The Teaching Behavior Together Podcast

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Latest Episodes:

3 Fun Ways to Incorporate Social Emotional Learning into Your Daily Classroom Routine Apr 12, 2022

Hi everyone and welcome to this episode of the teaching behavior together podcast. Today we're going to be talking about how to incorporate behavioral and social emotional learning skills into your classroom in really fun ways.

The very first strategy I have for you for incorporating behavioral and social emotional learning skills in your classroom in a fun way would be to incorporate it into your morning meetings. If you already have morning meetings set up, set aside three to five minutes where you can incorporate some behavioral and social emotional learning targets. The easiest way to do this is have your students model different coping strategies that they engage in. It's really fun to have them submit different coping strategies they engage in in some sort of box or jar and then you randomly pull one out and whoever submitted that gets to model it for the entire class and then the entire class gets a chance to practice.

It's really easy to incorporate this type of strategy within your morning meeting because you already have the routine of your morning meeting this is just something you can add at the end really quickly or maybe in the middle to break up the different things that you do during your morning meeting. It is a great way to get in that social emotional learning right at the beginning of the day.

Another strategy you can use would be to incorporate some social emotional learning games with in your stations or rotations. So if you already have stations or rotations set up in your classroom maybe you do them three times a week or you do them everyday you can easily incorporate some social emotional learning games into those stations or rotations. Now you're probably thinking what social emotional learning games are out there for me to incorporate? Well I have a bundle for you on teacherspayteachers that includes several different social emotional learning games that you can easily incorporate into your stations or rotations.

Some examples of games included in that resource would be some tic tac toe activities, various memory games, emotions dominos, I-spy worksheets, and color by emotions worksheets. All of these different activities and games are great for stations and rotations. They have students working together or independently depending on how you have it set up. If they are working together you're also building in those collaborative working skills and teaching additional social emotional learning skills.

Lastly, another great way to work in social emotional learning skills into your classroom would be to incorporate some different read alouds that address different SEL skills. I did an entire episode on my top four behavioral social emotional learning read alouds to have for your classroom check out episode 61 to hear all about my favorites.

Resources Discussed in this Episode
Social Emotional Learning Games
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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One Simple Strategy for Dealing with Disruptive Behavior in the Classroom Apr 05, 2022

Hi everyone and welcome to this episode of the teaching behavior together podcast. Today we're going to be talking about one simple strategy you can implement in your classroom tomorrow to start seeing a decrease in disruptive behaviors.

This simple strategy is called proximity and what it looks like is continually moving around the room while you are teaching.

I know this sounds super simple, how can just moving around the room decrease disruptive behavior? But when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Think about a time you were at a professional development or maybe a staff meeting and you had a text message and you checked your phone. If your principal or whoever was leading that PD walked over to you, you probably would put your phone away. this is the principle of proximity.

So what could this look like in your classroom? Essentially all you have to do is walk around your classroom while you're delivering content or students are engaging in different activities either independently or collaboratively with each other.

Yep it's that simple all you have to do is walk around your classroom and continue to circulate. If a student is engaging in disruptive behavior you might want to hang near that spot a little bit longer and allow them the chance to engage in that appropriate behavior.

Being in close proximity allows you to do two really important things and the first is probably the most important. First, it allows you to provide direct reinforcement, praise, or acknowledgement for engaging in that appropriate behavior when that student starts engaging in that appropriate behavior. Because you're in really close proximity you're able to give that feedback really quickly.

This also allows you to provide a really quiet redirection towards an appropriate behavior or a prompt towards appropriate behavior. This gives the student an idea of what they should be doing and then once they start engaging in that appropriate behavior you're in close proximity and can provide that reinforcement, praise, or acknowledgement.

Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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3 Easy Strategies for Dealing with Tantrums in Your Classroom Mar 15, 2022

Hi everyone and welcome to this episode of the teaching behavior together podcast, today we are going to chat about dealing with tantrums. Tantrums can be rough in the classroom, they can really disrupt the lesson you are teaching as well as trigger other student behavior. Here are some of my go to strategies when dealing with tantrums.

