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Working With Defiant Kids: Communication Tools for Teachers

What is the most important point to keep in mind when working with a defiant or noncompliant student?

The cardinal rule to keep in mind in managing conflicts with students is to stay outwardly calm and to maintain a professional perspective. For example, it is certainly OK to experience anger when a student deliberately attempts to insult or confront you in front of the entire classroom. If you react with an angry outburst, though, the student will control the interaction, perhaps escalating the conflict until the student engineers his or her desired outcome. If you instead approach the student in a business-like, neutral manner, and impose consistent, fair consequences for misbehavior, you will model the important lesson that you cannot be pulled into a power struggle at the whim of a student. Instructors who successfully stay calm in the face of student provocation often see two additional benefits: Over time, students may become less defiant, because they no longer experience the 'reward' of watching you react in anger; Because you now deal with student misbehavior impartially, efficiently and quickly, you will have more instructional time available that used to be consumed in epic power struggles.

How do I deliver a teacher command in a way that will minimize the chance of a power struggle?

You can increase the odds that a student will follow a teacher command by: approaching the student privately and using a quiet voice establishing eye contact and calling the student by name before giving the command stating the command as a positive (do) statement, rather than a negative (don't) statement. phrasing the command in clear and descriptive terms (using simple language that is easily understood) so the student knows exactly what he or she is expected to do (Walker & Walker, 1991).

http://www.interventioncentral.org/behavioral-interventions/communication-tools/working-defiant-kids-communication-tools-teachers

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Encouraging Student Academic Motivation

1. Build in rewarding opportunities for social interaction. A student may find an otherwise tedious or frustrating task to be more motivating if it provides an opportunity for social interaction. An adult tutor, for instance, can provide support and encouragement that can kindle motivation for a student. Cross-age peer tutoring, cooperative learning groups and informal 'study groups' are other examples of social situations that students may find to be both motivating and good settings for reviewing academic skills. One caution, though: social interactions can be so entertaining in their own right that they interfere with learning! Instructors can minimize social distractions in academic situations by making their expectations for student work very clear from the outset and by monitoring social groupings to ensure that academics always remain the main focus. 2. Provide audiences for student work. One social context that can be extremely motivating is to have an audience that will eventually evaluate one's creative work. Instructors can encourage students to submit their work to publications, for example, to post it on web sites, or to present it to live audiences (e.g., a poetry reading). 3. Reduce the 'effort' needed to complete an academic assignment. Research indicates that the amount of effort needed to undertake an activity (effort threshold) will play an important role in how motivated a person is to attempt the activity in the first place. If a task is made more difficult, it is likely that people will be more likely to put off trying the task. If a task is made easier, people will more willingly attempt it. Teachers and parents can use this well-documented (and common-sense) fact to increase a student's willingness to engage in academics. Here are some examples that show how reducing the effort connected with a learning activity can lead to greater student participation: A difficult and complex task (e.g., researching and writing a term paper) can broken down into easier-to-accomplish sub-steps for the student to complete as separate assignments. A peer helper may assist a student who is chronically disorganized to set up and clean up their work area each day, making the task less time-consuming. If a child typically does not read for entertainment and will not go to the library for a book, a parent can leave interesting books around in the home for the child to read. 4. Connect academic requirements to real-world situations. The media are full of true stories that demonstrate the application of knowledge from various academic areas to real-world problems. When students see that content covered in their coursework can help to explain how actual, high-profile problems were created or solved, they can sense the real power of academic knowledge and its potential to affect human lives. Here is one recent real-world example that a teacher might use to illustrate potential dangers in attempting to coordinate translation of measurements across competing systems: The radio signal of a NASA interplanetary probe sent to orbit Mars vanished suddenly on September 23, 1999, just as it was nearing the red planet. An investigation revealed the source of the problem. It appears that engineers planning the mission had failed to translate calculations of rocket thrust from the English measurement system (pounds of thrust) to a metric measurement system (1 newton = 4.45 English pounds of thrust). During the final leg of the probe's journey through space, mission managers assumed wrongly that rocket thrust calculations were in metric, rather than English, units and maneuvered the rocket accordingly. As a result, the probe went off course, probably entering the Martian atmosphere and being destroyed. 5. Offer students meaningful choice wherever possible. One intriguing element that teachers can explore to increase student motivation is that of choice. It appears to be a general principal that, when students are offered some degree of autonomy and choice in selecting or carrying out an activity, they are more motivated to take part in that activity. Of course, the teacher must decide to what degree they can build choice into academic activities. As examples of how choice can be applied in the classroom, teachers may permit students to: select the order in which they will complete several in-class or homework assignments; bring a book of their own choosing to a session with a reading tutor; be given several short, timed breaks during a work period and allowed to choose when to take them. 6. Make learning fun! Teachers have always used game-like formats to liven up academic material and engage student interest. A teacher may decide, for example, to have a class review for an upcoming test by playing a game that follows the format of the TV gameshow, Jeopardy! -- the teacher presents test review items and requires competing teams to try to phrase questions for which review items are logical answers. Humor and fast-paced instruction are also methods for making learning more lively and interesting.

