Social Skills: The Hidden Ingredient to Success

1. Social Skills:The Hidden Ingredient to Success

2. Outcome for this Session is to Understand: • What social skills are • Benefits of teaching social skills • How social skills instruction ties into PBIS and RtI • Steps to teaching social skills • How to collect data and make decisions based on your campus needs

4. Incorrect Assumptions Social skills are observed and learned informally Pull out groups with the counselor will fix the student so the classroom teacher does not need to be involved.

5. Understanding These Beliefs Will Yield the Most Benefit Behavior is learned Behavior is teachable Behavior is changeable Behavior occurrences are affected by the environment Behavior is more likely sustained if it is effective, efficient, relevant, and durable “Inappropriate” social skills meet a student need and until we teach an “appropriate” replacement skill they will continue to use the inappropriate behavior

6. Characteristics of social skills deficits: • Unable to attend to class/task • Has negative interactions with peers • Lacks sensitivity toward others • Has poor self-image (worthless) • High levels of frustration or stress

7. Types of Social Skills Deficits: • Skill Deficits • Problem: the student does not have the skill in his/her behavioral repertoire • Method: direct instruction, model, and observation (ex. Queen) • Performance Deficits • Problem: the student has the behavior but does not use it due to lack of enforcement • Method: manipulate antecedents through peer initiation • Self Control Deficits • Problem: the student lacks the control necessary to inhibit inappropriate behaviors • Method: behavior modification techniques

8. Effective Schools • Move Beyond Punishment • Teach, monitor, and reward appropriate behaviors before relying on punishment • Effective Leadership • Work smarter not harder • Actively involved • Clear direction

9. PBIS is a Social Skills instruction is a key element of the PBIS framework

10. School-wide Classroom Family Non-classroom Social skills are setting specific Student PBIS Practices

11. RtI Social skills instruction is guided by RtI

12. Tertiary Prevention: Specialized Individualized Systems for Students with High-Risk Behavior CONTINUUM OF SCHOOL-WIDE INSTRUCTIONAL & POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT FEW ~5% Secondary Prevention: Specialized Group Systems for Students with At-Risk Behavior ~15% SOME Primary Prevention: School-/Classroom- Wide Systems for All Students, Staff, & Settings Continuum of social skills intensity ALL ~80% of Students

13. RtI/ PBIS Continuum of Support for ALL students and ALL skills Anger man. Prob Sol. Address social skills strengths & challenges Ind. play Adult rel. Attend. Coop play Peer interact. Label behavior…not people Dec 7, 2007

14. RtI Applications (Sugai, 2007)

15. DEFINE (Simply) ADJUST for Efficiency MONITOR & ACKNOWLEDGE (Continuously) MODEL PRACTICE (In Settings) Teach Social Skills like Academic Skills

16. Implementation Plan • Form a team (PBIS or sub-committee) • Establish the need, priorities, and commitment • Draft a mission/ purpose statement • Develop working structures (scheduling, groupings, curriculum, management) • Develop maintenance structures (sustainability, fidelity and effectiveness)

18. Social Skill Teaching PhasesWhite & Haring, 1980

19. Steps of Teaching Skillstreaming • Define the Skill • Model the Skill • Establish Student Skill Need • Select Role-Player • Set Up the Role-Play • Conduct the Role-Play • Provide Performance Feedback • Assign Skill Homework

20. Step 1: Define the Skill • Teacher explains the skill that will be taught through questioning and discussion • This is brief—no long lectures!

21. Step 2: Model the Skill • Learning by Imitation • Observational Learning • Learn by observing others—mostly peers

22. Step 3: Establish Student Skill Need • Identify each student’s current and future need for the skill • An open group discussion is needed to establish relevant and realistic role-plays

23. Steps 4-6: Select, Set-Up, and Conduct Role-Play • Norms, roles, and responsibilities must be established

24. Structure Role Plays for Success • Explain expectations • Review goal • Start with lower level skills and work up • Stress one skill at a time • Do not allow one student to take up all the time • Allow for down time- saturation • Not everyone feels comfortable • Allow for some spectator behavior • Don’t force them to speak

25. Teacher Roles and Responsibilities • Model active listening • Model effective ways of communicating whenever possible (Use “I” statements) • Help group members clarify • Reflect- mirror responses • Paraphrase- restate responses • Question- further clarification • Share experiences • Point out similarities/differences • Praise and reinforce the smallest behavior • Have fun • Relax!

26. Step 7: Provide Performance Feedback • Provide reinforcement only after role-plays that follow the behavioral steps • Reinforce everyone involved in the role-play • If role-play deviates from behavioral steps, reinforce “trying,” but re-teach the steps

27. Step 8: Assign Skill Homework • Try steps in real life settings • Start with school environment • Start with relatively simple assignments (lower stress situations) • Teacher and student decide when, how, and with whom

28. Keys to Generalization Involve others Use examples from instructional universe Teach general case and skill variations Teach self-management strategies Teach within and across settings

29. Data Collection Steps for Social Skills Instruction

30. Step 1: Write the names of your students in the first column. Refer to the skills listed on the right and check off any skill sets that the student displays significant deficits compared to their peers. Count the total number of students for each skill set and write it at the bottom of each column. Classroom Survival Skills: -Listening -Asking for Help -Saying Thank You -Following Instructions -Completing Assignments -Asking a Question -Ignoring Distractions -Making Corrections -Setting a Goal Friendship-Making Skills: -Introducing Yourself -Beginning a Conversation -Ending a Conversation -Joining In -Asking a Favor -Giving a Compliment -Accepting a Compliment -Sharing -Apologizing Skills for Dealing with Feelings: -Knowing Your Feelings -Expressing Your Feelings -Recognizing Another's Feelings -Expressing Concern for Another -Dealing with Your Anger -Dealing with Another's Anger -Expressing Affection -Dealing with Fear Skill Alternatives to Aggression: -Using Self-Control -Responding to Teasing -Avoiding Trouble -Staying Out of Fights -Problem Solving -Accepting Consequences -Dealing with an Accusation Skills for Dealing with Stress: -Being Honest -Dealing with Losing -Dealing with Being Left Out -Being a Good Sport -Accepting No -Saying No -Reacting to Failure -Dealing with Group Pressure

31. Step 2: Fill in the left column with the staff names (grouped by grade level) and total the number of students that were recommended for each skill set.

32. Step 3: Transfer the total number of students who were requested for each group to this page. Step 4: If more than 20% of your campus or a particular grade level needs a certain skill set, you will want to teach those skills school-wide or per grade-level. What skill set(s) does your data show need to be taught school-wide? • Brainstorm as many avenues as possible for teaching social skills at a school-wide level.

33. Step 5: Identify skill sets that are needed at your campus that will not be addressed school-wide or through an existing social skills program. • Brainstorm all of your resources/ staff for small group social skills instruction. Create small groups based on the skill needing more intensive social skills instruction.

34. Step 6: Create a calendar for teaching the skills. How will progress be monitored? How will the campus reinforce the skills taught?