibly complex and the list presented above is not exhaustive in terms of the skills that students may need to successfully navigate social situations. Additionally, each student's 'social skill profile' is different. Some students with disabilities may have strong foundation skills but lack appropriate interaction skills; others may require assistance in developing more basic skills such as making eye contact.

Because so many students in the classroom — both general and special education — may need some type of social skills instruction, it can be helpful to understand both the importance of social skill development and the most effective ways of remediating social skill deficits. For the purposes of this article, we focus on the social needs of students who may function fairly well academically, but who struggle with daily social interactions; a group which includes students with learning disabilities. Many of these students may have adequate or well—developed foundation skills, but need extra help developing higher order social skills.

Social skills are important for inclusion

Educators strive to reach each and every student in the environment that is the least restrictive and the most conducive to their learning. This means that many children with disabilities spend part or all of their day in the general education classroom. While these students are physically present and included in the classroom with their peers, students who are unable to interact appropriately with their peers cannot be said to be fully included (Waltz, 1999).

Because of these inappropriate interactions, students with LD may find themselves socially isolated or ostracized by their peers. For example, students with learning disabilities may have difficulties controlling physical or verbal impulses; they may shout out answers without being called on or inadvertently say something thoughtless or rude to a classmate (Hayes, 1994; Lavoie, 2005). Students with learning disabilities may also have trouble recognizing personal space and appropriate levels of physical contact (Hayes, 1994). These types of difficulties or other social skills deficits can serve to isolate students with learning disabilities, resulting in missed social opportunities.

When students miss out on the numerous social opportunities present in a typical classroom they are missing out on opportunities for academic enrichment (collaborating on projects, working in pairs, participating in class discussions) as well as personal and social enrichment (making new friends, playing games). There are a number of benefits, both academic and interpersonal to developing social competence:

Acceptance by peers;

Positive self—concept;

Academic achievement; and

Successful employment (DeGeorge, 1998; Elksnin and Elksnin, 2000; Fussell, Macias and Saylor, 2005).

Social skills instruction

The good news is that social skills can be fairly easily integrated into a special or general education curriculum using a variety of methods. Research has shown that social skills can be taught to students with disabilities — particularly those with nonverbal deficits — as long as educators teach skills directly and use a structured approach to instruction (DeGeorge, 1998; Elksnin and Elksnin, 2000; Peterson et al., 2006). A structured approach would involve "identifying critical social skills and then teaching them through modeling, role—playing and performance feedback" (Peterson et al., p. 2, 2006).

Generalizing social skills to new situations

One difficulty with social skills instruction is that many students with disabilities may struggle with generalizing new skills to different situations (Elksnin and Elksnin, 2000). You can help students generalize social skills in several ways:

Teach students new skills in the setting where they are most likely to be used (i.e. on a bus, in a restaurant, in the classroom, etc.) (Elksnin and Elksnin, 2000; NCLD, 2005); if this is not possible, role playing can be an effective substitute (Hayes, 1994);

Teach social skills that are valued by the student's community (parents, peers, teachers, family members, etc.); these skills are more likely to be reinforced (Elksnin and Elksnin); and

Teach social skills with a variety of mediums (video, books, games, software, etc.) across a variety of settings and situations (Elksnin and Elksnin, 2000).

Strategies for teaching social skills

Because students use social skills in nearly every aspect of their day, every moment has the potential to be a 'teachable moment'. To take advantage of this, you should try to teach social skills throughout the school day in a variety of ways. Some methods for introducing social skills include:

Incidental teaching — using a natural interaction between a student and adult to practice a skill (Elksnin and Elksnin, 2000);

Reading and discussing children's literature and videos — many children's stories are on social skills topics such as making new friends, dealing with bullies, or encountering new situations (DeGeorge, 1998);

Social skill autopsies — after a social interaction discuss what the child did, what happened, whether the outcome was positive or negative and what the child will do in the same situation in the future (Elksnin and Elksnin, 2000; Lavoie, 2005); and

Use of social stories — social stories are a successful way of teaching social skills to students with PDD/ASD (Waltz, 1999) because they can provide students with a narrative or script about a variety of situations and appropriate behavior.

