Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Let's Talk Behavior...
Think about the social behaviors, appropriate, or not, that your students have been displaying the first couple of weeks of CAPES! How might you address those that are inappropriate? How can you use those appropriate skills they have to teach them new appropriate skills. I believe strongly that inappropriate behaviors are social skill deficits- how does this impact how you might teach your students appropriate social skills in order to address their inappropriate behaviors?
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With our kiddo S she does have some inappropriate behaviors like not observing others personal space, self injury, not listening and/or minding and running off. We try different tactics to grab her attention like tactile cues, "touch your nose", point to our ear and say "listen". It can nudge her out of any fixation or tantrum and get her to focus on listening to the directions we have for desired behaviors. She is getting much better at working in teams and accomplishing fine motor activities and we reinforce those good behaviors with verbal praise and "high fives". :) She reacts very well to the positive reinforcement. We want S to have the social skills and behaviors she needs to have the successful life we know she can achieve. We are trying to teach S what is appropriate socially so that our time together is not only instructive but fun. We are really focusing on staying on task, following directions, and communication so that the building blocks of social skills are firmly based. When she can achieve these with ease then I know we can see great progress in her social behavior and skills. -Karli Plant
ReplyDeletePrior to having my checklist of activities, J would rarely ever listen to my directions. Rather than play with the equipment I brought out, or participate in the game planned, J had other plans. He would rather play basketball and run around the upper track than play the activities I had planned. For awhile, I had a very difficult time dealing with his resistance. In terms of aggression, I tend to lean towards the quiet and soft-spoken side. However, in order to correct his behavior, it was necessary for me to become more assertive in my actions and language with J. Along with this, I began to use my checklists more wisely, and this strategy helped immensely! Having a visual aid of what we were going to do for CAPES really helped J to be focused. Because he was listening to me, his behavior showed immediate improvement. Another strategy that I have found useful is setting good limits with J. Rather than telling J what he could NOT do, I tell him what he CAN do. For example, last night he was continuously banging the tennis racquet against his head. Instead of telling him, "Stop hitting your head", I told him, "Why don't we hold our racquets by our side so we do not hurt ourselves." Giving him an option of doing something else seems to help J made better choices. ~Christina Chow
ReplyDeleteI have noticed that D. has a difficult time with listening to my directions. He seems to have his own agenda when it comes to activities and but after some coaxing he is willing to participate. While this is still an issue that we are working with together I do feel that there has been an improvement. This is what I feel is a result of consistency on my behalf, I am consistent with my interactions and directions with him. I also believe that with using more "start" phrases rather than "stop" phrases then I may be able to obtain more compliance from him. I also believe that providing him choices of activity order will provide him with some sort of control which might be something he feels he is lacking in this situation.
ReplyDeleteLast night my normal, C, was sick and didn't attend CAPES! So I had F instead, I didn't notice or experience much inappropriate behavior, other than mild whining. She listened very well and followed any instructions given. Her brother R though, he had an over abundance of energy, which did result in a few behaviors, such as pinching and jumping on people, in the few minutes I was with him. How to teach appropriate skills is something I think about often. I don't think I'll struggle to much with teaching the curriculum, but the behaviors and some of the off the wall things can/will happen I don't think I'm prepared for it. My only thought is to reward appropriate behavior either verbally or with edible rewards, and make it something to point out to the class of appropriate behavior. Learning how to handle these behaviors are my biggest concern as a teacher and what I'm hoping to learn the most about through CAPES and this current class. -Luke Huffman
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started working with B I was told that you have to show you are in command from the very beginning otherwise he will walk all over you. I feel like I have done a pretty good job at taking demand however he still has his own agenda what he wants to do. As long as we have completed everything on the checklist I tend to compromise with what he wants to do also. Another thing that I notice is he isn't very willing to share space or equipment with others. This upcoming week I plan on working on sharing space and equipment with him. -Dan Ricks
ReplyDeleteMy student does not have a hard time listening to my directions. He is very good about doing what I ask him to with no complaints. He isn’t always energetic about some of the activities, but he still does them. I think if he were to have some problems, I would address the directions a little differently. One thing that I have tried is rather than asking him if he would rather do one activity or the other, I tell him he gets to choose how he does that specific activity. So he still has a choice of what he wants to do, but is still limited to that certain activity that I want him to do. I think just letting the students know you are in charge, and that they cant walk all over you, it will make their behaviors a little better. -Chelsey Brown
ReplyDeleteC has a difficult time expressing his feelings and verbally communicating. He also gets frustrated when he fails at things and so he starts overreacting. He gets mad at himself and becomes repetitive in trying to accomplish the task and then he will "pretend to hurt himself". For instance this week, I had C try to shoot the basketball in the real hoop. It was difficult for him but I knew hat he was capable of reaching a basket. When he couldn't get the ball in he began to just randomly chuck the ball and get mad. He would throw himself on the floor when he missed. He would quickly forget the times that he had made the shot if he had missed it the next time. He wouldn't end on a happy note unless the last shot he made went in. He doesn't understand disappointment and usually just gets what he wants, instead of working for things and developing new things. I want to help him learn to communicate his feelings and I will do it through modeling. As I speak with him and ask him lots of questions he will hopefully learn better how to communicate. I also want to provide him with lots of opportunities to explain things to me and to talk with me. I also want to help him persevere and endure through the hard tasks. I don't want to allow him to always take the easy way out of things. Which will probably be hard to control his behavior, but if I don't give up than I will see progress. -Kylee Mahlstede
ReplyDeleteK loves it when people watch her do something, it makes her want to do and try other things which is great! Sometimes she doesn't want to listen to my directions and she would run away, but since I have shown her in pictures what our activities are and that she gets to ride the scooter after we complete all the activities her behavior has improved a lot. Every now and then through the evening she will tell me no and she can't do it but by showing her and walking through it with her she has started to do more and she gets so excited after she has done something. For example last Tuesday K tied her shoe and that was such an exciting moment, it took a lot of time and emotion but in the end she did it and was very excited about it!
