Problem Identification

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The challenging behavior I am choosing to analyze for this class is defiance. I work with students in a different capacity than in the classroom and I observe many students exhibit many different behaviors throughout the day. I am choosing defiance because not only is it a problem with one student in particular, but many students in my school showcase defiance nearly on a daily basis. I am focusing on Emily for now, but this type of behavior is something that many of my teachers and myself have been struggling to address the entire school year.

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The one student I am choosing to look at in particular with defiance has shown to be defiant towards all adults in the schools. Emily does not seem to respect or care about adults in the school and refuses to follow many directions that are given to Emily. On a daily basis Emily has to be removed from the classroom because when Emily is given a direction she chooses to do what she wants which may include saying no,  walking around the class, kicking desks or chairs, talking back, putting her hands on others, and even walking out of class.

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When I take Emily from the classroom setting to our Behavior Intervention Room to try to speak with her and figure out why she is being defiant she refuses to walk with me. Emily has also shown her defiance when she is not in class and I am trying to have a conversation with her to help resolve whatever issue made her react in this type of way. If I ask her to walk with me Emily will say “no.” If I seek help from other administration and staff members Emily refuses to listen to them either. In times when I can get her to at least walk with me to a different location, either the Behavior Intervention Room or in the hallway, when I ask her about what she is feeling Emily continues to be defiant in a slightly different way.

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There are many different types of defiance that Emily has displayed. She does non-verbal non-compliance and she verbalizes her defiance as well by saying simply “no” when given a direction or instruction. While I think about the act of defiance and what it looks like in Emily’s case, I think that there must be something more. This student has definitely been defiant in ways as mentioned above, but there are other instances where her defiance takes a physical form. When Emily is being defiant she continuously says no over and over to any direction given to her. She also responds that way towards her peers as well. When they try to help Emily, she assumes it is in a negative way and reacts in a defiant way.

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This defiant behavior causes challenges towards my position because it creates a lack of respect not only from Emily, but from other students as well. Many times when she is displaying her defiance, it is done so in front of other students. My fear when this occurs is always that students will also begin to show defiant behaviors towards adults under the premise of seeing Emily do it as well. These types of challenges are particularly unique for me because of my role within the school and being the head disciplinarian creates more of an environment of defiant behavior looking as if it is acceptable when it is not.

My thoughts, feelings, and attitude when dealing with this behavior are usually more in line with the patience and determination idea that Brophy speaks of in chapter 2. This type of mindset during this behavior has proven to be more successful than other attempts at changing the challenging behavior. When I am trying to deal with the defiant behavior, I explain to Emily that she needs to follow my directions before she will be able to return to class. I feel frustrated at times when she is being defiant because I always explain that she can go back to class when I see that she can follow the directions that are given to her. Many times her response is one that involves screaming out, throwing desks or chairs, punching, hitting, scratching, and kicking me so she can have her way.

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As for my professional stance as it pertained to working with this particular student, I felt that I was pretty shocked to hear the amount of defiance that has occurred this school year alone. As I have had the opportunity to work with Emily for the entire year, I have learned more about her and more about her behavior from her previous school. When I heard about her behavior in the past and observing her behavior now, I began to think many different things about what could be the reason for this behavior.

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The more I contemplated the behavior, the more I thought what would be the best way to approach this behavior. I felt as though she needs a consequence, but since I noticed that it doesn’t necessarily affect her behavior, what other options could I use? I was able to speak with this student and we came to an agreement about a Behavior Intervention Plan that involved her earning different rewards for being respectful towards everyone in the school. I thought this would be the best and least invasive way to approach this type of behavior. I always try to build a relationship with each student as a way to get to know them and for them to get to know me so we can have a mutual respect for one another.

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I think that defiance has been an issue in my school for a long time now. I am always shocked and thrown off when I hear how defiant students can be towards adults because I never had seen or heard that type of thing when I was in school. This is a challenge for a lot of teachers and educators in the city of New Orleans. A lot of the defiance that is shown comes from a place of anger and frustration within the child. One of my biggest strengths that I bring to this type of behavior is my patience. I have always been extremely patient and now I am seeing that being put to use to the fullest during my new role outside of the classroom. When dealing with students that show defiance, I found that my patience can be a tool to use to help them calm down and try to speak with me or another staff member.

