Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 1

Student Js Behavior Prior to the Behavioral Intervention

Student J is an exceedingly intelligent four year old who attends Vestavia Hills Elementary School-East. Student J seeks the negative attention of adults and struggles with reacting appropriately to negative reinforcement. It has been observed that Student J becomes more defiant as the day progresses and gets over stimulated by loud and unstructured environments. When placed in a loud or unstructured environment, Student J gets easily distracted and struggles with being able to sit quietly without knocking over materials or having to be redirected by his teachers. Another challenging behavior of Student Js is his tendency to hug people, which can be sweet, but it is not an appropriate behavior to engage in with strangers. Some of the challenging behaviors that Student J engages in throughout the day, such as knocking over materials or resisting redirection, were documented in an observation and adaptation plan developed by Ms. Stanley. While being observed on November 6, 2013, by Ms. Stanley, Student J began the morning with a congenial and respectful demeanor, but as the day progressed, he seemed to resist instruction. Student J was very compliant towards his peers and Ms. Stanley when he arrived at 8:10. Between 8:50 and 9:10, which is when Mrs. Burkes students eat their snack for the morning, Student Js ability to stay on task and respond well to redirection began to decline. Between 8:51 and 8:59, Student J was making fire alarm noises when he should have been sitting quietly, he continuously looked around the room to see what Mrs. Biass class was doing on the carpet, and made off-topic comments such as, Im four years old! while waiting for his food to be distributed by Mrs. M. When asked to sit quietly and wait patiently for his food, Student J resisted and yelled, No! He did, however, seem to respond well when redirected through the use of positive reinforcement, such as when Mrs. M allowed him to help her distribute some of

Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 2 the items. While engaging in the Literature Group session on the carpet in front of the Promethean Board from 9:10-9:30, Student J was continuously touching and hugging his peers, which is one behavior that Mrs. Burke is striving to discontinue. At 9:21, Student J was leaning over in his chair. It took him a while to obey the command to sit up and listen when asked by another aid to comply. Student J became more defiant as the day progressed. While working on a dot painting activity between 10:08 and 10:12, Student J continuously knocked over the dot paints. When asked by one of the student teachers to discontinue this challenging behavior, he became defiant towards her and continued to knock them over until they were removed from him by Ms. Stanley. She then handed him the blue dot paint and he began to quietly work on his craft. Before lunch at 11:15, Student J was given an iPad to share with one of his peers. He snatched the iPad away and refused to share it until Mrs. Burke positively reinforced the proper behavior by using hand over hand reinforcement to help him have a turn and then pass it along to his neighbor. During lunch at 11:35, Mrs. Burke distributed the Styrofoam trays to the students, and Student J began to bang his tray on the table, which resulted in Mrs. Burke taking it away from him. He yelled for her to give it back, but she calmly refused and asked him to sit quietly in order to have it returned to him. He was very compliant and quiet during the rest of lunch, and received enough tokens to play on the iPad after lunch. Although Student J struggles in some areas, he has many strengths. Student J is a very good reader for his age due to Hyperlexia. Although he can read the words, he does not understand what he is reading, which is a skill that he will most likely acquire in the future. He is very congenial towards his peers, and when he greets his peers during the Morning Meeting, he always properly shakes their hand and says, Good morning! with a big smile. Along with kindly greeting his peers, he actively engages in the songs that are sung each

Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 3 morning. He seems to retain what is taught during lessons very quickly, and he is also able to transfer and generalize his knowledge very well after each lesson. Student J simply needs to be taught in a structured learning environment with a consistent form of discipline. Below are records of his behavior.

Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 4 Event Recording Form

Student: Student J Class/ Teacher: Mrs. Burke

Date: 11/5/13 Observer: Ms. Stanley

Behavior: Not being able to sit quietly without touching his peers or items on the table and responding with verbal defiance when asked to complete a task or transition to the next center Instructions: Make a mark each time the behavior occurs.

Time
Ex.: 8:30-9:00 am

Tally //// //// // IIIII IIII III IIIII IIIII III III

Total
12

8:50-9:10 9:10-9:25 10:00-10:30 11:00-12:00

9 3 13 3 Total: 28

Additional comments: Other challenging behaviors include: off-topic comments, touching or hugging others, knocking over items out of defiance, fidgeting in his seat, talking when he should be quietly listening, being distracted by his environment, and ignoring commands.

