Annie Drish
Mrs. Janes
Psychology of the Exceptional Child
6 March 2019
Iris Module
1. List three reasons why some students continue to cause problems even when there is a
good classroom management plan in place?
They may be experiencing temporary stressors in their lives (e.g., divorce, death in the family)
They may be considered at-risk (e.g., high poverty background, linguistically diverse)
They may have certain disabilities (e.g., emotional or behavioral disorders, learning disabilities)
2. Discuss at least one benefit and one challenge of intervening early in the acting-out
cycle to prevent problem behaviors from escalating.
Benefit: Intervening early in the acting-out cycle can help the student and the class stay focused
or remain undistracted.
Challenge: A teacher may have a difficult time identifying student actions that can be noticeable
in the agitation stage.
3. Think back to the Challenge at the beginning of this module. Ms. Rollison is having
trouble with Patrick, who is a model student on some days and is rude and disruptive and
refuses to work. Unfortunately, she probably does not have enough information to figure out
what Patrick’s triggers are. Although not discussed explicitly in the module, can you think of
three methods by which Ms. Rollison could determine his triggers?
A. Talk to Patrick and see what is going on in his life to see if it has to do with a stressor.
B. Talk to Patrick’s parents and see if they have noticed or know of his triggers.
C. Begin chunking the assignments you give Patrick to see if the issue is caused by
assignments overwhelming him,
4. Ms. Rollison is also having trouble with Tameka, who refuses to do any written work. In
this case, Ms. Rollison does have enough information to figure out what Tameka’s trigger is.
What is it?
Tameka could have a writing disability (dysgraphia). This would affect her ability to write and
often times her desire to write. She may be defiant to Ms. Rollison’s instruction to read because
she is embarrassed, discouraged, or frustrated with writing ability. If Tameka does not have
dysgraphia, she may have bad handwriting compared to her peers and that may frustrate her.
5. Once either Patrick or Tameka enters the Agitation Phase, what would you recommend
that Ms. Rollison do? If she doesn’t recognize the Agitation Phase, what would you
recommend differently for the Acceleration Phase?
For Patrick, Ms. Rollison could chunk his assignment and provide frequent feedback to prevent
him from progressing into the acceleration phase. If Ms. Rollison does not recognize the
agitation phase and Patrick progresses into the acceleration phase, Ms. Rollison should speak to
him privately, rather than in front of the whole class.
Tameka (if she does have dysgraphia) may have different goals than other students. Ms. Rollison
may have her orally tell her what she intends to write and then Ms. Rollison can record the oral
report to assess later. Ms. Rollison can still have Tameka work on her writing skills by writing
down what Tameka wants to write so that Tameka can use it as a reference as she writes on her
paper. If Ms. Rollison does not catch Tameka’s agitation and Tameka enters the acceleration
phase, Ms. Rollison will have to pull Tameka aside to talk with her.
6. What is the primary reason that teachers are often reluctant to engage in debriefing
during the Recovery Phase? Why is it important to debrief in spite of this reluctance?
The teacher may not want to take more time away from the lesson or activity or may not want to
disturb the student who went through the cycle. The module also mentioned that teachers can be
prideful and may not want to share with the students how they as the teacher could have
responses better. It is important to debrief so all students have clarity and closure. If the teacher
never debriefs the class, for the remainder of class the students may feel like the classroom is a
hostile environment. Eliminating questions or discomfort can be achieved through debriefing the
students.