Dr Megan Kirk Dr Amy Walker Blumberg Center

Dr. Megan Kirk Dr. Amy Walker Blumberg Center March 1, 2018

§ Introductions § Functions of Behavior § Impact of trauma on learning § Discipline and classroom management strategies

§ Behavior is not random, but follows purposeful patterns. § Students who present with the same apparent ‘surface’ behaviors may have very different ‘drivers’ (underlying reasons) that explain why those behaviors occur. § A student’s problem behaviors must be carefully identified analyzed to determine the drivers that support them.

§ Talk about behaviors, not judgments…behavior is not “random” or “evil” § Inappropriate behaviors are learned and predictable § A child’s inappropriate behavior is his/her best effort to communicate § Setting/people influence child’s behavior

§ Actions or events that can be observed, measured, and repeated § Seen § Counted § Done again § Behaviors? § Lazy § Bad attitude § Aggressive

§ Define the problem behavior in clear, observable, measurable terms § Develop examples and non-examples of the problem behavior. § Write a behavior hypothesis statement. § Select a replacement behavior. § Write a prediction statement.

Student: __________ Observer: __________ Behavior: __________ Date Time Notations of Start Stop Occurrence 01/12/16 10: 00 -- 10: 15 IIII III 23 01/13/16 10: 00 – 10: 15 18 IIII Total Occurrences

§ Ecological: § May be a method of communicating with the environment § Observational Learning: § May be a learned behavior that serves a purpose for the child (it gets them what they want) § Behaviorism: § May be related to specific antecedents (what happens before the behavior) and consequences (what happens after the behavior) § Determining what the “function” or “reinforcer” for the behavior enables us to understand the purpose of the child’s behavior § Common Denominator: § Antecedents or consequences (e. g. , reactions to the problem behavior) often shape the behavior.

Antecedent Behavior Consequence § Occur immediately before a behavior § Potential “triggers” for problem behavior § Can affect the frequency and intensity of behavior § Examples § Difficult or ‘excessive’ tasks § Denial of desired items or activities

§ Some common types: § Aggression, self-injury, property destruction, disruption, elopement § Some effects: § Risk of physical harm, lack of social development leads to isolation, skill acquisition deficits, independent skill deficits (long-term care), family stress § Some common drivers § Power/control/access § Protection/escape/ avoidance § Attention § Acceptance/affiliation/ gratification § Justice/revenge

§ Access something § Attention: adult or peer attention § Avoid something § Attention: hiding from peers or adults § Tangibles: want object § Tangibles: destroys objects § Sensory: good feelings § Sensory: discomforting feelings

§ Phase 1: Form § FITS § Frequency § Intensity § Duration/Time § Setting § Previous Interventions § Educational Impact

§ Statements of function § Provides information relevant to decision making § Communicates the function of the behavior to people of different backgrounds § Contains much of the information needed to develop a function-based intervention § ABC § A: anything in the environment that may influence behavior prior to the actualization of the target behavior. § B: what the person does § C: reinforcement/punishment

§ An exceptional experience in which powerful and dangerous stimuli overwhelm the child’s capacity to regulate emotions. § Trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically and emotionally harmful or threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being. § Not all experiences of trauma lead to a trauma response. § Many variables impact the process § Child Traumatic Stress is when children are exposed to traumatic events/experiences and the exposure overwhelms their ability to cope.

§ 1 out of every 4 children attending school has been exposed to a traumatic event that can affect learning and/or behavior § Trauma can impact school performance. § Lower GPA, higher absence rate, decreased reading ability, increased behavior problems § Trauma can impair learning. § Chronic exposure can adversely affect attention, memory, and cognition, interfere with problem solving, result in overwhelming feelings of frustration and anxiety § Traumatized children may experience physical and emotional distress § You can help a child who has been traumatized.

