During the observation, there was little to no actual teaching going on. I stayed for over an hour after the ABC data ends, in which time the children were given play doh at their seats, but no instructions or interactions with the teachers took place during this time. The play doh was then suddenly taken away with no warning, at which point Rajiv screamed and threw his body on top of the play doh. The kids then had a snack while watching “Don’t let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” on a computer screen. R left his seat many times during this activity as well, and this behavior was addressed inconsistently.
This classroom environment does not seem nearly active or engaging enough to hold Rajiv’s interest, not to mention that the students do not seem to be participating in any lessons. His out of seat behavior occurred most during the story/song time, when he was expected to sit in his seat quietly for about fifteen minutes. Going over the data, this behavior occurred at a more frequent rate the longer this activity went on. Based on this, I have concluded that Rajiv’s out of seat behavior is sensory seeking, with some attention seeking as well. His screaming behavior is less obvious, but after going over the data, my guess is that Rajiv’s screaming is his way of expressing frustration at being stopped from doing a preferred activity. He did make other, softer sounds in the classroom, so screaming is not the only way he has of using his voice.
When Rajiv does stay sitting in his seat, it does not seem to be reinforced at all, and getting out of his seat is addressed so inconsistently, that I feel confident is saying that Rajiv does not know when he can get out of his seat and when he can’t.
When teaching a classroom of students with special needs, I believe that there has to be more individualized lessons going on rather than expecting all of the students to be on the same page all of the time. Rajiv was very interested in getting to the books for a good amount of time, and I don’t know why he was not engaged in this activity while the other children were just sitting and looking at the books. The teacher assistants were either cleaning the room or sitting with the students at this point, and it would have been more effective for Rajiv and less distracting for the other students if he had been taken to the side with one of the teacher aides and a book of his choice.
Data Collection
In this situation, I think it is important to find out in what settings and situations the target behavior is likely to occur, in order to adjust the environment accordingly. Because I believe that Rajiv would be best served by being more engaged in more interactive lessons, I think that it is crucial to see what is going on in the classroom while his out of seat behavior is occurring.
Because of this, I would suggest that the teacher or one of her aides carry a ticker to not out of seat behavior and have the data sheet broken down into sections of the school day in order to see what part of the day Rajiv has the hardest time staying in his seat for. With a ticker, the number of times that this behavior occurs will be easy to note, and the data would need to be written down at the end of each section of the school day. This would take a very brief amount of time to do, and I think it is quite possible to achieve in this particular classroom. For the data collection to be the most effective, the school day will have to be broken into small amounts of time, with each new activity constituting its own data box.
This classroom environment does not seem nearly active or engaging enough to hold Rajiv’s interest, not to mention that the students do not seem to be participating in any lessons. His out of seat behavior occurred most during the story/song time, when he was expected to sit in his seat quietly for about fifteen minutes. Going over the data, this behavior occurred at a more frequent rate the longer this activity went on. Based on this, I have concluded that Rajiv’s out of seat behavior is sensory seeking, with some attention seeking as well. His screaming behavior is less obvious, but after going over the data, my guess is that Rajiv’s screaming is his way of expressing frustration at being stopped from doing a preferred activity. He did make other, softer sounds in the classroom, so screaming is not the only way he has of using his voice.
When Rajiv does stay sitting in his seat, it does not seem to be reinforced at all, and getting out of his seat is addressed so inconsistently, that I feel confident is saying that Rajiv does not know when he can get out of his seat and when he can’t.
When teaching a classroom of students with special needs, I believe that there has to be more individualized lessons going on rather than expecting all of the students to be on the same page all of the time. Rajiv was very interested in getting to the books for a good amount of time, and I don’t know why he was not engaged in this activity while the other children were just sitting and looking at the books. The teacher assistants were either cleaning the room or sitting with the students at this point, and it would have been more effective for Rajiv and less distracting for the other students if he had been taken to the side with one of the teacher aides and a book of his choice.
Data Collection
In this situation, I think it is important to find out in what settings and situations the target behavior is likely to occur, in order to adjust the environment accordingly. Because I believe that Rajiv would be best served by being more engaged in more interactive lessons, I think that it is crucial to see what is going on in the classroom while his out of seat behavior is occurring.
Because of this, I would suggest that the teacher or one of her aides carry a ticker to not out of seat behavior and have the data sheet broken down into sections of the school day in order to see what part of the day Rajiv has the hardest time staying in his seat for. With a ticker, the number of times that this behavior occurs will be easy to note, and the data would need to be written down at the end of each section of the school day. This would take a very brief amount of time to do, and I think it is quite possible to achieve in this particular classroom. For the data collection to be the most effective, the school day will have to be broken into small amounts of time, with each new activity constituting its own data box.
Monday
Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Comments and unusual situations: |
Tuesday
Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Comments and unusual situations: |
Wednesday
Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Comments and unusual situations: |
Thursday
Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Comments and unusual situations: |
Friday
Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Activity: Number of times out of seat: Comments and unusual situations: |
Next Steps
In the case of screaming, I believe that if Rajiv learns a functional form of communication and more warning is given to him when transitioning out of a preferred activity, this behavior would decrease. For the out of seat behavior, the staff in the classroom needs to be on the same page with what is expected of Rajiv, how the behavior will be reinforced, and what pro active intervention could be put in place in order to provide a better learning environment for Rajiv, where he does not have to necessarily stay seated in a chair in order to be learning. After using the above data sheet, the staff would be able to pinpoint the times of the day where Rajiv has the most difficulty staying in his chair, then address the reasons why this might be. He seemed to be interested in books, and these and preferred activities could be used as reinforcers, as well as satisfying his sensory and attention seeking by providing him some one on one time with an adult.