Multimedia and social skills instruction

While research into the use of multimedia tools to teach social skills is fairly recent, there are a number of reasons to consider using multimedia technologies to augment your social skills instruction. Many types of multimedia technologies can be an excellent match for the specific learning styles and preferences of students with disabilities (virtual environments, simulations, videos, etc.) and new technologies are emerging rapidly.

For students with learning disabilities who are visual learners, videos, simulations, virtual environments, pictures and other multimedia can be effective teaching tools (Parsons, 2006; Parsons, Leonard and Mitchell, 2006). Additionally, many of the teaching and generalization strategies mentioned in the previous section mesh nicely with a variety of multimedia tools. Students seem to learn social skills best when they are taught in authentic situations using a variety of mediums. Activities listed above such as role playing, listening to social stories, observing peer behavior, and conducting social skills autopsies can all be augmented with the use of multimedia tools.

While there are commercially available software programs to teach social skills to students with disabilities, with some basic technology tools, it is also possible to create your own social skills tools; these tools can then be tailored to the specific needs of your students. For example, you could video tape your students in class or around the school and then use the video to conduct a discussion or "autopsy" of the social interactions. Still images from the video could be captured and used to create a slide show with text or loaded onto a handheld personal digital assistant (PDA) to be used as reminders when the student is in mainstream environments. It may make sense to use a combination of tools — both purchased and 'homemade' — for a variety of situations and skills. Consider the following resources and see more in the CITEd article, Multimedia Instruction of Social Skills.

Multimedia resources
References
References

Canney C., & Byrne A. (2006). Evaluating Circle Time as a support to social skills development - reflections on a journey in school-based research. British Journal of Special Education, 33(1), 19-24.

de Bildt A., Serra M., Luteijn E., Kraijer D., Sytema S., & Minderaa R. (2005). Social skills in children with intellectual disabilities with and without autism. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 49(5), 317-328.

DeGeorge K.L. (1998). Using children's literature to teach social skills. Retrieved on March 14, 2007 from http://www.ldonline.org/article/6194. Elksnin L.K., & Elksnin N. (2000). Teaching parents to teach their children to be prosocial. Retrieved March 14, 2007 from http://www.ldonline.org/article/6036.

Fussell J.J., Macias M.M., & Saylor C.F. (2005). Social skills and behavior problems in children with disabilities with and without siblings. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 36(2), 227-241.

Hayes M.L. (1994). Social skills: The bottom line for adult LD success. Retrieved November 21, 2007 from http://www.ldonline.org/article/6176. Lavoie R. (2005). Social skill autopsies: A strategy to promote and develop social competencies. Retrieved November 21, 2007 from http://www.ldonline.org/article/14910.

Lavoie R. (2005). Social skill autopsies: A strategy to promote and develop social competencies. Retrieved November 21, 2007 from http://www.ldonline.org/article/14910.

National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD). (2005). Helping children with LD find social success. Retrieved November 21, 2007 from http://www.ncld.org/content/view/955/.

O'Connor M.J., Frankel F., Paley B., Schonfeld A.M., Carpenter E., & Laugeson E.A. (2006). A controlled social skills training for children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74(4), 639-648.

Parsons L.D. (2006). Using video to teach social skills to secondary students with autism. Teaching Exceptional Children, 39(2), 32-38.

Parsons S., Leonard A., & Mitchell P. (2006). Virtual environments for social skills training: comments from two adolescents with autistic spectrum disorder. Computers in Education, 47(2), 188-206.

Peterson L.D., Young K.R., Salzberg C.L., West R.P., & Hill M. (2006). Using self-management procedures to improve classroom social skills in multiple general education settings. Education and Treatment of Children, 29(1), 1-21.

Waltz M. (1999). Pervasive Developmental Disorders: Finding a Diagnosis and Getting Help. O'Reilly & Associates.

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Practicing Social Skills: How to Teach Your Student Social Interactions

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LD OnLine is the leading website on learning disabilities, learning disorders and differences. Parents and teachers of learning disabled children will find authoritative guidance on attention deficit disorder, ADD, ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dysnomia, reading difficulties, speech and related disorders.

