Strategies for Preventing and Addressing Challenging Behavior in Preschool Classrooms

1
Strategies for Preventing and Addressing
Challenging Behavior in Preschool Classrooms Mary
Louise Hemmeter ml.hemmeter_at_vanderbilt.edu
2
National Centers - Resources

• Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations
  for Early Learning
• (CSEFEL)
• www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel
• Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional
  Interventions
• www.challengingbehavior.org

3
The Teaching Pyramid Promoting Social and
Emotional Competence and Addressing Challenging
Behavior
Intensive Interventions
Targeted Social Emotional Supports
High Quality Supportive Environments
Nurturing and Responsive Caregiving Relationships
4
Some Major Points

• The majority of challenging behavior can be
  addressed by implementing the bottom three levels
  of the pyramid
• The focus should be on teaching and supporting
  the child
• Attending to appropriate behavior and providing
  positive feedback are powerful tools in
  addressing challenging behavior
• When possible, we should help the child
  communicate his/her needs in appropriate ways -
  honor the function of behavior
• Blaming the child, blaming the family or blaming
  each other is counterproductive

5
Relationships
Intensive Interventions
Targeted Social Emotional Supports
High Quality Supportive Environments
Nurturing and Responsive Caregiving Relationships
6
How Can We Build Positive Relationships with
Children, Families and Colleagues?


7
Every child needs one person who is crazy about
him.
Uri Bronfenbrenner
8
Environments
Intensive Interventions
Targeted Social Emotional Supports
High Quality Supportive Environments
Nurturing and Responsive Caregiving Relationships
9
Creating Environments for Success

• Create an environment where EVERY child feels
  good about coming to school.
• Design an environment that promotes child
  engagement.
• Focus on teaching children what to do!
• Teach expectations and routines.
• Teach skills that children can use in place of
  challenging behaviors.

10
Key Areas

• Classroom arrangement and design
• Schedules and routines
• Structuring transitions
• Planning engaging activities
• Giving directions
• Teaching expectations
• Attending to positive behavior

11
Schedules and Routines
12
Visual Schedules
12
13
Transitions
14
What Do We Do In Circle?
Social Story Written Especially for Ms. Frans
Class Words by Rochelle Lentini, USF Pictures
Chosen by Sherri Garrison
Created using pictures from Microsoft Clipartand
Boardmaker
15
Circle Time Rules
15
16
How Can This Circle AreaBe Improved?
17
Sample Expectations
18
Physical Environment
Discuss these two writing centers.
Strengths? Concerns?
18
19
Strategic Design
20
Video 1.3 Providing Individualized Transition
Cues to Gabby
21
Targeted Social Emotional Supports
Intensive Interventions
Targeted Social Emotional Supports
High Quality Supportive Environments
Nurturing and Responsive Caregiving Relationships
22
If You Want It, TEACH IT!
If a child doesnt know how to read, we
teach. If a child doesnt know how to swim, we
teach. If a child doesnt know how to multiply,
we teach. If a child doesnt know how to drive,
we teach. If a child doesnt know how to
behave, we .....teach?
punish? Why cant we finish the last
sentence as automatically as we do the
others? Tom Herner (NASDE President )
Counterpoint 1998, p.2)
23
Identifying Teachable Moments(When teaching has
an impact!)

23
24
Friendship Skills

• Gives suggestions (play organizers)
• Shares toys and other materials
• Takes turns (reciprocity)
• Is helpful
• Gives compliments
• Understands how and when to give an apology
• Begins to empathize

24
25
Activities to Support the Development of
Friendship Skills

• Friendship Can
• Planting Seeds of Friendship
• Friendship Tree/Compliment Tree
• Books about Friendships
• Friendship Quilt
• Friendship Journal
• Music/Songs

25
26
Super Friends
26
27
Emotional Literacy
What is emotional literacy?

• Emotional literacy is the ability to identify,
  understand, and express emotions in
• a healthy way.

27
28
English/ Spanish


28
29
Classroom Example
29
30
Use of Childrens Literature
31
Book Nookswww.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/
On Monday When it Rained
Glad Monster Sad Monster
Hands Are Not for Hitting
31
32
Book Example
On Monday When it Rainedby Cherryl Kachenmeister
Disappointed Embarrassed Proud Scared Angry Excite
d Lonely
32
33
I feel excited when I get to go to my friend
Cobys house to play.
34
Controlling Anger and Impulse

• Recognizing that anger can interfere with problem
  solving
• Learning how to recognize anger in oneself and
  others
• Learning how to calm down
• Understanding appropriate ways to express anger

34
35
Turtle Technique

• Recognize
• that you
• feel angry.

Think Stop.

