Kaylie: A Conference, a Coworker, and a Contingency

Although I am a middle school special education teacher, I’m also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). When I first began grad school, it was actually my plan to work primarily in this field, not as a teacher. Now, of course, I cannot imagine life without my students and classroom. However, I do want to keep my BCBA license and, in order to do so, must keep up a certain number of continuing education units (CEUs). This pursuit led me to the Tennessee Association of Behavior Analysis (TABA) Conference last Thursday and Friday. Held in conjunction with the TABA conference this year was the Tennessee CEC Conference. As usual, I was looking forward to two days of listening to professionals and experts talk about my greatest passions and interests: special education, behavior analysis, and people with disabilities.

A few weeks ago, I called the behavior specialist in my district, Mrs. Barbara, and invited her to come along. She’s been assisting teachers and students with behavior issues, teaching replacement behaviors, and writing behavior plans since before I could spell “FBA” and has been one of my most respected and trusted mentors thus far in my career. Obviously, I was thrilled when she enthusiastically agreed to go with me.

When I attend a conference or any other type of professional development, I try to approach it like a Sunday morning sermon: I want to take some nugget of knowledge with me, apply it to my life, and be different or improve as a result. I’m an avid note-taker, but not in the sense that I write down everything that’s on the PowerPoint slides or outline. Instead, I like to write down tidbits and phrases the speaker shares that really stick out in my mind as immediately applicable to my life, or in this case, my teaching. 

As is common with many conferences, TABA provided programs with brief descriptions of each session. When I got settled in my selected sessions, I’d flip open my program to that description, grab my pen, and get ready to jot down my little gems of knowledge. Here’s a few of my “take-homes” from the TABA conference:

• Steps in Behavior Contracting: identify behavior, meet with student, choose task, choose reward, write in kid terms, and sign.
• Positive reinforcement can be easily described as an “access function;” students are exhibiting a behavior in order to get something.
• Negative reinforcement can be easily described as an “escape function;” students are exhibiting a behavior in order to avoid something;
• Ask students to “clap when I get to the right answer” when going over a multiple choice question in a whole group setting to encourage active responding.
• Behaviors can result in direct or socially mediated reinforcement.
• A student’s diagnosis does not tell us the function of their behaviors.
• Five dimensions of behavior: latency, magnitude, duration, topography, frequency.
• Use a golf counter for keeping track or behavior occurrences.

While I definitely learned a lot during the conference, I think the greatest professional development that actually occurred was on the two-and-a-half hour drive to and from Nashville and the evening at the hotel; I learned a ton during my conversations with Mrs. Barbara! She is incredibly passionate about her job and loves to talk about it just as much as I do! We had the best time discussing current issues in our school system, the needs of particular students, and our personal stories of how we got into our respective careers. I took every opportunity to pick her brain about behavior problems I’m currently having in my class, and she was more than willing to help me brainstorm new solutions. 

I’m especially excited about one idea we came up with together to build some classroom community and incorporate a group contingency into my behavior management plan. To start, I’m going to talk with my students about positive behaviors they think are most important in the classroom and write down all their suggestions. From that list, I’m going to devise some type of chart or other visual to keep track of when I or my assistants notice these behaviors happening. The chart or visual will clearly show a goal that the class as a whole will be working towards.

For example, once fifty of the positive behaviors chosen by the students are observed and marked on the chart, the class will earn some type of reward that they have chosen. A few possible rewards I have in mind are a movie afternoon or a special community field trip. Of course, this idea is still in the early brainstorming stage, but I think my students will really be jazzed about it. I know I am!

Have any of you had similar experiences with your mentors? What valuable advice have you gleaned from them? Also, do you use any group contingencies similar to the idea I’m considering?

Comments

[Jeff]

This is a great blog for teachers to collaborate with each other about behavioral issues. Special education teachers needs to dig deeper into their bag of tricks to secure a positive learning environment. I have used everything from point systems, sticker charts, and other positive reinforcement techniques. I found mixed results with each intervention.

