Supporting Supporting Children with Children with Challenging Challenging Behavior at Behavior at School: Universal School: Universal and Selective and Selective InterventionsInterventions

CSEFEL Vanderbilt University Consortium

W.D. Tynan, Ph.D

Supporting Young Children with Challenging Behavior at School: Universal and Selective Interventions

Objectives• 1. Identify the most effective teachable moments

for supporting young children with challenging behavior.

• Identify important social emotional skills• Describe effective, evidence-based teaching

strategies to support social emotional development of young children and to manage challenging behaviors

• What are your behavior “hot buttons”?

• How does it make you feel?

Managing Personal Stress: Thought Control

Calming Thoughts“This child is testing to see where the limits are. My job is to stay calm and help him learn better ways to behave.”

“I can handle this. I am in control. They have just learned some powerful ways to get control. I will teach them more appropriate ways to behave.”

“I feel undervalued right now – I need to seek support from my peers and supervisor.”

Upsetting Thoughts

“That child is a monster. This is getting ridiculous. He’ll never change.”

“I’m sick of putting out fires!”

“I wonder if Walmart is hiring?”

Adapted from Webster-Stratton, 1999

Managing Personal Stress: Thought Control

Calming Thoughts

“Having him in my class is going to be a wonderful Professional Development experience.”

Upsetting Thoughts

“He ruins everything! This is going to be the worst year of my career”

Building Positive Relationships with Children

Play Time &

Attention

Home

visitsShare

Empathy

Notes

home

Happy

Grams

Child Behavior Problems at Home

Parent Criticism&

Discipline Difficulties

Behavior Problems at Home

Behavior Problems at School

Parent Discouragement& Isolation from School

Peer Rejection Ineffective Teaching Practices

AntisocialBehavior &

Academic Failure

Negative Reputation Of Child within Community of Parents

Parent Isolation & Depression

Poor Home-School Connections

ChildDepression

Deviant Peer Group

School Expulsion

Negative Reputation at School

Ripple Effects(adapted from C. Webster-Stratton, 1997)

Age 2Non-pervasive

Age 3-6

Age 7-8Pervasive

Creating Supportive EnvironmentsCreating Supportive Environments

Positive Relationships with children, families Positive Relationships with children, families and colleaguesand colleagues

Social EmotionalSocial EmotionalCurriculum/Curriculum/InstructionInstruction

IndividualizIndividualized ed

InterventionInterventionss

Program-wide Positive Behavior Support

Fox, Dunlap, Hemmeter, Joseph, & Strain, 2003

Supportive Environments: The Big Picture

• This is a place you can trust– Safe– Predictable– Helpful

• This is a caring place– Relationships– Recognizing and responding to emotions

• You belong here, We belong hereYou belong here, We belong here– Uniqueness, diversity, individualityUniqueness, diversity, individuality– Community, caring working togetherCommunity, caring working together– Developing an ethos of friendshipDeveloping an ethos of friendship

Designing Supportive Environments

• Classroom arrangement

• Schedule

• Transitions

• Activities and experiences

Classroom Arrangement

• Classroom is designed with a variety of areas with easily viewed

boundaries• Avoid wide open spaces• Materials are organized and in good

working order – before children arrive

Schedule

• Consistent and predictable schedule is available in a developmentally appropriate way

• Alternate active and vigorous activities with less active experiences

• Addresses social emotional skills

Transitions

• Eliminate unnecessary transitions and wait time

• Teach the expectations during transition time

• Use pictures and other consistent and salient cues

• Provide choices

Interactions

• Adult-adult interactions– Model positive social skills

• Adult-child interactions– Catch ‘em being good!

Identifying the Teachable Moments

Identifying Teachable Moments

Identifying Teachable Moments

Teach Me What to Do Instead

• Following rules, routines and directions

• Identifying feelings in self and others

• Controlling anger and impulse• Problem solving• Friendship skills

Following rules, routines and directions

• Have a few simple rules for the classroom

• Involve the children in developing the rules

• Teach the rules systematically• Reinforce the rules at high rates at

the beginning and at lower rates throughout the year

Sample Rules

– Share materials

– Use an inside voice

– Listen to the teacher

– Touch gently

– Use walking feet

Show me five!

