| 1. | Terrance, a seventh grade student, is in your special education classroom with fifteen other students. Terrance rarely engages in problem behavior while he is in your class, however, you have just discovered that he is frequently being sent to the office for being disruptive in math. You have talked with the math teacher who says the problems start within the first few minutes that Terrance enters the classroom. Terrance comes in on a daily basis and either turns over a chair, dumps out a full trashcan on the floor, or grabs one of the female students.
You have learned a lot about Terrance over the past year and understand why he acts the way he does in certain situations. Terrance does not like math, and knows that if he engages in problem behavior he will be sent out of the room. Terrance has learned over time that the way to escape math is to engage in problem behavior. However, Terrance has to pass his math class this year and you need to figure out a way to keep him in the classroom.
You set up a time to meet with the math teacher to develop a positive behavioral support plan for Terrance. During this discussion, you describe to the math teacher how being sent to the office is reinforcing to Terrance, since it lets him leave math and escape a subject he dislikes. The math teacher is fascinated by your insights regarding Terrance´s problem behavior and wants to try a different approach.
Imagine that you are meeting with the math teacher and he has asked you to:- Describe positive behavioral support
- Explain how curricular modifications can decrease problem behavior
- Help him understand why it is important to avoid sending Jack to the office and how this can be accomplished
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| | Positive behavioral support is an approach for strengthening a student´s social and communication skills, and creating a positive environment for learning and social growth. An important part of the positive behavioral support process is to understand why a student engages in problem behavior. When we have identified the function that a problem behavior serves for the student, we can modify the environment making problem behavior irrelevant and teach the student new skills that achieve the same desired outcome.
For instance, a curricular modification might include incorporating Terrance´s interests into the curriculum. If Terrance is really interested in starting a business mowing the neighbor´s yards, you could teach him how to develop a budget and make computations about the money he could earn in one summer. Terrance could still achieve his academic objectives in math, but the way in which the task is accomplished can be altered.
It is really important that we consider whether Terrance should be sent to the office when he misbehaves. Terrance often engages in problem behavior in order to escape from a situation that he dislikes. By sending Terrance to the office, you are increasing the likelihood that he will engage in problem behavior in the future. It is important to prevent Terrance from escaping from math class by ignoring low intensity problem behavior and using redirection. Redirection simply means that you are guiding Terrance toward a positive interaction by introducing alternative assignments or providing assistance on an assignment. |