[Lisette]

Kaylie, I really appreciate the emphasis on collaboration with your colleagues. So much can be gleaned from conversations with colleagues who have the same passion for education. It is also so important for us to improve our craft. Attending seminars are so valuable to educators. I cannot wait to try some of the strategies. The information on positive and negative reinforcement was very helpful. I am going to take a fresh look at the system I currently have in place and make the necessary adjustments. Thanks again for sharing.

[Kelsey]

I really like that you are involving the students in what should be expected in the classroom. Many students can list off acceptable behaviors although they don't always convey them in the classroom. I think this is a great way to put the responsibility of gaining a reward on the students and having it be something they earn on their own instead of you taking it away from them. In the high school we often do rewards such as a Fun Friday where we will play games for one class period if everyone has turned all of their homework in that week or if everyone recieved all their points in their job skills class for the week. This is a big motivator for students and is teaching them to work toward a goal.

[Avery]

"A student's diagnosis does not tell us the function of their behaviors" This is such an important thing to remember. Sometimes in my classroom I brush something of saying to myself "that's just the autisim". This is a good reminder to me to look beyond the label to determine the function of a behavior.

[Kaylie]

Thank you all for your great comments! Behavior and classroom management can definitely make or break you. Several of you mentioned the need for independent and class wide systems. I completely agree that both are necessary. We currently use an independent money-based system in my classroom. Students begin each day with five dollars and can earn or lose them based upon their choices to follow or not follow the class expectations. Every morning, students count and record their money from the previous day. Every other day, they add up their totals and get to buy something from a menu. I include privileges, such as morning work or homework passes, as well as tangible rewards like a snack or pencils, erasers, etc. This system works well, but I look forward to seeing how the class wide system builds cooperation and a team spirit in my class. I'm hoping it will! Thanks again for reading and commenting!

[Kristin]

I don’t have my own classroom but my son has some behavior issues. His teacher has not really helped with coming up with ideas to help him so I took matters into my own hands with the help of his doctor. I have come up with something like what you are doing for him and his class- the students LOVE getting the rewards. Since I came up with it I have been doing all the rewards. They even remind one another on how to behave- it cute!

[Natalie]

Kaylie,

I think that special education teachers get stuck in noticing bad behavior, and I find when I "catch a student being good" they are so much more willing to display good behavior for a longer period of time. I think classroom management is such a beneficial tool to get the students focused and ready to learn. It also get the classroom connected and interdependent on one another. It is important for the kids with disabilities to have roles in the classroom just like anyone else because so often they are the ones that have to stay sitting in their desks and working because it takes them longer, when in reality a simple 5 minute break would save them from having a 10 minute negative break, where they may cause distractions. Learning from teachers who have had experience on both good and bad classroom management will be the best way to get many view points. I also think being organized is another aspect of classroom management that is helpful. I had a cooperating teacher who kept track of negative behavior and but the punishment affected the whole class. This can be good and bad because once the entire class is punished, the child or children demonstrating the negative behavior will see that it is affecting more than just them which hopefully will make them change their behavior. When tracking rewards I think it important to have both individual rewards as well as whole class rewards.

[Nicole]

Kaylie,
Thanks for giving this information. I love the one with you learned about for clapping when you get to the correct answer. I am going to try this with my students. Hopefully, this will lessen the amount of shouting out the answers that occur during our lessons.
Your behavior management plan sounds like a good idea. This way you are making everyone responsible to earn the classroom prize. I spend a lot of time in my student teaching placement handling behavior of just one student. This behavior than distracts the other students and it becomes a mess. We are trying a sticker chart for each of them to make it fair to earn a prize but we are also trying to think of ways to make the whole group responsible. Thanks for sharing! Good luck with your plan!

