Responding to
Occurrences of Behavior
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Module Purpose
• This module is designed for universal
team to use as part of facilitating
discussion with staff about the best
practices to use to redirect occurrences of
conduct infractions
Suggestions for Using this Module
• Facilitate small groups of staff (PLC; grade
level meeting; breakout groups at a staff
meeting)
• Wherever possible, personalize the
module to reflect your school
– Add your school name
– Insert sample OCR graphs
Suggestions for Using this Module
• Have an initial concentrated session to go
over the whole module
• Then over the course of the year engage
groups in problem solving discussion to
come with strategies for handling common
scenarios that occur at your school
Developing a Redirection Protocol
• Research supports having a consistent –
non confrontational protocol for
responding to occurrences of behavior
AND training for staff on how to implement
the protocol
– Reductions in externalizing behaviors
– Increases in on task behaviors
For example, Benner et al. (2012) Exceptional Children
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Sound Familiar?
Johnny
While doing class work
Johnny becomes off-task and
starts to talk to his peers.
Johnny responds by saying,
“This work stinks, I don’t want
to do it.”
Johnny says, “I don’t care
about this class, I am not
doing this work.”
Johnny then stands up, slams
his work on his desk, says
“Fine!” and storms out of the
room.
Teacher
His teacher asks him to stop
talking and tells him to get
back to work.
His teacher says “Why do you
always fight with me in class?”
His teacher says, “You need to
do this work or you are going
to the office!”
Antecedent
(Task
Demand)
Student and
Adult get
reinforced
(“Whew! I’m
outta here”
“Whew! I can
teach now)
The
Behavior
Disappears
Student
Behavior
(Disruption)
Adult
Responds
(Verbal
Redirection
Sent to the
Office)
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Impact on Our Behavior
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Attend to an
Emerging Situation
Prevention is the Best Approach
• Whenever possible, we should aim to
prevent a situation before it happens
• Anticipate and plan for possible problems
• Think through ahead of time how you will
handle a situation
• Look for signs that signal a possible
problem
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Scan for signals that the
student is having difficulty
• Attend to facial, body language, tone of voice,
compliance signals that indicate a potential
problem is emerging
• Common behaviors indicate a student is having
a problem include:
–
–
–
–
–
Head down
Mumbling
Over excited
Not following directions
Depressed or agitated affect
Video Activity
Same Situation-Two Approaches
• Watch the video clip of Michael – first
approach
– What signaled to you that Michael wasn’t
himself today?
– What are your suggestions for how the
teacher could improve her response to
Michael?
Discussion: How to Handle When
A Student is Having a Problem
• People need different things when they
are having a bad day.
• Let’s consider the range of ‘needs’ here
today
• At your table answer this question:
– When I am upset it helps me when people:
Discussion: How to Handle When
A Student is Having a Problem
• Given that there is a
range of possible
responses we can use
when we sense
someone is upset:
– Which of these work
best for you?
– Which of these make
you even more
agitated?
• ___ Back off
• ___ Give me space
• ___ Ignore that something
is wrong
• ___ Ask me what’s wrong
• ___ Offer help
• ___ Offer comfort
• ___ Empathize
• ___ Cheer me on
• ___ Give me a suggestion
How to Handle When
A Student is Having a Problem
• Given that some responses work better (or
worse) for different people – how then do
we respond when we think a student is
having a problem?
• Roll the video…..
Video Activity
Same Situation-Two Approaches
• Watch video clip of Michael – different
approach
– What did she do this time that you thought
was effective?
– What other suggestions or strategies would
you offer?
