This article was interesting because it listed many behavior challenges and the reasons that a child may act out in class. I have a student right now that is not my behavior student that continues to act out in class. I have been trying to pin point his behavior. I thought it might be me being the teacher and the fact that we might not have as strong of a relationship, but I got to know some things about him outside of school through him. He opened up to me and is still disrespectful and disruptive. Then, I tried lots of positive behavior support and am still trying this, but it’s been hard to find times to encourage him in positive behavior, and I’m not sure that it is working for him. I also thought that he might be disinterested in particular with the books that I’ve been reading in his guided reading group, but I’ve picked numerous kinds of books that I thought he might connect with, and he still says he doesn’t want to read everytime he comes to guided reading. It is really frustrating because I am trying to work with him, and I am trying to give solutions, but there’s no help on the other side. I don’t really think that he has an impulsive behavior. I think he wants attention, but not necessarily in a positive way because he doesn’t know how to receive the positive. I don’t think he gets to spend much time with his dad, but he always talks about his dad like he is his world. I really have never met his dad, but have spoken on the phone with him once. I’m not quite sure how close they are or how much time they get together. This might affect how he acts in school. He complains he is tired a lot and doesn’t want to be at school. He will say he wants to switch classes, and while this hurts my feelings I know he is just trying to get at me in some way to get a reaction. I think he knows he cannot, and he is trying to see what he can get away with. I don’t know; I guess we will see how this pans out. It’s hard not to get frustrated. For now I am going to continue trying positive reinforcers.
I also have a student that has been diagnosed with ADD, but I’m not sure about the hyperactivity. He is very hyperactive after lunch, and I believe that is when his medicine wears off. It’s really interesting because he is like in his own world. It is interesting to watch because it is like he doesn’t even know people exist around him until I loudly and firmly say his name. I’m not one to judge whether he should be put on medicine or not, but I can’t say we did much before he got tested for ADD, so I’m not sure if we could have found a different solution. I’m also not sure that the medicine would mess things up now.
I can see where you are coming from. I too have a student that acts out for behavior once in a while. It is like she does not care if it is positive or negative. With my student, we are trying ignorance of the bad behaviors and positive reinforcement. If ignorance does not work, than we use nonverbal communication. It is frustrating… I will be thinking of you. If I find a breakthrough, then I will let you know.
I think it is a great how you are trying so many different ways to connect with that student get to know him and make his learning personalized. I think it is so important that students feel part of the classroom community and that they are wanted in the classroom, and you seem to be doing a great job of this. Sometimes, students rather continuously receive any attention than occasionally positive attention. Not to say that you are only occasionally giving him positive attention, but he probably knows that when we does the wrong thing we will ALWAYS get attention but when he does the right thing he will only occasionally get attention. You seem to be really trying to get though to him in different ways and you will have to keep us updated on his progress.
I think that it is very interesting to think about the timeline that is takes for a student to be placed on medication for ADD and ADHD. I know that from prior research for projects that medication is not the only solution. In the past there have been many students that have gone through schooling and such without medication and looking back they can see that they were ADD or ADHD inclined. I wonder how those students got through school and in this time we are putting people on medication as soon as possible. I also am not one to judge medication, but I wonder how long you should try strategies before putting a student on the medication and then when do you stop this? Is there a stopping point?