ReplyDelete-Montana Perkins
I have found that B has really great social skills. He is very confident with talking to his peers and will talk to a friend any chance he gets. Something that I love is that he loves to help out a friend that he sees struggling. I had an experience this week where we were on the rock wall and L was really scared of it. It was so cute because B saw that he was having a hard time so he just stood and talked to him about it. He told L that is was okay and not scary at all. He then started climbing to show L that it is not harmful.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I think B could work on is eye contact. I know that we have been talking about this every since we started CAPES! but I still think it could be improved. He is doing better, but he cannot keep eye contact for more than a few seconds. I think it is a very important skill to have and will be very beneficial to him later on in life.
-Courtney Brannon
My student mostly doesn't want to follow directions and we have been working on communicating better about what activities she would and would not enjoy doing. We also are trying to communicate more positive attitudes about doing activities we don't like. She doesn't try real hard to communicate with some of the other children and so we also have been working on socializing with others. Instead of me introducing her to the other children I tell her to introduce herself. It is slow moving but we have gotten her to begin communication with others. When I recognized her efforts in communicating with others it allows her more confidence. She not only is building relationships with the kids but also building confidence in herself that she didn't have before.If she can't socialize properly then I would not be able to understand why she is behaving the way that she is. She can tell me when something is wrong or she doesn't like something so we don't really have to build anything to work on appropriate behavior because she behaves well and can communicate well also, it can just improve.
ReplyDelete-Shelbi Linsley
Mine and Karli's participant, S, often displays inappropriate behavior. Running off, self-injury, not respecting personal space, or following directions.These behaviors can be addressed by using I-messages and asking her what her behavior is telling and showing us. She also displays appropriate behavior, she apologizes when she has made a mistake, and always greets and says goodbye with good manners. I can guide S to be aware of her inappropriate behaviors by modeling, instructing, and reinforcing. Staying persistent with her is key, you have to stick with limits, and use firm discipline strategies.
ReplyDelete-Demi Wikstrom
The topic for this blog post is a bit tricky for me. My participant in CAPES is a bit older than the other kids and has really good behavior. There are only a few things I can think of that may be viewed as inappropriate. He doesn’t make eye contact with me. There have been a few fleeting seconds where I see his eyes at the same level as mine, but he isn’t really looking at me in the eye. The other thing that I have been struggling with him on is his friendship with our group leader. He has very open communication with him, but shuts down a bit when it is just the two of us trying to talk. I am almost starting over every week having him feel comfortable around me. I am really not sure what to do about it either. We did have a breakthrough in the water on Tuesday. He actually got all of his hair wet. As a result he was able to dunk Dan. I could see in his face that he was determined to get his hair wet. He was struggling with getting his face wet, but he eventually made the plunge. It was awesome. I am really not sure how to teach S to look people in the eye. I also don’t know how to get him to engage in conversation with others. I suppose the best thing that I can do is to continue to keep the line of communication open. As the night progresses each week, he does look my way more often and also talks more to me. I am sure this is a process that takes a long time for him to develop. Any tips on how to speed up this process would be greatly appreciated. - Becky Montgomery
ReplyDeleteI think that my participant is very smart and realizes when they are engaging in inappropriate social behavior. I talk to my participant in a calm manner and express to them the expectations. I feel that there has been an improvement with my participant and there social skills towards me because have stated the expected limits and have followed through with them. Yolanda Argüelles
ReplyDeleteThis week my kid D was not there so I went with L he had vary little inappropriate behavior he was a little whine because he did not know the plan because we did not have one but he was a great kid and loves to have fun. In my other kid D he has a hard time listening to us because he is looking around and trying to find his mom but now he has been really good abs he is getting that its not right to get mad and sit on the ground tell you get what you want. You have to be firm and show them the behavior. You accept in the real world. Tyler martinez
ReplyDeleteT has a hard time listening to directions. The checklists have helped him quite a bit though. He also has a hard time not being destructive to the things around him. He will hit if he doesn't like what is going on. I have found that if I get his attention and make sure he is looking at me before speaking he does a lot better too. I also have been pointing out all the times he does listen other than the times he doesn't. I will give him "high fives" or clap when he listens or does something right. I need to be more firm with him because he still tries to get out of anything and everything he can.