http://www.interventioncentral.org/behavioral-interventions/motivation/encouraging-student-academic-motivation

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Overview of Symptoms and Causes

Primary symptoms:  Obsessions and compulsions

Impact on academic or  behavioral functioning at school: Takes up valuable time out of day  focusing on compulsions instead of school, interferes with social  relationships, difficulties concentrating and completing assignments

3 treatment or intervention  ideas:

1) A type of CBT called  exposure and response prevention where you repetitively expose yourself to an  obsession and actively refuse and deny compulsive act with the help from a  therapist.

2) Teaching children a  step by step approach to addressing certain behaviors including stop and  think before acting, identify the problem, develop alternative solutions,  evaluate consequences, select a solution. This is a form of cognitive  behavior intervention that gets children to problem solve on their own:

CBT Resource

3) Self monitoring by  writing down your own behavior and comparing it to a standard can help a  child visualize his or her own behavior and is important that they play an  active role in their own intervention:

Self Monitoring (Intervention)

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Definition and Symptoms

Primary symptoms: Angry  and irritable mood, argumentative, defiant, vindictive

Impact on academic or  behavioral functioning at school: Frequently interrupt instruction, lack  motivation and do poorly academically

3 treatment or intervention  ideas:

1) Parent-child  interaction therapy where a therapist coaches a parent while they interact  with their child using positive reinforcement.

2) Social skills training  in order to teach them how to act more appropriately and positively with  peers.

3) Reflective processing  essay after misbehavior outlining how they will improve their behavior.

Managing Defiance (Intervention)

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Definition, Signs and Symptoms

Primary symptoms:  Persistently sad mood, feelings of hopelessness, irritability, feelings of  guilt, loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies, decreased energy, restless,  difficulty concentrating

Impact on academic or  behavioral functioning at school: Lack of concentration and motivation  can negatively impact academics and feelings of sadness and irritability can  produce negative behaviors

3 treatment or intervention  ideas:

1) Cognitive behavior therapy where you work to change unhelpful thoughts.

2) Antidepressants

3) Being active and  exercising regularly: teachers can implement all kinds of daily activities or  breaks for students to get up and get active

4) Mindfulness based  therapy (PDF): Teachers can use mindfulness techniques within the classroom to  intervene with some of the symptoms of depression.

Resources for teaching mindfulness

Exercise helps depression

Games to get kids moving

Kid fitness

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What is Autism?

- Autism Resource Library

Primary symptoms:  Repetitive behaviors, language impairment, social deficits

Impact on academic or  behavioral functioning at school: Unable to communicate needs in the  classroom, difficulty understanding classroom rules, inappropriate social  interactions, and sensory issues may make it hard to cope with noisy  situations.

