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Are you wondering why your child is struggling?

Figuring out what's going on can feel overwhelming. That's why we're here to help. Introducing a simple step-by-step tool to help you figure out if the struggles you're seeing might be signs of a learning and thinking difference.

When you're ready, let's start your journey together!

First, you notice. We'll show you how you can be certain there's something going on with your child that's out of the ordinary.

Topics

Reading and writing

Math

Focus and organization

Self-control and hyperactivity

Frustration, stress, and anxiety

Developmental milestones

Next, you observe. In this step, you'll learn how to find and keep track of patterns in your child's behavior with observation tools that you can download.

Now, you talk. In this step, you'll find tips and conversation starters for talking with those who know your child best, like teachers, aides, and other caregivers. And of course, don't forget to talk to your child about what you're observing.

Finally, don't forget to engage. We'll guide you on how and when to connect with experts like pediatricians and school specialists, who can help you figure out if your child might have a learning and thinking difference.

Our partner

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists, and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety, and well-being of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.

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Take N.O.T.E. - Find Out Why Your Child Is Struggling

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Figuring out what's going on can feel overwhelming. That's why we're here to help. Introducing a simple step-by-step tool to help you figure out if the struggles you're seeing might be signs of a learning and thinking difference. First, you notice.

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How to Use Principles of Applied Behavior Analysis in a Special Education Classroom.

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How to Use Principles of Applied Behavior Analysis in a Special Education Classroom.

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Saint Joseph's University

Many teachers already know of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) as the science of applying principles of behavior change to affect socially significant behaviors. ABA-based strategies are used to either increase skills or prevent and decrease maladaptive responses. Its principles are in use across many different fields, including special education. Special education teachers may be familiar with ABA from being part of a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) for challenging behaviors, but there is more to the science of ABA that can help a student in the classroom; for instance, it can be used as a teaching tool, a preventative tool or to maintain and generalize skills already learned. The following are some ways in which ABA principles can be applied to the special education classroom.

Pairing

Pairing is the process of associating fun, good and meaningful experiences with a student's teachers and support staff. In the beginning of establishing the teacher-student relationship, it can be beneficial to schedule time in the day to interact with the student using their preferred items or activities and/or talk to the student about their favorite things (e.g., TV shows, music), showing an interest in what they're doing or saying. During this period of time, these preferred activities are offered non-contingently and little to no demands are placed upon the student. Once the educator has established himself or herself as "the giver of the goods," then instructions and work expectations can be introduced. Students will be less resistant to the work because they've experienced that the teacher is also a fun person to be with, not just the person who assigns them work.

Plan for Prompts

You may have heard that the goal of special education teachers and paraprofessionals is to work ourselves out of a job-in other words, being there to help and prompt, but doing it in a way such that the student won't need our help in the future. Prompts are cues that assist the learner in responding correctly or most appropriately for the situation so that they may experience success. Prompts can be verbal (e.g., giving instructions for each step), visual (e.g., photographs, signs, labels), gestural (e.g., pointing to the correct response, directing a student's attention to the material), environmental (e.g., placing materials closer to where the student will need them) or physical (e.g., tap on the elbow, hand-over-hand guidance). They are supposed to be temporary, but can easily become part of the response chain; this is what is known as prompt dependency. In order to prevent this from occurring, it is beneficial to list and discuss with all the support staff the type of prompt(s) to be used when teaching a particular skill, how long to wait before prompting and the criteria for fading prompts down a prompting hierarchy (for example, after two consecutive correct responses using a verbal prompt, fade to a gestural prompt) or to something more likely to be found in the student's home, school or community environment (e.g., signs, material placement). Staff will need to monitor the performance of their students in order to know when to fade their prompts. (See "Gather and Monitor Data," below.)

Differential Reinforcement

Throughout the school day, teaching staff will observe a variety of behaviors and student responses. Some of them will be more desirable than others. Differential reinforcement is a plan that entails reinforcing one set of behaviors and withholding reinforcement for another (usually, the less desirable ones); thus, one set of behaviors increases while the other decreases. It is also the process behind shaping new skills, as an increased expectation is reinforced while performance that does not meet the new criterion is not. In order to improve the effectiveness of differential reinforcement it is essential to have: a) team involvement, in which everyone who comes into contact with the student knows about and is invested in the target behaviors to reinforce, as well as those not to reinforce; b) consistent responses by all when either set of behaviors is demonstrated; and c) a shift in the balance of reinforcement so that positive or newly-taught behaviors are reinforced more often than negative behaviors. As an example, you may have a student who swears to get a reaction and attention from staff. Use of differential reinforcement would mean that other forms of getting attention (raising a hand, telling a joke, sharing a story, showing work) should be reinforced more often than swearing. This involves a concerted effort by all staff to "catch" the student using more desirable attention-getting behaviors so that the balance shifts from swearing to these newly-shaped behaviors.

Gather and Monitor Data

One of the basic tenets of ABA is the need to demonstrate effectiveness by measuring responses and concluding whether or not what is being done is working. This is achieved through gathering data on the behaviors and performance of students before, during and after a program is implemented. A variety of dimensions of behavior can be measured depending on the goal of the program; for instance, one can measure frequency, duration, response time, independent vs. prompted skills or correct vs. incorrect answers. The concern, of course, is what to measure, how to measure it, when and for how long, Again, a team approach to discussing and assigning a simple yet efficient means of gathering data throughout the school day (but not necessarily all day) will help to ensure that the data will be of use to you. Data can then be graphed and analyzed for patterns and trends; this is an excellent source of feedback for staff, students and parents about what is working and not working. Regular and frequent monitoring of this data will ensure that effective strategies remain in place and that ineffective practices are discontinued. It will also help to determine if and when criteria have been met, which results in changes to a program (e.g., when to fade prompts or increase expectations).

The above is just a small sample of how ABA can benefit a student's programming and skill acquisition. Your school district may have a behavior resource team or Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) on staff to assist in the development of behavior plans and to share other ABA resources for the classroom.

For more information on ABA in the classroom:

About Author: Tricia-Lee Keller

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How to Use Principles of Applied Behavior Analysis in a Special Ed Classroom

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Saint Joseph's University Many teachers already know of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) as the science of applying principles of behavior change to affect socially significant behaviors. ABA-based strategies are used to either increase skills or prevent and decrease maladaptive responses. Its principles are in use across many different fields, including special education.