ReplyDeleteMeggen Hodson
I have noticed with M that he tends to zone out and not listen to people when they are trying to talk to him. There will be times that I am trying to explain something to him, or show him something, and he will just look away and go into his own little world. This has been a struggle throughout the weeks. I have tried different things to try and get him to listen better. Such as, making eye contact when I am talking to him, having him repeat what I said or showed him. This has been working a little bit, but he still struggles with listening. Although he is still struggling with listening, he is getting better at communicating with me. M is starting to communicate what he likes and does not like a lot better than when we first started CAPES. I will continue to try and help M the best that I can with communication and listening, that is what I am going to focus a little more on this next week at CAPES! With teaching my students appropriate social skills I will try and make it important to them to make sure and listen when people are communicating with them, just like I am with M.
ReplyDelete–Caitlin Wiggins
Environment is the main thing that will affect my student's behavior. If it is a nice controlled environment, my student behaves beautifully. If there is chaos, the behavior changes. To keep my student displaying appropriate behavior, I need to keep control of the environment. This also helps me to get to know my student better and gives them a chance to get to know me. The more comfortable we get with each other, the more we trust each other. I feel like the more trust we have, the easier it will be to change environments and still have the desired behavior. This last time at CAPES, I took my student to a room we hadn't been in before, I could tell my student was a bit nervous, but we have built up a bit of a trust with each other and my student was able to maintain the desired behavior. I believe the best thing to do is set your student up to succeed, not fail. I've kept my student in a very controlled environment for a while and am just now going to start taking them to different places. If the desired behavior is maintained, we will continue trying new places. If the undesired behavior comes back, then I will take them back to the controlled environment and try again when I feel like they are ready.-Chelsea Goff
ReplyDeleteMy CAPES participant has extremely good behavior and knows how to conduct himself in an appropriate manner. I have never seen R act out or be super loud. The major problem I have with him is giving me eye contact and answering my questions. I think I have been able to solve this issue by getting close and asking for his attention. From my experience both of this resolutions have been extremely effective. Overall, R has exceptional behavior, and is an awesome student. -Jesse Hover
ReplyDeleteT can be difficult to work with when he is having a bad day. Our last meeting went worse than expected. He didn't listen to any of our direction and as a result, we did not go in the pool. He acts out when he doesn't want to participate and if we try to make him do something he doesn't want, he runs away or sits down and starts to take his clothes and shoes off. As far as him working around others, we haven't tried. I will say that he is very interested in writing on the dry erase board. Maybe this skill he has with wanting to draw and spell will help with future activities. One day we will try to get him into the classroom and play educational games. My partner and I looked it over and were hesitant because he might tear things down off the walls. That feeling comes from his past performance with destroying things. David A. Polanco
ReplyDeleteThe only inappropriate social skills I have noticed in my CAPES student is that she hardly makes eye contact or talks to anyone. One way I have been trying to help her is making her say words as part of the activities, like the colors or numbers. I can teach her to use eye contact by doing it better myself. Instead of just walking and talking, I can actually get down on her level and talk to her using eye contact. Then maybe she will be more comfortable with it and use it herself. This week we where on the track and she was easily distracted. I had a very hard time getting her to follow instructions and to play our game. If she was more verbal she could have maybe told me she didn't like the activity or that she would rather be somewhere else rather than running around. Other than those two things I don't think her social skills are disruptive in anyway, they would just better help her in her daily life.