3 treatment or intervention  ideas:

1) ABA therapy, which uses  positive reinforcement to bring about changes in behavior.

2) Verbal behavior  therapy, which is a combination of ABA and behaviorist theories, that teaches  children to speak by connecting words with their purpose.

3) Floortime is where an  adult literally gets on the floor with the child and plays with them building  on their strengths.

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Understanding Anxiety

Primary symptoms: Panic  attacks, excessive worry, physical symptoms such as restlessness,  irritability, impaired concentration,

Impact on academic or  behavioral functioning at school: Affects student’s ability to learn and  retain information. Can also cause impulsivity, over reactivity, emotional  intensity.

3 treatment or intervention  ideas:

1) Self-monitoring (intervention) of  attention to instruction allows for the individual to monitor their own  behavior in intervals while the teacher simultaneously monitors the student  as well and then they have a session after class where they compare their  results. This can help the student stay attentive to instruction and focus on  whatever is going on in class as well as possibly receive a reward for their  behavior.

2) Cool down pass gives  students a chance to leave the classroom for a small break when pressures  within the classroom begin to build

3) Parents taking a class  to gain skills in managing anxiety can specifically help them learn what  specific language to use in order to avoid increasing their child’s anxiety

Anxiety relieving techniques:

Breathing Techniques

Effective communication techniques:

Social Skills

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Overview and Symptoms Primary symptoms:  Inattentive, hyperactive, impulsive

Impact on academic or behavioral  functioning at school: Unable to focus or even participate on activities  in class, distracting other students, acting out in class, executive  functioning issues

3 treatment or intervention  ideas:

1) Drugs: psychostimulants  or nonstimulants are common drugs used to help individuals focus and ignore  distractions

2) Social skills training  to help them develop and maintain social relationships

3) ADHD coach helps child  set goals and achieve them, if they are motivated enough to do so

Strategies to help students with ADHD:

Strategies for Teachers

Teaching Students With ADHD

ADHD Books

For parents:

Discipline for Children with ADHD

Books and Documentaries

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Forced Choice Reinforcement Menu

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Yes/No Learning Skills Chart

http://www.intensiveintervention.org/sites/default/files/Yes-No_Chart_508.pdf

Purpose:

Teachers award points to students for “catching” them when they engage in appropriate learning skills (i.e., keeping their eyes on the teacher, following directions the first time, following along with instruction, raising their hand, volunteering to answer questions). Points may be redeemed for access to preferred reinforcers or activities. When implementing any system, the teacher needs to be clear about the expectations and how students are to earn points. Expectations should be concise, stated each time a new activity or task begins, and visually displayed for easy reference. Teachers should reinforce the behaviors they want to increase by immediately attending to them. A reinforcement system should be in place to help motivate students. Reinforcers can be tangible, activity based, social, or intangible.

Implementation Procedure:

Create a chart with “Yes” and “No” columns and rows with specific learning skills (i.e., keeping eyes on the teacher, raising hand, staying in seat).

Establish criteria for success (e.g., 10 “Yes” points and no more than five “No” points).

Demonstrate how points can be earned during instruction by holding a practice session. If there is an individual student who struggles with a targeted learning skill, have him or her model the expected behavior and provide him or her with feedback before the strategy is incorporated within instruction. Peers also can model learning skills.

During instruction, award points to the class for demonstrating the targeted learning skills. Points also can be awarded to an individual student during class-wide or small- group activities.

When awarding points, teachers should explicitly state why they are being earned.

Students should be encouraged to support one another. If individual students are causing the class not to earn a “Yes” point, then the strategy should be individualized.

If students meet the established criteria for success, they can earn access to a reinforcer.

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The “You-Me” Game

http://www.intensiveintervention.org/sites/default/files/You-Me-Game_508.pdf

Purpose:

The "You-Me" Game

Have students compete with the teacher to earn points. Points are earned by students when the teacher “catches” them meeting behavioral expectations. Points can be redeemed for access to preferred reinforcers or activities. When implementing any system, a teacher needs to be clear about the expectations and how students may earn points.

