Behavior Support Systems in Place at Schools

         Throughout the process of my research project, I have learned how valuable a Behavior Support System can be in any school. I have realized the benefits and and the qualities that will be put into the school to reduce the amount of office referrals and improve classroom management. The behavior support system that I investigated in a classroom setting is Positive Behavior Support or PBS. I investigated it at a school where it is already put into place and the aspects of it. I also got the privilege to talk to the principle of Chipeta Elementary School, Jayme Kyle, about the implementation of the program. She has helped asset up the program in two schools. This was a very valuable resource for me when considering the PBS program in my school. I was pleased to see a Matrix set up similar to the one that I set up for my school, in use at their school. 

Below is an interview that I did with Mrs. Kyle at Chipeta Elementary. This interview lays out the basics for a PBS program in the school and may answer some questions about the program.

 

PBIS in Schools

              I went to a PBIS training yesterday. I thought there was some very valuable information that was presented there and I wanted to pass it along. There is an amazing amount of statistics out there on PBIS and the effect is has in the schools. One thing that you have to understand about PBIS is that it is a process. This is not something that you can say I am going to do this because of this kid and it will automatically fix him. This is a process that all students need to be exposed to and involved in. This is also a process where all teachers and administrators need to be on board with or it will not work to the fullest. PBIS really touches on all aspects of behaviors at schools including bullying.

PBIS is a framework, a process, and a continuum. PBIS is a Multi-tiered System of Support and the RtI model can often be used like the Multi-tiered system. This is a whole school or organization that participates in the program, data-driven, prevention-based framework, improving learning outcomes, all students participate, layered continuum, and evidence based practices and systems. All of these are levels of support that are implemented in a PBIS system in a school. It is much like a business and has a lot of the same features of a business.

Below is a layout of PBIS compared to a business.

As you can see, PBIS is can easily be compared to a business.

As an educator, I have learned that being positive if the best tool in a school. If you can be positive even when a student is doing something that you absolutely hate or you know isn't right and take the problem at hand then you can get further with the student and address the other little problems at a later time. Also, you have to really know your students in order to be effective. You also need to know your students to know what battles to pick and what you can let slide a little. Sometimes if you have a student who gets upset about anything, you can let the little things slide and focus more on the larger issues at hand with a positive approach.

The following are some great websites to go to for PBS help or behavior help:

http://www.pbis.org/
http://www.pbisworld.com/

Home and School Communication

Communication between home and school can make or break a students day. It is always nice to know what is going on before the student comes to school and before the student leaves the school. As a Significant Support Needs teacher, I try to make contact with each one of my students parents after school. I also encourage my students parents to inform the students aide on their morning and night. This will normally tell us if the student did not sleep or did not eat. These are two things that are always nice to know to help us help the student get through the day in a productive way. Having an open line of communication with my students parents is also important for working with the students. Something that happened at home can be the cause of a behavior or why the student is acting the way he/she is. Below are some home to school communication logs that can be used.

Inclusion in the general education classroom

Inclusion: Is this the best for ALL students?

 

Inclusion is a huge part of the education world for students with special needs. In my experience with inclusion so far, it is very beneficial for students with disabilities to be around students without disabilities. This is a very tough concept though and some students are not good candidates for inclusion. In my opinion, if a student is interfering with his or her learning or other students learning, this student is probably not a good candidate for inclusion. 

Let me give you a little background on the situation that brings this issue up. At the elementary school that I teach at, we like to hit the 80% or above amount of inclusion time for our students. This will help social skills develop and it will help other students learn to be around and help students who are at a smaller advantage. A lot of the times, it is a good thing for the student with disabilities to be in the general education classroom to get the general curriculum data. I believe they are taking in a lot more information then what we think they are. I have a student who was not in the general education classroom very much at all last year because the teacher said it was a distraction and that the student was not learning anything. This year the student has the same small behaviors of blurting things out with little distraction (same as last year) but is fully included in the general education classroom all but 1 hour/ day. This student is excelling in all areas because of that general education involvement and his peers understand him and want to help him. His teacher is willing to include him. This is amazing to me and shows me that this is a good thing and general education teachers need to have an open mind and be acceptable to situations like this. On the other hand, I have a student who was included 80% of the time in the general education classroom last year, but was also very disrespectful and interfering with other students learning. This year this student is also included about 60% of the day in a general education classroom with the same behaviors but the general education teacher still asks if this is really the best situation for him? I understand the concern that the general education teacher has but I also wonder what is really best for all involved with the student being the main priority. This student does have strengths with in group settings that we like and want more of, but is it the best situation? Where do we draw the line and is it right to put other students learning at rick just so we can include a student with disabilities in the classroom. This answer is obvious to me but is it obvious to the laws?

Inclusion is a very controversial topic with a lot of opinions and facts to each side.  Inclusion depends on the behavior and disability of each student. In order for inclusion to be successful, all teachers and school personal (general education teachers, special education teachers, school administration, and student aides), need to work together to get to know the students limits, strengths, and weaknesses. We all need to know their triggers. We all also need to work together to inform each other about things that might work for the student and then give it our all for the sake of the student and the benefit that this might be that one thing that will help the student excel in a general education classroom. 

