4.) Facing the Challenge Trainer Guide

“In This Tab…” for FTC Train the Trainer Session, Revised 2013 © Devereux Center for Resilient Children

1.) Participant Packet: Select PowerPoint

slides with Handouts embedded 2.) Guide to Delivery of each module 3.) Trainer Notes 4.) Facing the Challenge Trainer Guide pages for this module 5.) Devereux Center for Resilient Children Resource Links to this module 6.) Dig In 7.) Guided Exploration

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Intervention Strategies

What is Challenging Behavior?


Developmentally Appropriate Behavior

Why Do Kids Misbehave?

Parents as Partners

Prevention Strategies

Behavioral Planning Part 1

Behavioral Planning Part 2


Objectives: Intervention Strategies

• Be better prepared to respond to children’s challenging behavior in a positive manner.

• Identify six planned responses.

• Know how to determine when to use each response.

• Know how to handle crisis situations.

• Understand the importance of involving families in the planning and strategy-selection process.

Planned Responses: Being Intentional

• Enable you to respond more effectively

• Help you stay in control of yourself

• An alternative to punishment

• Can strengthen your relationship

• Teach the child

• Allow you to stay positive

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Facing The Challenge - Trainer Guide © 2007 Devereux Foundation��

Intervention StrategiesStrategies in

Action

Handout �:2

Below are six key intervention strategies highlighted in this show. Work with your group to share the highlighted points below. Your group might choose to role-play, put on a skit, conduct a mock-training, or present the key points in

another manner.

Strategy Key Points

EffectivePraise

PennyTransfer

Technique

PlannedIgnoring

Redirecting

Time-In

PeerPartnering

There are two main aspects of effective praise: Personalization and description of effort. Adding a positive comment before or after the “praise” is optional. Ex: Jeremiah, I saw you give Michael a turn with the dinosaur. Look at the smile on his face, and I see you looking happy too. Great sharing!” The comments should not compare children to each other, and should occur close in time to when the behavior was witnessed, without interrupting the child’s play.

Make two cubes out of cardboard, or use two other cube-shaped objects (fuzzy dice, soft blocks, etc.). On one of the cubes, put the names or pictures of the children with a strength in the social skill area your classroom needs to work on developing (such as sharing, turn taking, showing initiative, exhibiting self-control, etc.). On the other cube, put the names of the children who have a concern in that area. Roll the cubes to pair children up, which will have a peer model in each small group. Monitor closely the children with the most concerns to actively help them learn the skill.

When using a harmful or otherwise negative behavior, the child is typically given a choice of making amends for the behavior NOW, or calming down first and THEN making amends. The place used for Time-in should be a normal part of theclassroom with positive connotations (such as the library area, the soft beanbag chair, or the cozy area). Unlike Time-out, the child is in Time-in only as long as they need to calm down and choose to rejoin the group. Once the child is ready to rejoin the group, they will need to be guided through making amends for their misbehavior. If it turns out they are not yet ready to make amends, they may go back to Time-in until they are ready.

Redirecting is best used when the outcome of a present behavior cannot be ignored, due to possible negative or harmful consequences. Without being confrontational, you should approach the child and offer him or her a choice for a more positive outcome. The child may need to be guided through the choice.

Start the day with a set number of “tokens” in one pocket. Each time you have a positive interaction with the child you are targeting, transfer one penny to the other pocket. By the end of the day, try to have all of the tokens in the opposite pocket from where they started. A bond will strengthen between you and this child, and the child will eventually learn to seek out your positive attention as they receive more quality time with you throughout the day.

When the child’s behavior is not harmful, and the child is not lacking for adultattention in the home environment, this strategy may be effective. Turn your body away from the child (but do not put your back to them) and remove eye contact, keeping the child in your peripheral vision. As soon as the child takes a break from the negative behavior, provide positive attention saying, “You seem to be calming down”, or “You are using your words to get my attention now”, as appropriate. If the child starts using the negative behavior again, resume ignoring until they again take a break. Do this as long as necessary until the negative behavior stops completely. Be sure to spend time interacting positively with this child when they are NOT using the negative behavior.

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• Effective Praise

• Penny Transfer

• Planned Ignoring

• Redirecting

• Time-In

• Peer-Partnering

Effective Praise

Planned Ignoring

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Peer-Partnering

When a Child is Out-of-Control

• The child is driven by emotion.

– Doesn’t hear anything you say

– Words escalate the behavior

• Reasoning does not work.

• Non verbal communication is key.

• Where and how you stand is

important.

Page 192, Challenging Behavior in Young Children

Be Aware of Your OWN Body Language

• Tell yourself to remain calm for the sake of this child and the other children in the class who are likely scared.

• Keep your arms at your side.

• Focus on your breathing.