Expectations should be concise, stated each time a new activity or task begins, and visually displayed for easy reference. Teachers should reinforce the behaviors they want to increase by immediately attending to them. A reinforcement system should be in place to help motivate students. Reinforcers can be tangible, activity based, social, or intangible.

Implementation Procedure:

Create a chart with “You” and “Me” columns.

Establish criteria for success (e.g., 10 “You” points and no more than five “Me” points).

Demonstrate how points can be earned during instruction by holding a practice session. If there is an individual student who struggles with a targeted learning skill, have him or her model the expected behavior and provide him or her with feedback before the strategy is incorporated within instruction. Peers also can model learning skills.

During instruction, award points to the class in the “You” column when they are meeting behavioral expectations. If a reminder has to be given to the students, award a point to the teacher in the “Me” column. Points also can be awarded to an individual student during class-wide or small-group activities. 

When awarding points, teachers should explicitly state why they were earned. 

Students are encouraged to support one another. If individual students are causing the class not to earn a “You” point, then the strategy should be individualized.

 If students meet the established criteria for success, they can earn access to a reinforcer.

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Self Management

http://www.intensiveintervention.org/sites/default/files/Self_Management_508.pdf

Purpose:

Teaching students to use techniques to monitor and manage their own behaviors can support them with independent regulation of emotions or behaviors. Self-management systems include self-monitoring (e.g., recording), self-evaluating (e.g., rating) behaviors, or both in conjunction with reinforcement strategies. Students need to be taught how to use self-management systems, as well as the purpose of monitoring or evaluating one’s own behavior.

Self-Monitoring:

Identify the problem behavior and an appropriate replacement behavior that can be monitored.

Define the appropriate behavior that will be targeted for monitoring. The behavior should be specific and observable.

Identify a predetermined success criterion (e.g., student will demonstrate the appropriate behavior six times to earn a reinforcer). For older students, this may include a goal- setting component.

Self-Management Collect baseline data and consider where and when the student should use self- monitoring.

 Obtain the student’s cooperation for self-monitoring and teach the student how to record and graph his or her performance. 

Have the student record his or her performance on a self-monitoring recording form. Inform the student that you also will be recording his or her performance to compare results. 

At the end of the time period or day, have the student graph his or her performance and identify whether he or she met the predetermined success criterion. 

If the student met the success criterion, allow him or her to select a reward or reinforcer. 

Self-Evaluation:

After self-monitoring, self-evaluation may be used to help students make judgments about their behavior.

Follow all steps from the self-monitoring steps 1–8. Self-evaluation also may be used by a student to identify how well he or she was able to use a learned strategy.

At the end of the time period or day, compare the student’s self-evaluation with a teacher’s evaluation.

If the student’s evaluation closely matches that of the teacher, allow the student to select a reward or reinforcer.

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Behavior Contracts

http://www.intensiveintervention.org/sites/default/files/Behavior_Contracts_508.pdf

Purpose:

Students and teachers agree on a common goal for addressing a problem behavior and develop a written agreement. The agreement should be written positively, stating what the student is expected to achieve for meeting the terms of the contract. Contracts should be easy to understand by teachers, parents, and students. Contracts should be for a short duration and be achievable in that time frame.

Implementation Procedures:

Develop a point sheet, behavioral progress report, or CICO monitoring sheet to use along with the behavior contract.

Identify the target behavior with the student.

Identify reinforcers that the student will work to earn (e.g., tell a joke, computer time, an activity, an item from a prize box).

Establish a schedule of reinforcement that is appropriate for student need. Start with more frequent reinforcement and fade over time.

Set a realistic performance goal with the student.

Write down the agreed-upon goal and have everyone involved in the development of the contract sign it.

Monitor the student’s performance using the point sheet/progress report and modify the contractual goal, as needed.