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By: Thomas McIntyre

Do any of these comments sound familiar?

"I tell him to stop doing that, but he keeps on doing it. Darn. This kid must have been raised by wolves!"

"That kid knows how she is supposed to behave. She CHOOSES to misbehave."

"I ask him what he is supposed to be doing and he can tell me. He knows better, so why isn't he doing it?"

Yep. Some kids know "intellectually" what to do, but they've never "physically" done it before. It's difficult for all of us to all-of-the-sudden display a completely different behavior than we've been showing for years. Changing a habit is no easy task. To get an idea of what it's like, try this activity:

Do now activity (Yes!...right now.)

Cross your arms on your chest. Notice how one arm goes over the other with it's hand tucked under it's biceps (upper arm). At the same time, the hand of the lower arm has it's hand resting on top of the biceps of the other limb. OK, now unfold your arms and switch their positions so that the one that was on the bottom is now on the top (and vice versa). All right. It took you awhile, but you were able to do it. Feel a bit uncomfortable and odd? Now, uncross the arms and fold them again in the new way. Again. And again. In fact, for the rest of your life, do it this new way. Don't ever make a mistake or revert to the old way.

Think that'll be difficult? Yep. Now imagine what we are asking our socially unskilled kids to do. We're expecting them to immediately change a behavior that is indelibly etched into their brains, feels "comfortable," and has been "assigned" to them by others who have labeled them as the type of person who "does that thing." Kids who display the wrong behaviors as they interact with others will have a long and arduous path to travel as they work to change to "a better way." Thank goodness they have a patient and supportive teacher like you. You'll support them as they struggle to show the new behavior. You'll focus on progress rather than perfection, seeing evidence of the new rather than vestiges of the old.

Why don't our kids have social skills?

Social skills are those communication, problem-solving, decision making, self-management, and peer relations abilities that allow one to initiate and maintain positive social relationships with others. Deficits or excesses in social behavior interfere with learning, teaching, and the classroom's orchestration and climate. Social competence is linked to peer acceptance, teacher acceptance, inclusion success, and post school success.

Many of our youngsters never learned "appropriate behavior" for social settings-situations in which they must interact/cope with others. Perhaps they did not receive this guidance in the home, either because of lack of training by elders or another system of values & behaviors being taught. Perhaps they did have good role models in the home and neighborhood who promoted "appropriate" behavior, but didn't pick it up as well as most kids, just like some kids learn to read without formal instruction previous to school, and some need the structured process of reading instruction.

Displaying poor social skills is likely to get one rejected by others (other kids don't like them and won't associate with them). Others of our kids work hard to show the new and better behaviors they've been told to show, but are still rejected by others, perhaps due to past reputation or maybe because others don't like the awkward and unsure demonstration of the newly learned behaviors which don't appear "natural." At other times, our pupils may still fail because they have difficulty monitoring and controlling their behavior when unexpected reactions occur. They misread social cues given off by others. For example:

Not noticing the rejection actions by others that non-verbally/verbally say, "Get lost."

Viewing the positive social forays of others as being threatening. If rejected because of their behavior (past or present), they'll rarely-if ever-get the chance to display the "correct" behaviors under naturalistic circumstances and fail to incorporate them into their behavioral repertoire.

Others of our kids will not respond positively to social skills instruction because they don't see the skills as being necessary or useful. For example:

assisting the teacher

avoiding conflict with adults

disagreeing in a non-confrontational manner

The behaviors they display now seem just fine to them. They obtain the attention, objects or power they seek.

A note to teachers of students with Emotional & Behavioral Disorders (EBD)

If you are a teacher of students with behavior disorders, are you teaching social skills to your students? Are you doing so in structured daily lessons? If not, why not? The defining characteristic of kids with EBD is their inability to build and sustain positive relationships. Kids with EBD are 3 times more likely than general ed kids to be rejected because of their behavior. It's time to use more than point systems to "manage" the behavior of these pupils. We need more than "the curriculum of control." We must teach the skills we wish to see.