• Use eye contact when child starts to calm down or just take a breath.

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464


Your Non-Verbal Behavior

• Non-verbal communication is key.

• Keep your body relaxed.

• Maintain a comfortable distance (but remain engaged).

• Stand with knees bent, feet apart one foot forward pointing toward child (keeping your balance).

“L-Stance”

After the Child has Settled Down…

• When the child is ready, find the right time and place to talk where you will (likely) not be interrupted.

• Mirror the child’s speech: – tone, volume speed, cadence

• Lead the child’s speech:– calmer, quieter, slower

• Acknowledge the child’s feelings.• Use your words carefully:

– “And” in place of “but” (does not discount child)– “We” in place of “you” (suggests support)– “Can” in place of “should” (Implies ability/choice)

Working with the Family

• Welcome family’s input in selecting which strategies to use.

• Make sure that the strategies are effective both at school and at home.

• Discuss how these responses will be implemented both at school and at home.

• Selected strategies must be culturally sensitive.

• How will you communicate with family and document the effectiveness of the planned responses you have chosen?

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Time to Reflect

Why and how should a child's strengths play into the

intervention strategies that are chosen?

Take Home Messages from Intervention Strategies

• Get parents on board- the more they “buy-in” to the strategies you try, the more they will use it with their child outside of the school setting!

• When choosing strategies, consider the WHOLE CHILD profile.

• Give Strategies time to work! Usually 2-4 weeks of correct use will prove effective, or will let you know a new strategy is needed.

• Patience and Consistency are KEY.

For programs and individuals using other resources from the Devereux

Center for Resilient Children (DCRC):

Following are resources that will enhance and build on Intervention Strategies

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• Promoting Resilience in Preschoolers: A Strategy Guide for Early Childhood Professionals, Chapters 4-10• Behavioral Concern Planning Forms• Infant Toddler Classroom Strategies Guide• The Protective Factor Kit• Songs of Resilience• For Now and Forever (Infant/Toddler and Preschool versions)• Socially Strong Emotionally Secure• FLIP IT ®: Transforming Challenging Behavior

When you Face the Challenge, YOUmake a difference in the life of a child!

www.centerforresilientchildren.org

www.challengingbehavior.com

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“Guide to Delivery” for FTC Train the Trainer Session, Revised 2013 © Devereux Center for Resilient Children


Purpose of Module: To explore various strategies to help teachers to better work with children who are using challenging behavior. Module Delivery Time: 1 hour Room Set-up: Max of 40 participants in small groups (4-8 per table) Goals and Objectives for Intervention Strategies • Be better prepared to respond to children’s challenging behavior in a positive manner. • Identify six planned responses. • Know how to determine when to use each response. • Know how to handle crisis situations. • Understand the importance of involving families in the planning and strategy-selection process. Trainer Prep for Intervention Strategies Video and Audio:

- Cue Appropriate Video Segments Flipcharts and Extras to Prepare:

- Create Flipchart with title “Expectations”

Handouts: Found in Folder #8 of the Trainer CD (Make one copy per participant, unless indicated otherw ise.)

- Participant PowerPoint, printed 3 per page - Pre-test for this Module (optional) - Handout 9:2 “Intervention Strategies” - “Hannah” Profile - “Nathan” Profile - “That Child” (if not building on copy given earlier in training) - Post-test for this Module (optional)

468


This visual is a roadmap for the 8 modules of Facing the Challenge Training. Trainers may use these modules as “stand alone” modules, or as a series of training sessions either conducted back to back, or over the course of a few days, weeks, or months.

Welcome group, introduce trainer(s), and have group do brief introductions if appropriate. Chart “Expectations” on flipchart.

Review the list, pointing out the Expectations you plan to meet. If there are any that won’t be addressed in this session, invite others to share resources that might help meet that need. (A special flipchart could be created with those “other” expectations on it, with room for fellow participants to write resources, websites, trainings, etc.)

TRAINER NOTE: Additional energizers found in Appendix F of the Facing the Challenge Trainer Guide. Use as needed!

TRAINER NOTE: The next 3 slides can be “hidden” if recently shared with your participants.

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We have created some general guidelines to help the training run as smoothly as possible. Feel free to change these or add your own!

When conducting more than one module per day, these slides only need to be shown at the start of the session. You will find them at the beginning of each module- for those trainers who will use each module as a stand-alone during separate sessions.

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Encourage a positive learning environment for participants by making it a “safe and comfortable” place to share. You might want to ask if the participants have any “ground rules” of their own that would make this session most meaningful.

471


Reiterate some of your requests, and ask that participants help you reinforce them with their “challenging” colleagues.

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If you choose, conduct a pre-test for this module. The pre-test is found on p.57 of the FTC Trainer Guide, Disc 2 and is entitled Handout 9:1.