§ Natural disasters § Forced displacement § War/terrorism § Emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, assault or neglect § Serious accident or illness/medical procedure § Victim/Witnessing § Domestic Violence § Community Violence § School Violence § Interpersonal Violence

§ Inherently disruptive experiences in childhood that produce significant and potentially damaging levels of stress and associated physical changes § Potentially traumatic events in a child’s life that can have negative, lasting effects on health and well-being. § More than 68% of children have experienced a possible traumatic event by age 16

§ Child Sexual Abuse § Child Physical Neglect § Child Physical Abuse § Child Emotional Neglect § Witnessing Domestic Violence Against the Mother § Loss of a Parent to Death or Abandonment § Mentally Ill, Depressed, or Suicidal Family Member § Incarceration of a Family Member § Drug Addicted or Alcoholic Family Member

§ Attachment to a caring adult § Hope § The ability to calm oneself § Verbally saying “I love you” § Learning to ask for help § Acknowledging when you are § Trust § A sense of belonging § Learning how to self-advocate § Showing empathy wrong § Having clear expectations and rules § Helping a child develop problem-solving skills § Learning to show appreciation § Giving a child choices § Developing a sense of control § Establishing consequences § Letting a child know that you § Allowing a child to experience are available to help success and failure

§ Failure to provide for a child’s basic needs § Perceived as trauma by a young child who is completely dependent on adults for care § Opens the door to other traumatic events § May interfere with a child’s ability to recover from trauma

§ Impairs memory, concentration, new learning, and focus. § Linked to heart disease, obesity, addiction, pulmonary illness, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, cancer § Impacts an individual’s ability to trust, cope, and form healthy relationships § Disrupts emotion identification, ability to self-soothe or control expression of emotions, and one’s ability to distinguish between what’s safe and unsafe § Shapes a person’s belief about self and others, one’s ability to hope, and one’s outlook on life

§ Trauma is a “neuro-developmental insult” and impacts the development of the brain. § When triggered into a trauma response over and over, there are major multi- systemic impacts on the developing brain § Brain architecture is “experience dependent” (neuroplasticity) § www. changingminds. org

§ Because of constant exposure to violence and trauma, children and youth can become locked in a permanent state of fight/flight. § This makes these children and youth react to normal experiences as if they were life and death threats. § This is not a rational/cognitive process. It is wired into their physiological response.

§ Things, events, situations, places, sensations, and even people that a youth consciously or unconsciously connects with a traumatic event § What is insignificant to a child who has not been traumatized can be seen as very threatening to a child who has been traumatized. § The latter then responds in a way that seems to be out of proportion with the situation to the uninformed observer

§ A seven-year-old boy whose father and older brother fought physically in front of him becomes frantic and tries to separate classmates playfully wrestling on the school playground. § A ten-year-old physically abused boy who is innocently bumped by another student passing him in the classroom erupts in anger, tackling the child to the ground. § A teenage girl who was abused by her stepfather refuses to go to PE class after meeting the new PE teacher who wears the same aftershave as her stepfather. § When someone is reminded of an old trauma, it becomes a state and they physiologically and psychologically return to the time they were traumatized.

§ Make an effort not to exclude student from school. § Shape behavior by helping youth recognize the impact of their actions on themselves and their community. § Build youth’s capacity to manage strong emotions. § Invest great energy, creativity, and resources upfront in order to support young people’s long-term success. § Take the long view and understand that behavior change is slow and incremental.

