Case
Inclusion: Burnout

Ms. Heart is a Special Education Teacher in an upper elementary setting. She has a student that has an IEP; is off task over 90% of the time, antagonizes other students so that the teacher cannot hear, is capable but displays very little care or concern for work or completion, and tries to just put her head down and sleep daily during math.

Several different strategies and interventions have been attempted to no avail. Ms. Heart is extremely frustrated knowing that her student is capable under the appropriate conditions but is faced with making it work in the general education classroom. How can she serve this very demanding student along with the other 5 students with IEP's that are on extremely different levels both socially and academically?

Posted on: 10/16/14 | Views: 890
Solution #1
It sounds like a lot of this negative behavior could be coming from boredom, or a lack of challenge. Ms. Heart needs to find what motivates this student and use it accordingly to help this student achieve more appropriate classroom behaviors. Also, Ms. Heart mentioned that this student is very capable under the appropriate conditions. She needs to explain to this student that in the real world, conditions will not always be favorable. This student needs to learn some coping skills so she can be most successful in life. Another suggestion is to try implementing "Whole Brain Teaching." Many teachers have had success with this teaching system.

I agree with this solution. Challenging the student can take away the student's boredom.

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Solution #2
Maybe with young children, an incentive program would work to get the student on task and to perform better on assessments. If students display the intellect to complete quality work then they should be given challenging curriculum and assessments. Ms. Heart should think about giving incentives to this student, along with differentiating assignments that offer more of a challenge for the student. Also, student choice could make the student more invested in their education because he or she choose their assignment.

This was going to be my response and break up the day so the student have an opportunity to earn multiple incentives through-out the day so they can see themselves as making some good behavior games verses always being in trouble. It is critical to build their self-esteem up with knowing they can behave and be on task in the class. The teacher has to make a huge deal when the students is making good choices and not put a lot of emphases or attention on the negative behavior.

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Solution #3
I agree with all of the posted solutions, but also Ms. Heart needs to consider the needs of the rest of the students in her class. She must not neglect their learning while struggling to help this particular student. A possible solution is the ignore strategy. The off task may be a cry for attention. Ms. Heart could possible meet with the student's parents to discuss home factors that could be attributing to her school behavior.
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Solution #4
Since the student is "capable under the appropriate conditions", Mrs. Heart should work to replicate those conditions in the general education setting. Proximity control, preferential seating, and a reinforcement schedule could help keep this student on task. Calling an IEP meeting to meet with both the parents and other professionals to discuss additional strategies might also be a good idea.
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Solution #5
If the student is screaming out they are most likely craving attention. The teacher should look for one monument that the student is doing something right even if it is small and praise them for that behavior. The teacher should also ignore as much of the bad behavior as can be allowed in the classroom. The teacher should respond to bad behavior without using a negative response turn the response into something positive like "you are such a smart student I know that you know better".
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