supportnotpunishment

[supportnotpunishment]

Calm, Alert and Happy - Written by Dr. Stuart Shanke

What a great read the article pinned above is. It contains some essential information discussing self-regulation (what it is, development, key steps), the 5 primary sources of stress, the arousal continuum, and also noticing when a child may be over-stressed. I created some sketch notes (a note-taking technique you should totally check out and try) of the main ideas presented in the article. If you have time, I suggest reading the article but my notes are pretty great too!

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Question: Case Study K

Okay I have a question for all of you amazing special education teachers that help to develop IEPs (Individual Education Plan) and support your students in their growth. I have a student named K. K who has challenges in emotional regulation. The student often cries and has loud outbursts in class during transitions, or when faced with a task he doesn't want to complete. K struggles to cope with frustration and his emotions affect his ability to create healthy relationships with his peers. His participation in class is minimal. If we were to create an alternative skill focus on his IEP for Self-Regulation, what do you think K's annual goal should be? Answer the following: 1. What are 3-5 learning goals for K? 2. What instructional strategies will be used to assist in accomplishing these goals? 3. What assessment methods would you use?

I will share my answers tomorrow!

-Mr. D

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Some Thoughts On Accommodations & Alternative Skills

When I am thinking about instructional strategies and teaching skills to my students, I am often focused on what I need to teach from the curriculum. The students I teach have a diverse set of needs that require individualized programming to meet them. When I think about the students' unmet needs, I try to look at it through a lens of compassion and empathy. If I can adjust the instruction, environment, and assessment to meet my students where they are, I can begin to honour the students’ strengths and what they can achieve as opposed to assessing the skills they are missing. What's good for one student may not be great for all but our goal is to provide an environment where the student feels safe, comfortable being themselves, okay to make mistakes, and feel like a valued member of the classroom. If my students aren't feeling this way, then I know that I need to take a step back and think about how I can address the situation. Self-regulation skills, communication skills, social skills, life skills, all these alternative skill areas are essential building blocks for our students. Tailoring a program to meet the developmental/emotional/ cognitive needs of a student can be done through IEP programming and discussions with the families and support staff (LST - learning support teacher, principals, psych services, etc.). These are skills that can be learned and aren't to be seen as a trait. Through modelling, explicit instruction, and co-regulation, I can begin to develop goals and gain meaningful growth with my students. Through empathy and using data that I gain through observation, psych services and assessment, I can intervene early and develop a plan for the student to become more successful in school and in life.

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Connection Builds Regulation

Just a thought... In order to have my students be able to self-regulate, I need to first establish connections and co-regulate with the student. Step 1: MODEL CALM BEHAVIOUR Step 2: OFFER EMPATHY AND CARE Step 3: OFFER STRATEGIES AND PRACTICE THEM TOGETHER Step 4: REDUCE TRIGGERS THAT ESCALATE FEAR AND SHAME Step 5: PROVIDE SCAFFOLDED AND INDIVIDUALIZED CHALLENGES Also: BE PREDICTABLE AND CLEAR

I want to stretch the student's ability to regulate their emotions. I find that by having safer challenges, the student can begin to try new things that they may gain confidence to use on their own.

This video demonstrates that the term 'self'-regulation in fact can be misleading. Self-regulation skill development can often depend on how supportive the child's environment is at school and at home. The relationships they have with the adults and peers in their lives can have a drastic effect on that child's ability to co-regulate and in turn self-regulate. A chaotic or stressful environment can stunt the development of self-regulation. This just shows that we really have such a large influence on our student's lives. I'm grateful that I am able to share my strategies that I have had to practice myself and I have a long list I can try and see what fits best for the student. The website below has a plethora of self-regulation and executive functioning activities to try with your students or children (ages 6 months all the way to adolescents). I found this resource to be extremely useful and practical. It has activities ready to go that you can pick up and start instantly - that's too good! I really appreciate when resources are put together like this.

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I am currently in a course learning about teaching students with behavioural needs. In one of our activities we were asked to research accommodations for a student with a behaviour exceptionality. Accommodations were to be made to the instruction, environment, and assessment. Depending on their age, placement, and nature of their behaviour, the accommodations could vary depending on the students' needs. This list just provides some examples. There are far more options and a list can be found in the link below (5.1 Individualized Teaching Strategies and Other Accommodations).

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This image includes some helpful accommodations for every teacher to include. These are some strategies that I have used and have proven to be helpful for all students to learn to self-regulate their bodies and mind. I practice mindfulness and metacognition with my students as a strategy to help them manage emotions and understand how their brain and body works.

