Adult attention

Escape/avoidance

Power/control

Peer affiliation

Justice/revenge

Teacher:

Instructional strategies to promote desired alternative behavior

And/or

Instructional strategies to reduce the target behavior

[Note:  when alternate behavior is incompatible with target behavior, the same strategy may work both to promote & to reduce]

o           Model and reward honesty

-          Response cost; loss of points if teacher has to clean up

-          Be businesslike and don’t allow debate (“you did ___”; report the facts)

-          Teach problem solving skills

-          Allow student to repair own error

-          Teach difference between “white lies” or social lies and lies

-          Reinforce student when honest/over correction

-          Use role playing

-          Allow time for practice in regular settings

-          Give student time to process and admit error/wrong-doing

-          Use humor

-          Build relationship with student

-          Provide structure in difficult areas

-          Foreshadow/pre-teach problem solving behavior prior to difficult situations

-          Give choices of ways to solve problem

-          Give options for apologizing, repairing, replacing, etc.

-          Wait – use silence to allow the student to think or process

-          Confront matter-of-factly

Student:

Instructional consequences for alternative appropriate behavior

And/or

Instructional consequences for inappropriate target behavior

-          Bonus for admitting responsibility (do this privately and only initially)

-          Work it off with a key adult from whom the student wants attention

-          Praise; note home and to other key adults

-          Vignettes, stories to help the student learn to predict consequences

-           Be businesslike and give minimal attention

-          Provide consequences that are easy for the student to accept – the 1^st priority is to get the student to accept any consequences

-          Have student identify appropriate ways to get adult attention

-          More trust & respect from others

-          Reduced disciplinary referrals

-          Vignettes, stories to help the student learn to predict consequences

-          Help the student understand that failure is natural & help student learn from mistakes

-          Have student identify appropriate ways to escape

-          More responsibility and leadership

-          Choices

-          Vignettes, stories to help the student learn to predict consequences; try to teach the student that no one really is in control all the time & especially in tense situations

-          Teach anger management

-          Teach student how to ignore the inappropriate behavior of others and increase his/her own self control

-          Have the student identify appropriate ways to gain power or control

Avoid the use of

-          Asking “did you…?” – this gives student the option of denying

-          Drawing attention to the problem

-          Power struggles

-          Prolonged discussion; lecturing

-          Punishment for honesty

-          Power struggles

-          Public reprimand

-          Repairing conflict yourself; don’t do it for the student

-          Power struggles

-          Public reprimands

Special considerations

Is work too hard?  Are expectations clear?  Disciplinary style used at home – what is student used to?  Any medical or mental health diagnoses?  Is there or should there be outside agency involvement (social services, parole officer)?  What is the student’s developmental age?  Is this habit?  Learned helplessness?  Victim mentality?

Is the consequences reasonable?  Can it be accomplished in a reasonable period of time or has the student dug him/herself into a deep hole so that he/she gives up because it would be impossible to reach the top?