Have participants hand it in if you plan to use it for an evaluation or knowledge acquisition tool, or…

If you are not planning to conduct a post-test, have participants keep the completed pre-test handy during delivery of this module as a self-learning tool.

If you choose not to conduct the pre-test and/or post-test, the corresponding slides may be hidden.

473


Review the objectives with participants.

Ask if there are any questions about the objectives of the session before moving on.

474


Intervention strategies are planned responses that will enable you to respond more effectively, remember what makes you a good teacher and teach the child rather than punish him/her. They will help you to build upon your relationship.

475

These are some strategies used to help prevent or intervene when a child uses challenging behavior. Ask participants: Which ones work, which ones don’t, and why?

Intervention Strategies 476

The strategies we discussed on the previous slide can all be broken down by looking at questions like these.

Go through the 5 questions with a few of the strategies from the previous slide.

Help participants understand that when choosing strategies, these 5 areas should be considered!



Using Handout 9:2 as a guide, walk through the six Intervention Strategies together. This handout is found on p.59 of the FTC Trainer Guide, Disc 2.

When you are finished discussing all 6, tell participants that you will be focusing on 3 for the remainder of this module: Effective Praise, The Penny Technique, and Planned Ignoring.

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Using Handout 9:2 as a guide, walk through the six Intervention Strategies together. This handout is found on p.59 of the FTC Trainer Guide, Disc 2.

When you are finished discussing all 6, tell participants that you will be focusing on 3 for the remainder of this module: Effective Praise, The Penny Technique, and Planned Ignoring.

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As you prepare to show the video clip, this activity is designed to keep the trainees engaged in case of technical delays or difficulties. Hide if not needed, or, if things start to take longer than you planned, you can simply ask them to do the task without the slide up.

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Trainer should play three chapters of “Intervention Strategies” found on Facing the Challenge Disc 2, Show 4.

Chapter 2 is Effective Praise (3:38 - 4:47)

First, have each table discuss the clip as a group, asking them to share who uses this technique and how they use it.

NOTE: While participants discuss among their groups, cue the next video clip.

Come together as a group and have participants share suggestions for successful implementation of this strategy.

ON THE TRAINER CD: THIS IS VIDEO CLIP #18

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Chapter 4 is Planned Ignoring (5:44 – 8:16).


NOTE: While participants discuss among their groups, cue the next video clip.



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Chapter 7 is Peer-Partnering (11:16 – 12:20).




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Chapter 7 is Peer-Partnering (11:16 – 12:20).




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It is important to not use “tantrums” and times when the child is out of control as times to teach replacement behaviors. You need to wait until the child has regained control of her emotions before working on helping the child learn more positive behaviors.

You want to provide a message of safety to those who may be afraid and of stability to a child who is out of control. It also shows the child that you are not afraid of his/her outbursts.

The next 3 slides will outline some of the important considerations for helping a child calm down, regain control, and talk about their feelings and needs.

485


We need to make sure we are aware of the message we are sending to the child and the other children in the class through our body language. Have we lost patience? Is our own self-control in need of help?

We need to model a supportive, calming posture so all children will feel that you are in control, and that they are safe.

486


Sometimes a child feels stuck in the aggressive state. Some basic techniques for directing the child’s behavior when they are in a highly emotional state include mirroring, leading, selective agreement, and transitioning.

A child in an aggressive state may be using a harsh tone, high volume and rapid speech, a wide discrepancy between your speech quality and that of the child may make things worse. Therefore, start by using a voice quality similar to that of the child MIRRORING and systematically change the quality of your voice LEADINGthe child to a more appropriate speech pattern. This enables you to make a connection with the child and move them towards a more effective state.

Selective agreement means recognizing and accepting his feelings. “I understand that you are upset and don’t think that the rules are fair.”

Transitioning- When a child is ready to listen, but still relatively unable, we need to find a common ground, but your choice of words becomes very important. “You are feeling that people are against you and I think that we can learn some ways to change that” is very different from” You are feeling that people are against you, but I think that you should learn some ways to change that.”

487


Remember that families need to buy into the strategy, and it needs to be able to work at home as well as at school for families to be willing to follow-though.

Responses at home and school should be as similar as possible. The child needs to learn that no matter WHERE they use the negative behavior, or the more positive replacement behavior, a similar response from caregivers will occur.

Keep in mind the child’s unique characteristics and family dynamics, including culture, when selecting strategies. If you are unsure about some cultural practices and beliefs, ask! Also, refer to Challenging Behavior in Young Children, Chapter 6 for more info.

Be sure to work with the family to come up with a plan for talking about the child’s success and difficulties- and a way to document home and school progress!

488


Activity time: 10-15 minutes- longer with large groups (more than 40).