My first tip when dealing with a tantrum is to ask the child what they need. I would say something like “tell me (or whatever form of communication they use) what you need.” And wait. It might take a little bit of time, but I give the wait time necessary for them to process what I asked and identify what they need. At times they may not be able to identify what they need because they do not know what they need. It might seem like forever, because minutes during a tantrum, are like extra long minutes, but giving wait time can increase the likelihood you will get a response. If we keep asking questions and prompting, it might delay the student being able to tell us what they need. You might also ask something like “do you need a break or a walk?” if you think that would be more appropriate for the student. Give them a chance to identify what they need and allow them access.

Next, if I have to give directions, I keep them as short as possible and I include what I want the student to do within the direction. I might say something like, I need you to walk over here.” Or something similar to that. If I am giving directions it is to keep the student safe. Maybe the tantrum is happening in the hallway and a class is about to come in from lunch, I want to maintain the safety and dignity of that student so I might direct them to a different location. If you give long or complicated directions the student probably will not be able to process them and it probably won’t help the tantrum, it might even make it worse. Keep verbal directives to a minimum as they require the student to process information which is challenging to do when they are elevated.

Lastly, I model regulation strategies. Essentially you want to co-regulate with the student. Demonstrate some go to regulation strategies and wait it out with them. I know this can be really challenging, again minutes during a tantrum seem really long. Modeling a strategy can help students engage in that strategy and hopefully allow them to calm down their body. We want our students to be able to return to a state of calmness no matter how long that takes. Of course we want it to be sooner than later, but sometimes these things just take a while.

As a bonus time, teaching regulation strategies when students are calm is the best way to ensure they will have tools in their tool box to engage in strategy that will allow them to be successful at calming themselves. I highly suggest teaching and working on self-regulation on a regular basis in your classroom. If you need a calm down kit, there is a free one in the description of this podcast, download it today and set up a calm down corner tomorrow in your classroom.

As always, I love it when you share with me how these tips work in your classroom over on Instagram. Let me know if your kids are loving the calm down kit! Chat with your soon.
Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Calm Down Kit
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Relationships Aren't Always Enough Mar 08, 2022

Today we are going to talk about what to do in situations where a student presents with some challenging behavior and the recommendation that you are receiving from others within the building is to build a relationship with that student. This can be a really challenging situation to be in. When you are looking for support from other personnel within the building and you're continually getting that same recommendation of building a relationship with a student, it can be really frustrating.

So first let's talk about the importance of relationships within a school setting. Relationships are the foundation for everything. Building relationships with your students and within your classroom by creating that positive classroom climate is essential to success within your classroom. It is definitely the foundation that we build off of when challenging behaviors present.

The very first thing to do is document all of the interventions that you have in place. This can be easily done through just a checklist of general interventions that you have set up in your classroom such as antecedent strategies that you incorporate into your classroom, relationship building strategies, and any strategies that you use to create that positive classroom environment and climate.

The next thing I would do is advocate for more support. and what I mean by additional support would be a Tier 2 level intervention or tier three if that's appropriate based on the challenging behavior that you're experiencing. it is important to remember that Tier 2 level interventions are typically done in a small group format and that this often can take place either in the classroom or take place out of the classroom.

The last thing I would do would be to advocate for feasible interventions to be implemented within your classroom. After you've documented your interventions and advocated for Tier 2 or tier 3 level support that involves explicitly teaching skills that our student might be lagging in order for them to engage in appropriate behavior in your classroom, I would then ask for assistance in implementing those interventions feasibly within your classroom. Don't be afraid to ask for support or ask for someone to come in and provide assistance or model what it could look like in your classroom. this shows that you're open to implementing different interventions and you're also open to additional support from other personnel within your building.

I really hope this episode was helpful, try out some of these strategies let me know how they work for you over on Instagram at teaching behavior together and have a great rest of your day.
Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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4 Must Have Social Emotional Learning Read Alouds Mar 01, 2022

Hi everyone and welcome to this episode of the teaching behavior together podcast, today we are going to chat about some of my favorite SEL read alouds. These are must haves for your classroom bookshelves. All of the books will be linked in the description of this podcast. You will be using my amazon affiliate link so I do benefit monetarily from your purchase if you choose to use that link.

The first book or really book set is the Little Spot of Emotions book set. This is an 8 book series with books about happiness, kindness, anger, sadness, etc. The books are great when you are introducing emotions and can be an essential addition to a classroom library.