What exactly is social skills training?

If our kids don't have 'em, we've got to teach 'em. "Social skills training" is a general term for instruction conducted in (behavioral) areas that promotes more productive/positive interaction with others. We teach social skills to students who are, at present, socially unskilled in order to promote acceptance by teachers, other adults and peers. A social skills training program might include (among other things):

Manners and positive interaction with others

approaching others in social acceptable ways

asking for permission rather than acting

making and keeping friends

sharing toys/materials

Appropriate classroom behavior

work habits/academic survival skills

listening

attending to task

following directions

seeking attention properly

accepting the consequences of one's behavior

Better ways to handle frustration/anger

counting to 10 before reacting

distracting oneself to a pleasurable task

learning an internal dialog to cool oneself down and reflect upon the best course of action

Acceptable ways to resolve conflict with others

using words instead of physical contact

seeking the assistance of the teacher or conflict resolution team

Examples of Social Skills for Pre-Schoolers

Skills that will help in later instruction (example: listening skills)

Skills that enhance success in school/daycare settings (example: asking a question)

How to make and keep friends (examples: asking for something, asking others to play)

Feelings:

awareness of own and other's feelings (called "Theory of Mind" - being able to predict how others might feel in a situation and understanding that others might not feel as you do)

coping with negative feelings

Positive, non-aggressive choices when faced with conflict

Dealing with stress:

what to do when you make mistakes

handling teasing and taunting

Social skills terms/definitions

Socially skilled: the ability to respond to a given environment in a manner that produces, maintains, and enhances positive interpersonal (between people) effects. Social competence: one's overall social functioning; a composite or multitude of generalized social skills. Social competence can be improved by teaching social behaviors/social skills.

Steps to follow in teaching social skills

Essentially, we teach social skills like we teach academics. Assess the level of the students, prepare the materials, introduce the material, model it, have them practice it, and provide feedback. If you purchase a social skills curriculum, it will probably include an assessment device, lessons, and activities. Teaching is a matter of following the directions in the kit. If you're on your own in developing a curriculum and devising lessons, here are the specifics:

Pre-teaching

Select the students who need training in certain skills, via assessment.

Identify powerful re-enforcers that will motivate the students to attend to lessons and attempt new behaviors. (examples: group and/or individual points, raffle tickets, progressively moving a paper dog along the wall toward a food bowl which earns a reward.)

Identify and specifically define the target behaviors to be taught. Decide which behaviors are needed. Define them precisely so that everyone agrees on what is to be accomplished, or what the student will be able to do/show after instruction.

Task analyze the target behavior(s), if this listing of sequenced actions is not done for you by a packaged program.

Teaching social skills

Create groups of 2-5 youngsters with similar skill deficits. Small groups give students a chance to observe others, practice with peers, and receive feedback.

Remove obstacles to learning (examples: close class door, remove corrections officers.)

Meet early in the day so that kids are attentive and have the whole day to practice what they learn in your lesson.

Introduce the program, it's content, and why and how it will benefit them (examples: it will help them to return to general education classes, help them obtain and keep a job, result in less trouble with teachers/parents, impress their boyfriend's/girlfriend's parents when they meet them, be able to convince the police to let them go if stopped).

Set up the rules and regulations. Identify the behaviors you'll reward during lessons-one person speaks at a time, pay attention, be positive-all of which may need to be taught in the initial lessons.

Teach the easy-to-learn skills first to ensure student (and teacher) success and reinforcement. Use the traditional teaching model of telling and showing them.

With the steps provided on a handout, have them:

learn what to do when you make mistakes

role play at least two different scenarios, displaying right and wrong behaviors

Provide feedback with lots of encouragement and specific praise:

from oneself

from peers

from the teachers

Practice, practice, practice through homework assignments, review sessions, assignments to real life settings, and surprise "tests." For example, your student has been learning to handle interactions with authority figures. Send the student on an errand and have an unknown teacher confront him/her, accusing the pupil of "forging" a hall pass. See if the student performs poorly, runs, is rude, etc. The teacher can then say, "This is a test. How did you do?"

