Olivia Kratzer Forum 5COLLAPSE
During my week four classroom observations for EDUC 623 I observed a middle school aged child who was diagnosed with specified learning disability and AD/HD. His teacher stated that he is prescribed medication for the AD/HD but rarely takes it before coming to school. During my two-hour observation, this child showed many behaviors that could be due to his diagnoses or were due to wanting attention. The child did not pay attention well during classwork time, made comments under his breath whenever his teacher asked him to complete a task, and did not follow directions the first time he was asked. I believe that many of the behaviors he exhibited were attention seeking.
Self-management procedures have been used in school settings to successfully reduce problem behaviors and increase appropriate behavior (Gureasko-Moore, DuPaul, & White, 2007). I would recommend his teacher begin using a self-management plan with the child, so he is incorporated into the plan and responsible for himself. This student is old enough to use a self-management plan accurately if he decides to. I would ask this student to count how many times he is making comments under his breath when the teacher is talking to the class. After the data is collected for a few weeks, I would go over this behavior with the student and explain how it is disruptive to the other students in the classroom. I would them ask the student how we can fix this behavior together. We would then implement the students ideas in the classroom and he would continue to keep count, hopefully showing a decrease in comments. External self-reinforcement is when students generate the reinforcer to be included in a behavioral contract. Regardless of the application, it is absolutely essential that students determine, have access to, and administer the reinforcer if self-reinforcement is to be effective (Maags, 2018).
To communicate this self-management plan with the parents, I would keep in phone contact with them once a week to keep them updated. This student lives in an urban setting and his parents work long hours. Instead of having them come into the school for meetings, phone contact would be the best option.
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11, English Standard Version)
References
Gureasko-Moore, S., DuPaul, G. J., & White, G. P. (2007, December). Self-management of
classroom preparedness and homework: effects on school functioning of adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. School Psychology Review, 36(4). Retrieved from https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/apps/doc/A173466641/ITOF?u=vic_liberty&sid=ITOF&xid=7667b266
Maag, J, W. (2018). Behavioral management: from theoretical implications to practical application.
Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