ReplyDeleteOne of my kids did not show up which makes me sad at the beginning. I do not know how to express my feeling at CAPES on Tuesday. I was very happy because my little S come back, We had a really nice time with each other and we did a lot of activities. He was happy as usual especially when he do something and people watching to clap him. He was able to follow my directions. He can understand what I want from him to do and to say. He likes to share and enjoy every moments in his life. I just feel in love being work with this kid. I think that our relationship has been improved to the best that we can communicate easily with each other. ~ Zainab AL Fateel
ReplyDeleteAs far as behavior issues, C doesn't really have anything major. He is respectful of personal space, and says please and thank you, and is pretty good at following directions. He doesn't run or act out or self harm. His biggest challenge is social interactions. He doesn't know how to carry on a conversation, or react in normal social situations. We are trying to work on this by having him answer questions that only require a yes or no response. He tends to just say whatever he is thinking about, instead of answering questions, so this seems to be working so far. We will slowly work up to questions that require more of a response.
ReplyDeleteCAPES this week was a new experience for myself and for C. I was able to get approval From Dr W and Dr Z to bring my daughter, to help C have some socializing experiences. I wasn't sure what to expect, but hoped this would help him, by having someone his age to model appropriate social behaviors for him. He was hesitant around her at first, but within just a few minutes, he seemed to warm up to her and they got along great! I noticed that by the end of the night, C was responding to her in ways he hasn't responded to me in all the previous weeks we have worked together. Success!!!
My goal for the next week is to continue to help C become more comfortable in social situations, and increase his social communication skills. :) --Megan Jensen
As far as I have seen, b does not have any major social behaior problems. He is kind to everyone, very willing to interact with the other children. He says hi and is polite. I have noticed that when he gets excited, he focuses on one thing and tends to speak louder. For the next few weeks, I am going to try praising him more when he uses his quite voice and ignoring his loud voice. I may try reminding him one time and offering a reward at the end of capes. I really want to continue to encourage him to be sociable with the other kids- Brittany king
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem that I see, in both of my kids, is just the behavior of listening. I haven't had a major behavior problem yet! I definitely want to work on being more social however. Both of my kids keep to themselves, but if they are confronted by other children or adults, they are friendly. I think the biggest thing is getting them to initiate it. I communicate well with both of my kids, and I have finally figured them out! So, I think that if there is behavior problems in the future, handling them won't be as tough! - Hailey Beesley
ReplyDeleteD did not show up this week, so I ended up joining an awesome duo who were working with S. The evening really changed how I view behavior. I think in the past I have unconsciously attributed bad behavior to the impulse of some ineffable part of a person. Although intellectually I know that there are as many variations to the causes of the behaviors as there are to the behaviors themselves, and that we can find the root causes of undesirable behavior, tonight offered a more functional explanation. I started to think how scary it would be not to know if you are going to be able to communicate well enough to get your basic needs met. S displays an exuberance in everything she does, including when she makes it clear that she is not happy. Watching her interact with Dr. Williams, I started to realize how high the stakes were for S at every turn. Not being able to do what she wanted, not being able to communicate what she wanted and having to give up what she wanted to do something else, something that may not have made sense, were all major threats. After tonight, I will always remember the phrase "What your behavior is showing me is....". The reality is that S does not necessarily know what her behavior means to those around her. To teach her to match how she behaves with getting the responses she wants, seems like an undertaking that could, eventually extricate a tremendous amount of anxiety, fear, and anger from her daily life.
ReplyDeleteTimothy Owen
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A also didn't show up this week, so I got to help out the amazing K! Man, was it a huge difference. A is so easy to talk to and quiet, while K was so talkative and energetic. It was a little hard for me at first, but when K warms up to you...she is really fun to talk to. I haven't really noticed any behaviors that could be considered inappropriate from my kid. I think the only problem that would be a little different is that she doesn't really open up to people unless she's comfortable enough around them. She doesn't have a problem socializing with other kids as well. She just talks a little on the quiet side. I'm going to make that a goal with her, to see if she could talk using a little bit louder voice.
ReplyDelete-Feliza Martineau
K has pretty good behavior. The only times she acts up is when she gets a little mad which isnt too often. She gets mad when people splash her in the pool. She gets angry and says "Dont splash me!" and I tell her that it is okay because they dont do it on purpose and i try to get her to splash when they do too because that is something she isnt comfortable with in the pool. I am trying to help her become more comfortable in the pool and using the splashing to get her to be more outgoing in the pool.
ReplyDeleteAt first my buddy M was running from one thing to the next because M wanted to play with everything in the gym. M would sometimes go up to another CAPES! kiddo and grab the object M wanted out of their hand. When my buddy did this I told M nicely that it was “so-and-so’s” time to play and we are going to play with something different today and M would give the object back to the other child. Sometimes M does not have a good day for following directions. When M is struggling that day I just remind M to listen and then we can play with the object M wants to play with after we finish our project. Overall M is good when it comes to behavior. M is just like any other kid, you just have to be patient when they mess up, teach the right behavior and give praise when the right behavior is shown; this type of instruction will translate into my classroom.
ReplyDeleteKelsi Tatton