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As for the parental side of these behaviors, I am always trying to reach out to families regarding defiant behaviors. I often make calls home, ask for conferences, and also invite families to come in and observe any of their students. I have found a lot of success with many families, but I often find myself still struggling to find a solution to different behaviors with different students. I feel that defiance is an important behavior to focus on and get support from the family because if one student is being defiant, it can quickly snowball into many students being defiant.

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Understanding the Problem

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While figuring out which techniques would work best for Emily and what types of intervention she we need to be successful, I considered all of the factors that have contributed to her behavior. Emily has shown many different defiant behaviors and I wanted to attempt to find any triggers that would set her off or what times throughout the day she seemed to demonstrate the behavior more frequently. I went into the classroom to take notes and observe Emily during her ELA and math classes.

My observations were very anecdotal and I just took some notes on what I saw from Emily throughout the time I spent observing her in class. During the time I spent in the class noticing the different behaviors I found that there weren’t any real triggers that would set off her behavior. She would be on task and following along on her work, then without warning, she would become defiant and refuse to do the work she was asked to do. When she was angry and defiant, she began to shut down and refused to talk with anyone to try to figure out what was going on and why she was upset. She often refuses to speak with many of the adults in the school and trying to understand her frustration and defiance proves to be a large hurdle to overcome.

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Some of the patterns I noticed in the data were the fact that there didn’t appear to be an antecedent before the behavior would occur. Although there could have been something that was overseen or missed by the adults in the room, it was not anything that would have caused alarm or gotten the attention of the teacher or myself. I also noticed that she became more frustrated and defiant in ELA than math. She is able to read and do the work required for her grade level, but Emily seems to prefer math to ELA. She rarely had any issues in her math class and the behaviors in her ELA class would be so defiant and disruptive that many times she would need to be escorted out of the classroom.

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As I was trying to figure out the best intervention plan to put into place, I thought about what I needed Emily to do. I thought I needed her to learn to express some of her feelings and emotions and what in the classroom would set her off. I decided to create a really easy check-in/check-out system. I just asked her teachers to send her to me after each class period for a quick check-in to see how she was feeling for that class period and what or how she was feeling throughout the day. Knowing that she has a hard time with expressing her feelings, I was using this time as a way to try to build the relationship with her and make her feel more comfortable with expressing herself to me. I wanted to give her the space to feel comfortable as well.

Plan Development and Implementation

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Based on the data I collected during the observations, I feel that the most important goal for Emily is to stay in the classroom at all times. Her behavior is unique in the sense that the defiance leads to disruption which leads to her needing to be escorted from the classroom so she is not disrupting the learning of herself or any other students. I feel that this goal is realistic and attainable for Emily. She has demonstrated her ability to stay in the classroom and continue to learn with her peers. Aside from her defiance, she has had trouble being respectful to her peers as well. I noticed that she can use unkind and hurtful words towards other students and teachers in the school. With this aspect of her behavior causing her to have to be removed from the learning environment, staying in the classroom is also an achievable goal for Emily.

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When thinking of what types of interventions would be helpful for Emily, I thought about what really helps her be successful in the classroom. She is highly motivated by her friends and wants to spend time with them, work with them, and socialize with them. Sometimes this can be a distraction, but in most instances I noticed that Emily really wants to show her friends what she can do. One intervention that I have been trying is pulling her out with some of her friends in the morning to have breakfast with me in my office and we discuss expectations for the day. I have also begun using a social-emotional curriculum called Second Steps. I felt that Emily could really benefit from something like this. Not only does she benefit, but the other students I pull are also benefiting. The main goal of this intervention is to give Emily the tools she needs to help manage her anger and prevent her from having any major outbursts of defiance that would lead to her needing to be removed from the learning environment.

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In the beginning, there was some resistance to starting the morning like this, Emily felt as if she was being singled out, but she has come around to enjoying this time and looks forward to it every morning. This time is designed for her to get ready for the day and to make sure that if she is upset or angry about anything in the morning, she can tell me and I can help her sort through her feelings. After her time with me, I walk her back into the classroom and make sure that she is able to settle in with the rest of the class. From that moment on, I take time throughout the day to check-in with Emily. Either she will be sent to me to talk about how her day is going or I will go to her class and speak with her briefly about her day. These times are crucial for two reasons: 1.) I feel it shows my genuine interest in Emily’s behavior to her and 2.) It allows me an opportunity to address any issues or challenges she may be having throughout the day. This intervention has also allowed our relationship to build more and more. She is becoming more trusting in me and has been opening up much more in the short time I have been working with her.