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Use these special education resources to help you become a better teacher and advocate for students with special needs. Find information on special education careers, social skills, testing, and more.

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Use these special education resources to help you become a better teacher and advocate for students with special needs. Find information on special education careers, social skills, testing, and more.

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Awesome Resource for Developing the Behavior Intervention Plan

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Awesome Resource for Developing the Behavior Intervention Plan

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Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) | PBIS World

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"Classroom Management" means creating systems that support positive behavior across a classroom. 

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"Classroom Management" means creating systems that support positive behavior across a classroom. 

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Taking NOTES at home.

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Applied Behavior Analysis Programs Guide

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Working with children with disabilities takes a person with special qualifications and a special type of heart. This rewarding career path is a great way to make a steady income while helping children become valuable members of society. These children require people with specialized training, though. This specialized training is in the field called Applied Behavior Analysis. Applied Behavior Analysis will teach a person how to use several techniques to produce results in children who need assistance. Here are five of those valuable techniques.

Positive Reinforcement

A child with learning or social disabilities may not know how to respond in certain situations. Therefore, when they do something correctly, a properly trained professional will know to use positive reinforcement immediately to encourage this behavior in the future. Students will learn the balance of when to reward somebody or when to consider the proper behavior to be expected.

Negative Reinforcement

Many times, a child will not act properly. When this happens, the behavior needs to be corrected immediately. A good way to correct bad behavior is to punish the child. Remember, the child needs to be punished immediately and know what they are being punished for. More important, the punishments must be consistent. Too often, children are punished inconsistently, and the punishment is more confusing to the child than effective.

Prompting and Fading

Prompts are visual or verbal cues to encourage a behavior. Verbal cues are gentle reminders. Visual cues are even less direct and might be a gesture or a look of your eyes. The child will see this cue and be reminded to behave in a simple way. Examples could be taking their shoes off when walking into the house or washing their hands before a meal. The idea is to eventually fade out the prompts when the child no longer needs them. The prompts can be helpful because they are typically not intimidating or accusatory.

Task Analysis

This is a model to help learn about the particular child rather than correct or reinforce behavior. A teacher will give a child a task and watch how they preform it. The analysis is broken down into a number of categories including:

Physical actions

Cognitive actions

Repetition

Allocation

EnvironmentOnce a professional has analyzed how a child preforms tasks, they can use this information to make other tasks easier for the particular child.

Generalization

This is a model to help the child learn. The teacher will take what the child has learned in one setting and apply it to other settings. If a child knows how to sing the alphabet when singing it, the teacher can take their knowledge of the alphabet and try to apply it to other things, such as teaching the child to spell their name.

Related Resource: Top 10 Best Applied Behavior Analysis Online Programs 2015

Children with disabilities need personalized and special assistance. Luckily, there are a number of people trained in these particular techniques and others that help make children who need a little more help successful and happy adults. You can learn these techniques in detail, too, by studying applied behavior analysis.

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5 Techniques Used in Applied Behavior Analysis - Applied Behavior Analysis Programs Guide

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Working with children with disabilities takes a person with special qualifications and a special type of heart. This rewarding career path is a great way to make a steady income while helping children become valuable members of society. These children require people with specialized training, though.

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Most kids get in trouble now and then at school. But if a child acts out over and over again, it can be hard for them (and their classmates) to learn in school. To help a child behave, a school may put in place a formal plan.

Here's what you need to know about behavior intervention plans (or BIPs).

What's a Behavior Intervention Plan?

A BIP is a written plan that teaches and rewards good behavior. It can be a single page or many pages. The purpose is to prevent or stop misbehavior, not just punish the child.

The plan has three key parts. First, the plan lists the problem behavior. Second, it describes why it's happening. Third, it puts in place strategies or supports to help.

How do schools figure out why a child is misbehaving? And how do they know what strategies or supports to use? They put together a team of school staff to look into it.

The school team may interview the child, the teacher, and other staff. They should also observe the child and talk to the child's family to figure out what's happening. Testing might be used, too, as well as a review of past report cards or incidents. (This process is called a functional behavior assessment.)

Here's an example of how a BIP might work. Say a middle-schooler is cracking jokes in history class every day. When the teacher asks the child to stop, the child responds with insults.

The child is sent to the principal's office almost every day. And neither the child nor the child's classmates are learning any history.

There are many possible reasons kids might disrupt class like this. They might be restless. They may not understand what's being taught. They might want attention from the teacher or other students.

Sometimes, kids don't know why they do what they do. The school team has to do some detective work to figure out why the child is acting out.

Once the team understands the reason (or reasons), it puts together the plan to prevent it from happening.

For example, if a child wants attention, the school may try to channel this in a more positive way-maybe letting the child perform in a talent show. If the problem is restlessness, the child could take breaks when feeling antsy. The plan may even include teaching the child strategies for staying focused.

Educators refer to these strategies and supports as interventions. This means they're formal and done for a specific amount of time. The team also will keep an eye on how they're working. That's why the plan is called a behavior intervention plan.

Who Gets a Behavior Intervention Plan?

Not every child gets a behavior plan. They're meant for kids who have a lot of trouble behaving appropriately, and only when it gets in the way of their learning.

Some kids already have 504 plans or IEPs to help them thrive in school. For these kids, the 504 or IEP team will decide whether to add a BIP. If added, the plan becomes part of their education program. Sometimes, the law requires schools to consider giving a child a behavior plan -for example, if a child with an IEP or 504 plan is suspended from school for several days.

But kids don't have to have a 504 plan or IEP to get a behavior plan. If kids act out in school and it's hurting their learning, they might get a BIP. It's up to the school to decide how to help.

Kids change over time, and so should their behavior plans. The school should review the BIP every so often, and adjust it if there's new information or if the child needs a change.

Sadly, lots of behavior plans don't work out at first. That could happen if there's a mismatch between the behavior problem and the strategies in the plan. Sometimes, the school assumes a child is acting out for one reason, but it's not the real reason.

For example, if a child is cracking jokes to hide a reading difficulty, then letting the child be part of the talent show might not help.

Another pitfall is that a school and a family set up a plan but don't come back to review it. If the behavior plan doesn't change with the child, it can get outdated quickly-especially if there are rewards or incentives in the plan. What works at first might soon become "old hat" and need to be switched out.

