Working with Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities

I'm currently reading an article called "Prove Them Wrong: Be There for Secondary Students with an Emotional or Behavioral Disability".  I LOVE being a teacher and I LOVE working with all students... general education, special education, preschool, high school... I don't care I just love to teach.  This article talks about my favorite population of children though, those with emotional disabilities.

The article starts by discussing how much these children have gone through in their short lives.  The majority of these kids have been through quite a lot.  Many children have been abused, move constantly, or have had loved ones turn their back on them.  The most important thing in interacting with these students is to develop a strong relationship with them.  The more you know them, the easier it is to get them to follow directions,  motivate them, and make a difference.  It's important that educators constantly read the student's body language and respond appropriately.  They need to listen to what they are saying and what they are not saying.  Teachers really need to care and show that they care.

Secondly, it's important that teachers carry themselves with confidence around these students.  Time and time again I have seen educators frustrated when a student won't follow directions yet their body language is telling the student that they're scared of them and don't think they'll listen.  Be confident, build a relationship, and you can change their behavior!  Teachers really have no need to be scared, in most cases, when they hear they are getting a student with ED/BD.  Relationships and confidence is all you need for appropriate behavior management!

Developing a Classroom Management Plan Using a Tiered Approach

From the newest "Teaching Exceptional Children" comes an article by Kristin L. Sayeski and Monica R. Brown that may seem common sense, but provides a nice checklist for teachers in preparing a classroom that is well managed.

Tier 1: PREVENT, PREVENT, PREVENT
Preventing problem behavior is a lot easier than stopping it once it has occurred.  All teachers should 1) have high expectations, 2) plan stimulating instruction, 3) clearly communicate rules, procedures, and expectations, 4) establish routines and procedures, 5) support positive behaviors, and 6) use their time well.  In my mind, number 6 means pacing.  You need to keep an appropriate pace so that students do not have time to misbehave.

Tier 2: First-line Interventions
These include planned ignoring, signals such as turning off the lights, getting students engaged, individualized attention, instructional support, token economies, moving students to new seats, changing activities, etc.

Tier 3: Intensive Individualized Interventions
Conduct a FBA and determine the appropriate response.