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I think this strategy is appropriate because many of the classes in the school do not implement a social-emotional curriculum in the class. This aspect of the intervention will help support me in providing Emily more skills and tools to manage her emotions. In my opinion, this part of the intervention is most important because the curriculum I use also creates opportunities for Emily to learn what different words and feelings mean. For example, we did a lesson on empath which went well, but Emily had never really thought about what that word means or how to think about other student’s situations and what it might be like in somebody else’s shoes.

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This strategy is expected to work because of the many tools it gives Emily to cope with her many different emotions. It allows her to think critically about situations she has experienced in the classroom as well as at home. There are many different scenarios that are familiar to her and the curriculum helps address the many different scenarios. This strategy is important and will work because it will allow Emily a chance to relate to other students as well, thus helping her understand exactly what she is feeling and why she is feeling a certain type of way about different thing.

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I think that this intervention will help me shift back into a helpful stance because I can use language associated with the Second Steps curriculum and Emily will be able to understand exactly what I mean when I am speaking with her. I noticed that there has already been a change in Emily’s behavior and that has allowed me the opportunity to create a much more positive environment in the school, especially for Emily. I have been very excited about the progress she has made already and I think that has also helped me switch my stance. I don’t get as frustrated quickly with Emily because she has been comfortable enough to share her feelings and emotions with me and I keep that in my mind to make sure my professional stance is one that is supportive and helpful for Emily to grow and develop. As I move forward with this intervention, I will continue to help myself shift back into a more positive stance because I will be able to see the progress of Emily and I will be able to assist her more frequently throughout the day. Knowing what I know about Emily, I can use that to keep my mind focused on her and the task of keeping her in the classroom and learning to prepare for the next grade.

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Plan Evaluation

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While evaluating the strategy I put into place with Emily and her target behavior of being defiant, I felt the strategy was effective in the sense of keeping Emily in the classroom and allowing her opportunities to share her feelings about different classes and what types of things seem to trigger her outbursts of defiance. Although we have not come to a place that she feels comfortable sharing her reasons behind why she shuts down and gets frustrated, we have gotten to a place where she will admit which classes she dislikes over others and why.

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When creating goals for the strategy with Emily, I tried to think of what I needed from her and what she needed from me. I ultimately found that she needs more support from me in the sense of an outlet. Whether she is working with me or any other adult she feels comfortable with, I know we need to keep more support available for her to be successful.

As for what I needed from her, I really need her to build a relationship with more adults in the school so that she can learn tools to cope with any and all levels of frustration. Emily was put into a social-emotional learning group to help not only her, but other students express emotions and handle their feelings. I needed her to learn that it is acceptable to be frustrated or angry, but it is important that we are able to express those feelings appropriately. I really pushed the group to find ways to first be respectful to one another, Emily seemed to excel in this aspect. I thought that this group would work well for her in creating an environment in which she felt most comfortable.

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After reflecting back on the strategy I attempted with Emily, I feel I had some strengths and growth areas in the strategy. As with all different types of strategies, this one still needs some work and I will continue to push through with Emily to help keep her moving successfully through the rest of the year and on to the next grade. While I won't be working with her after this year, I intend to keep in close contact with the teachers that she will be learning from next year.

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I feel that this strategy was beneficial with the check-in and check-out aspect. Emily looked forward to checking in with me to share how her behavior was for the day. I too looked forward to our small check ins because I always enjoy speaking with her about her feelings, emotions, and thoughts on how she did in her class. Many times I feel that the best part of this strategy with Emily is the reflection aspect. I know many students struggle with the ability to reflect on their own behavior, but she has demonstrated that not only can she reflect, she can pin-point exactly why her behavior resulted in any type of consequence, positive and negative. I don't believe this strategy would work for for all student, I do feel it was something that really helped Emily feel successful in the classroom. She was able to share everything that she wished to share without any fear of what might happen to her in terms of a consequence. Often times I would praise her for opening up to me when she was feeling any type of way about school.

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Growth areas that I noticed with this strategy were very apparent to me. I know that Emily has grown in her ability to communicate with adults about her feelings and reflecting on what she was able to do in the classroom, I still know that Emily will shut down and refuse to do her work at any given time and in those instances, it is nearly impossible for her to open up and express how she is feeling or why she is refusing to do her work. I also feel that this strategy of approaching a challenging behavior needs to be accompanied by other strategies for her to be successful in the class. I think that along with the check-in she would really benefit from more group and partner work. She really thrives in those situations and truly values the relationships she has built with her friends in school and in her classroom.

