A Mental Health Primer for First
Year Teachers
Presented by:
Steve McRae, LCSW (JCPS Jackson County Director)
Raymond Turpin, Psy.D. (JCPS Clinical Director)
Jackson County Psychological Services
September 30, 2014
Western Carolina University
School-Based Behavior Management
Challenging Students
Externalizing Disorders:
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Symptoms of inattention or hyperactivity,
impulsivity. Off-task, disorganized, walking
around, noises.
Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
 A pattern of negativistic, hostile, and defiant
behavior. Disruptive. Challenges to authority,
arguing, etc.
Conduct Disorder
 Basic rights of others or major societal rules are
violated
Internalizing Disorders:
Anxiety Disorders
 Uncontrollable excessive worry, restlessness, poor
concentration, sleep disturbance. Avoidant,
somatic complaints/bathroom issues, excessive
tardiness/absences.
Depression
 Depressed mood, decreased interest,
hopelessness, fatigue. Isolating, not completing
work, no motivation, disinterested in help.
Trauma
 Distress, avoidance, intrusive thoughts related to
“traumatic“ event. Shut down, reactive, irrational,
inconsistent responses.
Learning Disorders

Difficulties learning and using academic skills.
Avoidant, frustrated, acting-out better than being
labeled “unintelligent”.
Autism Spectrum
 Persistent deficits in social interaction, restrictive,
repetitive patterns of behavior/interest. Poor
socialization, does not respond to typical social cues,
can appear as passively defiant, unresponsive to
general strategies
Classroom Structure
• Token Economy and Contingency System
(Reward/Consequence) for early grades.
–Lots of initial work and adjustment required.
–A moving target for some students.
–Incremental periods of evaluation based on
attention ability, potential for success.
• Simple rules, clearly and positively stated.
• Behavioral Assignment (3rd grade up)-have a
simple written exercise for students to complete
when they have a significant behavioral issue. It
should identify what was going on before, during
and after incident. It should identify what they
got out of the behavior, and they should come up
with better alternatives to meet that need.
Should take them about 10 minutes of their free
time to complete when they are calm and
collected. Contract. Move on…
Classroom Management- Approaches
and Techniques
• Personal Style-you have had all kinds of
teachers, think about what worked and what
didn’t for you and others. Habits…
– Clear directives, positively framed as much as
possible.
– Firm but supportive
– Consistent follow through.
Give yourself some range and have the range of
response aligned with seriousness of concern.
• Awareness
– Differences in perceptions, intentions, and
interests between students and teacher,
miscommunication.
– Cultural differences-things that may guide
interaction such as male vs female roles, eye
contact, social status, etc.
• Be attentive to sensory modalities
– Visual, auditory, kinesthetic.
• Boundaries-professional role (friend vs mentor)
Ownership of classroom-students as guests.
• Use reframing to diffuse or redirect uncomfortable
or ignorant comments.
• When dealing with attention-seeking or minor
“inappropriate” comments, ignore, redirect, and
distract accordingly and address directly after
class.
• Choose your battles at your convenience as much as
possible, but do ultimately address minor issues
prior to escalation.
• “Schedule” interventions and be prepared ahead of
time with a plan.
• Don’t back a student into a corner. Give them a way
to save face.
• Use “apparent options”!!!
• Avoid lecturing on behavior-serves your need not
theirs
• Avoid multiple, simultaneous directives/questions
• Use “I” and “We” instead of “You” to problem solve
• Prompt prior to expectation (“In 5 minutes we will…”)
• Teens and confrontation. Teens can operate
on emotions and try to make it personal. Stick
with facts and de-escalate emotionally. Don’t
take it personally. Avoid the power strugglechange timing and process of confrontation to
your advantage.
• Social media impacts classrooms. Be aware. (Perceived
connectedness, interaction, relationships, but also
bullying, threats, alienating)
• Engage in time with students outside of classroom
when possible and appropriate-RELATIONSHIP!
• How do you know these things work?
• The Big Guns-Runaway, Mattress, Mom
Family EngagementThe Missing Ingredient
Parent behaviors often give rise to, reinforce and
perpetuate the child’s behavior.
Qualities of a dysfunctional family system may include:
• Absence of rules
• Little monitoring of children
• Lack of contingencies
• Limited problem solving abilities-”Jess”
• Lack of positive attention for appropriate behavior
• Unknowing reinforcement of negative behaviors-”I want…”
• It is hard to make things work for many of
these families!
• There are often reasons these students are
not making it to school, not completing work.
Major Factors Impacting Families
• Substance Abuse (disorganization, chaos, survival
mode) Everything else takes a back seat.
• Domestic Violence (aggression, fighting at school,
trauma, poor concentration) “That boy needs
someone to whip his tail”
• Poverty (increased stress at home, self-esteem)
Meeting Basic needs comes first
Engaging Families
You MUST work to get parents of challenging
students involved.
• Communication-Email, text, phone, morning drop off,
etc. Relationship again.
• Transportation-school social workers, home visits. Early
Intervention Program
• Positive and supportive approach vs. more problems
Helping Families with Structure
Goal is to create a parallel system at home that mirrors,
to some extent, what is in place in the school setting.
• Team approach-Seek help from Guidance Counselors
and School Social Workers.
• Communication drives the system and must be
ongoing, especially early on.
• Positive focus with worthwhile incentives.
Know Your Resources
• Guidance counselor-depressed, isolated,
aggressive students, peer relations, clinical
needs.
• Social Worker-suspected or reported abuse,
neglect, basic needs, parent custody
questions, DJJ needs.
• Resource Officer-illegal acts, fighting, truancy.
Administration-learn your school’s process.
• Systems in place such as PBIS, STEPS.
• Locate written protocols for reporting behavioral issues.
• DPI modules on “Understanding Student Behavior”
• Document events (or it never happened).
• Referrals to Alternative School, speech, learning needs,
psychological testing, physician, counseling, other.
Contact Information
Steve McRae, LCSW
Jackson County Director
Jackson County Psychological Services
smcrae@jcpsmail.org
(828)506-2858