Emotional Literacy

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

Children with a strong foundation in emotional literacy:

• tolerate frustration better, • get into fewer fights, • engage in less self-destructive behavior,• are healthier, • less lonely, • less impulsive, • more focused, and • they have greater academic achievement.

Identifying feelings in Self and others

• Increasing emotional vocabularies

• Learning how to recognize feelings in self and others

• Emotional regulation (i.e., “calm down”)

• Empathy training

Increasing Feeling Vocabularies•Direct teaching•Incidental teaching•Use children’s literature•Use songs and games•Play “How would you feel if?”•Checking in•Feeling dice and feeling wheels

Feeling Wheel

• Learning to recognize how someone else is feeling– Facial cues– Body language– Tone of voice– Situational cues

Identifying feelings inSelf and others

Identifying feelings in Self and others

• Increasing emotional vocabularies

• Learning how to recognize feelings in self and others

• Emotional regulation (i.e., “calm down”)

• Empathy training

Relaxation thermometer

Take 3 deep

breaths…1..2..3

Adapted from Incredible Years Dinosaur School

Take a Deep Breath

Smell the flowers Blow out the candle

Relaxation thermometer*

*Source: Incredible YearsPhoto by Carolyn Webster-Stratton

1. Reading of Affective Cues

•self•others

2. Interpreting of Affective Cues

•cause•intent

3. Clarifying of interpersonal goals

4. Generating of solutions

5. Making a decision

6. Acting on decision

Joseph & Strain, 2003

Controlling anger and handling disappointment

• Recognizing that anger can interfere with thinking

• Recognizing anger in oneself and others

• Managing anger and controlling impulse (the turtle technique)

Feeling finger prints*

*Source: Elias and TobiasPhoto by Carolyn Webster-Stratton

Turtle Steps

*Source: Incredible Years

Photo by Carolyn Webster-Stratton

Turtle Shells

*Source: Incredible Years

Photo by Carolyn Webster-Stratton

*Source: Incredible Years Photo by Carolyn Webster-Stratton

Green = Good, Go ahead

Yellow = Feeling Uncomfortable, Be cautious

Red = Anger, STOP

Handling disappointment

• Teach (“maybe next time”)

• Prepare (“I can only choose one person to be my helper”)

• Prime (“If I don’t choose you and you feel disappointed, what can you do?”)

• Reinforce (“Wow, you really handled that well! Way to go!”)

Reinforce Social Emotional Skills in Informal and Formal Ways

•InformalHugs, high fives, praise, winks, smiles, thumbs-up

•FormalCertificates/ Notes home“Blast off”Friendship LoopsNobel Peace PrizeSuperfriend Cape

Friendship Loops

Strategies for Developing Friendship Skills

• Modeling principles• Modeling with video /puppets• Preparing peer partner• Buddy system• Priming• Suggesting play ideas• Direct modeling• Reinforcement

Friendship skills

• How to give suggestions (play organizers)

• Turn taking • Understanding how and when to

give an apology• Sharing toys and other materials• Being helpful

Friendship skills

• Learning alternative responses to being teased, bullied or yelled at

• Saying nice things

• www.csefel.uiuc.edu

• www.challengingbehavior.org

ELO for Alex

Initiating with a peer

Problem

Solving

Identifying Emotions

Sharing/

Taking turns

Arrival Alex is the greeter (17) Share his cubby with a peer

As greeter, help children “check in”

One pen for check in

Circle Collect names Can’t find calendar number; one too few carpet squares

Sing Happy and You Know it, Read On Monday when it rained

Hand out materials

Free Choice “Buddy Play day” Limit number of children at sensory table/have Alex choose an area last

Feeling Face Bingo at Literacy Corner/Mirror play

Marble maze at Table Toys

Snack Snack Helper Put one unsliced apple on table

Make fruit/vegetable faces One pitcher of juice and small cups

Outside Teeter totter, bat & glove, parachute

Only put out one tricycle Statue tag In charge of water pitcher and cups

It isn’t “either”/ “or”Integrating Emotional and Early Literacy

•Social stories

•Write about children’s emotions (dictation)

•Have word cards available with emotion words and pictures

•Read children’s books and discuss characters’ problems/solutions

•Read children’s books about emotions