Forming Groups: Have participants each take a penny out of their wallet or purse (or borrow one from a neighbor) that has a year on it that is meaningful to them… e.g. their birth year, their marriage year, the year they got their degree, etc. Then, ask them to

Prep materials: Participants should take Hannah’s or Nathan’s handout with them as they find their groups.

As listed on slide, each group should select one of the two children to work with. Have participants read both scenerios and then make their choice. If the group is small, the trainer may prefer to assign groups to a child.

Ask participants to consider the child’s strengths and behavioral function when choosing a strategy.

When everyone is ready, review each profile and suggested strategies as a group.

489


Review Hannah’s Profile with the group. Ask groups to share some of the intervention strategies they chose, and WHY they chose them. Be sure to point out that our strategies should be reflective of the WHOLE CHILD, including strengths, goals, family involvement, function of behavior, child goals, and more.

490


Review Nathan’s Profile with the group. Ask groups to share some of the intervention strategies they chose, and WHY they chose them. Be sure to point out that our strategies should be reflective of the WHOLE CHILD, including strengths, goals, family involvement, function of behavior, child goals, and more.

491


Have participants take out the Handout entitled: “That Child”. For each of the 8 modules in the Facing the Challenge Training, there is a segment of this activity to revisit and add more information. If you are using the modules as “stand alone” trainings- this activity would likely not be appropriate as is. Instead, you might simply ask participants to keep a specific child in mind who had challenging behaviors. If you are using the modules as a continuing series- this handout will be revisited in each module.

Slide on the gray instructions box on a mouse click.

At this point, if you have been working sequentially and have filled in the other 7 areas for “That Child”- take a minute or two to have participants reflect back on what they have learned about “That Child”. When they select strategies, they should make sure they are considering the child’s strengths, needs, goals, and all the other pieces of the puzzle.

Have participants take a minute or two and list at some intervention strategies they tried, or, think might have worked with “That Child”.

Ask a few participants to share a few with the larger group. You have come full circle in thinking more deeply about Facing the Challenge with a child YOU care about.

492


This reflection question can be posed in a number of ways…

-You could ask each participant to jot down personal reflections and then move on without reviewing answers.

-You could ask each participant to jot down personal reflections and then ask for a few participants to share before moving on.

- You could hand out index cards for participants to record their reflections regarding this question. After they answer, ask them to pass the cards around the room until you say “stop”. Then ask a few people to read the comments on the card.

All Reflection Questions for this module are found on p.60 of the FTC Trainer Guide, Disc 2.

493


Review these Take Home Messages which serve as a summary of the key content from this segment of the training.

Point out that participants have these Take Home Messages all on one page in the form of a handout in their participant packets. Have them locate it at this time. Point out that after the training, we recommend they post these take-home messages somewhere where they will see them regularly as a reminder of what they know about working with children with challenging behaviors.

Ask if there are any questions before continuing to the wrap up of this module.

If you choose to conduct a post-test, do so at this time.

494


If you choose, conduct a post-test for this module. The post-test is found on p.61 of the FTC Trainer Guide, Disc 2 and is entitled Handout 9:4.

Have participants hand it in if you plan to use it for an evaluation or knowledge acquisition tool, or…

Have participants keep the completed post-test as a learning tool.

The next slides review the correct answers if you choose to review as a group.

If you choose not to conduct the pre-test and/or post-test, the corresponding slides may be hidden.

495


Review the answers to the pre/post test.

496



497



498



499



500


There are two free songs for download on the Facing the Challenge 2 disc set, and 1 on the Classroom Moments DVD. “I Can Count on You” is on Facing the Challenge Disc 2. This is a great song to end your training, reminding participants of the important work they do every day with children, teachers, and families. They are someone to count on, and participating in this training will help them with more tools and resources and ideas to best help children succeed.

Have participants sing along, or, leave the song playing as you conduct evaluations and wrap-up the session.

This song is from the Self-control CD from the Songs of Resilienceset, available through Kaplan Early Learning Company at

501

www.kaplanco.com or by calling 1-800-334-2014.


This slide and the following related to the DCRC resources can be hidden for those program not using any of the mentioned resources.


This slide to the DCRC resources can be hidden for those program not using any of the mentioned resources.


You did it! ;)

Pat yourself on the back and leave this slide up as participants ask questions and filter out.

If you choose- play “I’m Gonna Find a Way” from Songs of Resilience, a free download on Facing the Challenge Disc 1. Have participants stand and sing!




When using this segment of the Facing the Challenge DVD for training purposes, the following activities may help enhance the

learning experience for participants.

Optional pre-post questionsHandout 9:1/Pre-test for Intervention StrategiesHandout 9:4/Post-test for Intervention Strategies

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Facing The Challenge - Trainer Guide © 2007 Devereux Foundation�2

Intervention StrategiesProgram Content and Activity Cue

Graphic SlateIntervention StrategiesHow can teachers get help when they feel overwhelmed by a child’s challenging behavior?

