Behavior Management Plan

Behavior Management Plan
By: Alpha Sanford

My behavior management plan is created around working with students who have emotional, psychological and medical conditions. This type of population requires more than the usual behavior management skills needed to work with a set of more manageable students who require less intensity of educational intervention. Some educators might reject the thought of using a more structured and a more physically involved intervention processes such as restraints, detentions and longer time-outs. Some feel that there is a greater need to incorporate this so-called “punitive” behavior intervention plan in teaching this particular group. However, I believe that students, who are enrolled in special programs such as therapeutic schools, definitely call for a structured behavior management plan, that is also individualized, reasonable and achievable that is beyond the educational aspect.

It is important to know that these students deal with more than just their learning problems. They come to school with more than an extra baggage on their shoulders. They deal with their psychological conditions that may interfere with the possibility of staying in sane and “be” in the present moment. To be able to stabilize a balanced educational environment, these students must create a sound plan to manage all the different problems they are confronted with. They must put their psychological problems on one hand, take their emotional issues on another and then incorporate some time to learn. In addition to that, they are expected to behave within the acceptable standards of the teachers.

It is with my utmost capacity to incorporate all of these concerns that these students have in implementing my behavior management plan. It is expected that in the classroom, each student receive an individualized plan according to his or her many underlying conditions. However, for the sake of communicating a general overview of how my personal behavior management plans looks like, I have put together a packet that speaks of a generic approach to this situation.

This Behavior Management Plan (BMP) is divided into three sections:

a. BMP During Instruction
- Beginning of class
- During class
- End of class
- Transition time
b. BMP During Clinical Check-in
- Regular check-in
- Involuntary check-in
- Team meeting
- Crisis Team
c. BMP During Consequence Time
- 10 minute time-out
- 20 minute Community Violation
- In-school Suspension
- Out of School Suspension

With this Behavior Management Plan comes a Level System of rewarding students who are able to balance their personal issues with staying in class. This is incorporated as a way of motivating the students to excel in their academics, but at the same time

Individualized Solution to Behavior Problems

Individualized Solutions to Behavior Problems
By: Alpha Sanford

In dealing with students who have gone through from the least restrictive environment (from public school mainstreaming, one-on-one teaching in the classroom to inclusion or resource room) to the most restrictive environment (such as group homes, lock-up facilities and therapeutic schools) for placement program, teachers must understand the most commonly known problems why students are kicked out from one program to another. Generally the underlying causes of problems among these students are either conduct problems or emotional problems. Teachers must know the differences between the two problems so they can better understand why their students act the way they do and also how they can help them change the behaviors these students show.

According to the book, “students who have conduct problems are those who are unwilling to respect the rights of others and conform to the norms of the society.” They do things to benefit themselves without thinking of the other people involved. They also behave differently because they want to do so or they think it is necessary to do so.

On the other hand, students who have emotional problems are students whose emotional responses are either too intense, too weak or in conflict that their behaviors are affected by how they feel. These students may do things that may not even benefit anybody, not even themselves. They may also not behave differently because of the little experiences where their emotions are involved.

In Chapter 12 of the book, it was stated that conduct problems are the result of individuals whose moral development are delayed, unfulfilled or mismanaged. The three stages of Moral development are sequenced according to the ages of individuals.

The first stage, Extrinsic Consequences, usually occur among young children whose physical and emotional needs are dependent on adults most specially their parents. They are not concerned on getting control over themselves, but rather by satisfying their needs. These children learn about self-control early on not by direct and stern commands, but mostly from what they see from their parents; from the communication they hear; and from rewards and punishment system. They focus on learning the new behavior by thinking of outside consequences that could either be positive or negative. They also learn new things not by rational thinking but because of the rewards or punishment they might have as a result of what they do. When young children’s needs are not met or if these children do not learn how to control themselves during this first stage of moral development, they begin to resist conforming to adult expectations. They also learn to exhibit a lot of anger and resentment towards adults.

The second stage of moral development, Natural Consequences happens when individuals who are in upper elementary grades learn to understand why rules are necessary and why they need to be followed. They learn to follow rules not because of thinking that by behaving appropriately certain consequences might happen, but because they know that if they obey the rules, they appreciate the reason behind it. Unlike individuals who are in the first stage of moral development who exercise self-control because of extrinsic consequences, these individuals exercise self-control because they appreciate the natural consequences of their behavior. Unfortunately, individuals might not progress to this second-stage and a few reasons why they do not, include the following reasons: (1) poor modeling (2) lack of explanation (3) lack of group identification and (4) immaturity.

