Rising to the Challenge: Facing Challenging Behaviors Because when you build social emotional skills, it starts with the self!

Joy Winchester Behavioral Philosophies (Continuum of Adult Control low to high; child control high to low)

Increasing Adult Control

Behavior Guidance Discipline Management

Increasing child control Guidance

• Low control method • Haim Ginott, Thomas Gordon, Alfie Kohn, Marilyn Watson • “a way of teaching that nurtures a child’s potential through consistently positive (sometimes firm but always friendly) interactions” • Focus on teaching rather than punishment • Attachment theory, constructivist, humanistic psychology (Carl Rogers) • Children misbehave because needs aren’t met or they lack skill • We must teach missing skills and build executive skills in children, adults are the model

Discipline

• Mid-control methods • Rudolf Dreikurs, William Glasser, Richard Curwin, Allen Mendler, Linda Albert, Jane Nelson, Forrest Gathercoal • Rooted in theory from Alfred Adler belief that internal and external forces govern a child's behavior • Children learn to behave by understanding consequences of decisions • Teachers in this will place the needs of the group over the needs of an individual child

Behavior Management

• High adult control • Lee and Marlene Canter, Frederic Jones, Paul A. Alberto (ABA for Teachers), Ann C Troutman • Children learn by external conditions- observing and imitating the people around them • Children are not able to monitor and control their own behavior; therefore a teacher must take charge by making and enforcing rules, reinforcing appropriate behavior and applying consequences for inappropriate behavior • Rooted in the behavior modification theory of B.F. Skinner and social learning theory of Albert Bandura

What Makes a Behavior Strategy Successful

1. Build a positive, responsive adult-child relationship • Remember brains of young children are still very immature and as the adult you are responsible for maintain and repairing the relationship 2. Environment • No behavior exists in a vacuum, it is essential to develop a safe, caring, cooperative, inclusive social climate (the adult is the social climate) • Physical space with clear rules; routines, procedures, interesting and relevant differentiated curriculum, and instruction that offers lots of choice • This maximizes learning, minimizes behavior, and lays a foundation for any guidance approach What Makes a Behavior Strategy Successful

3. High expectations when it comes to behavior • Believe in a child’s capacity to learn and grow (if they could they would) 4. Work with children on behavior problems rather than removing the child or sending to the office • Adult looks for long term solutions over quick fixes 5. Watch for-and respond to-subtle signs of anxiety in a child’s body language, voice or words • Act quick, don’t wait for the explosion Adult Level of Willingness to Invest in Behavior Support Understanding Role of Adult in Understanding Behavior and Functional Click and Print Strengths of Child Neuroscience Behavior (NCPMI and and Resilience (Conscious Assessment CSEFEL) (DECA-P) Discipline) Asking the adult to Ask the adult to Resilience and the Brain States and get the function of use already created protective factors: understanding role the behavior materials to • Initiative in behavior of child support strategies and adults To focus on the • Attachment/ desired behavior This can grow into Relationships Powers and Skills and determine making the • Self-Regulation for Adults possible ways to materials get to the desired downloaded behavior personal for the Adult Resilience child Universal Checklist Working through the Pyramid model with a teacher Functional Behavior Assessment and Positive Behavior Support • Every challenging behavior can be thought of as a child’s solution to a problem and a form of communication • This goes back to Plato- an infant cries to get care, behavior serves a function • Goal: to figure out what is triggering behavior, what the child is getting from the behavior and how to teach more acceptable methods to have needs met • Replace don’t erase • Look at world through child’s eyes- their perception • Behavior is not random • Even if the behavior is inappropriate the function rarely is • 6 weeks to change a behavior Start At the Beginning: SETTING EVENTS • A setting event makes the child more vulnerable to stress • This information is usually supplied by someone else if shared at all • Examples • Classroom: • New teacher or visitor in the classroom? • Is the room too busy, noisy, chaotic? • Are transitions unplanned? Is the day unplanned? Has a routine been shifted • Home • Did the child’s parents argue or was a parent stressed at home that morning? • Is a parent deployed? Did the child stay with a non-custodial parent the night before? • Physical/Mental • Did the child miss breakfast? Are they hungry? Tired? Anxious? • Is the child feeling well? Move to the Antecedent

• Event that takes place right before the behavior, the trigger • What happened right before the behavior? • What was asked of the child? What was happening around the child? • Difficult tasks, demands, requests, transitions, interruptions, peer behavior, being left alone- all could be the antecedent • Transitions can be a trigger too much stimulation with music and lights if used as a transition strategy. Identify the Behavior