Teach to the high status kids in your group first. Have them demonstrate the new behaviors and be rewarded. Have your lower status kids demonstrate the behaviors after the leaders do so. Make sure the lessons are interesting and fun so that kids look forward to the lessons. Start the teaching of "following directions" by having them cook, make candy or do magic tricks. Then move to more school-based examples.

Promote generalization to different settings/circumstances by:

practicing in different settings and under various conditions

prompting and coaching the student in naturally occurring situations

having the student submit self-report forms for each class period

meeting with the student to discuss performance throughout school or life

Monitor the behavior outside of the lessons. Keep track of the display of the behavior for IEP documentation, motivation of the student, etc. Have the student self-monitor/self-assess in order to build internal motivation/control.

Recognize and reward its display in everyday school situations. When you see a good situation for a student to display a "new" behavior, prompt its use with cues and hints as subtle as possible, but as strong as necessary.

Example:

Pedro is going to be congratulated by the principal for being the "most improved student," with regard to behavior. As the principal approaches, the teacher whispers into Pedro's ear, "Remember to wipe the booger off your finger before shaking hands with Mr. Yoon."
Wording for more socially advanced student
"What do we do with boogers before we shake hands?"

The student must decide on correct course of action.

Social skills training helps individuals make better choices in situations.

Activities

Look at this list of commonly needed social skills. Think of students you know who would most benefit from instruction in each one. (You could use this list as your assessment device and assign students to groups by skills):

saying please and thank you

dealing better with anger and frustration

asking questions appropriately

accepting the consequences administered by the teacher

accepting responsibility for one's own behavior

dealing with losing/frustration/making a mistake/insults in an appropriate manner (without yelling or physical aggression)

initiating a conversation with others

accepting "No" for an answer

joining a group activity already in progress

following directions

making friends

complimenting others

understanding the feelings of others (and accepting them as valid or OK)

compromising on issues

cooperating with peers

coping with taunts and verbal/physical threats/aggression from others

seeking attention in an appropriate manner

waiting one's turn

Behaviorally/specifically define the following behaviors that you might decide to teach:

asking permission

avoiding fighting with others

interrupting others appropriately

showing sportsmanship

Task analyze the following behaviors (Delineate the sub-behaviors in order-if there is an order-that must be displayed in order to accurately show the desired behavior that you have identified and defined):

listening

following directions

respecting the opinions of others

accepting praise from others

apologizing for wrong doing

In closing

We want to strive for the lofty goal of all of our students interacting positively with others - particularly us! In order to promote more socially skilled and appropriate actions among our pupils, we must move beyond simply telling them to stop what they are doing wrong. While we might tell them which behaviors to avoid, we then need to teach them what they should be doing in those situations.

Sometimes, the process involves pre-teaching, in which we work to prepare a pupil for the change process through a discussion of the drawbacks of displaying the present inappropriate behavior (e.g., rejection by peers, penalties from school administration), and the benefits of adopting a particular replacement for it.

Humans show specific behaviors because there is a benefit to doing so. In order to fully convince the student to change his or her ways, the benefits of the new actions must outweigh those of continuing the old patterns of behavior. The new ways must also be viewed by schoolmates as being acceptable. Often, packaged social skills programs promote social actions that, while esteemed by adults, would never be shown by any socially accepted kids in the mainstream. In that case, becoming skilled in the new behavior does little to promote acceptance and positive interactions.

As with the teaching of academics, begin with the prerequisite skills and then move on to the more advanced ones. Your curriculum will be comprised of the skills that are most important to classroom decorum and your students' social needs.

While the teaching of social skills consumes time during the school day, over the weeks and months we gain back lost academic instructional time as our students display more acceptable behavior. Our school life becomes easier and more rewarding. The same applies to the school-based and outside lives of our students.

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Teaching Social Skills to Kids Who Don't Yet Have Them

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Do your students have trouble getting along with others or you? Do you tell them to stop doing it, but they keep on doing it? Learn to understand and teach your students with social skills problems. Learn why they have these problems and how to teach them better behavior.