Behavior Change Project On any regular class day, Student Es behavior ranges in variety and has been found

to be somewhat unpredictable at certain times in the morning. When the students first arrive in the classroom, Student E is calm and usually on-task with whatever activity he is involved in at his table. He remains on-task and at his chair until it is time to transition to a different activity. The teacher will call students to their morning song time, and the students will sit on their carpet squares to begin this time. During this transition, Student E becomes heavily distracted and restless, as he is constantly moving and not paying attention to directions. He is looking around everywhere and does not sit still in his chair while waiting to begin. It is not until the students are given permission to stand up and perform some type of kinesthetic movement to a song that Student E becomes attentive to direction. Once he is given the opportunity to move around, he is more able to focus on what the teacher is saying or what he is learning. This type of behavior seems to be very typical of Student E; he becomes much more distracted during times of transition, and he struggles to follow instructions independently. However, he does pay attention to direction much more when listening to or singing a song with the class. In addition to this, Student E has also displayed much more on-task behavior when his learning has involved some sort of interactive technology. It has also been observed that when this student is sitting in his chair for longer than 2-3 minutes, he becomes restless and begins squirming around. This becomes a distraction to his peers as well as to his own learning. Finally, during the students center time it has been noted that Student E goes from one toy or activity to the next very quickly. Often times, he will leave

his assigned center and move sporadically around the room making noises and exaggerated movements. Brainstorming/ABC Observation/Function Hypothesis When observing Student E within the classroom, there are several behaviors that are displayed by the student that cause distraction to his and others learning. Most of these behaviors occur during periods of time in which Student E has to focus on one task for a longer period of time, such as playing with one toy or sitting still for longer than two minutes. One of the most common time frames in which this negative behavior is occurring is during center time. For center time, Student E gets to choose what center he would like to be in for the day (science, blocks, library, or home living) and he is then directed to interact with various toys at that center. When Student E first enters center time, he is able to play quietly and appropriately, focusing on a task he has chosen. However, after about two minutes in center time Student E loses interest in whatever toy he has and begins playing with another one. He leaves his first set of toy items sprawled across the floor, and begins to show behaviors of restlessness. Specifically, after leaving his first set of toys Student E likes to stand up and begin to twirl, run, or roll on his stomach at his center. After doing some sort of movement, Student E also starts enhancing his noise level by playfully screaming with his toys or by banging toys on various objects in his center. This behavior continues for about 20-30 seconds before a teacher intervenes. The classroom teacher will verbally tell Student E to stop whatever inappropriate behavior he is doing. However, Student E ignores the teachers direction and continues doing this behavior. Sometimes, the student will acknowledge the teachers instructions by looking at them after they give instruction. But rather than heed instruction, Student E still continues his

negative behaviors. The classroom teacher will tell Student E to stop his behavior a second time, this time with more firmness in her voice. The student will continue to ignore his teacher. Finally, by the third time the teacher will get up and place their hands on the students shoulders to get his attention. When the teacher gives Student E this type of individualized attention, he ceases the negative behavior and continues his play more quietly. This positive behavior continues for about 10 minutes, and then depending on the students schedule, the negative behavior may return. After much observation, I believe that the function of Student Es behavior is attention, specifically wanting individualized attention from his teachers. In order to address this students off-task behavior and need for attention, I have chosen to use a behavior activity chart with the student. I believe that Student E will benefit greatly from a behavior activity chart for several reasons. First, this chart will include three different fine-motor activities that are simple and do not require an extended amount of time to complete. Each task involves the use of items that are designed to keep Student Es attention and teach him compliance. A picture of each task is also included on the behavior activity chart and is numbered 1-3. For each of the tasks, Student E will place a token on the numbered activity once he has completed it. After he has completed all three tasks, Student E will be rewarded with a set amount of computer time. This should be an effective reward because Student E loves technology, especially the computer. By providing the student with a visual map of what he has accomplished and how much more he still needs before earning his reward, the students on-task behavior should be more focused and positive while performing activities. This is a simple yet effective tool teachers can use during the students center time, and that is when I plan to implement it. I

hope that by using this tool enough, it will increase Student Es on-task behavior as well as teach him compliance. Implementation The initial implementation of this behavior activity chart occurred in the morning during the students center time. It was a rainy day outside, and the students in the class were quiet and seemed a bit sleepy. I had asked the classroom teacher if I could work with Student E during the childrens center time and she agreed that would be a great time to start the intervention with him. While she began assigning other students to centers, I asked Student E to come sit with me on the floor at the front of the room. He agreed, and we sat Indian-style in an area of the classroom that was not taken up for centers. A few others students at their own centers asked about what was taking place and I told them I was doing something individual with Student E. I proposed this intervention to Student E by explaining to him that he would be doing a few activities that would be a lot of fun. Next, I pulled out the behavior activity chart I created as well as a bin full of materials I would use for the students activities. I placed the chart in front of Student E and proceeded to explain to him what was going to take place. I explained to him that after doing each activity, he would place a token on the numbers 1, 2, and 3. He was a bit distracted while I explained this to him, and there were several times where I had to capture the students attention by putting the token directly in front of his face. However, once he was engaged and ready to begin, I pointed to the first picture of buttons so as to show him what he would be doing. I got out the materials needed, and he began putting buttons in a container in the same way one would put coins into a piggy bank. This task proved to be a bit challenging for the student because of the low muscle tones in one of his hands; but after several attempts to