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Behavior Intervention Plans: What You Need to Know

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Most kids get in trouble now and then at school. But if a child acts out over and over again, it can be hard for them (and their classmates) to learn in school. To help a child behave, a school may put in place a formal plan.

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"Behavior Management" means creating systems that will manage and eliminate difficult behaviors that prevent students from succeeding in an academic environment.  

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"Behavior Management" means creating systems that will manage and eliminate difficult behaviors that prevent students from succeeding in an academic environment.  

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Many people think the words tantrum and meltdown mean the same thing. And they can look very similar when you see a child in the middle of having one. But a meltdown is very different from a tantrum. Knowing the differences can help you learn how to respond in a way that better supports your child.

A tantrum is an outburst that happens when kids are trying to get something they want or need. Temper tantrums are pretty typical for toddlers and preschoolers. Once kids have more language to express themselves, tantrums tend to subside a little.

But some kids are more prone to tantrums even after those early years. They continue to be impulsive and find keeping their emotions in check challenging. They may get angry or frustrated quickly.

Kids with these challenges might have a tantrum if they don't score in a game of kickball, for example. Or get upset when siblings get more attention than they do. Yelling, crying, and lashing out aren't appropriate ways to express feelings, but it's happening for a reason. And kids ultimately have some control over that behavior.

Kids may even stop in the middle of a tantrum to make sure their parent or caregiver is looking at them and then pick up where they left off. The tantrum is likely to stop when kids get what they want-or when they realize they won't get what they want by acting out.

A meltdown is very different from a tantrum. It's a reaction to feeling overwhelmed.

For some kids, it happens when they're getting too much sensory input-that's information coming in from their senses. Kids may become upset by certain sounds, sights, tastes, and textures. You might hear this called sensory overload.

The commotion of an amusement park might set them off, for instance. For other kids, it can be a reaction to having too many things to think about. A back-to-school shopping trip could cause a tantrum that triggers a meltdown.

A meltdown is a reaction to trying to process too much sensory input all at once. Too much sensory input can be overwhelming-not just for kids, but for adults, too.

Here's one way to think about too much sensory input. Imagine filling a small water pitcher. Most of the time, you can control the flow of water and fill the pitcher a little at a time. But sometimes the water flow is too strong and the pitcher overflows before you can turn the water off.

That's how a meltdown based on sensory overload works. The noise at the amusement park or the stack of clothes to try on in the dressing room at the mall is sensory input that floods the brain. Once that happens, some experts think the "fight-or-flight" response kicks in. That excess input overflows in the form of yelling, crying, lashing out, or running away-or even just shutting down completely.

Different Strategies for Tantrums and Meltdowns

The causes of tantrums and meltdowns are different, and there are strategies that can help stop each of them. A key difference to remember is that tantrums usually have a purpose. Kids are looking for a certain response. Meltdowns are a reaction to something. And even if they start out as tantrums, they're usually beyond a child's control.

Kids can often stop a tantrum once they get what they want, or when they're rewarded for using a more appropriate behavior. That's not the case with meltdowns.

Meltdowns tend to end in one of two ways. One is fatigue-kids wear themselves out. The other is a change in the amount of sensory input. This can help kids feel less overwhelmed. For example, your child may start to feel calmer when you step outside the store and leave the mall.

So how can you handle tantrums and meltdowns differently?

To tame tantrums, acknowledge what your child wants without giving in. Make it clear that you understand what your child is after. "I see that you want my attention. When your sister is done talking, it'll be your turn." Then help your child see that there's a more appropriate behavior that will work. "When you're done yelling, tell me calmly that you're ready for my time."

To manage a meltdown, help your child find a safe, quiet place to de-escalate. "Let's leave the mall and sit in the car for a few minutes." Then provide a calm, reassuring presence without talking too much to your child. The goal is to reduce how much information is coming in.

Watching your child have a tantrum or a meltdown and worrying about other people's reactions can be stressful. It may help for both you and your child to know that these behaviors are common and they can improve.

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The Difference Between Tantrums and Meltdowns

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Many people think the words tantrum and meltdown mean the same thing. And they can look very similar when you see a child in the middle of having one. But a meltdown is very different from a tantrum. Knowing the differences can help you learn how to respond in a way that better supports your child.

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Functional Behavioral Assessment: Conducting an ABC Analysis

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PBIS World | A Complete Tier 1 Through Tier 3 Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports System

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PBIS World is in no way affiliated, associated, or connected with any other website, entity, organization, or federal, state, local, or other government agency, department, program, policy, organization, or initiative.

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Colorado Department of Education - SpEd Technical Assistance Manuals

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Colorado Department of Education - SpEd Technical Assistance Manuals

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Find what you were looking for?

If you have problems with broken links or accessing the content on this page, please contact our web content coordinator Amanda Timmerman at Timmerman_A@cde.state.co.us. Please copy the URL link for this page into the email when referencing the problem you are experiencing.

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Technical Assistance (TA) for the Office of Special Education

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If you have problems with broken links or accessing the content on this page, please contact our web content coordinator Amanda Timmerman at Timmerman_A@cde.state.co.us. Please copy the URL link for this page into the email when referencing the problem you are experiencing.

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Behavior is one of the greatest challenges a special education teacher faces. This is especially true when students receiving special education services are in inclusive classrooms.

There are a number of strategies that teachers-both special and general education-can employ to help with these situations. We will begin by looking at ways to provide structure, move on to addressing behavior in general, and look at structured interventions as prescribed by federal law.

Classroom Management

The most effective way to deal with difficult behavior is to prevent it. It really is as simple as that, but that's also sometimes easier to say than to put into practice in real life.

Preventing bad behavior means creating a classroom environment that reinforces positive behavior. At the same time, you want to stimulate attention and imagination and make your expectations clear to the students.

To start, you can create a comprehensive classroom management plan. Beyond establishing rules, this plan will help you institute classroom routines, develop strategies to keep student's organized and implement Positive Behavior Support systems.

Behavior Management Strategies

Before you have to put a Functional Behavior Analysis (FBA) and Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) in place, there are other strategies you can try. These will help refocus behavior and avoid those higher, and more official, levels of intervention.

First of all, as a teacher, it's important that you understand the potential behavioral and emotional disorders children in your classroom may be dealing with. These may include psychiatric disorders or behavioral disabilities and each student will come to class with their own needs.