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Information/Resources For Functional Behavior Assessments and Behavior Intervention Plans

Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA):

-The indirect assessment identifies the behaviors that interfere with the student’s academic or social development, describes interfering behaviors, identifies environmental variables that trigger, occur after, or reinforce an interfering behavior and identifies possible individual differences that may contribute to the occurrence of behavior.

Methods include:

Review of records

Behavior rating scales-help to identify functionally equivalent behaviors (behaviors that look different on the surface, but have the same function)

Adaptive behavior scales/ Social skill assessments-to identify problems related to skill deficits

Interviews-with teachers, parents or referred student

Assessment of academic skills- help to identify problems related to skill deficits

The direct assessment provides data on the occurrence of the behavior within the context of the natural environment in which it occurs.

Methods include:

Generating operational definition of behavior

Deciding what behavior recording method to use

Observing and recording behavior

Recording antecedent (triggers) and consequent (what happens after the behavior) variables

Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP)

-A behavior intervention plan is based off of the results of the FBA and is a plan that is set in place to replace problem behaviors and teach and reward positive behaviors.

Components:

Review schedule- when the intervention will be reviewed

Goal of the plan

Clear and unambiguous definition of interfering behavior

Antecedent modifications- what will be done to stop triggering behavior

Replacement behaviors-what will be done in place of interfering behavior

Reinforcement plan-how frequent and when to fade out reinforcement

Skills to be taught

Who implements and who collects the data

Length of intervention

Data used to measure progress

Resources:

Additional information on FBA/BIP:

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/treatments-approaches/educational-strategies/behavior-intervention-plans-what-you-need-to-know

http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/behavassess/

http://www.ideapartnership.org/documents/ASD-Collection/asd-dg_Brief_FBA.pdf

Resources for social/emotional/ behavioral needs of students:

http://www.iag-online.org/resources/2eGeneralResources/Professional/GenInfo/Social-and-Emotional-Needs-of-2e-Learners.pdf

http://www.pbs.org/parents/inclusivecommunities/challenging_behavior.html

http://www.healthyplace.com/parenting/parenting-skills/reinforcing-positive-behavior-at-home/

http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/reinforcing-small-changes-in-your-childs-behavior/

http://cecp.air.org/familybriefs/

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Building Decision Skills

The Building Decision Skills curriculum is implemented at the middle and high school level to bring awareness to ethics, help develop core values and provide strategies for approaching ethical dilemmas. This curriculum consists of 10 lessons that uses readings, handouts, small group activities, class discussions and homework. A study done by Leming (2001) implemented Building Decision Skills combined with service learning to a 12th grade class at a middle class school and compared it to a regular 12th grade English literature class that did not receive the curriculum or service learning. Although the curriculum can be implemented school-wide, the study focused on classroom implementation. Leming (2001) reported statistically significant findings compared to the control group on 4 of the 7 measurements: ethical awareness, ethical responsibility, ethical perspective, and social responsibility-school. No statistical significance was found for self-esteem, social responsibility-general and anticipated future community participation. I think it is highly important to promote decision making and the ethical nature of community service in schools as well as at home and is something that you do not see very often. The implications that come with the results of this study show that this curriculum yields some positive results. I think that even though it did not hit all 7 factors, even the 4 that do show significance are highly important and give me enough reason to recommend this in schools. The homework aspect is the only part I am not a huge fan of and it would be ideal to just have the lessons be done solely at school. Also, there is no information provided on the training required for teachers to implement this and that is big part of the study. If the training is extensive and time consuming then people are going to be less likely to want to do it.