model what he was to do Student E was performing the task well. I could tell that he was ready to move on to the next activity, so I showed him how to place the first token on the number one. Next, Student E attempted to put together a puzzle involving different shapes. I believe it would have been to Student Es benefit had I chosen a simpler puzzle, but nonetheless I do believe a puzzle was a great activity that kept this student engaged and on-task. Again I placed a token on the number two, and we moved on to the last activity. On the behavior activity chart I pointed to the third picture, which was a picture of clothespins hanging on a line. For his third and final activity, Student E would attempt to clip clothespins onto a small dowel rod. I began by modeling for the student what I wanted him to do. Then, I used the hand-over-hand method to again show the student what he would be doing. He was eager to perform this task on his own, so I let him do so. Student E was able to hold the dowel rod with one hand, but was having difficulty pinching the end of the clothespin to clip in on the dowel rod. It took several attempts, but finally Student E was able to perform this task with very little assistance from the teacher. Out of the variety of activities Student E was asked to do, this activity was the one that seemed to mostly increase his on-task behavior and focus. The next meeting time, I again met with Student E during the students center time. This time, however, Student E was much more reluctant to participate initially. I had to wait and give him some time before asking if he wanted to continue doing some activities with me again. After he agreed, I chose to do three different fine-motor activities with him to see how he would respond. I explained to him that if he was able to complete the three activities, he would get computer time for a few minutes. This motivated him, and we began working on activities. The first activity I had Student E perform in was a file folder

matching game. The second activity Student E performed was stacking ladder rungs together. The third and final activity that this student completed for the days session was a type of puzzle on which Student E had to remove then replace about 20 toppers from a board. Unfortunately, as soon as he finished the third activity he was brought to the restroom, and then students went into circle time immediately after this. Results After meeting with this student two times, there is slight difference I have noticed in him. Unfortunately, the implementation of this behavioral intervention was not done sooner and therefore I believe the results from the intervention are not as concrete or sure as they could be. In spite of this, the results from this behavioral intervention do seem to show positive impact on the students behavior. One of the first things I have noticed in Student Es behavior since implementing one-on-one activity time with him is the decrease in sporadic movements he does throughout morning class time. Student E has sat in his chair without disruption during the students table activity time, and has worked on doing one activity rather than several. In addition to this, Student E has shown a lot more responsive to verbal directions. Since working with this student individually, he has begun to adopt some of the positive behaviors that his teachers expect from him. For example, Student E now remains seated with his back to the back of the chair and his feet facing forward much more often than before. If the teachers have to tell Student E to sit this way, he will listen to their instruction after only one warning. Another way this intervention has shown to positively impacted Student E is in his attentiveness during the class circle and center time. Rather than scream, make exaggerated movements, and look all around,

Student E has shown more focus during these times and has even modeled positive behavior for his peers. The results from this behavioral intervention have given me more insight on this student and to his behaviors in the classroom. Because of the individually-focused time I have spent with this student, I have noticed that he truly seems to thrive from this type of intervention. He is quicker to obey, and I believe this is because his desire for attention has been fulfilled more than it was before. Student E is also growing in his ability to remain ontask and would grow even more if this type of intervention was implemented daily. While these results show signs of having a positive impact on Student Es behavior, there are a few things that could be changed to improve this implementations effectiveness. One of the first changes I would make when implementing this intervention again would be to give the student a set amount of time in which he had to complete the activities. Without this, Student E is more likely to act leisurely when performing these skills. A set time limit would also support Student Es practice of on-task behavior. Another change I would make in regards to the activities this student was given is to create a larger slot in the cup for the students button activity. I noticed that Student E was having difficulty placing tiny buttons in a very thin slot the first time we did this activity. When he is first starting to practice fine motor skills such as this, it would be more beneficial for him to have larger manipulatives so he could learn the basic skill, and then work towards smaller manipulatives to improve fine-motor skills. Next, I believe it would be more practical for both the teachers and the student if the manipulatives for each activity were placed in a small 3-drawer container. By placing materials in a small confined space like this, the teacher(s) and student could easily have access to materials and this would also

keep them organized and contained. Finally, I think the students performance and attentiveness to the activities would increase if the teacher sat with the student at a table rather than on the floor. By having the student on the floor, I felt as though the students body positioning compromised his attention and dedication to the tasks. Overall, the results from this implementation show improvement in Student Es positive behavior and a reduction in the unwanted behaviors previously observed. I believe that by working with this student on a one-to-one level for a longer, more consistent amount of time he will increase his focus during lessons and his positive behavioral skills.