 

 

Behavior in Schools

 Behavior In the School

It is amazing to me how much behavior in schools have increased over the years. I remember when I went to elementary school and hanging out with everyone at school. I don't remember any huge fights, kids constantly getting sent to the office, or kids being allowed to do what they wanted in the classroom "just so they aren't interrupting others. These days, I consistently see the same 10 kids in the office EVERYDAY!!! I consistently see kids staying at school after hitting, kicking, or biting someone. I hear kids screaming or yelling at teachers. To me, this is amazing and uncalled for and SHOULD NOT be tolerated for other students and teachers sakes. It is mentally stressful for all involved.

I have thought a lot on this topic for quite some time now. My job was pretty tough last year but seemed to get tougher this year with behavior. I have adopted some coping skills and strategies to use with students but it seems like I spend most of my time dealing with these behaviors then I do teaching my students what they need to know for their life. I have talked to other staff members and I have also thought of some reasons this may be happening on my own.

1. Absents of Parental Discipline- Are students allowed to go home and get away with whatever they want while parent do their own thing? Are kids allowed to bite, hit, and yell at their parents while at home? These questions are all coming up when we talk about student behavior and different reasons for it and ways that might help them and their family. When we have a family with a student who is having a really hard time in school, its our job to not only educate the students on appropriate behavior but we have to educate the parent on different strategies and ways to help them at home.
2. Higher number of students coming from broken families- It seems like there are more and more children coming from broken families. Sometimes its a nasty break-up between the parents and fighting over the kids. Sometimes the kids will go for a long time without seeing one parents or not see a parent at all. This can have a huge affect on how a child acts at school. this may be them crying out for help.

3. Classroom Management- Teachers seem to come out of college with more knowledge and better classroom management skills. This can make or break a class and even affect individual students more. If the teacher does not have a good handle on the class and have structure within the class with clear expectations, students will have a hard time acting appropriate and behaving in class.
4. School Wide Behavior Management- Do schools need to be required to adopt a behavior system and prove to the state that it will work for their school? Does schools need to work together more and see what is working and what is not working? Get rid of what not working and bring in something new? There are so many questions for this and I'm not sure there is one answer to all of the questions. In the school that I work in, we don't have any behavior management process or behavior plan for our students. Teachers do their own behavior management and the principals will get involved if they need to. Their strategy may be different every time or they may be too busy to where the student ends up waiting in the office looking at books. This is a huge area that a school needs to focus on and work together with their teachers to come to a solution that is best for all students.

These are all observations and nothing is a proven facts. They are all personal opinions.

Curriculum for Students with Special Need

           

Being a new teacher to this district and this field in a new position at these schools has been a struggle of mine to incorporating the general education curriculum with my students and their needs. The current curriculum that my school district just adopted is a tough one. It is a curriculum that our regular education students are having a really hard time adapting to let alone the students with special needs. The time is takes me to modify each and every curriculum is overwhelming and exhausting. It is my goal for my students to learn the most they can while in the general education classroom. A few things that I have don’t to help me and my students with this process are as follows:

1.     Peer Buddy- It is always a good idea to have a peer buddy with these students. This buddy has to be picked very diligently. It needs to be a student who can multi-task and still pay attention to what the teacher is saying. It needs to be a good role model. It also needs to be a student who can understand the student’s disability and work through things with them with guidance from the special education or general education teacher.

2.     Para Support- Although this is a really hard solution to get, this is a great way for the student to be involved in the general education classroom. The para would be there to talk the student through the tasks and may break them down if needed.

3.     Classroom support with pullout time- This is the way that we end up needing to do most of the general education classroom with the higher special education students.

When I am sticking one of my severe needs students in with the general education classroom, I get a lot of questions from the teachers, such as, why should they be there when they don’t understand any of the information being presented. My response to this is it doesn’t just teach the students academically, but it teaches them socially. This is a time for these students to learn how to sit in a classroom and what is socially acceptable and what’s not. Those are some thoughts on inclusion and some solutions to keep in mind.

Time Management

                                                  

Everyone in this world has so much to do. It never seems like we have enough hours in the day to do all the things that we need to get done. Juggling school, work, family, and my puppies:) is a tough job and hard to keep up with. My thoughts are that this would be a very easy thing to solve with a calender and some organization skills but that's not me. I cannot sit down, write everything down, and continue this calender of events throughout my life. I end up having several calenders, and several papers to go with those calenders. I also end up forgetting to write things down and then go without it for a while. After a few rounds of this, I give up. I have found that an electronic calender does give me a little more support because I seem to have my computer with me all the time. Another thing that I have recently started using is checklists. I write down what I need to do and prioritize them along with the date that they need to be completed. Once I am finished with a task, I highlight it so I know I got it done. This is my plan of attack for this semester, not only for me, but I would like to implement it in my classroom for my students also. This is a visual representation of tasks that we need to get done in a short amount of time, a day, a week, a month, or a semester. This is a great starting point.