The next book set would be the Worry Woos. These are a series of books about emotions and provide students with strategies for managing those emotions. They also come with plush toys that could be a great addition to your classroom. These books are super fun and engaging for all of your students.

I also highly recommend the Kids Book About books. You can pick from so many topic areas like empathy, anxiety, sharing, etc. You can look through all of the topics and pick which ones you are interested in. The books are great for some of the more challenging topics to talk about with your students as they provide the language needed to talk about these topics.

My fourth recommendation would be the What Should Darla or What Should Danny Do books. These are books about decision making and power of choices. The books come with multiple stories making them perfect for a series within your classroom.

I have included links for all of these books in the description below.

Little Spot Books https://www.dianealber.com/

Worry Woos https://www.worrywoos.com/

A Kids Book About https://akidsco.com/

What Should Danny Do https://www.whatshoulddannydo.com/
Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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3 Simple Strategies to Avoid Power Struggles Feb 22, 2022

Today we are going to be talking all about power struggles. We’ve all been there, in the middle of a power struggle wondering how we got there in the first place.

I know we have all been there, but on the off chance you have never been in a power struggle, they are basically any instance in which you have an unproductive back and forth with a student. This can look like you asking a student to do something and them responding with no and you two go back and forth without any progress toward a desired outcome. They are not a great place to be. The best strategy is to avoid getting in a power struggle in the first place, and here are my three go to strategies to do this successfully.

First, take a problem solving approach and invite the student to problem solve with you. For example, if you are asking the student to transition from area to another and they do not want to you might say “hey (insert student name) it is time for small group, what are your thoughts on how we can get there?” It might take a little while, and often does, but you can help guide the student through a problem solving approach and agreeing to a solution together. Basically you are helping the student by providing some structure and choice to engage in the appropriate/requested behavior. Let’s walk through another example, say you work with older students and you have to keep reminding them to put their phones away. You might say something like “hey everyone, I don’t want to have to keep reminding you to put your phones away, how can we solve this?” Listen to all of their ideas and come up with a collaborative plan together. You might be surprised with some of the ideas they come up with. I have seen this work on both the individual and group level. The key is, when you think you might enter a power struggle, invite the student to help problem solve a solution.

Another strategy would be to provide a non verbal prompt. This can be a written prompt on a post it or maybe a gestural prompt or a signal to the student. Either way, if you are engage in nonverbal behavior, the student is less likely to produce a verbal response back. Therefore, avoiding a power struggle. This might look like putting a post it on a student’s desk that says “we are working on our math, you can play your game at lunch.” All too often when we give verbal prompts we invite that verbal response back and it might not lead us in a good direction.

The last strategy also involves how we deliver prompts as well. One strategy that can work well is to prompt around the behavior. What I mean by that is when you are prompting, avoid including the undesired behavior in the prompt. Often when we include the undesired behavior in the prompt students feel called out, criticized and become defensive. If we prompt around the behavior and include the behavior we want to see, this could help us avoid a power struggle. For example instead of saying stop talking across the room to your friend you might say “hey I don’t want you to miss this, let’s flip to this page so we can stay on track, you can talk to your friend later. This might not be the way you are used to prompting and whenever you can include the desired behavior you are much more likely to see success. I would give it a try and come up with some common prompts you give and reword them to prompt around the undesired behavior. This might help increase your use of the prompts in the future and avoid those power struggles.

Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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Mastering the Praise Ratio Feb 01, 2022

Hi friends and welcome to this episode of the teaching behavior together podcast. I am so glad you joined us for this chat about the 4:1 praise ratio strategy. This is a pretty common strategy used or discussed within schools, however, it is really challenging to carry out. Today we are going to talk about some feasible ways to master this strategy and increase those desired behaviors within your classroom.

Ok, the 4:1 praise ratio strategy, for those that are unfamiliar, basically states that we should provide 4 positive interactions for every 1 corrective/redirective interaction. Some research says 5:1 some says 12:1. Whatever research you are reading, they all say we need to provide more praise or positive interactions than corrective/redirective/negative interactions when we are working with our students.

