Tips and Strategies for Working With Your Most Challenging Students
Intended Audiences - Anyone
By the end of the presentations, participants will be able to:
1. Know the difference between positive interventions and punishment
2. List and discuss the four Goal-Directed Behaviors
3. Understand how mental illness can impact student behavior
4. Begin implementing strategies taken from the presentations
Keynote Option:
Students with challenging behaviors and classroom management are often described by teachers and administrators as the biggest challenge they face in their jobs. This is not a surprise when most teacher preparation programs rarely spend the appropriate amount of time on these particular areas. With this keynote, Mr. Tolliver aims to educate participants on practical strategies that they can use as a whole school, in classrooms, and for individual students. These approaches are focused on positive interventions rather than relying on punishments to "control" students and their unwanted behavior. Using a Responsive to Intervention (RTI) Three Tiered Approach, topics include: Goal-Directed Behavior (based on the work of psychologists Alfred Adler and Rudolph Dreikurs) as well as explanations of prominent childhood disorders as described by the Diagnostic Statistical Manual- Volume V.
Much time is also spent on the particular needs of male students as well as Matt's opinions on the negative neurological effects of too much "screen time" on students.
Workshop Option:
This workshop delves further into the topics presented in the keynote option. The starting point is looking at basic routines, procedures, and expectations, whether for a whole school, individual classrooms, or parents at home. The explanation of the difference between positive behavior interventions (logical consequences) and punishment serves as a foundation of this workshop. A discussion of using the RTI model with students is explained and suggestions for tiered interventions are given.
Participants are also introduced to the idea of Goal-Directed Behaviors (as described by Alfred Adler and Rudolph Dreikurs) that often lead to challenging behaviors:
1. to gain attention
2. to seek power
3. to seek revenge
4. to display inadequacy (real or imagined)
Childhood mental health issues (specifically attention deficits, trauma/abuse, and autism spectrum disorders) are included in this presentation. Most importantly, though, are practical suggestions for working with these particular students. Finally, Matt will discuss the special needs of male students, most notably the negative effects of too much "screen time" on the brain.