Teachers can help foster moral development of students who are in this stage by deemphasizing the role of authority and the exclusion of extrinsic consequences as management strategies. Teachers can also model appropriate behaviors that students can emulate, explain the uses of rules, exposing students to group work and cooperative learning and deemphasizing individual assignments and competition.

The last stage of moral development happens among adolescents whose concept of behaving appropriately is influenced by their belief that by doing so they would feel proud of themselves and knowing that it is the right thing to do. They are not motivated to do things by extrinsic rewards but rather by the feeling they can get by doing so. Individuals who have not yet learn this stage of moral development might have difficulty feeling remorse or guilty when doing something inappropriate. If they have done something that upset other people, they may not recognize that feeling and rather they appear to be uncaring about the situations. Issues in the classrooms that happen as a result of individuals who have not yet accepted the values and the morality behind some behaviors include cheating during exams, breaking into school, stealing or destroying other people’s belongings or being dishonest.

Teachers can help motivate students to behave appropriately for moral reasons by giving them the love and attention they need, modeling the right behavior that students can copy and explaining to students to behave morally.

These three stages of moral development, if not fulfilled are the causes of most conduct problems in the school. Teachers and parents must comply with the steps involved in satisfying the needs and demands of children in each stage. It is the hope of many adults that children under their care may experience all the best in each stage in order to avoid these conduct problems. However, conduct problems although they are born out of students, whose moral developmental stages are not quite accomplished, can also come from two other factors: biologically and environmentally.

Research indicates that because individuals are born with a certain level of temperament they are predisposed to have difficulty learning. An individual whose attention span is short may struggle sitting on a task and finishing it and may disrupt the class by standing up and down or doing unnecessary movements that are problematic. Other examples are individuals who are born with attention deficit disorder, fetal alcohol syndrome, high levels of male hormones and cognitive deficiencies that make it impossible for them to understand nonverbal gestures and cues and may completely present frustration in the classroom.

The effect of environmental factors among students can also cause conduct problems. Examples of these factors are individuals whose parents or grandparents have also conduct disorders who do not teach them the control themselves or to respect the rights and values of other people; individuals who are brought up by parents who have abused, neglected and rejected them and who failed to provide them the emotional and physical needs they need as persons and individuals whose parents use ineffective disciplinary techniques.

The author of the book believes that although there are researches done that justify that behavioral issues come from biological and environmental factors, he assumes that students with conduct disorders appear to choose to misbehave in many ways. He also believes that it is the role of the teachers to change and expose the individuals who lack self-control and exhibit conduct problems to experience many appropriate situations where the individual can reshape his behavior and therefore correct their misconduct.

Reference: Grossman, H. (2004) Classroom Behavior Management: For Diverse and Inclusive Schools. Lanham, Maryland. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Resolving Most Behavior Problems

Resolving Most Behavior Problems
By: Alpha Sanford

In order to resolve most behavior problems that occur in school, one must know whose problem is it and why it is occurring. In Chapter 7, the author emphasizes the importance of recognizing if a certain behavioral issue is coming directly from the teacher’s or the student’s. It also differentiates the two kinds of behavior problems which are the (1) self-defeating or harmful behaviors and (2) behaviors that challenge values or expectations.

Most of the behaviors that infringe on the rights of others such as hitting others, breaking other people’s belongings, calling names, bullying others as well as doing things that make other people feel bad fall under the first group of behavior, (Self-defeating or harmful behaviors) as mentioned above. These kinds of behaviors need prompt intervention and without any doubt it must be addressed as quickly as possible. These behaviors are labeled as “problematic” therefore teachers have the obligation to change the behavior before the issue escalates. It is therefore unquestionable for teachers to act upon any behavior that might lead to endangerment of the members of the class.