Then, we also need to define what inappropriate behavior is. This helps us understand why a student may be acting out the way she has in the past. It also gives us guidance in properly confronting these actions.

With this background, behavior management becomes part of classroom management. Here, you can begin to implement strategies to support a positive learning environment. This may include behavior contracts between yourself, the student, and their parents. It could also involve rewards for positive behavior.

For example, many teachers use interactive tools like the "Token Economy" to recognize good behavior in the classroom. These point systems can be customized to fit the individual needs of your students and classroom.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a research-based therapeutic system based on Behaviorism (the science of behavior), which was first defined by B.F. Skinner. It has been proven to be successful in managing and changing problematic behavior. ABA also provides instruction in functional and life skills, as well as academic programming.

Individual Education Plans (IEP)

An Individual Education Plan (IEP) is a way to organize your thoughts in a formal manner regarding a child's behavior. This can be shared with the IEP team, parents, other teachers, and school administration.

The goals outlined in an IEP should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and have a timeframe (SMART). All of this helps keep everyone on track and gives your student a very detailed sense of what is expected of them.

If the IEP is not working, then you might need to resort to the formal FBA or BIP. Yet, teachers often find that with earlier intervention, the right combination of tools, and a positive classroom environment, these measures can be avoided.

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How to Overcome Behavior Problems in the Classroom

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Behavior is one of the greatest challenges a special education teacher faces. This is especially true when students receiving special education services are in inclusive classrooms. There are a number of strategies that teachers-both special and general education-can employ to help with these situations.

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BIP example-noncompliance verbal and physical aggression 

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We sometimes make the mistake of interchanging the terms "behavior management" and " classroom management." The two terms are related, one might even say intertwined, but they are different. "Classroom management" means creating systems that support the kind of positive behavior across a classroom. "Behavior management" is made strategies and systems that will manage and eliminate difficult behaviors that prevent students from succeeding in an academic environment.

A Continuum of Management Strategies and RTI

Response To Intervention is built on universal assessment and universal instruction followed by more targeted interventions, Tier 2 which applies research-based strategies, and finally, Tier 3, which applies intensive interventions. Response to Intervention also applies to behavior, though since our students have already been identified, they do not participate in RTI. Still, the strategies for our students will be the same.

in RTI are universal interventions. This is where classroom management is applied. Positive Behavior Support is about planning for your students to succeed. When we fail to plan...we plan to fail. Positive behavior support puts reinforcement in place ahead of time, with explicit identification of preferred behavior and reinforcement. By having these things in place, you avoid the poisonous reactive responses, the "Can't you do anything right?" or "What do you think you are doing?" Reactive measures present the danger if not the certainty that you will sour relationships with your students without really solving the problem (or lead to a decrease in the unwanted behavior.)m

Classroom management strategies, to succeed, must include:

Consistency: Rules must be reinforced consistently, and reinforcement (rewards) must be delivered consistently and quickly. No changing the rules: If a child earns a five-minute break on the computer, don't take it away because you didn't like how they behaved in line on the way to lunch.

Contingency: Students need to understand how consequences and rewards are related to behavior. Clearly define how the consequence or the reward is contingent on the classroom behavior or performance that is expected.

No drama. Delivering a consequence should never involve negative speech or snarky response.

Classroom Management

Classroom Management Strategies needed to successfully manage your classroom need to include:

Structure: Structure includes rules, visual schedules, classroom job charts, and the way you organize the desks and how you store or provide access to materials.

Rules.

Seating plans that support the instruction that you will be using. Rows will not facilitate small group instruction, but islands or clusters may not facilitate the kind of attention you may want for large group instruction.

Visual schedules, everything from sticker charts to encourage work completion to visual daily schedules to support transitions.

Accountability: You want to make your students accountable for their behavior as a structural underpinning of your management plan. There are a number of straightforward methods to create systems for accountability.

A behavior chart for a classroom.

Sticker charts to manage breaks and workflow.

A token system. This will also appear under reinforcement, but it creates a visual way for students to account for completed work.

Reinforcement: Reinforcement will range from praise to break time. How you reinforce your student's work will depend on your students. Some will respond well to secondary reinforcers, like praise, privileges and having their name on a certificate or an "honors" board. Other students may need more concrete reinforcement, such as access to preferred activities, even food ( for children for whom secondary reinforcement doesn't work.

Behavior Management

Behavior management refers to managing problem behaviors from specific children. It is helpful to do some "triage" to decide what behaviors are creating the most challenges to success in your classroom. Is the problem a specific child, or is it a problem with your classroom management plan?

In many cases, addressing a cluster of problem behaviors with a specific strategy may resolve some difficulties while at the same time teaching the replacement behavior. While addressing group issues, it is equally important to address and intervene with individual students. There are a number of different strategies to use to teach the replacement behavior. Behavior management requires two kinds of interventions: proactive and reactive.

Proactive approaches involve teaching the replacement, or desired behavior. Proactive approaches involve creating lots of opportunities to use the replacement behavior and reinforce them.

Reactive approaches involve creating consequences or punishment for the undesired behavior. Even though the best way to create the behavior you desire is reinforce the replacement behavior, extinguishing a behavior is often not possible in a classroom setting. You need to provide some negative consequences in order to avoid seeing peers adopt a problem behavior because they only see the positive results of the behavior, whether it is tantrums or work refusal.

In order to create successful interventions and to create a Behavior Improvement Plan, there are a number of strategies that will provide success:

Positive Strategies

1. Social narratives: Creating a social narrative that models the replacement behavior with the target student can be a powerful way to remind them of what the replacement behavior should look like. Students love having these social narrative books, and they have proven (There's lots of data) to be effective in changing behavior.

2. Behavior contracts: A behavior contract will lay out the expected behaviors and both the reward and consequences for specific behaviors. I have found behavior contracts to be an essential part of success since it involves parents.

3. Home notes: This might be considered both proactive and reactive responses. Still, providing parents ongoing feedback and providing hourly feedback to students makes this a powerful tool to focus on the desired behavior.

Reactive Strategies

1. Consequences: A good system of "logical consequences" helps teach the behavior you want and put everyone on notice that some behaviors are not acceptable.

2. Removal. Part of a reactive plan should include moving children with aggressive or dangerous behavior to another setting with an adult to be sure that education programming continues. Isolation is used in some places but is increasingly being proscribed by law. It is also ineffective.

