I really liked the article that we are reading for this month. Throughout my practicum I am constantly dealing with behavior whether it be reinforcing, stopping, encouraging, distinguishing, etc. I think it always helps to think about each student as an individual and consider their background, performance levels, individual traits, observable behavior, and positive moments. I like the common language that this article provides when finding observable behavior. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my conversation with a resource specialist at my school as well as PLC experiences have helped me to learn how to pin-point behavior and to be specific. I also think it’s important to consider the context of every observed behavior such as reading, writing, new skill introduced, hard task, etc.
I especially gravitated toward the acceptable replacement behavior section at the beginning. We do this a lot in PLC meetings where we look at disruptive behavior and think of other ways to supplement the student’s need. For example, with one student who can’t keep his hands still we thought about a stress ball. I really like this part:
“Students learn that engaging in prosocial behavior can achieve the same outcome or function as disruptive behavior, and that they are considered more favorably by their peers and teachers when they engage in prosocial behavior. Assisting students in acquiring and demonstrating prosocial behavior results in more appropriate behavior and less disruptive behavior”
I’m hoping to help some of my students understand this concept, because I do not ever want an out of control behavior viewed by the teacher to translate into unfavorable opinions from peers (which I have seen happen).
I also really liked how the sections were broken down into sub-categories of difficult behavior. I find my biggest difficulty comes when the behavior is a combination of all. Furthermore when the student may be ELL and has trouble understanding and the background is unknown it can be extremely difficult.
Overall, I really like this article and I think I will definitely refer back to it once I am a first-year teacher. Although I really don’t have that challenging of a class behaviorally, it still feels like it! I’m learning little ways to improve every day. I think this year will teach me tons of valuable knowledge about behavior.
I agree with you – I felt that this article offered up a lot of great ideas, strategies, and information about what might be causing a particular behavior problem. I liked the quote that you included in your post about encouraging students to engage in prosocial behavior. Every student wants to fit in, and I agree that a teacher noticeably focusing on a student’s behavior can create unfavorable opinions of him/her in the classroom. I definitely think that assisting students with behavioral issues to engage in more prosocial behaviors and explaining the benefits is a great strategy to decrease disruptive behaviors.
I really enjoyed this article as well. I found the suggestions on acceptable replaceable behaviors really helpful adn practical. I felt myself saying over and over again as I read the article, “Hey! I can definitely relate to that!” or “That’s why my student responded this way.” I think it’s really cool to see what the author is saying play out in your classroom. I will definitely refer back to this article, too. Great Post!