Reference:

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Study/64305

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Too Good for Drugs and Violence

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Study/65059

Too Good for Drugs and Violence is a school-wide program used to focus on prosocial skills, positive character traits and violence and drug free norms. There are 14 core lessons that include role-play, cooperative learning activities and the contexts in which they can use these. Lessons include information on normative peer use and the consequences of drug and violence use. Bacon (2001) did a randomized experiment in which the experimental group had the Too Good for Drugs and Violence lessons in their health class twice a week for 9 weeks and the control group had their regular health class. Pretests before the intervention, showed that both groups had equal intentions on trying drugs or using violence. Measurements (questionnaire) of the intervention group compared to the control group showed significantly different results in that those who received the intervention reported positive attitudes toward nonviolence, perceptions of emotional competency skills, perceptions of social and peer resistance skills, and perceptions of assertiveness and self-efficacy. This program is available for all grade levels, but this particular study was done with students grades 9-12. This program has some positive implications for high school students and some of the components of the lessons are important to teach high schoolers. The specific study done by Bacon (2001) was not very diverse in the demographics of participants and no long-term effects of the intervention were measured. I would recommend this program to be used in a high school where there is a potential risk of drugs and violence because of some of the significant results they found in their questionnaire. This program is not super expensive and the training and time required is not overwhelming. I prefer and would recommend providing this curriculum in a similar fashion that the study did in which they do it twice (or even once) a week in a health class in a high school, but I am curious as to how this would look at the elementary level?

Reference:

Bacon, T. P. (2001). Impact on high schools students’ behaviors and protective factors: A pilot study of the “too good for drugs and violence” prevention program. Florida Educational Research Council.

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Walker, H., Kavanagh, K., Stiller, B., Golly, A., Severson, H., & Feil, E. (1998). First step to success: An early intervention approach for preventing school antisocial behavior.  Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 6(2), 66–80.

First Step to Success: an early intervention approach for preventing school antisocial behavior (Walker et al., 1998) first uses a screening tool for teachers to rate students to find those who may be at risk of antisocial behavior. Contingencies for Learning Academic and Social Skills (CLASS), is an intervention model used to minimize antisocial behaviors such as; aggression, severe tantruming, victimizing of others and oppositional-defiant behaviors and replace them with positive behaviors. While using CLASS, a trained behavior coach works with the teacher and the student’s peers in training them how to use positive strategies to help the student replace negative behaviors with prosocial behaviors. The intervention works on a point system and if the student reaches his/her goal for the specified time depending on the progress of the intervention then the whole class and individual will receive agreed upon reward. 46 kindergarten students were randomly assigned to intervention group (clinical) or control group (non-clinical). Eight program consultants were trained in the First Step to Success and each consultant was assigned to 2-3 children in the intervention group implementing the intervention over the course of three months. The school part of the intervention consists of three steps where a consultant starts by monitoring the child over two twenty minute periods throughout the day giving the student a point every time they show a positive behavior within 30 second intervals. After six days, the consultant then passes on the duties to the classroom teacher where the intervals increase and eventually the point and reward system is phased out and the student simply receives praise for showing positive behaviors. After the intervention, external behaviors were assessed using four different rating scales all filled out by the teacher measuring aggressive and maladaptive behaviors. Significant positive effects were found for the clinical cohort after the three month period in kindergarten and both follow ups after grades 1 and 2. Significant positive effects were also found for the non-clinical cohort after grade 1 (only time in which they were measured due to loss in grant money). The amount of training involved in this intervention is a major limitation for it requires a significant amount of time, attention and data collection from the teacher and others that may be involved. This study showed that with the proper amount of training, effective consultation and correct implementation, this intervention can be successful in guiding a kindergartener from antisocial behaviors to prosocial behaviors. Having more information on the long-term effects of this intervention would be useful in seeing if I would recommend trying this with a student for there is a lot of time involved in effective implementation. I particularly like that this intervention starts off with immediate rewards after the 20 minute observations and gradually spreads out more overtime and eventually phasing out. These specific time limits and rules on rewards are important in keeping everyone involved accountable. The homeBase part of this intervention where parents are taught skills to teach their children such as communication, problem solving and friendship making is important in making the connection between home and school and assist parents in helping their children become competent and successful in school.