3. Time out from reinforcement. There are several ways to administer a time out from reinforcement plan that does not remove the child from the classroom and exposes them to instruction.

4. Response cost. Response cost can be used with a token chart, but not necessarily for all children. It works best with students who clearly understand the contingent relationship between the token chart and receiving reinforcement.

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Behavior Management versus Classroom Management

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Learn the differences between behavior management and classroom management, and when each is the right solution to an issue.

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NM Public Education Department SpEd Technical Assistance Manuals

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NM Public Education Department SpEd Technical Assistance Manuals

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Developing Quality IEPs The Interpreted Education Identifying, Serving and Educating Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Prior to assessment for special education

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Replacement Behavior as a Positive Approach to Problem Behaviors

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Learn about the strategy of using a replacement behavior to replace a target—or problem—behavior and to help support student success in the classroom.

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Behaviour Management Tips for New Teachers

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Writing and Using Social Narratives to Address Problem Behavior.

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Writing and Using Social Narratives to Address Problem Behavior.

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When working in an elementary school as a speech language pathologist (SLP), I had a student, who we will call Matt, who was a third-grade student with high-functioning autism and very verbal, to say the least! However, even though he could be verbose at times, he struggled with appropriate social behavior and communication. One day, while in line in the cafeteria, Matt suddenly started to scream bloody murder! We had no idea why he was screaming or what the dilemma was. Was he injured? Was he in pain? Was he frightened? Turned out there wasn't any chocolate milk left, his beverage of choice for lunch! How did we figure out what the problem was, and how did we teach him the appropriate social skill for when the situation would arise again? We implemented the evidence-based practices of visual supports by designing a Cartoon Strip Conversations and a social narrative.

Research has shown that cartoon techniques, such as thought and speech bubbles, enable the individual with autism to get a sense of social interactions and understand the hidden rules that govern behaviors (Kerr & Durkin, 2004). One cartooning strategy is known as Comic Strip Conversations developed by Carol Gray (1994). By illustrating conversation through simple drawings, the strategy helps the student to identify "what other people say and do" and emphasizes "what other people may be thinking." Drawing a short conversation with symbols to represent persons and speech while talking, assists the student in learning how general conversations occur.

For Matt, we used a white board and a marker. Using stick figures, thought bubbles and talk bubbles, we were able to first identify what Matt was thinking when he was screaming ("there's no chocolate milk") and then to show him that the cafeteria ladies and his friends didn't know how to help him when he screamed, because they were not thinking what he was thinking, that his screaming hurt their ears and that they would like to help him if they knew what he wanted.

Because of their lack of understanding of social cues or rules, people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often face challenges when having to respond to social behavior and engage in social interactions. There are a variety of evidence-based practices (EBPs) you can use, which have been shown to be effective for teaching social skills to students with ASD. The National Professional Development Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders has established social narratives as one of these EBPs. Not only are social narratives an EBP, but they are easy to develop and implement in your classroom, in your home or at the job site. Social narratives are short stories, written by you and read with individuals with ASD. Educators, paraeducators, parents, or other professionals can write social narratives for various situations. Based on the individual's needs and functioning levels in an academic or nonacademic setting, social narratives can guide the individual with ASD toward appropriate behaviors or responses. Social narratives are individualized according to the learner needs and typically are short and may include pictures or other visual supports. Social narratives give objective statements about a variety of social situations. You can use these stories to provide social cues and correct your students' responses to situations in a nonthreatening manner. Social narratives have also shown to be helpful in addressing a wide variety of behaviors including displaying aggression, maintaining personal hygiene, reducing anxiety and demonstrating classroom expectations (Ganz, Cook, & Earles-Vollrath, 2006). Social stories are most helpful when you read them immediately before the activity and consistently at the same time and place.

How do you create a social narrative?

According to the Texas Statewide Leadership for Autism (2013), even though there are special steps and rules to be developed for different types of social narratives, the following guidelines are considered appropriate for creating social narratives:

1. Identify the social situation or setting to be taught.
2. Identify the target behavior to teach and define it operationally for data collection.
3. Collect data to decide the baseline of the target behavior.
4. Write a social narrative based on the child's needs and functioning levels. Decide the length of the narrative, including the number of sentences, phrases, level of vocabulary and so on.
5. Use visual cues, including pictures, photos or symbols, considering the child's interests and levels.
6. Read the social narrative to the child and model the desired behavior.
7. Collect data on the target behavior.
8. Review the data and results of the intervention.
9. Consider and address the maintenance and generalization of the target behavior.

For more in depth guidelines and implementation check list, go to the National Professional Development Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at https://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/imce/documents/Social-Narratives-Complete-10-2010.pdf.

What Should You Write?

In her guidelines for Social Stories™, Gray (1995) outlines four types of sentences: descriptive, perspective, directive and affirmative when writing a social narrative.

Descriptive sentences answer your 'wh' questions such as where will the activities occur, who is involved, and what will happen. For example:

I have lunch every day.
Usually I have chocolate milk for lunch.
Sometimes there is no chocolate milk.

Perspective sentences describe reactions and feelings of your student and of other people. Perspective sentences include:

When there is no chocolate milk, it makes me upset.
It is okay, but it is not okay to scream.
When I scream no one knows what I want, and it may scare my friends.

Directive sentences tell your student what to do in the situation. Directive sentences might look like:

The next time there is no chocolate milk, I will try to choose something else to drink, or ask the cafeteria ladies if there is any more chocolate milk, or ask a friend if they would like to trade milks.

Affirmative sentences confirm that the social situation or your student's actions are positive. For instance:

Using my words instead of screaming will make my friends and teachers happy.
I will feel proud that I was able to solve a problem without screaming.

These sentences can be used in a variety of combinations to create your social narrative. Your social narratives are not meant to be a list of desired behaviors, but rather a story that provides concrete details to aid in better behavior choices. To prevent these kinds of lists, Gray (2000) suggests keeping your sentence types to a ratio of one directive sentence to every two to five descriptive or perspective statements.

How can I be creative with my social narratives?

Like all intervention we create for individuals on the autism spectrum, our social narratives should be written to be motivating and positive. Social narratives do not require fancy artwork. They can be created with or without pictures depending on the needs of the individual. Many of your students with ASD are also very visual and might benefit from pictures depicting the situation included with the story. You can use picture symbols from a commercial program such as Boardmaker or Lesson Pix, take digital pictures, use pictures from the internet or simply draw what is needed.