Debby Biddle, Early Childhood Educator“I think you need to ask questions of people who might know and who have experience. Go to your director or go to your library but find someone who has answers. And no one’s going to have them all and you’re going to have to try a lot of things and that’s something I didn’t realize either. Every-body gave me advice and I came back. I read this book on how to handle problem children and I thought I had it covered. There’s no one answer so you’re going to have to try a lot of things. And I think patience is very important.”

Challenging behavior sequence

As you work with young children who use difficult behaviors to express their needs, it’s easy to react in ways that reinforce the behavior and make it worse. When you think back on the incident, it’s likely you’ll think of ways the situation could have been better handled.

Intervention strategies are planned responses to challenging behavior. They’re designed to help you prepare for situations in which your past responses haven’t worked. Having a plan can help you use positive guidance in dealing with difficult behaviors before your instincts and emotions push you toward a negative response.

Barbara Kaiser, Co-Author, Challenging Behavior in Young Children“It’s really important to not wait until you’re really angry before you respond to a child and often that’s what we do. We wait and we wait because we try and see what else we can do and finally all of our positive qualities, our ability to be flexible, to be patient, all of the things that make us good teachers, we suddenly lose them all and we get angry and then our response tends to escalate the child’s behavior. And what we need to remember is that we’re there to teach, that the child isn’t doing this on purpose and instead of thinking, “God, I wish this child wasn’t in my group, why is he never absent? I can’t do this everyday”. Because it’s all in your eyes, it’s in your body language. Kids know what you’re thinking. One has to really try and think - “I can help him. I can make a difference. I just have to remember that I am a good teacher. I can be patient and we’re going to do this together and think those positive thoughts. Because it will change your demeanor, change your tone of voice, without even realizing it. So, it’s very important”

Children recognize when you’re in control of your responses and when you’re not. So, having a confident, positive approach helps you get better at using planned responses and lets the child know that you believe he can behave in a more positive way.

All strategies should be function-based. This means the reason you choose a strategy to help a child should be based on the why’s behind the child’s use of the challenging behavior and not on the behavior itself. When a child is kicking others, you pick a strategy related to the function. For

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example you might try to help the child better express his frustration, rather than a strategy that simply tries to stop the kicking.

Let’s look at six specific intervention strategies that have proven effective in helping children change their behavior. We’ll look at Effective Praise, The Penny Transfer Technique, Planned Ignoring, Redi-recting, Time-In, Peer Partnering and Responding to Dangerous Behavior.

Effective Praise

An effective praise strategy is a means of heading off challenging behaviors by providing positive at-tention while a child is acting or attempting to act appropriately.

Example of effective praise

Try to remember that when your positive attention is detailed and specific, it’s more likely to be effec-tive. Generic phrases like, “good job”, or “way to go”, are less meaningful to a child than comments that show a deeper appreciation of the child’s efforts.

Example of effective praise

You don’t always have to use words to provide effective praise. A smile or an approving nod can be a very effective form of encouragement for many children.

With effective praise, the focus of your reinforcement is on the child’s effort not on the quality of the finished product. This type of praise encourages a child’s independence and use of positive, develop-mentally-appropriate behaviors.

The Penny Transfer Technique

The Penny Transfer technique is a creative way of reminding yourself to use intervention strategies with a child. Here’s how it works with effective praise:

You begin by placing a certain amount of pennies, let’s say 10, in your left pocket. Each time you have a positive interaction with the child you’re targeting, you transfer one penny to your right pocket. Dur-ing the day you will try to transfer as many pennies as possible between pockets. The Penny Transfer technique gives you a physical reminder to notice the positive contributions this child is making. The child benefits from and learns to seek positive reinforcement with the use of positive behaviors. A rein-forcement reminder system may be essential when the child is competing with many other children for the teacher’s attention during the day.

Planned Ignoring of the Behavior

Barbara J. Howard, MD, Developmental Behavioral Pediatrician, www.childhealthcare.org“The first thing to remember about an ignoring strategy is it will only work if the teacher also spends time paying attention to the child. So, ignoring only works if there’s a contrast state, as it’s called,

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of paying attention. So that’s the first rule. There’s no Time-Out that works if there’s no Time-In. The next thing to remember about ignoring is that you really need to keep a neutral kind of facial attitude. Because if the child can see that you’re ignoring but you’re really steaming inside then that may be enough reinforcement for them in and of itself. So, keeping your emotions under control is important. The third thing to remember is that whenever you ignore a behavior a child will increase the behavior to see if you really mean it. And being ready for that is really, really important. Because otherwise you may think that what you’re doing isn’t working or you may actually decide to give a punishment or a consequence at that point that will actually undermine the program that you’ve instituted. The other thing to remember is when to stop ignoring. And that is as soon as there’s anything that’s either a neu-tral or positive behavior. So if the child’s acting okay, maybe not great but okay, that’s the time to end the ignoring and pay attention to the child again.”

