Negative Behavior and the “Trouble Child”

 

When I was a youth counselor in a 90 day emergency shelter I dealt with young people in crisis on a day-to-day basis. One problem that was consistent was their inability to concentrate. They often blamed themselves for their family situation or were angry about the hand life dealt them. It was hard for them to talk about and they lacked the maturity to deal with grown up problems so many would handle it with violent or outrageous behaviors. Much of their experience in school was with teachers who were reactionary and held low expectations. I noticed that they seemed to sense it when someone failed to believe in them. It was amazing to me how intelligent each individual was despite the terrible grades they were earning at school. So, we worked closely with schools to help them achieve their potential. What they needed was care, firmness, consistency, and a listening ear.

The Successful Teacher

 I noticed a constant pattern among teachers who were successful with these students. They cared enough to get to know the student and their situation. They also maintained a consistency with their expectations. It never ceased to amaze me what high expectations could do for these youth. Each student’s potential was infinite when given the chance to prove it. The successful educator’s role is to see the students learning as a partnership. Meaning they did their absolute best to create a positive learning environment while expecting the student to maintain his or her role (active participation). They also focused on the positive aspect of each student rather than giving into the tug of war that is negative attention. This served two purposes. It helped the child to see him or herself as a success rather than a failure as well as seeing that more attention would be given to them for their positive behaviors than their negative behaviors.  What I mean by expectations is that praise was given for accomplishments and hard work not just for any piece of work they turned in. The teachers also made use of a consistent behavioral plan. These behavioral plans varied but were based on prevention and included the entire class. Trust me the student noticed! Fairness played a major role in their success. Because these students saw their life situation as unfair they were highly sensitive to the fair treatment they received in school and often saw themselves as targeted by the teacher. 

In Your Classroom

This can be one of the most difficult tight ropes you can walk because of the behaviors the student displays in the classroom. It is easy to fall prey to the pitfalls of negative attention. Yes, it is true that if you ignore their negative behaviors they only get worse and more outrageous demanding your attention. So what can you do? In this case it is imperative that you turn the behavior around...redirect. It is important to remember that the name of the game is consistency, getting to know your students, and separating the behavior from the person. It may not work right away and may take some alterations. But if you stick to it I assure you it will work! I am attaching links to several excellent articles discussing methods and behavioral plans that in my experience have been proven to work. I hope you will find these useful. I do value your feedback and you can always feel free to contact me if you would like to brainstorm.

Disruptive Behavior: Turning a Negative to a Positive 

Changing the Negative-Identity Behavior Pattern of a Student

Diversity and Communication

Often when we think of diversity we imagine the various cultures in our classroom. Although this is a crucial part of the classroom there are many students who are dealing with multiple disabilities and life situations. It is easy to identify physical disabilities and ADHD but what of those suffering with other, less recognizable disabilities, life situations, and learning styles? How about our low-income students who lack the resources to be successful? I would like to delve into each one in more detail in future posts. But for now let’s discuss communication. 

It is so important to maintain good communication with parents and guardians in order to provide the best education possible. This can be time consuming, but with the proper resources and organization it can be a regular part of your routine. You will find that it also reduces stress and precious time involved in homework issues and class instruction. If we maintain an open line of communication it will result in a higher rate of participation in parent/teacher conferences. Another great way to encourage parents to get involved is to connect with your school’s PTA or Booster Club. There are many resources at our finger tips such as our classroom websites and newsletters. But we mustn’t forget that not all families have internet access and some parents/guardians have limited reading abilities. Many have precious little time in their day because they are working several jobs. Most minimum wage jobs do not allow for time off during the day. They may even have had a negative experience in their own education and thus are afraid to even enter the school.  It is also important to remember the stress families experience when dealing with a child with disabilities. It is with this understanding that we can learn to be creative in how we reach out to all families.  

An inclusive classroom provides for better education, a pleasant environment, and it might even save you time and frustration. Flexibility is the key to success when it comes to communication. The more we reach out to seek positive interaction the greater chance we have of connecting with each family. By positive interaction I mean contact the parents with positive information such as, “your child is doing great in…” or “I would love to hear your advice on…because after all you know your child best.” No matter what the situation you will find that the majority of parents would like to be involved at some level it is just a matter of finding the right fit. This will not only result in your own personal growth but may set up a more positive view of education from families who will in turn encourage their child to do well in school.

The Pipeline

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4^th grade reading scores determine the amount of prisons built in a given community creating the The School to Prison Pipeline. It is a sad but true fact. So what can we do about it? Isn’t it too late by the time they move beyond the 4^th grade? Nothing is set in stone and we are major factors in making this reality a thing of the past. Minorities make up the majority of the prison population. Research has shown that a concerted effort to reach these students in the classroom could make all the difference. As I mentioned in my last post, we need to be creative with our lessons to reach out and capture the attention of students who are often ignored in the classroom. This means focusing on a mixture of inspirational heroes all year long, rather than one month out of the year. For example, did you know that an African American man created one of the very first arcade games and that Timbuktu, Africa once contained some of the greatest mathematical minds in the world? What about Rahmaniya the Afghanistan girl who put her body in harm’s way to defend the education of girls in her country? It is true that the majority of traditional educational materials relate to white males but we can change that with a little effort. I will be adding information such as this to the resource section of my blog and I hope you will find it useful. Feel free to email with any questions, comments, or suggestions you may have. 

Reaching Those Out-of-Reach

Different backgrounds and experiences affect education. If you are teacher you especially know what I mean. We have all had those students. We know they have potential but they are so hard to reach. You are only one person and a 6 hour school day is hardly enough to give individual time to all 25 students. How can we reach those students who are most in need of our attention? It’s a must regardless of age and it’s never too late. We must never give up on those who struggle to keep up, display disruptive behaviors, or simply check out. No one comes from the same starting points and to reach those we relate to the least, diversity is the answer. Traditional lesson plans simply don’t cut it in today’s diverse classrooms.  In order to make a difference we must learn to think in a different way. Innovation is the key. This blog is intended to help educators find that key and use it to unlock the potential of all students.   

“Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.”

~Malcolm Forbes