Addressing Disruptive and Noncompliant Behaviors
1. List three reasons why some students continue to cause problems even when there is a good classroom management plan in place?
They can have stressors outside of class that affect their ability and concentration levels.
They can be considered at risk due to sociological factors (low income, english learner)
They may have a disability or disabilities
2. Discuss at least one benefit and one challenge of intervening early in the acting-out cycle to prevent problem behaviors from escalating.
The biggest benefit to intervening early is you can re-direct the actions or behavior into something appropriate for the classroom before the student gets too agitated. However, the challenge is to recognize the triggers before the behavior or actions have escalated to far.
3.Think back to the Challenge at the beginning of this Module. Ms. Rollison is having trouble with Patrick, who is a model student on some days and is rude and disruptive and refuses to work on others. Unfortunately, she probably does not have enough information to figure out what Patrick’s triggers are. Although not discussed explicitly in the Module, can you think of three methods by which Ms. Rollison could determine his triggers?
It could be negative interactions with a student or teacher
It could be a change in the schedule
It could be a disagreement with a peer, family member or outside source
4.Ms. Rollison is also having trouble with Tameka, who refuses to do any written work. In this case, Ms. Rollison does have enough information to figure out what Tameka’s trigger is. What is it?
I think that Ms. Rollison can determine that written assignments cause Tameka to have trouble. Personally, I would run a test to determine if written assignments cause the behavior but the teacher should be able to determine that written work triggers Tameka’s behavior because she won’t do any written work.
5. Once either Patrick or Tameka enters the Agitation Phase, what would you recommend that Ms. Rollison do? If she doesn’t recognize the Agitation Phase, what would you recommend differently for the Acceleration Phase?
If either student enters the agitation phase it is important that the teacher looks for ways for the student to be redirected to the proper behavior. The teacher could try to get the student to become more actively engaged in the lesson through a question, reading aloud, helping the group with the project etc. If Ms. Rollison can not recognize the agitation phase, during the Acceleration Phase she should redirect the student, wait for a response and if the behavior has not been resolved she should follow up with a consequence.
6. What is the primary reason that teachers are often reluctant to engage in debriefing during the Recovery Phase? Why is it important to debrief in spite of this reluctance?
Debriefing means that you have to address the problem again, explain why it was an issue and give them proper ways to deal with the stress or agitation. It is not a fun task and can potentially cause the behavior to re-occur but is necessary to make sure that the student is aware of the problem. Additionally, you need to help them figure out ways to prevent the behavior by themselves. We need to help the students become personally responsible for their behavior.
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