Attend to the class and keep the
instructional program going
• Focus on the majority of the class first
(and the individual student second)
• Assign an independent, pairs, or small
group activity
• State an expectation for the class (e.g.,
“everyone start the math assignment”)
• Praise students for being engaged
• Walk around the classroom
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Attend to the Student
•
•
•
•
Talk privately
Ask if they are okay
Ask them what they need
If they don’t know offer some choices:
– Take a minute
– Go to the bathroom
– Talk with someone
• Provide reassurance
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Strategies to Redirect a
First Occurrence of
Behavior
The Key to Effective Redirection
• It is easy to feel ‘validated’ in displaying an
escalated response when someone is
arguing or talking offensively to you
• We naturally de-escalate when being
spoken to with respect and sensitivity
The Key to Effective Redirection
• The best way to redirect a situation is to
always respond in a way that you think
best preserves the dignity of the person
you are interacting with:
– Stay calm
– Use a firm, but neutral tone of voice
– Use actions and words that respect the other
person
Video Activity
Same Situation-Two Approaches
• Watch the video clip of Sara – first
approach
– What are your suggestions for how the
teacher could improve her response to Sara?
Plan Strategies to
Redirect Behavior
• When a behavior occurs first ensure the
rest of the class is engaged in an activity
• Focus on the majority of the class first (and the
individual student second)
• Assign an independent, pairs, or small group
activity
• State an expectation for the class (e.g., “everyone
start the math assignment”)
• Praise students for being engaged
• Walk around the classroom
Video Activity
Same Situation-Two Approaches
• Watch video clip of Sara – different
approach:
– What did she do this time that you thought
was effective?
– What additional suggestions would you offer?
Strategies to
Redirect Behavior
• Using redirections – it’s all about respect
– Speak privately (don’t make the student a
show)
– Stay calm and neutral
– Leave out the sarcasm and ‘jabs’
• Remember our response should not be
more disruptive than the behavior we are
trying to redirect
Examples of Effective Redirections
• Speak privately
• Avoid trying to have the last
word
• Engage the student to
generate options
• Provide the student with
options to choose from
• Use language that focuses on
the behavior not the student
• Be empathetic
• Acknowledge for positive
behavior or choices
• Give the student some space
• Change the topic
• Changing/modifying the activity
• Reduce the difficulty of a task
• Reduce the quantity of work the
student is working on at time
• Provide 1:1 to get started
• Provide assistance to work
through the task
• Provide the student with a choice
of two tasks
• Ask a peer to help the student
• Providing assistance to get
started
• Offer choice of two options
• Ask the student to suggest a
resolution
Strategies to
Redirect Behavior
• Sometimes behavior occurs because the
students if frustrated by or daunted by the
academic work. If you think this might be
the case consider ways to make the work
more accessible for the student:
• Plan for academic modifications or
adjustments
•
Strategies to
Redirect Behavior
• Use strategies to help teachers adjust
academic conditions in response to
behavior, for example:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Changing/modifying the activity
Reduce the difficulty of a task
Reduce the quantity of work the student is working on at time
Provide 1:1 to get started
Provide assistance to work through the task
Provide the student with a choice of two tasks
Ask a peer to help the student
Providing assistance to get started
Offer choice of two options
Ask the student to suggest a resolution
Strategies to
Redirect Behavior
• Some strategies tend to escalate a
situation. Include a discussion about
strategies that DON’T work as well so staff
know to avoid using these, for example:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Yelling
Scolding a student in front of the class
Sarcasm
Ultimatums
Having the last word
Engaging in a debate or argument with the student
Using previous incidents as ‘fire power’
Plan Strategies to Respond
to an Escalating Behavior
Plan Strategies for
When Behavior Persists
• Is the behavior disruptive to the class or
instruction?
– What strategies can the teacher use to reengage the student into the routine?
– Would a break away from class defuse the
situation?
– Has the behavior escalated to the point that it
needs to be office managed?
Video Activity
Same Situation-Two Approaches
• Watch the video clip of Jason – first
approach
– What are your suggestions for how the
teacher could improve her response to
Jason?
Strategies for
When Behavior Persists
• Stay calm and cool
• Help the teacher to identify their own tolerance
limits and form those into strategies
– “It really upsets me when…..”
• Work with the teacher to identify strategies that
help them stay calm and cool
– Count to 10
– Deep breath
– Etc.
Video Activity
Same Situation-Two Approaches
• Watch video clip of Jason – different
approach
– What did she do this time that you thought
was effective
Were Redirections Tried?