§ Trauma can impact school performance § Decreased reading ability § Lower GPA § Higher rate of school absences § Increased drop-out § More suspensions and expulsions § Decreased reading ability

§ A safe and respectful environment that enables students to: § Build caring relationships with adults and peers, § Self-regulate their emotions and behaviors, and § Succeed academically, while supporting their physical health and well-being

§ All students need safe and supportive schools. § Traumatic experiences can impact learning, behavior, and relationships at school. § Trauma-sensitive schools focus on what the adults do § How the adults can support students by making small changes § Shift in mindset § https: //traumasensitiveschools. org/why/

§ Children have a natural love for learning yet what we as a collective society have forgotten is that children are first emotional beings. § They operate at an emotional level, not an intellectual level. § That's the definition of being a child. § Trusting the process of meeting the social and emotional needs of our students to achieve high testscores and successful graduation rates is the ultimate in making the shift to a traumainformed school. § Trauma compromises a child’s ability to regulate themselves. (Beyond Consequences in the Classroom, 2016)

§ Being trauma-informed includes having a plan for when you feel a child is in need of treatment, is receptive to help, or self-discloses trauma or abuse to you. § What’s your comfort level in talking with young people about trauma they may have experienced? § Do you know referral sources for mental health treatment, how to make referrals, connect the youth to resources, and follow up if appropriate?

§ From “What is wrong with you? ” to “What is going on? How are you feeling? ” Behavior Feeling it is masking Oppositional Behavior Fear of Rejection/Abandonment Outbursts Overwhelmed Anger Hurt Depression Lack of Self Worth Withdrawal/Absences Avoidance of Emotions Argumentativeness Testing Relationship Escalation Triggered Trauma Memories Defiance of Authority Need for Control

§ The extent to which students will be affected by a traumatic event may depend on how often they are reminded of the trauma and the nature and severity of secondary stresses. § Trauma-sensitive schools acknowledge the prevalence of traumatic occurrence in students’ lives and create a flexible framework that provides universal supports, is sensitive to unique needs of students, and is mindful of avoiding re-traumatization.

§ Help teachers understand that children may not be able to express their suffering in ways that adults can understand § Emphasize the importance of helping children feel safe § Create support systems for teachers to develop classroom strategies for addressing the needs of traumatized children § Adapt school curricula and procedures to respond to the needs of traumatized children § Develop protocols for early identification and services before children are at risk for discipline or school failure

§ Trauma can impair the acquisition of developmental competencies in § Cognitive functioning § Emotional regulation § Interpersonal relationships § Brain is activated (alarm state); children feel vulnerable and unsafe. § Cannot shift to calm state necessary for learning § Children develop coping strategies that are not understood by the adults in their lives, or by themselves, which often contribute to secondary problems, like disciplinary actions.

§ Acute trauma can impair concentration and memory § Intrusive thoughts, interrupted sleep, nightmares § Moodiness, frustration, anger, social withdrawal § Chronic trauma can result in § Executive functioning deficits impacting goal setting, organizing, planning, anticipating consequences § Lack of ‘internal maps’; distorted inner representations of world § Poor relationships with school staff and peers that impact learning

§ “I found it difficult to hear Mrs. Patterson when she spoke in the classroom. I felt as if she were speaking from beneath tumbling water, or from the end of a long tunnel. She assumed I was daydreaming…” § “I could see the math teacher’s mouth moving…but couldn’t hear a thing. It was as if I were in a soundless chamber…I just couldn’t process a word of it. ”

§ Trauma in early childhood can have a detrimental effect of the developing brain. § Brain structures that regulate emotion, memory, and behavior can be smaller in size; decreased integration of brain hemispheres and irregular brain activity correlated with poor emotional control and aggression § Abnormally high levels of stress hormones

§ Anxious, withdrawn § Difficulty with impulse control § Impaired short term memory § Confusion, disorientation § Acting out § On edge § Daydreaming § Be aware of both the children who act out AND the quiet children who do not appear to have behavioral problems.

