Behavioral Support Is Important for Overall Classroom Management

Most special education teachers are already familiar with Tier 3 behavior support based on the fact that their students may come to them with Behavior Intervention Plans (BIP) already in place.  In order for a BIP to be developed, it is important that a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) be completed for the student. Most school districts have a formalized process, along with specific tools, for completing FBAs and BIP for students with and without disabilities.  

Special education teachers should not enter into Tier 3 behavior support, without first completing a Functional Behavioral Assessment for the individual student.  Completing an FBA helps special educators determine the function of the behavior, or what the student is trying to communicate through the behavior. Many times we determine that students are communicating avoidance of a certain activity or may be seeking attention with the challenging behavior that they are exhibiting.  

Build A Strategy Based On Behavior Function

After determining the function of the behavior, the team then needs to determine which strategies would provide the most effective intensive intervention necessary to replace the challenging behavior.  This may include social skills instruction or instruction in self-regulation strategies.

How progress in tracked is going to differ based on the student, their interests, strengths, etc. For example, one student may respond well to an individual teacher check-out at the end of the day where they can reflect on their behavior for the day.

All Students Are Different 

Another student may require more frequent check-ins where they can review a behavior sheet that has visual surrounding their progress (i.e. a sticker chart, point sheet, etc.)

To summarize, it is important for special education teachers to think through classroom throughout all tiers.  By proactively identifying the routines and procedures, as well as areas in which students may struggle, we are able to support all students regardless of their disability status in engaging in successful academic behaviors.  

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Provide Support For Challenging Behaviors

 When challenging behaviors first being to appear, special education teachers should be prepared to provide additional support and remediation in the same way that they would provide additional support for a student that is struggling academically.  Positive reinforcement, token economies, and checklists with expectations are all examples of Tier 2 strategies that we can utilize to address behaviors.

Tier 2 Behavioral Intervention Strategies can be broken down into to two categories

• Surface Management Techniques

• Reinforcement Systems

Surface Management Techniques are most effective for addressing minor infractions that arise from day-to-day classroom activities.  These techniques are relatively common, but should still be planned for by the teacher. Examples include planned ignoring, proximity control, and regrouping of students.  

Reinforcement Systems are a bit more direct and should be used to address behaviors that occur occasionally.  They involve the direct instruction and reinforcement of the desired behaviors. Examples of these would token economies, behavior contracts, and group contingencies.

Give Opportunity To Advance

I have personally have had great experience with the use of class-wide behavior charts and group contingencies.  I love using behavior charts with clothespin clips such as this one as it provides a visual for students of how they are doing.  

If students find themselves moving down the chart, I always allow them the opportunity to earn their way back to the top. I find that this works better for many students because it takes the finality out of other methods for recording negative behaviors.

With group contingencies, I have been successful with setting a goal of earning a reward for the whole class such as a pizza party, no uniform day, or extra recess time.  I keep track of the class’s progress towards meeting their goal by using a simple plastic jar and craft poms.

When the class is successful as an entire unit, I add to the jar until it is full and they have earned their activity.  This is great because you find the students start to hold each other accountable for exhibiting positive behaviors.

In Summary

It is important that special education teachers give just as much attention to planning around Tier 2 behavior intervention strategies as to Tier 1 strategies.  As much as we would hope that all of our students will respond to Tier 1 strategies, many of our students need the extra layer of support that is provided at Tier 2.

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Plan Daily Routines and Procedures

The first thing that any teacher should do before starting the school year is develop a plan around daily routines and procedures.  It is important to set clear, class-wide behavioral expectations early in the school year, so that the tone and climate can be set earlier rather than later.  If we think through or try to establish these things too late, then we will find that it becomes more and more difficult (but not impossible) to reset as the year goes on.  

Routines and procedures should be explicitly taught to students, with opportunities for practice.   We can’t assume that all of our students have been taught or can recall the steps that it takes to line up for lunch, so we have to take the time to teach them each step.  