Note: Event or frequency indicates how frequently a behavior occurs during a specified period of time.

Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 5 Duration Recording Form Student: Student J Class/ Teacher: Mrs. Burke Date: 11/5/13 Observer: Ms. Stanley

Behavior: Not being able to sit quietly without touching his peers or items on the table and responding with verbal defiance when asked to complete a task or transition to the next center

Time Start
Ex.: 1: 13 pm 1: 17 pm

Time End

Duration
4 minutes

8:51 8:55 8:58 9:01 9:08 9:11 9:21:05 10:08

8:53 8:56 8:59 9:03 9:09 9:13 9:21:30 10:12

2 minutes 1 minute (looking around) 1 minute (off-task comment) 2 minutes (distracted by environment) 1 minute (put his shirt on his head) 2 minutes (touching his peer) 25 seconds (leaning over in his seat) 4 minutes (defiant towards teachers reprimand) 2 minutes (defiant towards teachers reprimand) 5 minutes (would not share iPad) 15 minutes (defiant throughout lunch)

10:13

10:15

11:15

11:20

11:35

11:50

Additional comments: Other challenging behaviors include: off-topic comments, touching or hugging others, knocking over items out of defiance, fidgeting in his seat, talking when he should be quietly listening, being distracted by his environment, and ignoring commands. Student J spent a total of 33 minutes and 25 seconds engaged in the challenging behaviors described above.
Note: Duration is the length of time that the student engages in the behavior.

Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 6

My Brainstorming Process
In order to minimize Student Js inappropriate reactions towards negative reinforcement, maybe his teachers should strive to keep him in structured small group settings. I noticed that when Student J was able to play outside with only eight other peers, his behavior was so much better. In fact, we did not have to redirect him once while he was playing with his peers. I also feel as though his teachers should utilize the extinction method and positive reinforcement while dealing with his behavior. By ignoring his negative behaviors and praising his good ones, Student J will recognize which behaviors are appropriate and which ones are not without getting the negative attention he seeks. Also, maybe I could set up some kind of a token system, like the one Mrs. Burke uses during lunch, for him to carry around with him throughout the whole day. At my last placement, I read an article about toke systems for younger children. I could use the same Boardmaker buttons that I see around Mrs. Burkes classroom in order to maintain consistency. She has one the following: nice hands and feet, sit quietly, obey the teachers, and wait my turn. He already has a clipboard that he carries around from center to center that each teacher fills out to go home with his parents, but he needs to receive some kind of a prize after complying for a period of time. He responds really well to receiving a token during lunch for eating his food and is motivated to behave when he receives extra time on the iPad. I will talk with Mrs. Burke to decide whether or not she thinks this will work. I have concluded that these are the operational definitions of his challenging behaviors: not being able to sit quietly without touching his peers or items on the table and responding with verbal defiance when asked to complete a task or transition to the next

Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 7 center. I based this information on the data that I collected in the following ABC Observation and Functions of Behavior forms.

A-B-C Observation Form

Student: Student J Class/ Teacher: Mrs. Burke Time (11/6) 10:08 Antecedent Behavior Date: 11/6/13 & 11/12/13 Observer: Ms. Stanley Consequences

Waiting on materials to be distributed (told to choose a dot paint color)

Verbal defiance (told Ms. Vines No! and continuously knocked over the paint tubes)

Redirected by Ms. Vines (continued with behavior until all of the tubes were removed from him by Ms. Stanley) Told to sit down

10:10

Working on dot paint worksheet

Out of his seat

11:15

Given an iPad to play with by Mrs. Burke (asked to share with a peer)

Snatched the iPad away from his peer

Told to return it to his peer and share (Mrs. Burke used hand-over-hand reinforcement to show him how to properly share.)

11:35

Given a tray for his lunch

Snatched it from Mrs. Burke and began to bang it on the table

The tray was taken away and he screamed (was not given it back until his appropriately asked for it back)

(11/12) 9:45 Transitioned to the bean learning center

Threw beans onto the floor

Asked to pick them all up by an aide. (Mrs. Burke later calmly asked him to help her clean them up, of which is did.)

Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 8

It seems as though the function behind Student Js challenging behavior is obtaining the negative attention of adults.

Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 9 Functional Assessment Matrix

Functions of Behavior
Obtain N/A Avoid

Negative Attention from Adults Positive Attention from Adults (few cases)

(Based on the observations done on Student J, I believe that the function behind Student Js behavior is to obtain negative attention from adults)

Attention

N/A Tangibles or Activities iPad Tray for food Food (snack/lunch) Dot paint tubes

1 Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 0

Sensory Conditions

N/A

N/A

1 Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 1

Behavioral Plan Intervention Implementation

After noticing how well the token system worked during lunch, it was concluded that creating a similar system for Student J to carry throughout the day would be the most effective form of a discipline plan for him. Mrs. Burke really agreed with the plan, and she supplied an immense amount of advice on how to create the chart. It had already been decided that Boardmaker buttons with the four classroom rules, nice hands and feet, sit quietly, wait my turn, and obey the teacher, would be used, but how Student Js behavior could be easily documented in a convenient and effective way had not been decided prior to the advice of Mrs. Burke. Mrs. Burke advised the use of a large index card with the four rules at the top and red and green Velcroed circles that would go under each rule to signify whether or not Student J was adequately abiding by each rule. By laminating the card, the chart was made durable and reusable. She also advised continuing to use the behavior clipboard system that was implemented prior to this behavior change project. This schedule has smiley faces that represent that Student J behaved at each particular station and frowning faces that represent that Student J misbehaved at each particular station. It was decided that if Student J received four smiley faces after every four transitions, he would be able to choose a reward to receive. It is always good to continue to use

1 Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 2 systems if they are already effective in addition to new behavior systems, so combining the two behavior monitoring systems together really created an effective system. In order to introduce Student J to the system, Ms. Stanley briefly described the chart to him. She explained that he must obey each of the four rules on the chart while at every center. If he obeyed a rule, the circle under the rule would stay on the green side; if he disobeyed the rule, the teacher would turn the circle over to the red side. Student J would have the opportunity to get the red circle returned to the green side if he complied with the teachers command. For example, Student J was not sitting on his bottom during snack time, and he was asked by Mrs. Burke to sit nicely. Student J did not sit on his bottom after the first request, so the circle under the sit nicely button was turned to the red side. Once Student J realized that it was turned to the red side, he quickly complied and sat on his bottom. Once the teacher realized that he was sitting correctly in his seat, she returned the circle to the green side. Before transitioning to the next station and center throughout the day, the teacher would review Student Js behavior with him. If Student J finished the center on all greens, he received a smiley face on his clipboard schedule; if he did not, he received a frowning face. Transitions tend to be rather difficult for Student J, so it was exceedingly important that the teacher would go over the schedule and the results with Student J before asking him to transition to the next center. After implementing the system for a day and a half, Mrs. Burke advised that Student Js teachers not even alert him before or after turning his red and green circles over. She explained that he knew whether or not his behavior was appropriate and that after a while, he would begin to challenge the system in order to receive the negative attention he craves. Collecting the data on how effective the system worked was the final step of the process. An Interval Recording Form and a Latency Recording Form were used.

1 Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 3

Results and Reflection

After implementing the token system, Student Js behavior improved at an acceptable rate. On Tuesday, November 29, 2013 and Wednesday, November 20, 2013, Student J only received one or two frowning faces. This was a drastic change compared to his behavior before implementing the token system. After having the system explained to him on November 19, 2013, Student J was eager to receive all smiley faces and to keep his circles on the green side. It was almost as if the circles were magic. The moment a teacher would even move her hand towards the chart, he would automatically engage in the appropriate behavior. Student Js behavior was closely monitored and documented on the 29th to collect the necessary data to determine if the implemented behavior management system was effective and to determine what should be adjusted for the future. As displayed on the Interval Recording Form, Student J engaged in all four positive preferred behaviors, nice hands and feet, sit quietly, wait my turn, and obey the teachers, 79% of the whole day. In addition to engaging in the preferred behaviors for 79% of the day, it was recorded that it only took an average of approximately one minute for him to engage in the preferred behaviors after being prompted by the teacher. Before this behavior change project was implemented, it was documented on the Duration Recording