§ Poor hygiene, appearance § Deterioration in relationships § Sleeping/eating § Academic failure § Use of drugs or alcohol § Avoidance of people or places § Increase in discipline issues § Absenteeism

§ Tier 1: Universal § School policies, culture, and climate establish a physically and emotionally safe climate § Discipline policies balance accountability with an understanding of trauma § Activities are structured in predictable and emotionally safe ways § Prompt intervention for behaviors by students or adults that are inconsistent with this standard (e. g. , bullying) § Ongoing professional development opportunities about trauma occur as determined by staff needs assessments

§ Tier 2: Supplemental Support § Screening students for trauma symptoms to determine if other assessments or referrals are warranted § Building consultation teams that support classroom teachers’ efforts to be more responsive to students affected by trauma

§ Tier 3: Intensive Intervention § Teacher/environmental interventions that identify triggers and develop strategies to reduce and address these issues § Comprehensive functional behavior assessments coupled with intensive, evidence- based trauma interventions to teach individual students alternative, appropriate methods to meet their needs.

§ Ryan is an 8 th grade boy. This morning, when he arrived at school, his teacher asked him for his homework and Ryan did not have it. She expressed frustration and took away his recess as a consequence. A short time later, his desk-mate accidentally bumped Ryan punched him in the stomach. His teacher, upset by this outburst, began to yell at Ryan to stop. Ryan began to scream, kick chairs, and hide under his desk. After 10 minutes of trying to get Ryan out from under the desk, he was brought to the principal’s office and given a five-day suspension for fighting and disruptive behavior.

§ Ryan is an 8 th grade boy from a highly under-resourced neighborhood. He has been witnessing severe domestic violence between his parents since he was a baby. One night, in front of Ryan, his father beat up and injured his mother so badly that a neighbor called the police; his father was handcuffed and taken away by the police, and his mother was taken in an ambulance to the hospital. Ryan slept little that night, terrified anxious what would happen to his mother and father. In the morning, Ryan’s neighbor took him to school. This morning, when he arrived at school, his teacher ( who did not know about Ryan’s traumatic experience) asked him for his homework. When he did not have it, she expressed frustration and took away his recess as a consequence. Ryan was upset and triggered by being in trouble with his teacher.

§ A short time later, his desk-mate accidentally bumped Ryan. Already triggered to some degree into a heightened state of vigilance (i. e. , “survival” brain), this physical contact fully triggered Ryan into a fight/flight reaction. Ryan punched his desk-mate in the stomach. His teacher, upset by this outburst, began to yell at Ryan to stop, which further escalated Ryan. He began to scream, kick chairs, and hide under his desk. § After 10 minutes of trying to get Ryan out from under the desk (during which time his teacher felt helpless and defeated, and the other children looked on in fear and frustration), Ryan was brought to the principal’s office and given a five day suspension for fighting and disruptive behavior, inadvertently exposing Ryan not only to a major loss of instructional time, but also to a period of time during which he would have no refuge from the trauma and suffering in his home life.

Regulation Dysregulation § The ability to experience and maintain § The experience of stress outside of stress within one’s window of tolerance. § Generally referred to as being calm, focused, or relaxed. one’s window of tolerance, generally referred to as being stressed out or in a state of distress. § It is believed that affect dysregulation is a fundamental mechanism involved in all psychiatric disorders. (Beyond Consequences in the Classroom, 2016)

§ Build and develop relationships § Regulating activities to calm the brain and increase the window of stress tolerance § Help with transitioning § Create a regulating environment § Movement § Address developmental deficits § Create a “family” culture § “Safety first” § Make school fun (Beyond Consequences in the Classroom, 2016)

• The teacher connects with the student, building a relationship of trust and safety. Before In the Moment After • With the foundation of the relationship established, the teacher can help a dysregulated student come back to a calm and regulated state. Over time and with repetition, the student learns to self-regulate on his own. • The student now has the ability to self-regulate and has a greater sense of emotional awareness. After the incident, learning can take place to create new coping skills and process what happened in the moment and more importantly, how to do it differently next time. Students deepens his trust with the teacher. (Beyond Consequences in the Classroom, 2016)

