Education 517: Case Study Project

1. Addressing Challenging Behaviors in the Classroom By: Rebekah Stanley Education 517: Case Study Project

2. Philosophy of Classroom Management • PBS was the behavior management used in my classroom and I believe that I will continue to use it as I begin teaching • Know your expectations before you begin the school year • Establish expectations on day one and be consistent throughout the year. Cover expectations for all parts of the school day (ie – hallways, lunch room, recess, etc.) • When students know what to expect they will be more successful in the classroom • Allow students to have a say in the expectations so that they have ownership in the classroom • Focus on the positive behaviors and not the negative behaviors • Use more Do's than Do Not's

3. Classroom Community • The classroom should be a safe environment where all students feel welcomed and feel as though they can express themselves without being judged • The class should act as a team or family not as individual students • The community should be developed from the beginning and strengthened throughout the year on a daily basis • Having a positive and strong community in the classroom will help the overall feel of the classroom and should encourage positive behaviors • Morning meetings will be a great way to build this type of community as well as team building activities to strengthen communication

4. Student Profile • Pseudonym – Tiffany • 5th Grade – 11 years old • Mixed – Caucasian and African-American • Recently Diagnosed with ADD

5. Needs Movement – Activity Attention Repetition Opportunities to release energy Strengths & Needs Strengths • Loves to sing • Has a lot of energy • Intelligent • Kinesthic Learner

6. Data Collection • I was the main data collector of my case study student • Most of my data collection was in the form of anecdotal notes and event frequency observation • I found: • Tiffany has a hard time focusing for long periods of time in the classroom • When upset or frustrated she does not reason what she is saying or doing • It is best to: • Have lessons that require movement and hands on activities • Allow Tiffany time to cool-down before discussing a situation with her

7. Behavioral Intervention Plan • 1st Step – Gave student ways to release energy during class • She is allowed to squeeze a stress ball • She may step outside the classroom to cool down when she become upset or stressed • 2nd Step – Gave student a way to manage focus • At the beginning of each class she writes down the objective in a notepad and refers back to it as needed • When she is off-task I ask her if she is following her notepad or simply point to it • 3rd Step – Gave student accountability at home and at school • Set up parent conferences to inform mother of happenings at school • Communicated with mother multiple times a week to keep her updated on Tiffany's progress

8. Student Progress • I monitored Tiffany's progress through the anecdotal notes recorded and the event frequency observations • Each step of the intervention improved Tiffany's behavior but the most effective was getting the mother involved • Knowing that the her mother cared and that we were communicating encouraged her to try harder • Giving Tiffany options and allowing her to be more self-monitored also encouraged her to try harder at controlling outburst • If I were continuing to work with Tiffany I would keep her on the same plan but would come up with plan that she could use to ensure her continual growth • A check-off sheet that she would use • It would include on-task behavior and outburst

9. Technology • Website – addstudent.com • On this website people who have personal experience with ADD post comments, articles, and other helpful information about ADD. This website allowed me to get other perspectives and to be more aware of the feelings a student with ADD may have. • Website - www.addinschool.com • This website provided strategies to use in the classroom that can help a student with ADD be more successful. It gave me ideas of how to make lessons more engaging and things not to do to distract the student.

10. Reflection • From this case study I have learned a lot about one individual student but I have also learned strategies to use with future students. By doing this study on Tiffany I was able to deal with her behavior more successfully than if I had not be focused on her. I have learned how to take what I see happening to the student in the classroom and come up with a plan so that the student can be successful. • What this tells me about my future classroom is that when I have a challenging student, I need to take the time to observe him/her, to find out what it is that makes the students challenging, and then come up with a plan to help the student be successful in my classroom. Although I may not be able to do a full study like this one for all of my students, I will at least have the tools and knowledge to adapt them to my own needs.