On the other hand, behaviors that may or may not conform to the teacher’s values, expectations, perceptions and also ethnic background present arbitrary interventions. It may mean that teachers should first examine the reasons of wanting to intervene or change the behaviors presented before deciding whether or not to act upon it. Examples of these behaviors include being loud in class, being assertive, boasting one’s accomplishment, extremely frank, submissive, loud, working on a task slowly or quickly and other behaviors that are not harmful and do not intervene with the rights of other students but teachers do not necessarily accept such behaviors.

Teachers are also human beings. They can be biased and they also make mistakes. They bring in the classroom their own set of values, personalities, gender and cultural backgrounds. These differences encompass the way they perceive the acceptance or rejection of behaviors. But knowing if a certain behavior is influenced by how teachers see them is crucial in determining whether to intervene or not, or maybe for the teacher to deal with the problem on his own.

There are four differing perceptions of behavior that affect the way teachers react to students’ behavior (1) Gender Differences (2) Cultural Background (3) Values Differences and (4) Psychological Differences.

According to previous researches, female teachers are less tolerant to male-typical disruptive behavior and vice versa. Female teachers are also friendlier to female students and present teaching strategies that are geared towards the enhancement of females’ learning behavior and personalities. They also empower female students by developing their self-confidence and counteract their negative thinking. In general, female teachers look out more for the needs of the female students than their male counterparts.

There are also many cultural differences as the number of different cultures that are present in the classroom. These cultural differences that directly stem from the teacher’s background can be perceived as rudeness to others, inconsideration, immoral, and impolite. Examples of behaviors that may possibly affect the teacher’s cultural perception include but not limited to being loud, making noises, asking too many personal questions and being distant to peers and teachers. However, teachers who come from the same cultural, socioeconomic and ethnic background as their students are less likely to judge students’ behaviors as problematic and do not usually intervene in situations where other teachers may not accept as good behaviors.

Cultural and values differences overlap with each other. Generally people who come from the same cultural background develop a set of values that are either rational or irrational to some and intellectual or foolish to others. However, they do not necessarily have the same acquisition of values because they are brought up from different parents who have different values and reside in different neighborhoods that have different ideas and feelings about what is appropriate, worthy and desirable. Examples of behaviors that may possibly affect the teacher’s values differences are values on punctuality and promptness, the importance of academic versus extra curricular activities and addressing the authority in a polite manner or not.

Behaviors that are usually affected by the many psychological differences of a person are less intellectual and rational. These behaviors usually arise without the other person knowing about it. They make up the contents of most comments made by individuals such as “I can’t stand this…”, “This is driving me nuts…” or “This girl is just killing me the way she…” However, it is equally important to determine these differences to resolve and react appropriately to a situation. Examples of behaviors that do not necessary conform to the teacher’s psychological expectations are students who are questioning the teacher a lot, students who are not adhering to the rules, students who are aloof, distant and maintain a professional relationship between the teacher and the student. These behaviors may mean differently to different teachers who have various level of tolerance, experience and ability.

Yet with all these behaviors come the question or the choice to intervene or not. If a teacher chooses to intervene, there are five strategies that teachers can use to handle their student’s behavior problems. These strategies are (1) changing (2) managing (3) tolerating (4) accommodating and (5) preventing.

Of all these five strategies, the fifth one is the most important strategy that teachers need to master. This is the role of the teacher that needs more attention if not equal to the amount of time teachers devote on planning for their curriculum. If teachers know how to prevent and anticipate some minor problems to occur, then many of the problems in the classroom will be avoided.

Such scenario include a student who is caught up in tears and refuses to do class work (but may be resolved by distracting him), students eyes are roaming to a seatmate’s papers (can be resolved by proximity control), talkative seatmates (can be resolved by separating them or rearranging the classroom seating arrangement) and too much traffic in the classroom (may mean to establish a different classroom lay-out).

Many of the bigger behavioral issues were born out of boredom or out of little things. These little things that turn into bigger problems such as the arrangement of the class, proximity control, signaling awareness and nonverbal communication among students are easily preventable. With the right prevention and proper planning for a well-designed space in the classroom, these problems may not even be evident in the classroom at all.

The effective teacher establishes various measures to stop the occurrence of the incidence. A well-managed classroom is evident in the entire atmosphere of the room. Thus, knowing when and how to act before it even occurs is absolutely essential in the life of every teacher.