• Go into shell. Take 3 deep breathes. And think
  calm, coping thoughts.

Come out of shell when calm and think of a
solution.


35
36
Tucker Turtle Takes Time to Tuck and Think

• A scripted story to assist with teaching the
  Turtle Technique
• By Rochelle Lentini
• March 2005

36
Created using pictures from Microsoft Clipart
and Webster-Stratton, C. (1991). The teachers
and children videotape series Dina dinosaur
school. Seattle, WA The Incredible Years.
37
Problem Solving Steps
Step 2
Would it be safe? Would it be fair? How would
everyone feel?
37
38
The Solution Kit
38
39
Individualized Interventions for Children with
Ongoing Problem Behavior
Intensive Interventions
Targeted Social Emotional Supports
High Quality Supportive Environments
Nurturing and Responsive Caregiving Relationships
40
Hypotheses Bradford engaged in challenging
behavior 1. In an attempt to get out of
activities that were unpredictable or had unclear
expectations 2. In an attempt to get out of
activities that were nonpreferred (difficult,
boring) 3. In an attempt to get out of
activities associated with high levels of noise
or people 4. In an attempt to get peer or
teacher attention
41
Prevention Strategies

• Visual cues/photo schedule/stop signs
• Social stories for routines
• First/Then boards
• Choice chart
• Preferred items
• Manipulatives
• Modified materials
• Remove distractions
• Add quiet area in room
• Add breaks
• Peer buddy

42
New Skills

• Teach how to verbally initiate/terminate
  interactions
• Teach how to initiate appropriate physical
  affection
• Teach how to appropriately ask for break or
  help
• Teach how to respond to loud or overstimulating
  situations
• Teach how to make and express choice

43
Teacher Responses

• Clear instructions
• Redirect
• Specific positive feedback
• Provide choice
• Provide consistent verbal All done countdowns
• Promote active participation with modeling
• Encourage verbal communication
• Monitor and anticipate difficult play activities
  provide option to leave area

44
New Skills
45
Challenging Behavior
46
Social Initiations
47
What do we mean when we say persistently
challenging behavior?

• Any repeated pattern of behavior that interferes
  with learning or engagement in pro social
  interactions with peers or adults
• Behaviors that are not responsive to the use of
  developmentally appropriate guidance procedures
• Prolonged tantrums, physical and verbal
  aggression, disruptive vocal or motor behavior,
  property destruction, self-injury, noncompliance,
  and withdrawal

48
Children with persistent, challenging behavior

• What have you tried?
• How did it work?

49
Children with persistent, challenging behavior

• Comprehensive approach, all environments and all
  stakeholders
• Acknowledge need for other services as well as
  supporting child in this setting
• Systematic plan
• Plan based on understanding the child and the
  problem behavior
• Intensive, individualized - Intensive for the
  adult

50
Positive Behavior Support

• A values-based, empirically-valid approach for
  resolving problem behaviors and helping people
  lead enhanced lifestyles
• A new applied science of behavior change

51
Research on PBS

• Effective for all ages of individuals with
  disabilities 2-50 years.
• Effective for diverse groups of individuals with
  challenges mental retardation, oppositional
  defiant disorder, autism, emotional behavioral
  disorders, children at-risk.
• The only comprehensive approach to address
  problem behavior within a variety of natural
  settings.

52
Some Basic Assumptions

• Challenging behavior usually has a message- I am
  bored, I am sad, you hurt my feelings, I need
  some attention.
• Children often use challenging behavior when they
  dont have the social or communication skills
  they need to engage in more appropriate
  interactions.
• Behavior that persists over time is usually
  working for the child.
• We need to focus on teaching children what to do
  in place of the challenging behavior.

53
Old Way New Way

• General intervention for all behavior problems
• Intervention is reactive
• Focus on behavior reduction
• Quick Fix

• Intervention matched to purpose of the behavior
• Intervention is proactive
• Focus on teaching new skills
• Long term interventions

54
If a child doesnt know how to read, we
teach. If a child doesnt know how to
swim, we teach. If a child doesnt know
how to multiply, we teach. If a child
doesnt know how to drive, we teach. If a
child doesnt know how to behave, we.....
.teach? punish?
Why cant we finish the last sentence as
automatically as we do the others? Tom Herner
(NASDE President ) Counterpoint 1998, p.2)
55
Tim

• In group play situations, Tim uses verbal
  aggression (threats), physical aggression (hit,
  push, kick, punch), and property destruction
  (throwing or banging toys) to obtain toys. When
  this occurs, the peer relinquishes the desired
  toy and leaves the play area and/or an adult
  intervenes and provides Tim with excessive
  negative attention.