Your social narratives can be formatted on a single sheet of paper, made into a flip book, a comic strip or a PowerPoint or on an iPad. A talking book can be created on a computer, iPad or other type of tablet. Some younger individuals may enjoy their favorite cartoon characters or action figures included into their stories.

Apps that could be used to make social narratives:

1. Social Stories Creator and Library for Preschool, Autism and Special Needs

2. Story Maker for Social Stories

3. Stories About Me

4. Stories2Learn

5. iCreate

6. Social Skill Stories

7. My Pictures Talk

8. Social Stories

9. Social Stories For

10. iCommunicate

11. Tapikeo HD

12. Pictello

13. Kid in Story Book Maker

Software that could be used to make social narratives:

1. Pogo Boards :
Pogo Boards is a full-featured, robust, web-based solution for creating boards. Features include: Speech output with 42 different, high quality, text-to-speech voices. You will have access to millions of images through an intuitive, integrated Google image search, plus thousands of unique, custom symbols with SymbolStix© and the new PiCS© symbol system. Pogo Boards also gives you the ability to share boards online either within your own private community or the global community of all users.

2. Picto-Selector :
Picto Selector is a Windows application written for easy selection and printing of pictos. After downloading and installing the software you can start creating pictosheets. You can insert your own pictures into a pictosheet or choose from over 24,000 pictures and symbols. Once you are finished you can save it as a pdf and print out a copy to use.

3. ConnectABILITY :
ConnectAbility offers a visuals engine that is great for creating a quick social story on the fly. There are no downloads necessary. Simply select your template (choose from choice time, rules, schedules, personal stories and more), add Boardmaker images or upload your own images and print or save as a PDF.

4. LessonPix :
LessonPix is an easy-to-use online resource that allows users to create various customized learning materials. LessonPix offers a simple three step process for creating a social story.

5. Boardmaker :
Boardmaker was one of the first and most well-known social story applications created. Boardmaker lets you create talking books, behavior supports, schedules, rewards charts and much more. Boardmaker also lets you download over 10,000 ready-made boards that other members have created. Please note that Boardmaker was designed for schools and therapists and therefore the price is significantly more than other products.

For Matt, we simply had to write the story on a single sheet of paper and read it to him approximately 3-4 times prior to going to lunch. After reading the social narrative, no further intervention was needed and the problem of screaming in the cafeteria did not reoccur. Instead, Matt would ask for item that he wanted but did not see.

Where can I go to learn more?

The National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders has an entire module on social narratives that includes an overview, step by step directions, research and implementation checklist. The module can be found at https://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/imce/documents/Social-Narratives-Complete-10-2010.pdf.

A video instructional module can be found on the Autism Internet Modules at https://www.autisminternetmodules.org/

Indiana Resource Center for Autism has various social narratives on their Facebook page or under the visual supports tab in their resource

Free social narrative websites:

1. Kansas Instructional Support Network: http://www.kansasasd.com/classroommat.php?view=viewcat&aid=socialnarratives

2. One Place for Special Needs: http://www.oneplaceforspecialneeds.com/main/library_social_stories.html

3. The Watson Institute: https://www.thewatsoninstitute.org/resources/behavior-stories/

Social narratives is an evidence-based practice that is easy to design and implement and which have been shown to be effective for teaching students with ASD social skills and stories to provide social cues and correct your students' responses to situations in a nonthreatening manner.

REFERENCES

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (Revised 4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Ganz, J. B., Cook, K. T., & Earles-Vollrath, T. L. (2006). How to write and implement social scripts. R.L. Simpson (Ed.). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.

Gray, C. (1994). Comic strip conversations: Colorful, illustrated interactions with students with autism and related disorders. Arlington, TX: Future Horizons.

Gray, C. (2000). The new social story book: Illustrated edition. Arlington, TX: Future Horizons.

Laushey, K. M., & Heflin, L. J. (2000). Enhancing social skills of kindergarten children with autism through the training of multiple peers as tutors. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 183-193.
National Autism Center. (2009). Evidence-based practice and autism in the schools. Retrieved from: http://www.nationalautismcenter.org.

National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders. (2010). Evidence-based practice briefs: Social narratives. Retrieved from: https://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/imce/documents/Social-Narratives-Complete-10-2010.pdf.

Wragge, A. (2011). Social narratives: Online training module (Columbus, OH: OCALI). In Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI), Autism Internet Modules, https://autisminternetmodules.org/. Columbus, OH: OCALI.

Texas Statewide Leadership for Autism (2013) - Social Narratives pdf no longer available from http://www.txautism.net/

Lofland, Kristie (2015). Writing and using social narratives in all environments. The Reporter, 20 (9). Retrieved from https://www.iidc.indiana.edu/pages/writing-and-using-social-narratives

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When working in an elementary school as a speech language pathologist (SLP), I had a student, who we will call Matt, who was a third-grade student with high-functioning autism and very verbal, to say the least! However, even though he could be verbose at times, he struggled with appropriate social behavior and communication.

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Response cost is the term used for removing reinforcement for an undesirable or disruptive behavior. In terms of Applied Behavior Analysis, it is a form of negative punishment. By removing something (a preferred item, access to reinforcement) you decrease the likelihood that the target behavior will appear again. It is often used with a token economy and is best used when a student understands the implications.

Alex is a young child with autism. He often leaves the instructional setting, requiring the teacher to get up and leave. He is currently working on sitting in the instructional setting while participating in an imitation program. He is given tokens on a token board for good sitting during instruction, and earns a three minute break with a preferred item when he earns four tokens. During trials he is given constant feedback on the quality of his sitting. Even though his leaving the site of instruction has decreased, he does occasional test the teacher by getting up and leaving: he automatically loses a token. He quickly earns it back when he returns to the table and sits well. Eloping from the classroom has been extinguished. Leaving the instructional site has dropped from 20 times a day to three times a week.

With some children, like Alex, response cost can be an effective way to extinguish problematic behavior while supporting other behavior. With others, response cost can present some serious problems.

The basic unit of instruction in an ABA Program is the "Trial." Usually, a trial is very brief, involving an instruction, a response, and feedback. In other words, the teacher says, "Touch the red one, John." When John touches the red one (response), the teacher gives feedback: "Good job, John." The teacher may reinforce each correct response, or every third to fifth correct response, depending on the reinforcement schedule.