Effective Ineffective § Excessive § § § § questioning Lecturing Giving logic Asking to make a better choice Comparing Promising a prize/reward Standing over the student Encouraging § Reacting § Connecting § Maximizing § Raising your voice § Slowing down § Expressing passion § Ignoring § Understand § Relating § Threatening § Breathing § Supporting § Adding points to a § Time-in § Exploring § Gentle touch § Empathy § § point chart Time-out Minimizing Giving rational thinking Expressing anger http: //www. gobblynne. com/ (sometimes) § Regulating § Sitting § Quieting § Joining § Validating § Accepting § Engaging § Apologizing

§ Review what happened § Spend time rebuilding the relationship § Re-regulate § Teach social skills, critical thinking skills, problem sovling skills, emotional intelligence § Address belief systems and build self-esteem § Reinforce the “family” culture § Adjust your expectations, if needed § Find humor

§ Take time to talk and acknowledge each student. When the student walks into the classroom, convey the message, “Welcome. This class would not be the same without you here today!” § Recognize that student’s moods and help to regulate instead of ignoring or criticizing the moods. § Listen to the students (you don’t have to agree, just listen). § Smile at the students and stay in a warm place in your heart, no matter their attitude or disposition. § Take an interest in what’s important to each student. § 2 x 10 § The 2× 10 strategy is simple: spend 2 minutes per day for 10 days in a row talking with an at-risk student about anything she or he wants to talk about. § Ask the students for help and let the students help. § Share the student’s idea with others. (“Billy had a good idea for…”)

§ All of the things that a teacher does to organize students, space, tie, and materials so that instruction in content and student learning can take place. § Two major goals… § To foster student involvement and cooperation in all classroom activities § To establish a productive working environment

§ Key Elements of Effective Classroom Management § Prevention § Intervention § Resolution § Managing Today’s Classroom § Kids do things for people they love. Make deposits so you can make withdraws. § Low Level Intervention Strategies § Using Questions to Intervene

§Classroom Meeting (more details included in your packet) §Check-in each morning §Students share their current concerns §Students talk and great each other or ask questions §Opportunity for team and climate building

§Calming Corner/Cool Down Zone §Teach students to how and when to use it §Practice using it until students go on their own §Post expectations and procedures in the space

§ Page number bubble (student job) § Book covers to project (student job) § Post expectations and procedures in the space § Match the Picture § S. T. O. P. § Space § Time § Objects § People

§ Classroom Procedures and Organization §Have a plan and work your plan §Students help create procedures §Teach and practice, practice procedures §Remember to incorporate your school wide PBIS plan

§ Breakfast Club – Deana Conner and Sarah Mains §What does is look like? §What is taught?

§ Functional Behavior Assessments § Why do we fill out FBA’s? § FBA Forms § CBSED § PBIS World § Create your own to fit your needs § Get permission! § Document, document § Establish patterns of behavior

§ Behavior Intervention Plans § Sticker charts – increase/decrease expectation if needed § Self Monitoring Behavior Checklist § Magnet System (the art of the rip and run) § Earned Breaks vs. Built in Breaks § Use a team approach § Try strategies for at least 3 week and then reevaluate

§ What’s happening or what’s going on? §Do not give feedback or judge §Why did you do ____? §What’s hard for you? §What’s easy for you §Three things you like to do at school §You may have to give some suggestions

§ Guidelines for Conferencing with Students §Responding to Uncooperative Students During Conferences

§ Public Procedures, private reprimands § Do not deny previously earned rewards § Follow through § Be consistent § Give choices § Ask for help and know when you need to remove yourself § Clear, direct messages (more details included in your packet)

§ Included in your packet: Consequences § Logical consequences § Relate to the problem § Reasonable § Done respectfully § Teach responsibility § Included in your packet: Time-Out § Included in your packet: Strategies That Keep You Out of Power Struggles

§ Important Concepts for Using Intervention Strategies Effectively § Don’t take the bait § Delay consequences § Public rules, private reprimand § To comply of not to comply § Remember to breathe § Deal only with what you see and hear § Disengage § Strategy Practice Scenarios § Samples of dialogue to use with students