Transport

I and another member of our group performed our first "official" correct transport of a student. It was nice that we both knew what we were doing and it made the transition to the MIRR easier. We used the under the arm lift and move forward. This was a bit uncomfortable. I think it was because the child was taller. After getting the child to the MIRR, the other adult and I were debriefing and we said that next time we think we'd try the elbow lift with our arms around the child's back. It was much easier to get the child down the hall and less disruptive as well. We also found out that trying to ask the child if he wanted to walk on his own only made him angier. It was just making him cry louder to be left alone and once we stopped talking to him, he continued to cry, but wasn't yelling and screaming like before. I was glad we have had the opportunity to try this out.

Leaving emotions out when dealing with kids can sometimes be so difficult, but I keep reminding myself that so many of my students feed off of my emotions. This occurs especially when I am frustrated over their behaviors. So, I have been trying to reinforce my set expectations without emotion in my voice and it seems to be going well. When using a firm, but calm voice with them along with keeping my face neutral, they seem to respond better.

Removing the Emotion

I have found remembering that I can not make a student follow my directions important. I am also finding that reminding myself to keep the emotion out of discipline is helpful in avoiding power struggles.

I have found it very easy to incorporate limit setting with Magic 1-2-3. It's very similar to what I have been doing. When I give the student a choice, I use going to the classroom stoplight as the negative. Given a minute or so to decide, the students usually choose the positive option.

Yesterday a student was upset over some classmates calling him names.Having gone to this class I realized to stop and talk with him and with the other students.You can see he felt better to talk about it and the other students apologize.

Since the training, I've definitely been trying to pay attention to keeping an "open" body because generally I am more comfortable with my legs & arms crossed. I was more aware of my potentially threatening arm movements too. I still used some of them though...When I was working with a student who was upset I also sat diagonally across from her rather than directly in front of her. I'm not sure if it helped her feel more relaxed but it did make me feel more comfortable.

I am working with a student who is usually very compliant. However, three times this year, he has appeared to lose control. We have had a hard time identifying what the cause of this change in behavior is.

I do find that once he is beyond his typical state, I can not reach or reason with him, as in the video. As in the video, his state changes rapidly, as far as we can see.

It will be interesting to apply the material from our study group to working with this student throughout the fall!

I had a student today who was working on her journal and looking upset. I sat next to her and had her read her entry to me. She was writing about an ambulance that came to visit her house the night before. We had a discussion about what had occurred and she seemed to feel better afterwards. I did not use the "silent approach" in this situation because I felt that the more I talked and inquired, the more she would open up to me. It seemed to work.

I have always felt that I was pretty aware of when a student's anxiety becomes outward since I work with small groups. But since taking this study group, I have become more conscious about how I observe students. I am constantly looking around the room during work times to try and spot those students who are having difficulty and trying to intervene before they become too upset. If I see someone becoming anxious, I can intervene before it becomes an issue. Also, I strongly feel that getting down to their eye level is very important in order to begin to make a connection with them.

I have also been thinking that it would be a good idea for me to talk and share this info with the aides that are in my classroom so that they can try and observe a student when they start to become anxious as well. This will be a good way for me to carry through on what I have learned, so that I can share it with them.

session 2 homework

I had a student who was looking upset and quietly took his paper and went back to the coat closet. When I went back to talk to him I discovered that other students were teasing him about a picture he had drawn. we talked about what he could do and he decided to sit at another table and finish his work, rather than throwing it away. I think that by being observant and catching him before he tore his work, deescalated the situation quickly and easily. If I hadn't just been to our session and discussing signs of anxiety, I may not have seen this.

It's not all great though, I tried my darndest on another student who was very agitated but there wasn't much I could say that would get through to him.