Reference: Grossman, H. (2004) Classroom Behavior Management: For Diverse and Inclusive Schools. Lanham, Maryland. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

The Marriage of Education and Discipline

THE MARRIAGE OF EDUCATION AND DISCIPLINE
By: Alpha Sanford

Discipline is a broad term that is almost synonymous to the field of education. In fact, separating each from one another is unthinkable. It would mean having to ask somebody who has gotten back from a dinner party the question, “Did you eat dinner devoid of your dessert?” without feeling a bit stupid. Moreover, it doesn’t seem right to isolate the skeletal system that holds up the entire body of education, which is discipline.

In the field of education, the community is composed of many variables to make it functional and progressive. One of them is the absolute presence of competent staff who are in combat against fighting illiteracy. Another factor is the presence of order, safety and respect where students convene at ease under the same roof for more than 160 days annually. Lastly, this community might face extinction without the presence of a common goal. This goal defines what most schools are and why schools are in constant search for improvement. This goal is what everybody might call, life’s purpose.

Every student read about it, they breathe through it and then follow it. From birth, each person is made to search for that purpose and it seems that going to school is the most appropriate way to go and find it. It seems that going to school and at least finishing some parts of it is the key to move ahead or probably move one step up towards that particular goal. It’s not that the school has all the answer to it nor does it provide everything that is needed in order to face this goal, but it has been the norm and the school has been what is identified as a place where thoughts and ideas are formed. These thoughts and ideas which later on turn into something that will make sense or something that might lead to seeing what each person was born to do usually originate from the community, specifically from school where an influx of individuals with different personality challenges one’s own perception therefore bringing in more analytical thinking.

Take for example a doctor, a policeman or even better a teacher. Where have they gotten most of their skills in their respective fields? It’s not solely from the street obviously nor from their natural talents but mostly from school where they meet, interact and learn from different individuals about various things. Things or lessons that eventually comprise the bulk of their professional knowledge.

Part of searching for life’s purpose is knowing what is right or wrong. At an early age, most people do not have a specific and concrete idea of what could be right or wrong. It has to be taught; it has to be seen; it has to be modeled by somebody who knows the borderline between what is right or wrong. It has to be very specific that any room for some grey matters should be eliminated.

Yet the basic understanding of what is right or wrong stems from getting DISCIPLINED! Again this is where education and discipline comes together as one. The marriage of the two is a lifetime commitment. One is not effective without the other and vice versa.

Whether somebody likes it or not, discipline creeps through the four walls of the school and in most waking hours of being in school. It is unavoidable; in fact, it is written boldly on the walls. Every student learns how to follow the routine. Every student learns how to get in line, follow the teacher and listen to the lesson presented or else….

There is a corresponding consequence and each of these follow the path of indirect and silent form of discipline. Most of the times, teachers do not even notice the presence of discipline as they go about their day but it is a fact of life that while teaching, discipline is always a part of it. Teachers communicate it – through written, verbal or mostly through body language. They merely do not impose most of the disciplinary cautions but because they cut across the moment of instruction while the teacher is teaching a particular subject, they barely recognize it.

Which is the beauty of it!

Which is the creed that education and discipline both have!

Most people do not know that what they are getting is already a form of discipline. However, when people starts labeling certain actions as discipline, they view it as punishment making it even more difficult for somebody to manage their own behavior let alone learn to get over the mistake.

In the end, it really doesn’t matter as to what extent does a particular discipline comes into play. Whether discipline is in the form of corporal, subtle, less or more – the issue is not crying to manage misbehavior per se or teaching a person to withstand punishment but making it sure that every person who undergoes through the blending of education and discipline gets a more sense of responsibility to his actions.

The measurement of a true education is not coming home with the certificate or diploma that beams with somebody’s name on it rather it is by displaying the knowledge gained from knowing that life’s purpose are coated through learning what is righteous and what is acceptable by the norm of a safe society.

Classroom Management Paper No. 1

Title: The Art of Teaching and Quilt-Making
By: Alpha Sanford

Learning the different classroom management techniques looks more complicated when reading about them than getting all the pieces together as one. Sure it does take time to nail down the components of a workable and a successful classroom management but sometimes what we all need as teachers is a good frame of mind to start what we want to see in our classroom: cohesiveness, cooperation and productive students. This is similar to starting a certain project with the utmost desire to see the final product yet the steps seem unbearable even fearful to plunge in. This particular issue reminds me of watching how my grandmother used to make quilt out of fabrics she no longer needed and how at the end of each gruesome process, out came beautiful blankets she used to give us!

