The first year of teaching is one of the toughest things I have ever done. I was completing a Teacher-in-Residency program through Milwaukee Public Schools and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and I was placed into a 2nd/3rd grade classroom while completing my teacher education training at night. There was no cooperating or supervising teacher to guide me or to help me. I was completely on my own. I was absolutely petrified at facing my 2nd and 3rd graders, but there was very little that could have possibly prepared me for the behavior nightmare I was about to face. Hindsight is always 20/20, but if I had understood and known about the strategy of escalating interventions (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008) or how to develop individual behavior change plans (Jones & Jones, 2008), I would have known not only how to address the problems I faced, but also how to improve them and help one of the most memorable students in my career.
Bob (not really his name) was one of my second grade students. He was a troubled and angry young man who, along with his three other siblings, lived with his maternal grandmother. He and his siblings had been abandoned by their drug addicted mother, whom Bob had not personally seen in over a year. He was also a young man who, when happy, had an infectious, if not slightly goofy, smile.
When Bob first entered my classroom, he seemed almost painfully shy and quiet. I soon found out, however, that there was a restlessness and rage boiling beneath his surface. I soon found that Bob was argumentative with his classmates and me, called and yelled out during class instruction and discussion, and often refused to do the work that we were doing in class. When I would correct this behavior, he would become obstinate, and begin arguing and yelling at me. When I issued consequences for this behavior, he would swing at me and hit me, and then run out of the room and sit in the hallway, yelling loudly and disturbing the rest of the building. Ultimately, I would have to involve other staff members to come remove him from the hallway, or to find him because he had run off from outside of my classroom. I was in contact with Bob’s grandmother almost daily because of his behavior, and she was initially responsive and supportive of what I was doing to control Bob’s behavior in class. Once Bob began hitting me and making repeated physical contact, I was trained, at the suggestion of the Emotional Behavior Disorder teacher, in physical restraint techniques. As the year progressed, I was forced to physically restrain Bob several times, usually only for 1-2 minutes before he became calm enough to relinquish. There was one situation, however, where I needed to restrain this child for a total of 40 minutes. He had punched me three times before I could restrain him. I began with minimal restraint, while I waited for my administrator to bring the crisis team to my room. During that time, several students tried to approach me for support on a project they were working on, but Bob took swings at each of those students, narrowly missing a connection with their faces. While I waited for my administrator to bring the crisis team to my room (she was quite busy eating her lunch in her locked office), I had to require my other students, for their own safety, to stay over 4 feet away from me and from Bob, who was yelling and screaming at me and the other students. Unfortunately this incident set the tone for the rest of the year, and I had to simply let Bob leave the classroom, notifying the office on a daily basis every time that he left my classroom in anger. The crisis team would search for Bob, and would, inevitably have to physically restrain him or move him from the place where he was found. These tactics and solutions did not alter or improve Bob’s behavior in my classroom.
If I were to do everything over again with Bob, I would certainly make use of the escalation of interventions techniques (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008) and well as use the techniques described by Vern and Louise Jones, regarding creating and implementing individual behavior change plans. Initially, when Bob began his argumentative behavior with me or with his classmates, or began calling out or yelling in class, I should have had what Dr. Wolfgang referred to, in Interventions for Severe and Chronic Behavior Problems, as a “knee to knee” with Bob. This would have given me better insight as to what was causing his frustration to grow as high as to become belligerent to his classmates or me, or to yell in the middle of class, or to refuse to do the work. I could have developed a better relationship with Bob by actually hearing and listening to what was truly troubling him, like the fact that the majority of the work was far too difficult for him to complete independently. I could have created a no-lose contract with Bob that would allow him to control his behavior (which would be my “win”) and still get the attention from me or be able to complete his work without feeling like a failure (his “win”).
During my actual experience with Bob, I did give him time outs, both at level one (within the classroom), and at level two (out of the classroom). I did not, however, give these time outs as a choice to the student, as a confronting-contracting approach, or as a calm consequence to consistent rule breaking, as suggested by Dr. Wolfgang (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). If I had another opportunity to work with Bob, I would definitely use the time out option as a choice for him to help himself stay more calm and collected. I firmly believe that this approach, if done in conjunction with a knee-to-knee with Bob and a no-lose negotiation contract about Bob’s behavior, would have been very helpful in teaching Bob self control and minimizing the undesirable behavior.
I was in frequent contact with Bob’s grandmother throughout the year, and I spoke with my administrators frequently about Bob’s behavior. This next step in the escalation of interventions was one area that I unknowingly entered. Unfortunately, I did not request a meeting with Bob’s grandmother and the principal to occur at the same time. I was very quick to move to this level of intervention escalation, without thought or understanding of a relationship building knee-to-knee or use efficient use of time out. If I had used these steps and then organized a meeting with the grandmother, the principal, and myself, we may have been able to devise a better plan to support Bob in learning more appropriate behavior and social skills.
If the Bob’s behavior showed no improvement, I would contact the principal and special education staff in the building, along with the crisis team, to hold a staffing meeting to brainstorm some additional interventions that might help and support Bob in his classroom behavior. It would be at this point that I would, along with the support of the staffing team, devise an individual behavior change plan for Bob, as suggested by Vern and Louise Jones. This would be based on the data that we had all been able to collect while observing Bob. In all likelihood, I would have utilized a social, token, and activity reinforcement plan for Bob. Utilizing the staffing team, we would develop the parameters with which the plans would be implemented. We could work through together what tokens would be given for, and when they would be given. We could have also discussed and agreed upon how Bob could have used those tokens to gain activities or items that matter to him. I would hope the team would focus the behavior contract on the five main behavior concerns: calling out in class, yelling at me and his classmates, finishing his class work, not leaving the classroom without permission, and not hitting or kicking others when he became angry or frustrated. I would take the suggestions agreed upon an implemented them in my classroom.
Had that step in the escalation of interventions failed, I would have created, along with my principal and the crisis team, a severity clause, in which Bob would be immediately removed from my classroom for his safety, as well as the safety of the other students. This severity clause would have most likely taken effect if and when Bob began hitting, punching, or running out of the classroom in anger. Based on what I understand about Bob and his behavior now, it would have been most appropriate to have two difference consequences for the different behaviors of physical aggression and running away. Perhaps the physical aggression could be met with a standard consequence of an in-school suspension, one in which he could be instructed in a calmer one on one setting, or counseled thoroughly about his behavior during his time in suspension. The running away from the classroom in anger constitutes a severe and forced time out, followed by a time to discuss the frustrations that spurred the reactions and alternate choices that could be made within the safe confines of the classroom, so that Bob could learn to substitute his current behaviors with newer and more appropriate behaviors.
Having completed my teacher training in a Teacher-in Residency program, I am not sure if this type of classroom management information is more readily available through a traditional teacher training program. I am sure, however, that had I been instructed earlier in my career on these techniques and strategies, I would have not only reduced the stress and frustration that I felt as a teacher, but I also would have made a better impact upon my students. I would have surely been able to avoid so many severe behavior problems in my classroom, and I may have been able to help those students develop better skills to manage their own frustration and behavior, making them a more successful and integral part of every classroom that they entered after mine.
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Interventions for Severe and Chronic Behavior Problems [Motion Picture] Boston: Author.
Jones, V., & Jones, L. (2007). Comprehensive classroom management: Creating communities of support and solving problems (Laureate Education, Inc., custom 8th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
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