Effective Strategies to Address Disruptive Behaviors

Effective Strategies to Address Disruptive Behaviors Developed by Faculty and Staff of The University of Maryland School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry Center for School Mental Health

Addressing Disruptive Students • Talk to student in private • Use a calm voice • Clearly explain the problem • Remain focused on the behavior • State the consequences • Identify student’s strengths • Acknowledge improvements in behavior

Giving Effective Commands • Say what you mean, and mean what you say • Be prepared with consequence for noncompliance • A command should not be a question • Focus on what student should do, instead of what he/she shouldn’t • Be careful with multi-step commands

Strategies for Behavioral Change • Praise student when positive behaviors are displayed • Praise student for absence of misbehavior • Consequences should be specific, immediate, and well-balanced • Be consistent

Acting Out Cycle Peak Acceleration De-escalation Agitation Trigger Recovery Calm Adapted from The Iris Center: http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu

Calm Phase • In the Calm Phase, students are: • Compliant • Cooperative • Engaged • Responsive to Praise

Maintain the Calm Phase • Provide structure in the classroom • Teach social and behavioral expectations • Provide positive attention

Trigger Phase • School-based Triggers • Difficult task • Making transitions • Teasing by peers • Negative interaction with teacher • Non-school-based Triggers • Financial hardship • Family conflict • Hunger

Agitation Phase • Student is not focused • Student displays agitation • Student becomes disengaged from the learning process

Interventions for Agitation Phase • Need to be implemented early • Provide suggestions to shift task • Work with a partner • Ask if student needs assistance • Change instruction style

Acceleration Phase • Attempts are made to engage the teacher in an argument • Student behavior interferes with the instructional process • Student behavior is often first recognized here

Interventions for Acceleration Phase • Acknowledge feeling • Make a request • Give student time to respond • Provide reinforcement immediately after student begins to respond

Peak Phase • Student behavior is out of control • Physical aggression • Harming self • Property destruction • Uncontrollable crying • Typically a short phase

Interventions for Peak Phase • Maintain safety of student and others • School-specific responses • Be aware that removing child from learning environment may reinforce inappropriate behavior • Respond quickly • Get student re-engaged in learning as soon as possible

De-escalation Phase • Provide a work area that is separate from other students • Provide independent activity for them to work on • Provides time to get other students on task • Should only last a few minutes • Goal: Classroom is calm and disruptive student has de-escalated

Recovery Phase • Debrief with student • Identify trigger • Develop a future plan • Debrief the class

What’s Not Effective? • Humiliating or making fun of student • Asking student why they are misbehaving • Making negative comments about student’s future • Comparing students • Yelling at student

Self-Assessment • What are your expectations of the students? • Are the teaching methods appropriate? • What kind of mood are you in? • Are you stressed out/ experiencing burnout?

Self-Care • Seek support from colleagues and friends • Make time for yourself • Maintain a sense of humor • Get plenty of rest • Healthy eating habits • Exercise • Maintain a practical perspective

THE TEACHER’S ROLE IN SHAPING SELF-IMAGE “I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or dehumanized.” Haim Ginott Between Teacher and Child

Effective Strategies to Address Disruptive Behaviors