There are six major goals for this module. Upon completion of this module, you should be able to do the following:
This module will address the following critical questions:
Refer to the help section in your browser (likely Netscape or Internet Explorer) for the following settings. Typically they are found under Preferences.
* Your web browser must have JavaScript enabled.
* If you plan to use the mail features, your email address must be configured
in your browser.
NOTE: The lesson level Previews and Presentations are available in streaming media format (sound and slides). If you do not have the following configuration, you may view the Text Versions of the lesson Previews and Presentations.
* Real Player G2 available from Real Networks.
* 256 color monitor @ 640x480
* PC users need a Pentium class PC, with a sound card and speakers.
* Mac users need a G3 and should use Netscape.
Jack, a ninth grade student, has been preparing for an important science test. Before he left school yesterday he asked you, his special education teacher, to meet him the next day before school to help him review for the test one last time. You have been impressed with Jack's ambition to study since he usually does not try this hard to do well. When you woke up this morning you were running a fever and feeling very sick. Although you had made plans to meet with Jack, there is no way that you can work today. You have tried to call Jack's mother but she has not answered the phone.
When Jack arrives at school, he can't find you anywhere. The thought of the science test is weighing heavily on his mind, causing a high level of stress. As Jack searches for you, he becomes more and more upset. Finally, he goes to the office to have you paged. The secretary, knowing you are ill, tells Jack that you are not going to be in today. The secretary looks at the clock and asks Jack to go to his first-hour class because he is now late. Within minutes, Jack is in the principal's office for pushing virtually everything off of the secretary's desk while screaming that he is going to fail his test. Due to the severity of Jack's problem behaviors, the principal suspends him from school for two days.
What caused Jack to react this way? How could the situation have been handled differently? What could the secretary or principal have done to support Jack? How can the events that occur in the lives of our students influence the likelihood of problem behavior?
In this lesson, you will learn important characteristics of setting events and how they influence problem behavior. The second part of the lesson will describe how setting event interventions can be implemented, and the last part of the lesson will discuss how setting event interventions can be used to promote desirable behavior.
Top of Page | Bottom of PageHalle, a first year teacher, is preparing for her first day of school. She has been making every effort to become familiar with the curriculum that the school district has provided. The special education teacher, who has been working with Halle, has identified several students who have displayed problem behavior in the past. Knowing this in advance, the special education teacher has suggested that some environmental modifications may be needed to prevent problem behavior and to ensure that these students experience success.
While talking with the special education teacher, Halle indicates that she is concerned that no preparation will be enough and that she is nervous about the first day of school. During their discussion, the special education teacher realizes that Halle is not aware of fundamental behavioral terms that could help her understand why some students may engage in problem behavior. The special education teacher begins by explaining what an antecedent is and how antecedent interventions can prevent problem behavior. Halle had assumed that redesigning the environment meant that she would have to develop individualized lessons for each of her twenty-five students for all eight subjects of the day. The special education teacher went on to describe how antecedent interventions promote positive behavior and can occur both at an individual and classroom level.
In the first part of the lesson, you will learn how antecedent events are related to problem behavior. The second part will describe antecedent interventions that involve modifying the curriculum. In the last part of the lesson, you will learn how antecedent interventions are used to modify instructions and increase predictability of upcoming events in a student's life.
Top of Page | Bottom of PageYou have just started out a new school year teaching fifth graders at a local elementary school. The group of students assigned to your classroom has a wide range of skills. Out of twenty-two students, eleven have Individualized Education Programs, and nine of them are receiving some kind of assistance from the school for academic concerns. Additionally, one student, Kira, has limited verbal skills making it difficult for others to understand her. You tried to plan ahead, but the first week has confirmed that additional problem-solving strategies are needed to address the students' needs and personalities.
While the students were working in groups, you took on the role of an observer. The students shouted out random questions, yelled across the room when they needed something from a fellow student, and spent much of the time trying to get ready to work. Although Kira attempted to talk to her classmates when she needed something, often times they did not understand her. After a few attempts at communication, Kira groaned loudly in an attempt to get the attention of someone who could help her. A common goal you have set for the group is to improve communication and teach the students strategies for managing their own behaviors.
To address the needs of the class, you look closely at what behaviors you want to replace and what skills would enable the students to be more independent. Should you take time to talk with students about their needs? Would it be helpful to continue observing the students for another week before intervening? Are there strategies that can support the needs of all the students and still focus on their individual needs? Is there an effective way to replace Kira's groaning by making her early communication attempts more effective? How could you teach these students the skills they need for life, while maintaining focused on academic goals?
In this lesson, you will learn about issues related to replacing problem behavior, strategies for teaching communication, and interventions that focus on teaching self-management skills.
Top of Page | Bottom of PageTerrance, a seventh grade student, is in your special education classroom with fifteen other students. Terrance rarely engages in problem behavior while he is in your class, however, you have just discovered that Terrance is frequently being sent to the office for being disruptive in math. You have talked with the math teacher who says the problems start within the first few minutes that Terrance enters the classroom. Terrance comes in on a daily basis and either turns over a chair, dumps out a full trashcan on to the floor, or grabs one of the female students.
You have learned a lot about Terrance over the past year and understand why he acts the way he does in certain situations. Terrance does not like math, and knows that if he engages in problem behavior he will be sent out of the room. Terrance has learned over time that the way to escape math is to engage in problem behavior. However, Terrance has to pass his math class this year and you need to figure out a way to keep him in the classroom.
You set up a time to meet with the math teacher to develop a positive behavioral support plan for Terrance. During this discussion, you describe to the math teacher how being sent to the office is reinforcing to Terrance, since it lets him leave math and escape a subject he dislikes. The math teacher is fascinated by your insights regarding Terrance's problem behavior and wants to try a different approach. What are some ways that you and the math teacher could work together to help Terrance be more successful?
In the first part of the lesson, you will learn what consequence interventions are and how they are related to positive behavioral support. In addition, you will learn about how consequence interventions involve decreasing reinforcement for problem behavior. Finally, we will discuss how to implement consequence interventions that can be used to increase desirable behavior.
Top of Page | Bottom of PageEach of the four lessons will include readings to supplement the lesson topic, an outline and notes on the topic, and a glossary. In each lesson will be links to an Activities section, a Directed Questions section and an Assessment section.
In a 3-page paper 1) discuss the importance and consequences of building a positive classroom environment. Then elaborate on the strategies that you would use to create this environment.
Or use no 2* or no. 3** in lesson 2 (Directed Questions) as the basis for a 3-page paper, depending on the grade/subject level one is teaching.
* You are working with a third grade student who is interested in basketball and comic books. Describe how you could adapt a math assignment involving two digit addition problems.
** Imagine that you are a teaching a group of eighth graders who are having difficulty concentrating on personal reading time. You have personal reading scheduled from 8:30 to 8:55 in the morning on Wednesday and Friday. Describe how an antecedent intervention can be implemented at the classroom level with a group of eighth grade students to address this problem.