INCREASED RESOURCES FOR INCLUSION

Just finished two great seminars in Caloundra and Toowoomba. The one issue that teachers feel very strongly about is the need for collegial support and increased resources for working with challenging children. Recognizing the importance of inclusion with full support and resources needs to be addressed. Can we have full inclusion without the required resources?? Any thoughts??

OPPOSITIONAL DEFIANCE DISORDER AND CONDUCT DISORDER

Oppositional Defiance Disorder and Conduct Disorder are two disorders that are becoming very difficult in the classroom to maintain. Researchers have estimated that 6-16% of the population may be diagnosed with ODD or CD. Some researchers have even stated that 1 in 100 students may have these disorders. Early intervention is the key for these guys. Applying strategies at a very early age can be a decisive factor in how they learn to cope as they go through life. Here is a site that focuses on the perspective of a parent with a son who has ODD. I have also included a case study example for further discussion.
http://disordermd.wordpress.com/
http://www.auseinet.com/journal/vol2iss3/martin.pdf

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT MAY BACKFIRE!

This post is in response to an inquiry received from one of the teachers that attended a New Zealand seminar. The question was in relation to a couple of students who would become very silly when they received positive feedback from their teacher. One of the areas that I cover in the seminar is centered on positive feedback for students who may react negatively when a teacher or authority figure tries to give them positive verbal reinforcement. Sometimes children may feel uncomfortable when given positive reinforcement and in turn may resort to exhibiting inappropriate behaviour. Refer back to the notes on positive reinforcement and starting to give feedback using the "third person labelling on the fly" where the teacher labels the behaviour but does not indicate whether it is positive or negative. Once the students are comfortable with this type of feedback move on to stopping at their desk and again using third person labelling. Depending on the age of the students you can also use "praise cards" or "check cards" on their desk to let them know they are doing good work. Not giving it too much attention. Work up to providing second person labelling and then positive reinforcement. Phillip Hall in his book "Educating Oppositional and Defiant Students" can also provide some good information for strategies. If anyone else has ideas, feel free to comment.

THE CAUSE OF AUTISM

Just watching one of the videos that had come through You Tube. The doctor in the video asserts that immunizations cause Autism. I think this is a very bold statement as the wider medical community does not seem to share this belief. If immunizations were the cause of autism would all the kids who had immunizations be affected by autism? Is there a resilience to immunizations for some kids so they do not acquire this particular disorder? This link may be helpful in researching the statement:
http://www.quackwatch.org/03HealthPromotion/immu/thimerosal.html

THE RULES OF LIFE ACCORDING TO BILL GATES

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

THE POWER OF A TEACHER

“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 humour, hurt or heal.

In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escaped or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized.”

Dr. Haim Ginott

WORKING WITH CHALLENGING INDIVIDUALS

One of the greatest skills that teachers of today require is the ability to de-escalate a situation that may become volatile and out of control. Teachers are increasingly aware that students are coming to their classrooms with difficulty in social skills, anger problems, neurobehavioral disorders and learning disabilities. Teachers face an increase in school violence and oppositional students as well as parents. The skills and confidence a teacher has in dealing with challenging situations may be the key to preventing a power struggle with a student or parent.

How do teachers prevent or de-escalate a potentially challenging situation? This is a difficult question as each challenging individual is unique and the teacher may not be aware of the full history of the individual they are presented with. Here are some strategies teachers can try to keep situations under control.

TRY THE FOLLOWING:

1. Recognize the individual’s triggers. What occurs before a behaviour occurs? Can the trigger be recognized and can strategies be implemented before the behaviour escalates?
2. Read the individual’s “state of behaviour”, body language or emotional state in order to determine whether instructions will be followed or opposed. Example: Head on table, slammed books on desk – May not be ready or willing to follow your instruction. Try to change the state by approaching the student quietly after you have started the class and try to determine if the student is willing to begin or has something happened that makes it difficult for the student to attend.
3. If instructions are opposed give the individual time to process what the instruction is actually asking them to do. Make sure instructions are clear and precise. Visual instructions or visual indicators for starting a task may also be required. Try to give instruction and withdraw attention in order to prevent a power struggle.
4. Secondary behaviour may need to be ignored during the immediate situation but should be revisited when there is time and everyone is calm.
5. If instruction is still not being followed, make sure the next instruction is not stated as a threat. Example. “If you do not follow my instruction you will have to go to the office”. This may come across to the student as a challenge. “Make me!”
6. Repeat the initial instruction and withdraw. Pay attention to those that are following instructions.
7. If the behaviour escalates as it might, depending on the individual, make sure you have a specific “discipline plan” that involves other supports if possible. If the student is violent make sure a plan is devised and everyone who works with the child is aware of the requirements of the plan.
8. If the office needs to be called – Have the person who comes from the office take the class and if the teacher feels confident enough have the teacher work with the student.
9. If the child is older and walks out swearing, cursing, slamming doors etc… Make sure the office is informed but do not follow the student out of the classroom. Allow them to leave but before they re-enter a meeting must occur between the student and the teacher to try and repair the relationship. A trip to the office may be required but the teacher still needs to determine whether the student understands that they must work together in the classroom without conflict. This is why a meeting with the teacher should happen to re-establish routines and rules.
10. Humor may help. Sarcasm may escalate.
11. Using a calm voice, non-threatening body language and repetitive instructions may help in de-escalating a potentially volatile situation.
12. Walk away from a power struggle that is escalating. It is not about winning the fight. Sometimes teachers need time to regain their emotional state and may need time to re-group. IT IS OK… “I need time away from you right now but we will discuss this when we are both calmer and willing to work together.”
13. IS IT EASY?? NO NOT AT ALL. Some situations may escalate even though you have done everything you could to keep it under control. Feedback with a peer, discuss the situation, brainstorm strategies and remember you can only do the best you can with the knowledge and skills that you have at the time.
14. ASK for HELP if you need it. Asking for help does not determine your success or failure as a teacher. Some children may come from extremely dysfunctional environments and may not be capable of interacting in a “traditional” setting.
15. TEAMWORK is very important when working with challenging children. We can’t do it all by ourselves.
16. ORGANIZATION is the key for teachers and for students. Unstructured time may lead to potentially challenging situations.