When response cost is introduced, the student may lose a token for an inappropriate behavior: the student needs to know that he or she can lose a token for the target behavior. "Are you sitting nicely John? Good Job" or "No, John. We don't crawl under the table. I have to take a token for not sitting."

You need to constantly be evaluating the effectiveness of response cost. Does it really reduce the number of inappropriate behaviors? Or does it just drive the inappropriate behavior underground, or change the misbehavior? If the function of the behavior is control or escape, you will see other behaviors popping up, perhaps surreptitiously, that serve the function of control or escape. If it does, you need to discontinue response cost and attempt differentiated reinforcement.

Response cost can be part of a Classroom Token Economy, when there are certain behaviors that can cost a student a token, a point (or points) or money (a fine, if you are using play money, "School Bux" or whatever). If it is a classroom program, then everyone in the class has to be able to lose points at a set rate for a certain behavior. This reductive method has been shown to be effective with students with ADHD, who often never get enough points for positive behavior, so they end up very quickly bankrupt in the classroom economy.

Mrs. Harper uses a token economy (point system) in her Emotional Support Program. Each student gets ten points for each half hour that he/she stays in their seat and works independently. They get 5 points for each completed assignment. They can lose 5 points for certain infractions. They can lose 2 points for less severe infractions. They can get 2 points as bonuses for exhibiting positive behavior independently: waiting patiently, take turns, thanking their peers. At the end of the day, everyone records their points with the banker, and at the end of the week they can use their points in the school store.

Ironically, the one population for whom cost response is effective are students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Often they fail at classroom reinforcement schedules because they can never quite earn enough points to get the prize or the recognition that comes with earning points. When students start with all their points, they will work hard to keep them. Research has shown this can be a powerful reinforcement regimen for students with these behavioral disabilities.

When you have real clarity about the behaviors for which a student can lose points, tokens or access to reinforcers, it is likely that you will see very little of those behaviors. At the same time, you are reinforcing the desired behavior.

Response cost is easy to administer,

When the student has a behavior that prevents his or her peers from learning, creates a danger to himself or others (eloping, climbing on furniture) response cost can provide a swift punishment without actually applying any aversive.

If the ratio of positive reinforcement is not at least 3 to 1, your students may never get out of the hole. It will merely be punitive, and never really take hold.

If response cost is not consistently applied in a non-emotional way, it will become the source or recrimination and bad blood between students and staff or students and teacher.

If it builds dependence on punishment, it will be counter-productive. Reinforcing replacement behavior is still the most effective way to change undesirable behavior.

"Behavior Modification in the Classroom." Learning Disabilities and Challenging Behaviors: A Guide to Intervention and Classroom Management, by Nancy Mather et al., 3rd ed., Brookes, 2008, pp. 134-153.

Walker, Hill M. "Applications of Response Cost in School Settings: Outcomes, Issues and Recommendations." Exceptional Education Quarterly, vol. 3, no. 4, 1 Feb. 1983, pp. 47-55.

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How Response Cost Is Used in Behavior Management

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Response cost is the term used for removing reinforcement for an undesirable or disruptive behavior. In terms of Applied Behavior Analysis, it is a form of negative punishment. By removing something (a preferred item, access to reinforcement) you decrease the likelihood that the target behavior will appear again.

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Colorado Multi-Tiered System of Supports

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Colorado Multi-Tiered System of Supports

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Office of Learning Supports

The Office of Learning Supports (OLS) is part of the Teaching and Learning Unit. The mission of the Office of Learning Supports is to support school and district systems development for the effective implementation of multi-tiered frameworks to improve academic and behavioral outcomes for all.

Colorado Multi-Tiered System of Supports

Colorado Multi-Tiered System of Supports (COMTSS) is a prevention-based framework using team-driven leadership and data-based problem solving to improve the outcomes of every student through family, school, and community partnerships, comprehensive assessment, and a layered continuum of supports. Implementation science and universal design for learning are employed to create one integrated system that focuses on increasing academic and behavioral outcomes to equitably support the varying needs of all students.

COMTSS Essential Components - Practice Profiles

COMTSS consists of five essential components. These components are the foundation and the underlying philosophy of the Practice Profiles. The COMTSS Practice Profiles were developed to specify exemplary strategies that regional, district and school implementation teams can use to support effective and sustainable use of the COMTSS framework as intended. These profiles guide and inform the development and/or refinement of the necessary supports and resources for the COMTSS implementation, such as professional learning, coaching, identification of fidelity measures, a state-level evaluation plan, and necessary changes in procedures and policy.

Acknowledgements

We are deeply indebted to Dr. Caryn Ward from the National Implementation Research Network/ State Implementation and Scaling-up of Evidence-based Practices (SISEP) Center for her facilitation and guidance in this endeavor. We are grateful to Dr. Steve Goodman and Dr. Tim Lewis for their support in the development of the COMTSS practice profiles. Most importantly, we want to give credit to the Michigan Department of Education for setting the bar high and allowing us to use their Multi-Tiered System of Supports Practice Profiles as an example to create the COMTSS practice profiles.

Please click each component below to read more about its Practice Profile. These components are also available for download in PDF and Word files.

Regional or District Level

At the regional or district level, leadership teams build infrastructure that supports the implementation of the five components of COMTSS. The building of this infrastructure includes:

1. Identifying and aligning key priorities;

2. Securing funding, resources, and time to implement those priorities;

3. Developing training and coaching structures to support personnel with implementation, and

4. Gathering data to evaluate the implementation and impact of the key priorities

School Level

At the school level, building teams implement their identified priorities and build a tiered system that fits their respective context. School teams identify the fidelity and student outcomes they wish to achieve and then identify the data needed to monitor progress toward those outcomes. They also outline the practices used at each tier, as well as the systems that enable staff to both implement the identified practices and to gather the required data.

Printable Practice Profiles

District and School

Region and District

Regional, district & school practice profiles (PDF)
All profiles - Region, District and School

To download individual practice profiles, please visit each component's page.

To request copies in Microsoft Word, please email COMTSS@cde.state.co.us.

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Colorado Multi-Tiered System of Supports

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The Office of Learning Supports (OLS) is part of the Teaching and Learning Unit. The mission of the Office of Learning Supports is to support school and district systems development for the effective implementation of multi-tiered frameworks to improve academic and behavioral outcomes for all.