[Sabrina]

I am starting to think that behavior management has to be designed and implemented on an independent level in order to work to its fullest. However, I also believe that there must be a "class-wide" plan to have in place in order to keep a system that is the same across the whole board.
In my student teaching placement we have a "room-wide" system using stickers and rewards. There are specific words that are used with everyone, such as, "good choices" and "bad choices." The teacher I am working with has already taught her students that in order to get a sticker, they have to make "good choices" and what that means to make "good choices". She has also taught them what "bad choices" are. When a student is making "bad choices" we will say, "This is a warning, stop (behavior) right now." If the behavior persists, the student is told, "That is it, I have already given you a warning and you chose to make bad choices anyway. Now I am taking away your sticker." The stickers are used as a reward for making "good choices." When the students fill up a square of stickers, they get a prize.
If the student gets a sticker taken away and refuses to do their work, it turns into putting their name on the board for losing party time. For every minute it takes them to get back on task, is how many minutes they are going to lose from party time.
I think this system works in this environment well. Keep in mind I am in the elementary school, and our students are K-6. Everyone loves getting party time. Everyone hates losing party time.

[Brooke]

Kaylie, I do not have my own classroom yet but I have had experience in the classroom. I think that your group contingency plan is a great idea and the students will be excited to display those positive behaviors. I work with children who have developmental disabilities and we keep track of the negative behaviors. For one child in particular, if he completes an activity without the target behaviors and he transitions without them as well, he receives a token. Once he earns a certain amount of tokens he chooses a prize. I think keeping track of when he exhibits positive behaviors would be more effective and I will bring that up at our next staff meeting! The community activity is also a great idea to consider because our kids love going out and doing fun activities. Thanks for the ideas!

[Jamie]

Kaylie,
Thank you for sharing some of what you have learned with us. My cooperating teacher tells me that behavior management is one of the hardest parts of a special educator's job because there are so many possible variables that factor into why a student is exhibiting behaviors and there is not always one perfect approach or solution. I like your idea of a reward system that is displayed in the classroom. This will be a constant reminder for them to stay on task and behave appropriately. And they can see their progress toward their end goal.

One specific example for elementary students that I have seen in my field experience was the use of "classroom money." When the students exhibited appropriate behavior in their general education classes as measured by a checklist completed by their gen ed teacher, they were rewarded with the classroom money. They could save their money to buy things from the classroom store, such as, mechanical pencils, erasers, candy, and other small goodies. This also taught the kids how to make small purchases and the importance of saving if they wanted to buy a more expensive item from the store.

[Brandi]

Kaylie, I really appreciate your small tidbits about behavior! In my current student teaching experience I deal with student behavior about 75% of the time. Some of your take-home notes are definitely accurate, because my students use the "access function" and the "escape function" almost on a daily basis. I think that it is important for us as educators to be aware of these types of functions because it will only help us create behavior management plans that will benefit everyone involved.
I completely agree with you on how beneficial it is for new educators to talk and work with mentors, because that is often when learning will happen. My cooperating teacher has given me so much guidance and knowledge that I would have never learned in a college classroom. Learning through experience is something that I have realized in the past years with my various practicums, and this has allowed me to apply it to my teaching.

Thanks for your input, and good luck!

[Emily P.]

Kaylie-

Behavior management is so crucial in the field of special education (and even regular education). There are so many “tricks” and tactics teachers hear about that may or may not work with a student. You can go through your college education learning about all the expected ways students will behave and how you should react. When you’re actually in the situation in a classroom, however, the student never follows the script. Only experience, knowledge, and a good relationship with the student will de-escalate a tense situation. Rules in the classroom, but most importantly the enforcement of these rules, will prevent poor behaviors from happening. In addition, some of the best collaboration about this topic occurs in the most natural settings.

I am currently student teaching, and I’ve had the opportunity over the past few years to see effective behavior management skills and poor behavior management skills. One of the most effective that I’ve seen is a reward program similar to what you were explaining. The teacher makes a sign that is displayed in the classroom with, let’s say, the words “Root Beer Floats.” Each day the students exhibit good behavior, with no errors, one letter on the sign is circled. Once each letter is circled, the students are rewarded with root beer floats. This may be more appropriate for younger students but could be easily adaptable to older students (and other rewards).

Good luck!Have fun!