• Note intensity, duration, and over the day frequency • Describe the behavior so clearly and specifically that anyone who is observing can recognize and measure it • Marcy is not being helpful at clean up time versus Marcy throws Legos at other children during clean up time. • Describe each behavior if there are multiple as each may serve a different function • Do not document thoughts or feelings- you can measure crying, yelling, throwing chairs, withdrawal Function of the Behavior- Consequence

• What happened immediately after the behavior and can include information about other people's responses to the behavior and the eventual outcome for the person. • What is your reaction? • What is the reaction of the peers? • All behavior have only three functions- to determine the function you must examine the consequence • To get to something • To get away from something • To meet a sensory need Intervention • There are only 4 interventions to behavior • Change the environment (Prevention) • Changing the physical environment but also includes the adults behavior • Changing external factors that could trigger the behavior • Teach a replacement behavior (Replace don’t erase) • Planned ignoring of inappropriate behavior (Be careful with this option) • Could be phrased “responding to an inappropriate behavior that does not reinforce it” • Positive Reinforcement of Appropriate behavior • Connection and Relationships- touch, present playful, eye contact • Recognizing appropriate behavior consistently Desired Behavior

• It is not enough to determine what you want the child to stop doing. You must determine what you want the child to do instead that still serves the function of the inappropriate behavior • Allow the child to use the new behavior or skill repeatedly during the day to reinforce the use of the new skill • Respond positively to every successful implementation of the new skill • Teach the new skill linked to the daily routine as well so the child knows when to use the new skill Adult Level of Willingness to Invest in Behavior Support Functional Click and Print Understanding Behavior (NCPMI and Role of Adult in “Just fix it!” Assessment CSEFEL) Behavior This is at least at Asking the adult to Ask the adult to Neuroscience acknowledgement get the function of use already created (Conscious that the behavior is the behavior materials to Discipline) challenging and the To focus on the support strategies Brain States and person is seeking desired behavior This can grow into understanding role help and determine making the in behavior of child Overwhelmed, possible ways to materials and adults frustrated, helpless get to the desired downloaded Powers and Skills (child and adult) behavior personal for the for Adults child Working through the Pyramid model with a teacher Click and Print Activities

• Teachers who are willing to try to add individual strategies to support children in their behaviors • These activities can be used generically or can be edited for a personal approach • Little time investment but for a stressed teacher this may be all she can handle, plus can be sent home with families • Activities are sorted and focus on the levels of the CSEFL Pyramid • Easy access and easy to use, research based and effective CSEFEL: The Pyramid Cainclusion.org (CSEFEL Pyramid Consortium) • Simple materials that you can click and print for teachers and families related to the CSEFEL Pyramid • Classroom materials: https://cainclusion.org/teachingpyramid/materials-classroom.html • Family Materials: https://cainclusion.org/teachingpyramid/materials- family.html The National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI) Webpage (resource library): https://challengingbehavior.cbcs.usf.edu/resources/index.html Teaching Tools: https://challengingbehavior.cbcs.usf.edu/Pyramid/pbs/TTYC/tools.html Program wide strategies: https://challengingbehavior.cbcs.usf.edu/Implementation/Program/strate gies.html Looking Through a Lens of Strength

• Teacher is willing to go deeper into the “why” • Understands or want to understand resilience and how to build it in herself and children • Feels that each child has strengths and sees that the behavior is impacted by many elements • Teacher sees her resilience as important to the class Adult Level of Willingness to Invest in Behavior Support Functional Click and Print Understanding Behavior (NCPMI and Role of Adult in “Just fix it!” Assessment CSEFEL) Behavior This is at least at Asking the adult to Ask the adult to Neuroscience acknowledgement get the function of use already created (Conscious that the behavior is the behavior materials to Discipline) challenging and the To focus on the support strategies Brain States and person is seeking desired behavior This can grow into understanding role help and determine making the in behavior of child Overwhelmed, possible ways to materials and adults frustrated, helpless get to the desired downloaded Powers and Skills (child and adult) behavior personal for the for Adults child Working through the Pyramid model with a teacher Looking Through a Lens of Curiosity and Ownership • Teacher wants to understand more of the behavior neurologically • Teacher believes that every child has strengths and is missing skills • The behavior communicates the brain state and the brain state has specific needs • The teacher understands her role in the behavior and the importance of being the person she wants the children to be • The journey starts with her and not the children. She believes that a dysregulated child can’t learn and a dysregulated teacher can’t teach. What is Conscious Discipline?

• Conscious Discipline is an evidenced-based, trauma-informed approach. • It is recognized by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). • It is a comprehensive self-regulation program that integrates school-wide discipline, school climate and social-emotional learning. • Its goal is to provide systematic changes in schools by fostering the emotional intelligence of teachers first and children second. The Brain State Model