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Functional Behavior Assessment

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Sample Observation Data Collection for FBA

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Sample Observation Data Collection for FBA

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When you are writing an FBA (Functional Behavior Analysis) you will need to collect data. There are three kinds of information you will be choosing: Indirect Observational Data, Direct Observational Data, and if possible, Experimental Observational Data. A true Functional Analysis will include an Analogue Condition Functional Analysis. Dr. Chris Borgmeier of Portland State University has made a number of helpful forms available online to use for this data collection.

The first thing to do is to interview parents, classroom teachers and others who have had ongoing responsibility for supervising the child in question. Be sure that you give each stakeholder the functional description of the behavior, to be sure it is the behavior you are seeing.

You will want to explore instruments for collecting this information. Many questionnaire formats evaluative forms are designed for parents, teachers and other stakeholders to create observational data that can be used to support student success.

You will need to determine what kinds of data do you need. Does the behavior appear frequently, or is it the intensity that is frightening? Does it seem to occur without warning? Can the behavior be redirected, or does it intensify when you intervene?

If the behavior is frequent, you will want to use a frequency or scatter plot tool. A frequency tool can be a partial interval tool, that records how frequently a behavior appears during a finite period. The results will be X occurrences per hour. A scatter plot can help identify patterns in the occurrence of behaviors. By pairing certain activities with the occurrence of behaviors, you can identify both antecedents and possibly the consequence that is reinforcing the behavior.

If the behavior lasts a long time, you may want a duration measure. The scatter plot may give you information about when it happens, a duration measure will let you know how long a behavior tends to last.

You will also want to make an ABC observational form available for any people who are observing and collecting the data. At the same time, be sure you have operationalized the behavior, describing the behavior's topography so each observer is looking for the same thing. This is called inter-observer reliability.

You may find that you can identify the antecedent and consequence of behavior with direct observation. Sometimes to confirm it, an Analogue Condition Functional Analysis would be helpful.

You need to set up the observation in a separate room. Set up a play situation with neutral or preferred toys. You then proceed to insert one variable at a time: a request to do work, removal of a favored item or you leave the child alone. If the behavior appears when you are present in a neutral setting, it may be automatically reinforcing. Some children will hit themselves in the head because they are bored, or because they have an ear infection. If the behavior appears when you leave, it is most likely for attention. If the behavior appears when you ask the child to do an academic task, it is for avoidance. You will want to record your results, not only on paper but perhaps also on a videotape.

Once you have collected enough information, you will be ready to move on to your analysis, which will focus on the ABC of the behavior (Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence.)

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Writing the FBA and Collecting Information About the Target Behavior

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When you are writing an FBA (Functional Behavior Analysis) you will need to collect data. There are three kinds of information you will be choosing: Indirect Observational Data, Direct Observational Data, and if possible, Experimental Observational Data. A true Functional Analysis will include an Analogue Condition Functional Analysis.

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The first step in dealing with inappropriate behavior is to show patience. This often means taking a cooling period before saying or doing something one might regret. This also might involve having the child or student sit in a time out, or remain alone until their teacher can deal with the inappropriate behavior.

Children need choice. When teachers are ready to give a consequence, they should allow for some choice. The choice could have to do with the actual consequence, the time when the consequence will occur, or input as to what follow up should and will occur. When teachers allow for choice, the outcomes are usually favorable, and the child becomes more responsible.

Teachers have to consider why the child or student is misbehaving. There is always a purpose or a function. The purpose could include getting attention, power, and control, revenge, or feelings of failure. It's important to understand the purpose to support it readily.

For instance, knowing a child is frustrated and feeling like a failure will require a change of programming to ensure that he or she is set up to experience success. Those seeking attention need to receive attention. Teachers can catch them doing something good and recognize it.

In a power struggle, nobody wins. Even if a teacher feels like they have won, they haven't, because the chance of reoccurrence is great. Avoiding power struggles comes down to exhibiting patience. When teachers show patience, they are modeling good behavior.

Teachers want to model good behavior even when they are dealing with inappropriate student behaviors. A teacher's behavior most often influences a child's behavior. For example, if teachers are hostile or aggressive when dealing with various behaviors, children will be too.

When a child or student misbehaves, they often anticipate the teacher's response. Teachers can do the unexpected when this happens. For instance, when teachers see children playing with matches or playing in an area that is outside of the boundaries, they expect teachers to say "Stop," or "Get back inside the boundaries now." However, teachers can try saying something like, "You kids look too smart to be playing there." This type of communication will surprise children and students and works frequently.

For students or children who regularly misbehave, it can be challenging to find something positive to say. Teachers need to work at this because the more positive attention students receive, the less apt they are to look for attention negatively. Teachers can go out of their way to find something positive to say to their chronic misbehaving students. These children often lack belief in their ability and teachers need to help them see that they are capable.

Bossiness usually ends up with students seeking revenge. Teachers can ask themselves if they like being bossed around, in consideration, as children do not enjoy it either. If teachers employ the strategies suggested, they will find that they won't need to be bossy. Teachers should always express a strong desire and interest to have a good relationship with the student or child.

When students or children don't feel they belong, they often act out inappropriately to justify their feeling of being outside of "the circle." In this scenario, teachers can ensure the student has a strong sense of belonging by praising the child's efforts to get along or work with others. Teachers can also praise attempts to follow the rules and adhere to routines. Teachers may also find success in using "we" when describing the behavior they want, such as, "We always try to be kind to our friends."

When teachers are about to reprimand or punish a child, teachers can bring them up first by saying something like, "Lately you've done so well. I've been so impressed with your behavior. Why, today, did you need to be involved with a hands-on?" This is a way for teachers to deal with the issue head-on.

Then, teachers can end on a note like, "I know it won't happen again because you've been so good up until this moment. I have great faith in you." Teachers may use different approaches but should always remember to bring them up, take them down, and bring them up again.

Research shows that the most important factor in student behavior and performance is the teacher and student relationship. Students want teachers that:

Respect them

Care about them

Listen to them

Don't yell or shout

Have a sense of humor

Are in a good mood

Let students give their opinions and their side or opinion

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9 Strategies to Handle Difficult Behaviors in Children

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The first step in dealing with inappropriate behavior is to show patience. This often means taking a cooling period before saying or doing something one might regret. This also might involve having the child or student sit in a time out, or remain alone until their teacher can deal with the inappropriate behavior.