Problem:

            Felix is known for starting fights in the yards, jumping over the cafeteria tables, and running around the room when sitting behavior is required.  He also performs silly stunts to distract other students such as humming a tune aloud with his bobble head and tilting his chair back and forth until it capsizes like a boat.  He finds himself to be amusing when he gets to show off his ability to do a split or flip on the rug during transition times.  Other children love the “entertainment” and Felix enjoys the attention that he receives from his classmates and me.

Goal:

            My goal was to have Felix sit properly and complete an assignment in the allotted time.  The way he displayed his behavior would also be appropriate and safe in the classroom.

Implementation:

            I spent about one period or about forty minutes catching Felix being good in class one day.  I tried to use specific and positive comments whenever there was an opportunity.  I started out by saying something like, “Felix, I love the way you are sitting quietly in your seat waiting for our next instruction.  Felix, I see that you have your pencil out and are now ready to work.”  Now, the assignment for that period was to write a color poem using the five senses.  For example, if the student chooses the color red, the color poem will look something like, “Red tastes like the sweet cherry lollipop waiting to be sold at the candy store.  Red smells like red tulips blooming in the spring garden, etc.”

            During modeled writing, I continued using positive comments as much as I could.  Comments like, “Felix, I see that you raised your hand, do you want to share some of your thoughts about the color poem with us?  I love the way you sit on the rug with your legs crossed.  I am happy to see that your eyes are on me, that tells me that you are paying attention to me.”

            I also continued using the technique during independent writing until the end of the period.  I said something like, “Wow! You finished writing down your name, class, and date.  You remembered to use capital letters for the title of the poem.”

Outcome/Results

            The forty-minute time period went very well.  Not only Felix was able to focus on the task at hand, he did not even get a chance to distract other students.  He was engaged in the writing activity and did not leave his seat once.  He gave me a smile every time I said something positive about him.  I noticed that he was more willing to participate in our discussion and the writing activity because he felt that he belonged in our group.  He actually raised his hand to contribute his ideas while we worked on our color poem.  I am glad that the technique worked very well with him.

What happened? (Effective/Ineffective? What would I do in the future?)

            I will definitely continue using the same technique with Felix and see if it consistently works with other subject areas also.  Instead of using it for one period, I will probably try to increase the time period a little longer each time.  Next time, I will try an hour or maybe an hour and fifteen minutes to see how he responds to positive comments.  Hopefully, by catching him being good will help train him to be a better decision maker in school and in the society in the future.