Author: Psychiatry

Mental Health Update

Behavior Management Strategies for
Children With Attentional Problems

Below are some suggestions that are particularly useful in managing behavior in children with attentional problems, but helpful in general, in your classroom.
Develop good rapport with the student. Children with attentional problems are more likely to respond to emotional connections than contingent consequences.
Ignore as much of the negative behavior as possible.
If you get a lot of defiant or oppositional behavior, review how often you say negative things and give commands to the child. Children who hear too many negatives and commands will tune out the person saying them. Get positive! Reinforce the student for what they do well and focus on progress, no matter how small.
Don’t forget to notice and reward appropriate behaviors.
Prompt the correct behavior and verbally reinforce it frequently.
Provide opportunities for physical movement (e.g., erasing the blackboard, running errands, distributing and collecting materials), and build physical activities into the daily schedule, when possible.
Encourage parents to build physical activity into the child’s out-of-school schedule.
If social rewards/reinforcement is insufficient to bring about the desired behavior, pair social recognition with earned activities or tangible reinforcers.
Use progress charts and other visual records of behavior to encourage more appropriate behavior. Use colorful charts and cards to motivate the child and recognize effort.
Move nearer to the student when s/he becomes restless. Offer verbal encouragement. When misbehavior occurs (or threatens to occur), move closer and soften your voice.
Identify a peer buddy to help with organizational tasks
Assign duties that require self-control (e.g., line leader, materials distributor). Prepare the child for the duty, encourage him/her, and reinforce him/her during and after that activity/task.
Teach self management of behavior
Vary your method of teaching so that children with different learning styles will benefit.
Make sure negative comments are more than balanced with positive ones.
References
Strategies for Teaching Youth with ADD and ADHD http://behavioradvisor.com/AddStrats.html
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Children and Adolescents
Center for School Mental Health http://csmh.umaryland.edu

In This Issue:
Behavior Management Strategies for Children with Attentional Problems
The 10 Demandments of Behavior Management
What’s Your Style?

THE 10 DEMANDMENTS OF BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT

1. Always treat children with respect and preserve their dignity. 2. Always do what is in the students' best interests. 3. Seek solutions, not blame. 4. Model tolerant, patient, dignified, and respectful behavior. 5. Use the least intrusive intervention possible. 6. Connect with your students and build strong personal bonds with them. 7. Instill hope for success (otherwise there is no reason for kids to behave in your class). 8. NEVER do anything disrespectful, illegal, immoral, ineffective, bad for health/safety, or you wouldn't want done to you. 9. NEVER give up on a student. Be perturbed with the actions of a student, but keep believing in his/her ability to change for the better. 10. CATCH KIDS BEING GOOD . . . A LOT!!
Retrieved from http://behavioradvisor.com/index.html

What's Your Style? / Teachers who were asked to "profile" colleagues with the fewest disciplinary problems and those with the most came up with the following lists. Do you see yourself?
MOST CAPABLE DISCIPLINARIANS / Non-combative / Consistent / Has clear expectations / Fair / Authoritarian / Patient / Well-organized / Tolerant of frustration / Creative	AND THOSE WHO STRUGGLE / Easily intimidated or defensive / Scared of faculty, principals, and parents / Lacking creative problem-solving skills / Makes threats but doesn't follow through / Tendency to let problems slide / "Plays games" with children's behavior.
Source: National Education Association's "I Can Do It" Classroom Management training module.

“Discipline is not something I impose on you so I can control you. Rather, it is something you must develop within yourself so you can become the best person you can be, not the one who could have been.”
- Timothy F. Hough (As told to his ninth grade class)

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