Develop a BIP that serves to strengthen the relationship between student and teacher. An effective BIP helps to nurture trust, respect, collaboration, and support. Interventions should be implemented consistently across the school day, in all settings. Make sure everyone is on board with the plan, understands the expectations and interventions clearly, and has the necessary support and resources to carry it out effectively. Prevention is one of the most important interventions we can employ in addressing student behaviors. Focusing on the antecedents as described in the section on functional behavioral assessment allows us the opportunity to shape the behavior before it occurs. The more proactive we can be in addressing student behaviors, the more successful we will be in helping students learn and maintain appropriate behaviors. Unfortunately, as educators, we often fall into the trap of reacting to a behavior after it has occurred, and rely on consequences to discourage inappropriate behaviors and/or reinforce appropriate responses. In addition, once a behavioral response has occurred, teacher behavior can serve to either escalate or de-escalate the response pattern. To effectively de-escalate a student’s behavior, we need to understand the antecedents, as discussed in the previous section. In the table below, common antecedents that precede intense behavioral responses in students and teacher responses that tend to escalate the behaviors are identified. Examples of Common Causes for Intense Student Behavior Teacher Behaviors that Escalate Intense Behavior Fear Yelling Assuming the student knows why she/he engaged in the Failure “I’m the boss” behavior Loss of personal power Insisting on last word Drawing unrelated others Attention seeking Humiliation into conflict Displaced anger Sarcasm Double standard Physiological issues Character attack Preaching Need to maintain self-esteem Physical force Backing student into corner Adult triggers student’s Nagging Pleading trauma Assuming student’s Bringing up unrelated events behavior is deliberate Generalizing and intentional Preventing student from meeting his/her needs By contrast, there are some teacher behaviors which will likely be more effective in or preventing these intense behaviors from occurring. While the strategies in the list below may work well for some students, it is important to be responsive to the student’s individual needs, behavior patterns, trauma history, and cultural background when determining how to address the behavior.
Develop a BIP that serves to strengthen the relationship between student and teacher. An effective BIP helps to nurture trust, respect, collaboration, and support. Interventions should be implemented consistently across the school day, in all settings. Make sure everyone is on board with the plan, understands the expectations and interventions clearly, and has the necessary support and resources to carry it out effectively. Prevention is one of the most important interventions we can employ in addressing student behaviors. Focusing on the antecedents as described in the section on functional behavioral assessment allows us the opportunity to shape the behavior before it occurs. The more proactive we can be in addressing student behaviors, the more successful we will be in helping students learn and maintain appropriate behaviors. Unfortunately, as educators, we often fall into the trap of reacting to a behavior after it has occurred, and rely on consequences to discourage inappropriate behaviors and/or reinforce appropriate responses. In addition, once a behavioral response has occurred, teacher behavior can serve to either escalate or de-escalate the response pattern. To effectively de-escalate a student’s behavior, we need to understand the antecedents, as discussed in the previous section. In the table below, common antecedents that precede intense behavioral responses in students and teacher responses that tend to escalate the behaviors are identified. Examples of Common Causes for Intense Student Behavior Teacher Behaviors that Escalate Intense Behavior Fear Failure Loss of personal power Attention seeking Displaced anger Physiological issues Need to maintain self-esteem Adult triggers student’s trauma Yelling “I’m the boss” Insisting on last word Humiliation Sarcasm Character attack Physical force Nagging Assuming student’s behavior is deliberate and intentional Assuming the student knows why she/he engaged in the behavior Drawing unrelated others into conflict Double standard Preaching Backing student into corner Pleading Bringing up unrelated events Generalizing Preventing student from meeting his/her needs By contrast, there are some teacher behaviors which will likely be more effective in or preventing these intense behaviors from occurring. While the strategies in the list below may work well for some students, it is important to be responsive to the student’s individual needs, behavior patterns, trauma history, and cultural background when determining how to address the behavior.