What you call a problem...

There is a wide span of expected behaviors with young students.  What's more, there is a wide span of behaviors when working with students with learning challenges.  In my years of assessing and working with students like this, it's clear to me.  What you consider a problem, I think is a strength.

• The student asks you for extra time in a game.

• The student who works to divert you from your lesson plan.

• The student who asks extra questions, or wants to know something personal.

• The student who shares personal narratives on a Monday or Friday.

• The student who tries to manipulate the situation through passive or active behavior (insert whatever that student likes to do!).

You see, I get how these kinds of behaviors can be problematic.  I completely get that these kinds of behaviors can be disruptive.  Not only can they throw off a lesson, but they can mess up a day in school as well. The disruptions make for the problems, but on the other side of disruption is cognition.

What goes through the mind of a child who is trying to manipulate a situation to their advantage?

• A chance to watch steam shoot out of a teacher's ears?

• A chance to flex their muscles and control a situation?

• Distraction at it's core; whether to serve a need or whether it's not attached to any desire

• A chance to get some mental input--avoiding non-preferred things, getting to the good stuff

When you consider the multitude of behaviors that can disrupt a small group or a classroom, there comes with it a multitude of reasons.  Under the surface of those reasons we have cognition: a student who is thinking about wants/needs and is trying to exert themselves to show what they want.  A behaviorist would say that there is a function to every behavior, and I would like to add that there is thinking that goes along for the ride to function-town.

What makes me worried at my core is when a student presents too much passivity.  A student who goes with the flow too often.  Wonderfully compliant and part of the classroom routine, but not asserting themselves.  It doesn't mean that they're not thinking, quite the contrary.  The student could know the rules and want to follow them.

On the other hand, some students who go with the flow, who make your job less tough, aren't pushing the envelope necessarily.   While hard to manage some behaviors, students who display behaviors are working toward something in a different way.  How do we modify that behavior? How do we use the challenge to both the student and the teacher's advantage?

• engage the student in a new challenge; whether it's something outside of your current curriculum, something that is an extension of the current curriculum, or an individualized project in which they can showcase something they know or know how to do.
• some things I can think of would be multimedia projects using a PowerPoint or Buncee, a "genius hour" in which students can present on something that they have expertise on.

• engage the student to be a teacher/leader for other students- empowering a student who presents with some behavioral challenges can let them direct their energy to something more worthwhile.
• read to a younger class, work with students in the class who might be struggling with a topic (particularly if the student you are thinking about is doing well in that topic).

• engage the student in meta-cognition about their behavior- the whys of the behavior, not the hows.
• I like to keep students from my small group back for a minute when I've noticed challenging behaviors.  A quick check-in about what was observed and what might have been the reason.  During these "quieter" times, students can find their voice more easily than being put on the spot.  
• Using clear expectations is helpful as well- checklists or group-agreed behavior contracts about what is expected behavior.  In this way you are engaging the student's thinking about behavior and allowing them to check-in with themselves.

It's easy for me to say that challenging behavior is a strength when in reality it is much harder to manage.  Couple this with the ebbs and flows of our days, our lives, and the school, and these behaviors can seem insurmountable.  Think about a day where you are not feeling 100%, and now you add a student's challenging behavior.  Not only do you not want to manage it, but the behavior might even seem worse than it is.  The perspective offered to you in the moment you're not feeling your best is not one that allows you to have compassion for the child and their behavior.

Consider this idea of perspective when you come to your next encounter with challenging behavior.

• What are the causes?
• What is the student trying to communicate?
• How can I direct this behavior into something that can benefit us both?