Initially, you are not going to be able to say “Ok, everyone it is time to line up for lunch!” and expect your students to line up like perfectly on day 1…or 101 even!

Simple Steps Create The Best Routine

Instead we would want to provide sequential steps for lining up:

1. Inform students that you are beginning a transition (use a signal, timer, song, etc. to get their attention).

2. Instruct students to put their things away and prepare themselves for lining up for lunch.  Some students may require teacher proximity, a reminder “Johnny make sure you put your notebook in your desk.”, etc.  

3. The teacher may want student to wait to be called on individually or by group/table – make sure you inform them of this.

4. Teachers says  “Blue team, go to your cubbies/lockers and retrieve your lunch bag.  After this, you may line up. “

5. Remind students of additional expectations, “walk”, “keep hands at our sides”, “quiet voice”,  etc.”

6. Provide support to students who get off track, require repetition of directions, etc.

7. Repeat this daily.  

Model Routines and Procedures

All of this should be done with modeling by the teacher during the initial days of establishing the routine. Teachers may not always have to be this explicit, depending on how students respond, but they should plan to provide this level of support for your students for as long as needed.   

Also, when we consider the fact that we are special education teachers who may have students who require explicit instruction in behavior due the impact of their disability. By planning these steps for ALL, you are meeting many of the needs of your students who require behavior support as outlined in their IEPs.

Planning and Preparation

Special education teachers should think through every daily routine/procedure that occurs throughout the regular school day.  These can include bathroom breaks, whole group discussions, small group time, transitions between activities, going to lunch, going to other classes, etc.  It is also important to rehearse routines for unique situations, such as having a substitute teacher, fire drills, assemblies, etc.

By explicitly teaching our students how to behave in an academic setting, we are increasing their overall chances of academic success.  Special educators should view behavior as a curriculum that involves planned lessons, just like our academic subject. 

In Summary

By planning for student behaviors,  we can ensure that we plan ahead for places where students may have difficulty and be prepared to assist them when needed.  By approaching behavior in this way, we are creating a positive environment where our students with disabilities are able to thrive. 

The post Tier 1 Classroom Management Strategies for Special Education Teachers appeared first on Teach Special Education.

With so many other priorities to address when teaching, many often overlook the importance of having effective classroom management strategies in place.  This is made clear by the little time that is spent building classroom management skills in traditional teacher preparation programs.  

Special education teachers have to understand the importance of maintaining highly engaging academic instruction, especially for students with disabilities.  If instruction is not solid, students often times begin to demonstrate challenging behaviors because of a lack of engagement.  

Classroom Management is as Important as Quality Instruction

At the same time, if classroom management is not in place, opportunities for quality instruction decrease.  Maintaining this careful balance requires just as much planning, practice, and monitoring as any well-planned academic lesson.  

We frequently assume that students come to us knowing what behavior is appropriate for school and the classroom. However, in the same way we teach our students to read and write, we need to explicitly teach our students how to behave.  We can’t assume that all of our kids were taught how to engage in academic behavior at home, with their previous teachers, or even in the other classes that they have during the current school year.  

We also have to keep in mind that depending on a student’s disability, there may be an additional layer of structure and behavioral support required from the teacher.  Because of this, we have to be very thoughtful and strategic in our approach to classroom management.  One approach would be to actually create a lesson plan for behavior.

Response to Intervention – A Three-Tiered System

When thinking through how you are going to plan for behavior in your classroom, one approach to planning is the use of a Response to Intervention (RTI), or three-tiered approach:

• Tier 1 is your Universal Classroom Management System. Your Tier 1 behavior strategies should work for the majority of your students.  
• Tier 2 is what you implement for those few outliers or instances where students get off track.
• Tier 3 is intensive, individualized behavioral support, which many of us know of if our students have Behavior Interventions Plan already in place.  

It is important that you think through ALL of the tiers and be prepared for implementation prior to the first day off school if possible.  If you are reading this and you are further along in the school year, it is not too late to reset!

Our next post will focus on how classroom management should look throughout the different tiers, beginning with Tier 1.  

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