Attention - when to withhold it and when to provide it, as Dr. Howard says, is the key to the planned ignoring strategy. This strategy is straight forward in that it’s designed to help the child understand what behavior is appropriate and what behavior is inappropriate by providing your positive attention as soon as the negative behavior stops. But this is a difficult strategy to use successfully.

This is not only because it’s hard to withhold attention from any child; particularly one who is in dis-tress. But also because the replacement behavior, finding better ways to get attention, must be taught directly to the child at times when the challenging behavior is not occurring.

There are really two parts to a planned ignoring strategy. Ignoring the difficult behavior which will take patience and practice and teaching the new behavior. The new behavior gives the child a ready alternative to use when he is not getting your attention.

Teacher helping child calm down.

Planned ignoring shouldn’t be used if the child is displaying dangerous or damaging behavior or if the child is not receiving appropriate attention at home.

Redirecting the Behavior

You redirect a child’s behavior when you see a behavior may be headed in a negative direction and then offer different choices to help direct the child toward a better outcome. For example, a child car-rying water in this manner may be planning to splash or pour the water on another child. Redirecting gives the child an acceptable alternative.

Example of redirecting

By interrupting the child’s progress toward a negative outcome, you’ve introduced a different, more positive choice for the child. Redirecting allows the child to choose an acceptable behavior on her own.

Jerlean Daniel, Deputy Executive Director, NAEYC“Whether redirection works or not, depends so much on a) the timing and b) what exactly are you

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redirecting them to, you know, any old thing won’t do. Somehow the redirection needs to both relieve the tension and peak the interest. But it’s timing and its observation. I just can’t stress enough staying tuned in to what’s going on.”

Time-In

Time In is an inclusive alternative to Time Out. Instead of removing a disruptive child and isolating her from the group as a form of punishment, Time In is designed as a tool to help the child learn prob-lem-solving skills.

To use Time In, you present a child using difficult behaviors with a choice. He can behave appropri-ately or he can move to the Time In are where he can take time to settle down before rejoining the group. It’s important that the choice remain with the child and that the Time In area is recognized as a quiet place not a place of punishment. Indirectly observe the child in the Time-In area. When the child is ready to make amends for his challenging behavior, guide him back into the learning environment and help him problem solve how to make things better.

Teacher helping child calm down and return to class.

The major differences between Time out and Time in are: A Time out is Teacher directed, the child is isolated from the class, often in the “time out chair” as a form of punishment. A set period of time is required for the child to “sit and think” about what she did wrong. With Time in, which is a prob-lem-solving process, the child is given a choice of changing his behavior or going to a quiet place. The child remains in Time-in only long enough to regain control so that he can choose to return to the group.

Peer Partnering

Peer partnering is a strategy designed to take advantage of the powerful role children play in teaching one another. The idea behind peer partnering is to identify a child who has a strength in an area that another child needs to develop. Then you can design an activity in which the two children are paired together. Ideally, the child with a skill deficit will learn from the child who has mastered the skill. You will need to observe the activity closely to insure that the children are appropriately modeling the tar-geted skill.

There are many ways to pair children together, but one fun way that appears random is to make two cardboard cubes. On one cube, place the names or pictures of children who have mastered the skill. On the other cube, include the children who have a skill deficit. No matter how you roll the two cubes to partner children for activities, you will end up with a peer model in each pair.

Responding to Dangerous Behavior

An aggressive, out-of-control child can pose a serious threat to children and adults in the classroom.

When a child is prepared to hurt those around him, he is irrational. He isn’t likely to hear or understand

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any words or directions given to him. You need to help the child calm down from his irrational state while doing your best to protect everyone in the class.

Dr. Fran Wilson, Sr. Vice President & Chief Clinical Officer, Devereux Foundation“They may not intentionally want to hurt another child, but if they’re upset and sort of tantruming or moving around a lot, they can be flailing, accidently injure another child. So if you’re between that child and the other children in the classroom and you maybe have them stand at a bit of a greater distance than usual and you put yourself in between, then that’s more likely to protect both that child who’s upset and the other children”.

A plan to respond to an agitated, dangerous child should include, whenever possible, moving other children away from the child. When there are two adults available, one adult can remove the other chil-dren from the area. If another adult isn’t available, you could ask a responsible child to lead the group away from the agitated child and to an activity away from the incident. Keeping everyone safe is your primary goal.

