Comments: Developing effective in-class interventions are based on the following assumptions:
- In order for students to achieve his or her personal best there must be a safe and positive environment. To make this happen students and faculty must be responsible for their behavior. This can be best accomplished when undesirable behaviors are identified and there is consistent application of consequences. Positive behavior occurs when students are encouraged, motivated, and have a sense of self-worth. Consequences must address the specific misbehavior. For example, if a student destroys a desk, the intervention must address the behavior (repair or compensate for the desk). All behaviors cluster into categories (this is discussed in detail in Topic 4 - Targeting Individual Behaviors). These categories provide the basis for interventions.
- Equally important in the development of effective in-class interventions is to consider the reason for the behavior. Behavior, both positive and negative, occurs for a reason. The reason for the behavior must also be addressed. For example, if the student who destroys the desk does so out of frustration (an inability to express the need for help) as opposed to being defiant to authority, the intervention might be different. Students learn consequences best when the reason for the behavior is addressed. Most student misbehavior is a result of one of the following reasons:
- Inability to express frustration
- Irrelevant or poorly defined instruction/curriculum (content, age appropriate, etc.)
- Lack of ability to perform tasks
- Defiance or lack of respect for authority
- Interpersonal conflicts
- Consequences must also be developed based on intensity and duration of the behavior. Talking out in class at the beginning of the class period is quite different from yelling in class the entire period. Some schools and commitment programs have defined intensity and duration in the following manner.
Level 1
Intensity - mild disruptions, student to teacher interaction
Duration - disrupts class for no more than 1-3 minutes, prevents individual from completing/ participating in assignment
Level 2
Intensity - moderate disruptions, student to class interaction, student to student
Duration - disrupts class for more than 5 minutes, interventions tried for Level 1 behaviors not effective, prevents class from completing/participating in assignments.
Level 3
Intensity - severe disruptions, student to teacher, student to student, student to class - safety concerns
Duration - Chronic disruption of class, poses immediate threat to self or other(s)
In summary, all teachers must develop a classroom management plan that creates a safe supportive learning environment, establishes order and maintains the integrity of the class. Classroom rules are only developed as the first mechanism for communication of the management plan. Students must assume responsibility for their behavior. This occurs more quickly and most effectively when the cause for the behavior is addressed. Teachers should be prepared to address the causes of problem behaviors in both a proactive and reactive manner. Depending on the intensity and duration of the behavior, teachers may have to respond to the behavior first, and develop an implementation intervention to address the cause later. Teachers should/could implement classroom interventions based on the behavior and not the cause for the following reasons:
- The behavior first occurs and disrupts the class but does not constitute a safety or emergency situation.
- The behavior occurs and the activity/lesson does not provide the teacher the opportunity to implement the intervention.
Applying these reasons to situations clearly defines the use of classroom rules and allows teachers to be consistent.
Teachers are generally expected to be proficient in the following basic in-class interventions. Their application and frequency of use reflect the teacher's philosophy and the needs of the student. Located in the workbook is a Guide for Implementing In-Class Interventions. The guide is organized as follows:
- Behavioral cluster
- Examples of specific behaviors for each cluster
- Intensity and duration of behavior
- Most common reasons for behavior
- Intervention for each cluster based on intensity, duration and reason
Also included in the workbook are three completed examples regarding in-class interventions. One addresses the use of clarification techniques. The second one addresses the use of curricular modification. The third addresses the use of time out. This guide can be used as a model to develop faculty-wide in-class interventions.
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Copyright ©, 2000. Lee R. Clark. All Rights Reserved.
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Last modified 2001-03-21.