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I think that the biggest critique I would make in regards to my strategy for Emily is the need for more time to really be allowed to reflect and express her emotions while staying in the classroom. I think that she has done well with it outside of class, but I would really like to see what she can do when she has the ability to find ways to speak out about her frustrations with class with her classroom teachers. I would like to see her continue to grow in the classroom across all aspects of learning. I think it is also crucial that the teachers are invested in Emily as well.

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Professional Stance

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Thinking about my professional stance before, during, and after the intervention I put in place for Emily, I noticed that I initially had a more aggressive stance. I felt that I was getting frustrated or angry with Emily and her behavior. I felt that I wasn’t giving her a fair chance to be successful in the school. I felt that I was quick to deal out discipline in an unfair manner. I also felt that it was not fair of me to have the mindset I did before the intervention and observations started.

In the middle of the intervention period, I was much more aware of my stance towards Emily. I had to check myself and reflect on my thinking and my actions when dealing with Emily and her behaviors. I would notice that I slipped back into a more negative stance and I would have to stop whatever I was doing to reset my thinking. I felt positive about the awareness of myself I was able to develop over the course of the intervention period. I felt that I was able to calm myself down and figure out what I needed to do to make sure I wasn’t slipping. I was feeling that when I would get upset and angry with Emily that I was taking out frustrations on her and I noticed that I was then making any type of situation worse and her behavior would escalate rather than decrease.

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At the end of the intervention period, I felt my stance was much more beneficial to the situation with Emily. I was a lot more patient, understanding, and calm. I would allow her to be upset and frustrated before I would step in and try to talk to her. It turned out to be much more successful in helping her to calm down and stop the defiant behavior. I also noticed that the stance had shifted to a in my mind to be more understanding of what Emily was feeling and that there may be other situations outside of her control or outside of my control that would contribute to her defiant behavior. I shifted my thinking about Emily and her behavior to be more of a factor of something more and I made sure that I was understanding that I would do whatever I could to help her and I also understand that she has her own individual needs and rather than getting frustrated with her, I would show much more patience when she was showing her defiant behavior.

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I noticed that creating a more patient and understanding stance with Emily made her feel more comfortable with me. She would often speak with me about how she was feeling and what caused this feeling on each particular day. One thing that I noticed with my patience towards Emily is that often times she would not feel like opening up or talking about her feelings and instead was able to calm herself down and would take time outside of the classroom with me just to take a break from the classroom and whatever factors were making her upset. Having discussions with her, she appreciates the time to herself to calm down and she enjoys having the ability and freedom to recognize when she is upset and needs to step out of the classroom to make sure she is successful in the classroom.

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When I would step out of an effective stance it was out of my own frustration with not understanding why she was upset and what I could do to help her. I would often have this happen to me when I would be called to the classroom to remove Emily from the learning environment. I would let her behavior affect how I was feeling about her and other students in the school. I think that I would shift out of an effective stance because I would assume that to be the only way to get through to Emily. I found quickly that stepping out of the effective stance would make things worse and Emily would become more frustrated and defiant.

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The biggest thing I would do to maintain my effective stance would be to consider my own feelings and emotions. I would often feel my emotions getting out of my control and my levels of frustration would begin to grow. I used this as a way to reflect on why I am feeling this way and relating that to how Emily might be feeling in the classroom. I was also able to explain this to Emily and we connected on the fact that we both can get frustrated, but it matters how we handle our frustration to make sure that we are not disruptive to ourselves or anyone else.

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Conclusion

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Emily has shown a lot of extremely defiant behaviors over the course of this year. Choosing to work with her was a very strategic choice because I know how smart she is and how capable she is of being successful in the classroom. I know that she needs extra support in different ways to make sure that she is able to stay in the classroom and prevent any defiant behavior. I knew that choosing her would be a unique challenge, but one that I wanted to take on because of the different disruptions to her learning and the learning of others as well as helping her teachers with more management skills to help Emily in their classrooms.

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Although she has come a long way, I still have noticed flashes of her defiant behavior throughout different parts of the school day. I know that she is still a work in progress, but I have seen so much growth from her and I will continue to work with her for the remainder of the year in an attempt to continue building the relationship with her and allowing her the opportunity to share how she feels and what is causing her to feel different ways.