Once the children are safe, you can assume a firm, non-threatening posture. In this posture, your feet are aligned to form the letter L. This stance gives you balance and prevents you from being easily knocked over by the child. Try to remain close enough so the child can feel your presence but not so close that you crowd the child. About one and a half feet away from the child is a good starting point but you’ll need to gauge your distance according the child’s increase or decrease in agitation.

Never confront a child who is in an aggressive state. Remain at an adult level while the child is agi-tated. The purpose of this posture is to show you are in control while at the same time showing you are supportive of the child’s ability to calm down. Carefully observe the child without making direct eye contact. When the child’s aggression seems to be fading, attempt to engage the child and coax her to a calmer state. Interpreting a child’s state of mind and readiness to interact constructively is a skill that will take time and practice to develop.

Intervention Strategies are tools to help you teach a child more positive behaviors. Remember, the strategy you choose should be related to the function of the behavior. Always give the strategy enough time to work. Recognize that the behavior will often get worse before it gets better. And, in stressful situations you need to work to maintain your self-control.

Pam Harper, Program Director“Well I think initially we would just keep trying different things to see what worked and did not stick with a particular strategy long enough - because this is a persistent child. So you need persistent caregivers. Again, by the nature of a challenging behavior, they can last for days or weeks or months. So we need to stay right with them and give the different strategies a good try, be very consistent with them.”

Activity 1: Strategies in Action 16:15

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Intervention StrategiesPRE-TEST

Pre-Test - Handout �:�

1.) When choosing a strategy to help a child who is using challenging behaviors, you should: a.) consider the child’s strengths and interests b.) consider the function of the behavior c.) make sure the strategy can be easily adapted for use at home d.) all of the above

2.) A good example of effective praise is: a.) “Good job Maria, way to go!” b.) “Maria, you worked so hard at that painting!” c.) “Maria, your painting is so beautiful!” d.) “Maria, your painting is so colorful!”

3.) When should you stop “Planned Ignoring”? a.) when the child is on your last nerve b.) when the child uses a neutral or positive behavior instead of the challenging behavior c.) when the child starts screaming d.) none of the above

4.) Which of the following statements is true about Time-In? a.) The child should be sent to a chair in a far corner of the room. b.) The child should be given a set amount of time to “sit and think” about why they misbehaved. c.) The child should be forced to say “sorry”. d.) The child should be welcomed back to the group when they decide they are ready to make amends for the challenging behavior.

5.) The L-stance should be used when: a.) a child is using out-of-control behaviors b.) two or more children are fighting with each other c.) the child is in time-in d.) none of the above

Name: ___________________ Center/Classroom: __________________ Date: ______________

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Intervention StrategiesSuggested Activities - Activity �

Strategies inAction

Activity: StrategiesinAction

RunningTimeintoShow: 16:15

TotalActivityTime: 40:00

Training/PrepMaterials: None

Handouts: 9:2

Description

Part 1: 10 minutes Distribute Handout 9:2: Strategies in Action: Break group into six groups. Assign each group one of the strategies seen in this show:

• Effective Praise• Penny Transfer Technique• Planned Ignoring• Redirecting• Time-in• Peer Partnering

Have participants work as a team to present, or role-play, the technique to the rest of the group. Remind participants to refer to the key points for their strategy on Handout 9:2, being certain to include those important aspects of the strategy in their presentation. In addition, each group should be prepared to present which of the three functions of behavior might be addressed by this strategy.

Part 2: 25 minutes Allow each group 3-4 minutes to present their strategy to the group.

Part 3: 5 minutes Summarize the activity, making the point that the strategy they choose should relate to the FUNCTION of the child’s behavior. If time permits, you might hold an open forum for participants to share some other strategies they have found successful in the past.

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Intervention StrategiesStrategies in

Action

Handout �:2

Below are six key intervention strategies highlighted in this show. Work with your group to share the highlighted points below. Your group might choose to role-play, put on a skit, conduct a mock-training, or present the key points in

another manner.

Strategy Key Points

EffectivePraise

PennyTransfer

Technique

PlannedIgnoring

Redirecting

Time-In

PeerPartnering

There are two main aspects of effective praise: Personalization and description of effort. Adding a positive comment before or after the “praise” is optional. Ex: Jeremiah, I saw you give Michael a turn with the dinosaur. Look at the smile on his face, and I see you looking happy too. Great sharing!” The comments should not compare children to each other, and should occur close in time to when the behavior was witnessed, without interrupting the child’s play.

Make two cubes out of cardboard, or use two other cube-shaped objects (fuzzy dice, soft blocks, etc.). On one of the cubes, put the names or pictures of the children with a strength in the social skill area your classroom needs to work on developing (such as sharing, turn taking, showing initiative, exhibiting self-control, etc.). On the other cube, put the names of the children who have a concern in that area. Roll the cubes to pair children up, which will have a peer model in each small group. Monitor closely the children with the most concerns to actively help them learn the skill.

