What next step should the teacher take in this scenario? by Chantelle Gordon

2024-07-18 04:48:39 UTC

Ms Smith should give Jamie a time out. Send him to a reading corner and make him listen to a music or read a book of his liking.

Remain calm, de-escalate, one-on-on check-in with Jamie

2024-07-18 16:23:07 UTC

Ms. Smith should first encourage students to continue working on their math problems and then pull Jamie to the side to have a check-in to help calm them down. This could be at the teacher's desk, at the small group table, or in a cool-down location. This would be a great opportunity for Ms. Smith to ask Jamie how he's feeling and if there is anything he'd like to share about what's causing his frustration. The focus is on being calm and de-escalating the situation while building the student-teacher relationship and developing trust.

diamondcherisse — 2024-07-19 01:07:57 UTC

After realizing that Jamie is growing more frustrated, I think the next step is to pull the student and allow them to take a breather and try getting him to talk in case this is coming from another place.

blowing off steam

2024-07-19 11:33:56 UTC

The student's reaction tells me that it is not a good time to teach this student and that they have shut down in some way. I would use my knowledge of the student's preferences to allow for some time to blow off steam, with an activity of their choice, but I would set a time limit on it. At the end of the time limit, I would plan a time to engage with the student in a friendly activity, in a different context - such as a lunch group - that would provide some space for them to share the root cause of the previous reaction (through open ended questions). If none is offered, I would contact the parents for more information, notifying them of the classroom incident and ask for their input on possible explanations for the reaction. I would also monitor the student to see if there are similar or repeated/patterns of the outburst and start to log them.

Creating a Safe Environment

jocelynhedgeman — 2024-07-19 14:24:24 UTC

One of the key things mentioned in the scenario is that one of the triggers for Jamie's behavior is anxiety about how he compares to other students. He sees the other students working more quickly than him, and this upsets him. I believe that having a calming corner in the classroom that students can come to if they feel overwhelmed or need to work alone would be a great help. For the next step, the teacher could walk Jamie to the calming corner and continue to work on some brief anxiety reduction exercises. Jamie would feel less pressure to look at students around him, and the teacher could work with him on the problem without being in direct earshot of other students.

2024-07-19 14:38:18 UTC

The teacher should encourage the other students to continue with their work. Give Jamie a minute to calm down and when she notices that he is calmed down then she can check in with him. If he is ready to work again then she can ask him where he is getting lost, or if he is willing to talk about what was going on then let him talk. Maybe Ms. Smith knows about math help that is provided by the school and maybe at the end of the class she reminds the class about the math help or even the next class. There could be someone else who might explain it in a way that Jamie would understand it better.

Mitigation

randolphalanna1 — 2024-07-19 16:31:36 UTC

Jamie's anxiety has continued to rise since he noticed his classmates are working more diligently and confidently than him. The feeling of insecurity is common, but in this case, Jamie grew increasingly frustrated and has raised his voiced, while throwing materials. Because this has disrupted the class, I'd encourage students to continue working. I'd then take Jamie to the SEL corner, which has pillows, lights, sensory toys, music/headphones. I would urge Jamie to take a minute to relax himself. After a few minutes, I'd engage with Jamie to see if he is willing to talk about his confusion in math. If Jamie complies, I'd develop a plan to help him succeed. If Jamie withdraws, I would call use internal resources at the school to see if Jamie is struggling at home or if he's facing and ACEs.

Monica Francis

2024-07-19 18:16:36 UTC

Ms. Smith should talk to Jamie quietly, and encourage the other students to continue their work. She can acknowledge Jamie's frustration and allow him to go to a quiet area with a task. She can say, "I can see that you're upset, how about we take a moment to pause. You can sit in the calming chair and take 15 deep breaths. Then after five minutes we can work on the problem together over there, because you can do it, just not yet."

Kalisha Little-Rice

2024-07-19 20:43:21 UTC

Ms. Smith should express to Jamie that she understands his frustration because math can be difficult sometimes. She can calmly pick up Jamie's paper and help him to regulate with breathing exercises or whatever else she's noticed work for him in the past. Ms. Smith can also assure Jamie that he will have extra time to complete the assignment so he does not have to rush and she will help him as much as he needs.

Tom Owens

2024-07-19 21:13:36 UTC

Ms. Smith should allow Jamie to go to a neutral area of the room "calming corner" away from his desk. Engage the rest of the class in an independent assignment to provide enough time to talk to Jamie privately. Ask Jamie if anything is bothering him other than the math problem that he needs to share about. Reassure him that you will help him to find the correct way to solve the problem and that struggling is ok. It means we are learning. Ask if he is willing to take another try at it.

Be calm, validate, and inquire

2024-07-20 22:25:24 UTC

Ms. Smith should stay calm. She should not escalate to punishment or threats of punishment, especially if she is feeling anger at the student’s defiance or if she is feeling frustration borne of a feeling of ineffectiveness.

She should deescalate and prompt the student to utilize previously established calming tools and practices like deep breathing, closing their eyes, or utilize effective tactics for approaching the work like breaking the problem into parts.

I would also recommend reinforcing norms of not throwing tantrums and ask the student to pick up their paper off the floor though this does open the risk of a standoff if the student digs into the defiance and avoidance.