1 Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 4 Form that Student J spent thirty-three minutes and twenty-five seconds engaging in off-task behaviors, as described in the operational definition: not being able to sit quietly without touching his peers or items on the table and responding with verbal defiance when asked to complete a task or transition to the next center. It can be concluded that this system is efficient and with a few necessary revisions to its implementation, it will be an effective discipline management system for Student J. I learned so much about classroom management, discipline, and procedures while working on this behavior change project. It was not an easy task to determine how to adequately implement this system with Student J. After realizing how important consistency is while working with this child, Mrs. Burke alerted me that I have to stick to what I originally planned in order for it to truly be effective. For example, Student J received one frowning face, which should have resulted in him not being able to receive his choice of a reward. I still allowed him to receive the reward, but from now on, I will ensure that I stick to my original plan. There were some moments during the second day that I wondered if it were really working, but then I realized the drastic difference between the amount that he used to act out compared to the few times he acted out after the project. For example, Student J had a habit of throwing beans all over the floor prior to the implementation of this token system. He would constantly knock them out of the bin onto the floor and would resist being reprimanded for his actions by screaming and refusing to help clean them up. When he arrived at this center on Wednesday, November 20, 2013, Student J did not engage in this challenging behavior until the very end of the session. He only spilled a few beans onto the floor and complied to Mrs. Taylors command to pick them up once I turned the circle to the red side under nice hands and feet. This situation is the perfect example to document due

1 Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 5 to the fact that it shows that although the system works, there is still progress to be made. I now know that I must be consistent, intentional, and responsive while monitoring Student Js behavior. Along with this, I now realize that if I were to do this again, I would have a list of choices for the student to choose from in order to have a strong enough motivator. Evidently, the motivators for the second day were not as strong as the first day, so Student J did not feel as though he should have engaged in the behaviors as often. I now feel as though I can conduct a Function Based Assessment in the future. I collected the necessary forms in order to document adequate amounts of data, and I took information that I have gathered from research and previous placements to determine what would be the most effective for this student. I still have so much to learn concerning behavior and classroom management, but I now see that when I consult more seasoned and professional teachers and go with my gut, I can come up with an effective plan. No, it is not easy, but I do feel as though it is possible.

1 Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 6 Interval Recording Form

Student: Student J Class/ Teacher: Mrs. Burke Start/ end times: 8:50-12:05 teachers

Date: 11/19/13 Observer: Ms. Stanley Length of interval: 5 mins. 10 mins. 15 mins.

Positive Behavior: 4 Rules: nice hands and feet, sit quietly, wait my turn, obey the Codes: + behavior did occur behavior did not occur
Interval
Example

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

(8:55) (9:00) (9:05) (9:10) (9:15) (9:25) (9:35) (9:45) (9:55) (10:05) (10:15) (10:25) (10:35) (10:45) (10:55) (11:10) (11:25) (11:40) (11:55) 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Behavior

Interval 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 Total %

Behavior + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Student J engaged in each of the positive behaviors 79% of the day.

Additional comments:
Data was not collected after this date due to the observer striving to focus on learning how to effectively implement the system.
Note: Interval indicates whether or not the behavior occurred during a specified period of time.

1 Mandy Jayne Stanley [BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT] 7 Latency Recording Form Student: Student J Class/ Teacher: Ms. Stanley Date: 11/19/13 Observer: Ms. Stanley

Behavior: 4 Rules: nice hands and feet, sit quietly, wait my turn, obey the teachers

Time of request or cue (start stopwatch)

Ex.: 11:30:02

Time behavior was initiated (end stopwatch)

11:35:22

Latency
5:20 or 5 min., 20 sec.

8:46 9:12:03 9:31:15 10:15 10:45

8:48 9:12:25 9:31:18 10:16 10:47

2 minutes 22 seconds 3 seconds 1 minute 2 minutes

Additional comments: He responded well to seeing the circle get changed from red to green once he followed the commands. I showed him how acting out got it turned to red and that being respectful got it turned back to green. He quickly caught on to the system!
Note: Latency is the length of time that passes from the time the behavior was requested or cued until the time the student initiates the behavior.