• Speak privately
• Avoid trying to have the last
word
• Engage the student to
generate options
• Provide the student with
options to choose from
• Use language that focuses on
the behavior not the student
• Be empathetic
• Acknowledge for positive
behavior or choices
• Give the student some space
• Change the topic
• Changing/modifying the activity
• Reduce the difficulty of a task
• Reduce the quantity of work the
student is working on at time
• Provide 1:1 to get started
• Provide assistance to work
through the task
• Provide the student with a choice
of two tasks
• Ask a peer to help the student
• Providing assistance to get
started
• Offer choice of two options
• Ask the student to suggest a
resolution
Strategies for
When Behavior Persists
Reduce Interaction
• Give the teacher suggestions for stepping back
from a confrontation or disengaging from debate
• Reacting to a student’s comments keeps the
conflict going
– Lower voice
– Repeat one phrase (Time to start work)
– Offer the student a break to step away
Strategies for
When Behavior Persists
Pivotal Redirections
• Using what is known about ‘what works’ for the
student to identify redirection strategies pivotal
for responding when behavior persists
Plan Strategies for
When Behavior Persists
Enlist Assistance
• If attempts to resolve the situation have not
worked you may need to remove the student
from the class
– Removal to the office should be a last resort
– [schools need to add their procedures that staff are to
follow]
Following Up
After an
Infraction Has
Occurred
Remediation Strategies for
Redirectable and Interfering Behaviors
• After an infraction has occurred we need
to decide what interventions to try so that
the behavior does not occur in the future:
– What strategies can we try in the classroom
– What other resources can we enlist
– Reflecting on how we handled the situation
Remediation Strategies for
Redirectable and Interfering Behaviors
• Strategies we can try in the classroom
should focus on:
– Preventing future occurrences by
•
•
•
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Considering the function of behavior
Focus on teaching/reviewing expected behaviors
Embedding reminders into discussions
Providing social praise and incentives for positive
behaviors
Remediation Strategies for
Redirectable and Interfering Behaviors
• Strategies we can try in the classroom
– Student-teacher conference focused on reviewing the
expectations for the classroom
– Parent contact
– Determine modifications to academic work
– Develop a goal with the student and incentive for
meeting goal
– Using positive reminders ahead of situations where
behavior typically occurs
– Consider modifications/supports for work that is
difficult
Remediation Strategies for
Redirectable and Interfering Behaviors
• Starting Over
– The best thing to do when a student is returning from
being removed from class is to welcome them back
and re-engage them in the routine
– Avoid opening old wounds (e.g., “We won’t have a
repeat performance of yesterday”) this type of
response opens the door for conflict
– Ignore attempts to ‘save face’ with peers when they
‘shrug off’ the visit to the office
– Instead reserve time with the student outside of class
to review expectations and together develop a plan to
handle the situation differently in the future
Remediation Strategies for
Redirectable and Interfering Behaviors
• Enlisting other resources:
• [schools need to add their list of resources
available]
– School counselor: social skill groups
– I & RS: Function based problem solving
process
– CST: Function based problem solving
process for students with IEPs
Activity Suggestion for
Small Group Discussion
• We all have times where we handle a
situation better and where we would like to
have a ‘do-over’
• Reflecting on what worked and what we
would do differently is an essential part of
develop a ‘conflict resolution’ repertoire of
skills
• Let’s practice…..
Activity Suggestion for
Small Group Discussion
• Think about a recent situation with a
student that you (or someone else)
handled really well
– What did you (or the other person) do that
worked?
• Think about a recent situation where you
would like a ‘do-over’
– What did you do that didn’t work so well
The Key to Handling Conflict
• After a conflict we have to self-examine:
– Did my responses result in resolving the
situation?
– What did I do that worked well?
– What do I need to do differently next time?
• Did my ‘baggage’ or ‘personal triggers’ get in the
way
• Was there something about the student’s
interaction that caught me by surprise?
Team Planning Activity
• Begin discussion about how you will
introduce this module to staff at your
school
Next Steps
• Develop a draft of OCR form and flow
chart
• Get feedback from staff and finalize
• Implement OCR form and begin decision
making
• Plan for providing professional
development on defusing daily disruption
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