Best Practices

Gina Lenz
County College of Morris

On November 13, 2015 and November 16, 2015 I had the opportunity to observe Mrs.
Hoffmans class at Eisenhower Middle School in Roxbury, New Jersey. Mrs. Hoffman, with the
help of one paraprofessional, provides instruction based on the principles of Applied Behavior
Analysis (ABA), and her lessons focus on independent life skills, language, and functional math
and reading. With just two students in her class, both of whom have Autism, Mrs. Hoffman and
her aide are able to spend a considerable amount of time working with each student one-on-one.
As a future special education teacher and a paraprofessional with experience working in this
same program at Roxburys Nixon School with pre-kindergarten students, I was able to
recognize many of the techniques used to impart knowledge, refine a skill, or redirect and
reinforce behavior. I even knew one of Mrs. Hoffmans students, who moved on to the middle
school last year, and it was wonderful to see his improvement and experience the dynamic of the
program subsequent to that which is already so near and dear to my heart.
On my first day of observation, I arrived at Eisenhower Middle School at eight oclock in
the morning, just as homeroom was starting. During this time, the students, referred to herein as
J and E, constructed their schedules for the day. Both J and E fastened velcro-adorned
pictures to their respective daily schedules to represent what they would be doing at any given
point throughout the day. The students later used this as a reference during transitions between
activities. After completing their schedules, J and E worked cooperatively to complete a morning
routine; E used his laptop to research the weather for the day, which he shared with J. J was then
supposed to write this information on the board along with the date so that they could work
together to complete the next task. When J forgot to do so, Mrs. Hoffman did not intervene, but
waited for E to communicate the error to J. They both decided what clothing would be
appropriate for the given weather, and E included this information on the board as well. Even

this seemingly insignificant observation is important; instead of redirecting J herself, Mrs.

Hoffman created a situation where the two students were required to interact and communicate
effectively to get a job done.
Once these morning tasks were complete, it was time to attend a Veterans Day assembly.
While walking through the hallway, Mrs. Hoffman allowed J and E to find their way through the
hallways independently. We followed behind at a distance and reconvened upon reaching the
auditorium. Though everyone remained seated and quiet for the most part, Mrs. Hoffman
employed subtle techniques to direct the students attention. For example, she tapped Js hand to
indicate when in was appropriate to clap. Upon returning to the classroom, the students took a
bathroom break. Mrs. Hoffman watched from the classroom door to make sure that both students
made a direct path to the correct bathroom. When they returned, everyone was ready to start the
day of learning.
First, E used is laptop to access a file that the teacher posted on Google Classroom. This
file contained a journal-based assignment that required E to respond in writing to a picture
prompt. Simultaneously, J, who does not eat breakfast at home, prepared himself a bowl of
cereal. In the spirit of ABA, Mrs. Hoffman gave both students plenty of praise as they succeeded
in completing their assigned tasks. Using language like I love how you rinsed your bowl and
put the cap back on the milk, she reinforced favorable behavior by letting the students know
exactly what they were doing well. Likewise, she used a series of prompts when the students had
difficulty interpreting what to do next. When J was finished eating, for instance, she directed him
to his schedule. When he failed to pinpoint the next activity, she used the hierarchy of prompts to
set him on the right track. The hierarchy of prompts involves giving the student the slightest
prompt possible first, and working up to a more instructive prompt as the students needs require.

In this case, she simply pointed to the schedule, and J was able to move on by himself; no verbal
or physical prompt was needed. In fact, Mrs. Hoffman explained that she never uses a verbal
prompt for actions that do not require a verbal response. As someone who has experience with
and an interest in ABA, I found this rule of thumb quite helpful.
As time progressed, there came a point when J continually restrained himself from
getting up out of his seat and was having difficulty attending to tasks. Mrs. Hoffman picked up
on this behavior immediately and offered a solution: Do you need to run? she asked. J got up
and ran a few laps around the classroom, after which he as able to sit down and rejoin the lesson.
Similarly, there were a few times when E had trouble interpreting Mrs. Hoffmans emotions.
According to the teacher, E is very concerned with doing the right thing, and experiences some
anxiety when he is unable to ascertain how his actions are being received. In an effort to ease his
stress and help him to understand her intent, Mrs. Hoffman talked about feelings with E and
made sure he was accurate in his analysis of her feedback. It was awesome to see how tuned in
the teacher was to her students behavior and to watch how she modified her instruction to allow
for the students needs.
One of the main components of ABA is discrete trial training, which is a one-on-one
instructional method for teaching concepts like the features, functions, and class of objects.
Discrete trials focus on receptive ability, as well as fluency and tacting (labeling) and use
repetition to commit these factors to memory. For example, Mrs. Hoffman ran through letter
fluency trials with J, during which she placed cards with letters printed on them down on the
table in quick succession, while J quickly responded with the names of each letter. J received an
m&m after each successful grouping of trials, which reinforced his attending to the task and
made him willing to proceed.

I also really enjoyed watching E practice counting money. I have used touch math with
students in the past, which is a method that teaches touch points that correspond to each
number (one through nine) and help students to perform mathematical operations successfully.
However, I have never seen touch math used with money. Likewise, each coin was assigned
corresponding touch points, and E was able to use this method to count money efficiently. Upon
completing their assigned work, J and E earned choice time to choose any activity as a reward.
This was something they could look forward to and motivated them both to be willing learners.
At the end of the day, I also had the pleasure of cooking with J and E, which they practice
once per week. Mrs. Hoffmans classroom is a former home-economics room and still contains
six cooking stations! We made tacos, and the process was absolutely amazing. Mrs. Hoffman
provided each student with a binder containing illustrated cooking instructions. She had the
students take their time working through each individual step, and when they needed assistance,
she simply referred them back to their binders and asked them questions to help them work out
the answer. For example, when the recipe called for one cup of cheese and the students seemed
to be at a loss as to what to do next, she said something along the lines of over here I see
something that says cup on it. She asked, does it say one cup? Although it was not, in fact, the
correct measuring cup, this exchange alerted the students to location of the measuring cups and
prompted them to search for the one that matched the description in the instructions. It took
about an hour and a half, but at the end, we all enjoyed tacos that were delicious and made with
love and care.
Redirection and rewards were essentially the backbone of this ABA based program. Even
though the skills taught were much more functional and vocational than those taught in the
similar pre-kindergarten program I worked in, the foundation of the instruction were quite the

same and the instruction itself carried out in a similar fashion. Mrs. Hoffman was able to make
every task she assigned motivating to her students by implementing a system of rewards in line
with the interest of both students. She fostered their independence and focused on building skills
that were realistic and beneficial to their lifestyles, which is a direct representation of my own
teaching philosophy. I really enjoyed observing the ways in which Mrs. Hoffman modified her
instruction to suit the needs of her students whenever the need arose, and watching them respond
positively was further affirmation of how important it is for a teacher to know his or her students
and use that knowledge to enhance his or her practices. It was extremely beneficial for me to
experience an age group formerly unfamiliar to me, and I am glad to have had the opportunity to
witness the ways in which ABA is implemented and its success with older students.