I thought classroom management is definitely like the process of quilt making or at least very similar to it.

First, we need the basics: the three layers of a quilt consist of the top pattern, the batting and the backing. The top pattern usually consists of the geometric elements that we would like to showcase. The designs and the shapes that are printed on the fabric are carefully chosen so as to present the beauty of the project. The batting is usually made of cotton or low loft polyester. The last layer, is In order to make a durable and lasting quilt, these three pieces have to be sewn in together making sure each layer is secured and smooth. Each layer has its own purpose in place therefore each is important in the completion of the quilt.

As teachers, there are three basic roles we need to fulfill to be able to manage our classroom. The first layer that what most students see first is as an instructor. This is the design and the image we project in the eyes of our students. The second layer, the batting, usually the one that is invisible to the students yet contains the weight that holds the image of being a teacher is as a person. The third or the backing part, and usually comes to support the initial undertaking of a teacher as an instructor and as a person, is as a manager. The beauty of these three layers is that the top and the backing part of teaching is interchangeable just like how we use a quilt. Depending on our moods, we like to flip it from the geometric, more colorful top when we feel jovial but immediately shifts it to the plain usually monochrome backing when we feel somewhat unsettled. In everyday teaching, we present ourselves as the indefatigable instructors, feeding the minds of the students but as the moment arises, we turn to our role as the classroom manager to maintain the proper decorum of the class.

As an instructor, we as teachers must be careful to show to our students that we are fair and devoid of discrimination. Whether it be according to the income status of the families they belong to, their achievement level and/or their ethnic backgrounds, grounds of fairness and equality must be an important element in the image we are presenting to them. This is what they see in us first and foremost and we need to make a lasting connection that tells our students how deserving we are with the honor they are giving us as instructors in the classroom.

To most students, this is what we are solely to them, just instructors. They do not see the many other roles we fulfill. Hence, it is the most coveted job we must aspire to be, making sure every aspect of their learning environment is geared towards their wants, their goals and their own thinking of how to use us as their “instructors.” (Yes, we are here as instructors as a resource for them to use, and not the other way around.) It is then our responsibility to think of ways to get down to their level of thinking, of their cultural background and match their beliefs in their pursuit of learning to who we are as instructors. Only then can we see our importance as “instructors” to them as how important the quilt is when we use it as shield from the coldness of the night.

As a manager, teachers are deemed to be the righteous keeper of safety, control and compliance. According to a book authored by Andrew Carnegie, he said “First, arouse in the person an eager want. He who can do this has the whole world with him. He who cannot walks a lonely way.” In managing a classroom, we as teachers must always ask the question, “How can we make the students want to do what we want him to do?” and work the issues around this question. It is necessary to cultivate the “want” in each student to meet the solution. Without pinning down what the students entirely want, we fail to do what we originally planned for.

The last role of being a teacher as a person is the hardest to do. Teaching is a people-oriented profession therefore being a people person is a major personality in staying in this field. When we say, people person we mean individuals who are not just clocking in at 7:30 in the morning to serve the minimum working hours according to their contract, but real persons who go to school cheerfully and always ready to lend a hand. As a people person, teachers must show to their students that they are true to them, genuine, honest, willing to provide feedback that is not judgmental, willing to praise students who have shown excellence as well as encourage students to be what they can be. All of these are indispensable in creating a desirable person in the heart of a teacher,

When all the three layers of teaching are in placed and ready for sewing them as one, it is highly recommended to use a thimble or some sort of protection just in case the process of putting them together hurts the teacher’s ego. There will be times specially when sewing these layers by hand, that we will be pricked by the reality of the materials (maybe one layer is not compatible to the other, etc.) and we must be prepared to accept the fact that there will be mistakes. These mistakes might be indelible but they must server as our lessons on our way to perfecting the art of teaching.

One last thing that my grandmother told me about making a quilt that we could follow as teachers: A good rule of thumb, when making a quilt follow the shapes you have and the stitching pattern will become easier to manage.

(Translation in teaching: A good rule of thumb, when teaching, follow the “shapes” of the students you have and the teaching pattern will become easier to manage).