When using a harmful or otherwise negative behavior, the child is typically given a choice of making amends for the behavior NOW, or calming down first and THEN making amends. The place used for Time-in should be a normal part of theclassroom with positive connotations (such as the library area, the soft beanbag chair, or the cozy area). Unlike Time-out, the child is in Time-in only as long as they need to calm down and choose to rejoin the group. Once the child is ready to rejoin the group, they will need to be guided through making amends for their misbehavior. If it turns out they are not yet ready to make amends, they may go back to Time-in until they are ready.

Redirecting is best used when the outcome of a present behavior cannot be ignored, due to possible negative or harmful consequences. Without being confrontational, you should approach the child and offer him or her a choice for a more positive outcome. The child may need to be guided through the choice.

Start the day with a set number of “tokens” in one pocket. Each time you have a positive interaction with the child you are targeting, transfer one penny to the other pocket. By the end of the day, try to have all of the tokens in the opposite pocket from where they started. A bond will strengthen between you and this child, and the child will eventually learn to seek out your positive attention as they receive more quality time with you throughout the day.

When the child’s behavior is not harmful, and the child is not lacking for adultattention in the home environment, this strategy may be effective. Turn your body away from the child (but do not put your back to them) and remove eye contact, keeping the child in your peripheral vision. As soon as the child takes a break from the negative behavior, provide positive attention saying, “You seem to be calming down”, or “You are using your words to get my attention now”, as appropriate. If the child starts using the negative behavior again, resume ignoring until they again take a break. Do this as long as necessary until the negative behavior stops completely. Be sure to spend time interacting positively with this child when they are NOT using the negative behavior.

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Reflection Questions


In addition to the ones shared in

this segment, what other intervention strategies have

you found successful?

What adult factors play into the effectiveness of a behavioral plan and set of

strategies?

Why and how should a child’s strengths play into the intervention strategies that are chosen?

Intervention Strategies - Handout �:�

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Post-Test - Handout �:�

POST-TEST

1.) When choosing a strategy to help a child who is using challenging behaviors, you should: a.) consider the child’s strengths and interests b.) consider the function of the behavior c.) make sure the strategy can be easily adapted for use at home d.) all of the above

2.) A good example of effective praise is: a.) “Good job Maria, way to go!” b.) “Maria, you worked so hard at that painting!” c.) “Maria, your painting is so beautiful!” d.) “Maria, your painting is so colorful!”

3.) When should you stop “Planned Ignoring”? a.) when the child is on your last nerve b.) when the child uses a neutral or positive behavior instead of the challenging behavior c.) when the child starts screaming d.) none of the above

4.) Which of the following statements is true about Time-In? a.) The child should be sent to a chair in a far corner of the room. b.) The child should be given a set amount of time to “sit and think” about why they misbehaved. c.) The child should be forced to say “sorry”. d.) The child should be welcomed back to the group when they decide they are ready to make amends for the challenging behavior.

5.) The L-stance should be used when: a.) a child is using out-of-control behaviors b.) two or more children are fighting with each other c.) the child is in time-in d.) none of the above

Name: ___________________ Center/Classroom: __________________ Date: ______________

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Intervention StrategiesApplying What You Have Learned…

After watching this segment of Facing the Challenge, and ideally, having a chance to participate in related training and self-reflection on the content, here is anadditional “take-home” activity to further enhance your ongoing professionaldevelopment.

Several intervention strategies were suggested in this show including,

• Effective Praise,• The Penny Transfer Technique, • Planned Ignoring,• Redirecting, • Time-in, and • Peer Partnering.

Create a three ring binder with one page devoted to each of the abovestrategies, and pages devoted to other intervention strategies you regularlyapply in your practices. Keep notes on your experience using each strategy,noting what made you chose this strategy for the child/situation, what youbelieve to be the reason behind the use of the challenging behavior, what wentwell in implementation of the strategy, and what could be improved in thefuture when applying this strategy. Visit your notes regularly to constantly honeyour skills in using various intervention strategies.

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DECI Links for FTC Train the Trainer Session, Revised 2013 © Devereux Center for Resilient Children

Use this sheet to brainstorm what

resources from DCRC might accompany this module, and how you might use them in your training and technical assistance

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“Dig In” for FTC Train the Trainer Session, Revised 2013 © Devereux Center for Resilient Children

DIG IN to this module

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“Guided Exploration” for FTC Train the Trainer Session, Revised 2013 © Devereux Center for Resilient Children

Guided Exploration for this Module

Warm-up activity ideas: Objectives and Additional content (where to find it): How the participants will interact with the content through activities, role-play, or other content-related experiences: Summary and wrap-up ideas: Evaluation:

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Documents

4.) Facing the Challenge Trainer Guide