Image source: https://www.thepathway2success.com/executive-functioning-accommodations-for-emotions-and-behavior/

[supportnotpunishment]

Behaviour Prevention

“Preventing behaviour problems up front is much more effective than waiting for challenging behaviours to crop up and then applying consequences.” — Lee Kern, Michael P. George, & Mark D. Weist, from Supporting Students with Emotional and Behavioural Problems

How I prevent behaviour in the classroom and school could be twice as important as how I intervene. The behaviours are to occur inevitably, but if I can be proactive in my approach to limiting behaviours, the job won't be quite as difficult. Co-creating clear expectations and predictability can be an anchor for students in the classroom. When they know what to expect from the teacher and what is expected of them, we can start early on creating a consistent routine that highlights the students interests and strengths to maximize potential and students rate of success. I always start out my year emphasizing self-regulation by practicing and modelling some strategies for my students to use on a daily basis (i.e. breathing, grounding techniques, sensory outlets, positive self-talk, creative outlets).

My school board uses a tiered approach to prevention and intervention. This framework provides an approach that allows every student the right support at the right time, even in absence of an IEP. From Tier 1 to Tier 3, the supports begin to escalate as they are more targeted for individualized support. Early identification and preventative measures lay the grounds for an equitable outcome that supports all, regardless of their age or placement. This dynamic framework provides a flexible approach to meeting students needs with respect to their behaviour. This framework includes some necessary components every school needs: a caring approach, data-informed decisions, proactive, responsive, responsible, encourages teamwork (home to school), and a simple framework that benefits all.

[supportnotpunishment]

SUPPORT NOT PUNISHMENT

Punishing students for being unable to handle their emotions and unable to communicate their needs effectively may be able to stop the behaviour, but the students aren't learning how to effectively manage their emotions and we are not providing them with practicing these necessary social and emotional skills to be successful in life. I approach this from a supportive perspective which allows be to understand that the student is communicating something. Maybe they have low confidence and low self-esteem and are avoiding the task and their emotions (i.e. shame/guilt). I know I can work with this student and the tough emotions and begin to develop accommodations and a variety of teaching strategies that assist the student when those strong emotions flare up.

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“Student behaviours don’t happen in a vacuum. To make productive change happen, the adults in a learning community should examine their own behaviours and environments.” — Clarissa E. Rosas & Kathleen G. Winterman, from The IEP Checklist

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When you think about behaviour, what comes to mind?

If a student is acting out in class about not wanting to complete the task, I have to think about why this behaviour is occurring. Is the child trying to control the situation or are they trying to communicate an unmet need? We need to peel back the layers and begin to uncover the truth behind the behaviour. By reframing the behaviour and understanding that student, I can begin to connect and inspire students to find replacement behaviours that are positive and effective. By highlighting our students strengths and seeing past the behaviour, we have the ability to help that student find passion and meaning in their life. You could help that student way beyond developing self-regulation skills.

Check out this video about Clint. A former student of Mr. Jensen's and his experience with him help shaped his life and opened up pathways he never knew would exist.

This video is so inspiring and it should make every educator take a step back and think before handling behaviours in the classroom. We need to reshape how we see behaviour and spin into something as beautiful as this.

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How do we change our perspective and help our student see themselves differently...

Through empowerment, differentiating, providing tools, adjusting our environment to suit our students needs, tweaking our assessments to measure their achievements (not always focused on the skills missing), positive reinforcement, encouragement, and all the other amazing things teachers do for their students!

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This video challenged my beliefs and perspective about behaviour. Often, students with a behaviour exceptionality are misunderstood. We need to shift how we think about behaviour in the classroom and how connection is way more powerful than correction.

The speaker, Peter, mentions that when meeting emotional needs, it is often quite difficult because students don't come into the room with a sign on their chest saying I have been abused, I am anxious, or I am traumatized. It reminds me of a student I once taught who I knew was struggling with something at home. She had some good friends at school and I had a wonderful relationship with her. Unfortunately, she often slept in class and would refuse to do any work. Her coming to school and just getting a smile out of her meant I did something right. She had an obsession with llama's and I used this to help brighten her day when I could. Some days I would be more successful with her and we would almost reach goals we set out and we were making progress with completing tasks more often. This was my last practicum before COVID-19 shut my placement down 2 weeks early and I never saw her again. I often think about her and other students in the class and wonder how they are doing. Those relationships made are so meaningful and approaching this situation with care and compassion hopefully made a lasting impact.

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“Always keep a student’s experiences and perspectives in mind when they engage in challenging behavior. Remember that they aren’t giving you a hard time, they’re having a hard time.” — Jen Alexander, author of Building Trauma-Sensitive Schools

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Welcome Educators!

Hello people of the internet and fellow teachers that have come across this blog. My name is Charlie and I teach elementary in Ontario, Canada. I'm better known by the students as Mr. D. This blog is to inform our practices with shared experiences, resources, tools. I want to deepen our understanding of behaviour as a form of communication in the classroom. When a student exhibits some form of behaviour, rarely ever is it about the student being defiant. Their behaviour is a reaction to some form of stress/fear/trauma/unmet need. When we begin to create spaces for our students to feel seen and heard, we are essentially giving them space to grow and develop the emotional and social skills necessary for a healthy life.

I will be posting some material to assist with our understanding of the IEP, provide resources that assist with understanding behaviour, such as: -my view of behaviour and how we handle it -self-regulation strategies (instructional and examples for students) -placement options -accommodations -alternative programming -other relevant articles/resources to support