56
Tims Plan

• Prevention
• Pre-teach skills via social story
• Use visual cards to help him remember lessons
  when in difficult situation
• Self-monitoring form to work on social goals
• Replacement
• Asking to play
• Everyone can play with the toys
• Flexibility, accepting others ideas/space
• Asking for teachers help

57

• Responses
• Immediately respond to his requests for help
• Intervene to prevent harm by providing
  attention/support to child who is attacked
• Provide certificate and praise at end of each day
  for successfully achieving goals. Fade
  certificate.

58
I like talking and playing with my friends at
school.
59
Sometimes, I want to play with what my friends
are playing with.
When I play, I sometimes feel like taking toys,
using mean words, or hitting and kicking.
My Friends get sad or mad when I hit, kick, use
mean words, or take toys.
60
If I want to join in play, I need to join nicely
or ask to play with my friends toys.
Can I play with you?
I can say, Can I play with that toy? or Can I
play with you?.
61
Teaching Social Skills
62
I can join my friends and play nicely.
I can take turns nicely.
CUE CARDS Stop is glued onto one side of the
cue cards. The Replacement Skill Cue is glued
onto the other side of the cue cards. (Cut-out
and place pictures on a ring, up-side-down to
each other, so that they can easily be flipped
over and read. Cards are about 2 x2 in size.)
I can go with the flow.
I can stop, think, and do.
63
I CAN BE A SUPER FRIEND
I can join my friends and play nicely.
________
I can take turns nicely.
________
I can go with the flow.
________
I can stop, think, and do.
________
DATE ___________
64
I Can Be a SUPER FRIEND!
SUPER FRIEND
Created for Tim by Lisa Grant Rochelle
Lentini 2002
65
(No Transcript)
66
Process of Positive Behavior Support (PBS)

• Step 1 Convene a team and identify goals of
  intervention
• Step 2 Gathering information (functional
  assessment)
• Step 3 Developing hypotheses
• Step 4 Designing behavior support plans
• Step 5 Implementing, monitoring, and
  evaluating outcomes

67
Functional Assessment

• A process for developing an understanding of a
  persons challenging behavior and, in particular,
  how the behavior is governed by environmental
  events.

68
Functional Assessment

• Observe the child in target routines and settings
• Collect data on child behavior, looking for
  situations that predict problem behavior and that
  are linked with appropriate behavior
• Interview persons most familiar with the child
• Review records

69
Childrens Behavior Communicates

• May be used to communicate a message when the
  child does not have the language.
• May be used instead of language by a child who
  has limited social skills or has learned that
  challenging behavior will result in meeting his
  or her needs.

70
The Function of Behavior

• Children engage in challenging behavior because
  it works for them.
• Children engage in challenging behavior to
  either
• Gain access to something (obtain) or
• Avoid something (escape).

71
Dimensions of Communication

• Every communicative behavior can be described by
  the form and function.
• Form the behavior used to communicate.
• Function the reason or purpose of the
  communicative behavior.

72
Children Communicate in Many Ways

• Forms of communication
• Words
• Sentences
• Point to a picture
• Eye gaze
• Pulling adult
• Crying
• Biting
• Tantrums
• ?

73
Children Communicate a Variety of Messages

• Functions of communication
• Request object, activity, person
• Escape demands
• Escape activity
• Escape a person
• Request help
• Request social interaction
• Comment
• Request information
• Request sensory stimulation
• Escape sensory stimulation
• ?

74
Date Time
Name What is Happening?
Observer

Trigger
Challenging Behavior
Maintaining Consequence (Response from adult or
peer)
POSSIBLE FUNCTION
74
75
Observation Card
76
Sample Setting Event Chart
77
Sample Setting Event Chart
78
Scatter Plot
Rachel
Hitting Peers
Student Observer Dates
Target Behavior Using a scatter plot involves
recording the times of day (and/or activities) in
which the behavior does and does not occur to
identify patterns over days or weeks
Maya
10/1 through 10/12
Behavior did not occur Behavior did occur Did not
observe
NA
79
Activity Analysis
Child Rachel
Routine/Activity House Center
80
There are Many Variables to Explore
Play
Interactions
Toys, Level of play, Opportunities, Choice,
Expectations
Health
Communication to the child, Emotional support,
Attachment
Trauma, Illness, Stamina, Medication
Learning Environment
Friends
CHILD
Schedules, Room arrangement, Materials,
Adaptations, Resources, Predictability,
Shared interests experiences, Relationships
Home Family
Instruction
Outings/Events
Routines, Resources, Siblings, Environment,
Respite, Predictability, Extended family
Places family goes, Activities
Transitions, Cues, Prompts, Supports,
Accommodations
81
Pulling It All TogetherActivity
2.8
81