My first suggestion would be to download a repeat timer app on your phone. There are a ton of free ones, they are usually work out timers that notify you on an interval you set. I set my interval to like 3 minutes but this can change depending on how long my lesson is, so set it to an interval that works best for you. I keep mine on vibrate, put it in my pocket, and use it as a tactile prompt to provide reinforcement. This does not guarantee I hit the 4:1 ratio, but it serves a prompt for me to deliver praise or engage in a positive interaction. Therefore, I do not go through the whole lesson and completely forget to acknowledge the positive.

Another strategy I have used is post it praise. I included this in episode 55, but here is a quick recap. Before class I jot down a couple of praise statements I might give to the students. These might be general praise statements, like great work staying on task, or more specific praise statements related to the activity you are working on, such as nice job completing that puzzle. I would say, I write down maybe 10 and pass them out as we go through the activity. This way I already have my praise ready to go the post its serve as a reminder for me to give out that praise. Again, this does not guarantee I hit that 4:1 ratio, but it increases the likelihood I will be giving out that praise.

Ready for the next strategy-this one is pretty simple. Go back to the basics and praise or acknowledge what you see and hear. A lot of times when I am working with teachers, they tell me they do not know what to acknowledge. I always tell them to start with what they see or hear. It might sound silly, but the more you practice this the better you will get at delivering praise. You will start to notice all the things you students are doing well and provide praise for that. You can say something like “I heard you using kind words with a friend, nice job.” “I noticed you worked really hard when we were in groups, great work.” Using the phrase “I noticed, or I heard” can help guide your praise or positive interactions.

Lastly, every time you provide a redirection or correction let that serve as a prompt to yourself that you need to deliver a praise statement. This will get you to a 1:1 ratio which is a great place to start. Then you can slowly increase the amount of praise you are giving over time. With this strategy you are basically using yourself as the prompt. If it helps, for a couple of days, tally the praise statements and redirections you give in your classroom or have a teacher friend come in and observe you and tally. This will give you an idea of where you are and can help you set goals related to your praise goals!

Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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One Simple Strategy for Increasing Work Completion Jan 25, 2022

Hi friends and welcome to this episode of the teaching behavior together podcast. Last episode we talked about increasing engagement in your classroom. Today we are going to be talking about increasing work completion. I have one simple strategy for you to try in your classroom that we will chat about in today’s episode. Before I do that, if you have not already downloaded my free behavior intervention guide with 20 pages of strategies and examples of how to use those strategies in your classroom (across grade levels) use the link in the description of this podcast to do that right now!

Ok, friends, onto the strategy: often times when students are working independently or in groups on a task they can get a little off task. This is pretty normal, and we want to support our students in developing skills to maintain engagement and get back on task if they need that support.

Have you ever heard of a pomodoro technique? Maybe you have used this when writing lesson plans or IEPs. If you haven’t here is a basic explanation. You set a timer for 25 minutes, turn off all distractions and work for that entire period. You identify a goal for the tasks you want to get done, say for example, write the profile section for an IEP, or get your math lesson planned for next week. You only do the tasks you designated for those 25 minutes, no checking emails, or running to grab a snack. When the timer goes off you get a five minute break and repeat. If you haven’t tried it, I highly suggest it, the strategy has been shown to increase work production immensely.

You can use this same type of strategy for your students. You can do this is a couple of different ways. If you are working with younger students you might set some predetermined goals for a work period. Let’s say you are giving your class 30 minutes to create a story strip in a group. Maybe the story strip has 5 parts. You might set a timer for 8 minutes and let them know they should be done with the first two parts in that 8 minutes, let them have a short break, and repeat. This helps students remain on task and prevents some off task behavior like side conversations from occurring. Additionally, it demonstrates goal setting and working to meet a goal.

If you are working with older students you might give them the overall time period, say 60 minutes to work on a science lab. You can let them know every 15 minutes a timer will go and they will get a short break. Have them identify where they want to be as a group at every 15 minute time marker so they can develop those time management skills.

This strategy also works great for independent work. Basically you are asking students to set mini goals and providing structures and supports via a timer and short breaks to foster work completion. We are hitting on a lot of social emotional learning targets with this strategy such as self-management, goal setting, time management, accountability, and if you have your students working in groups, collaboration skills!

Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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3 Easy Ways to Increase Classroom Participation Jan 18, 2022

Hello everyone and welcome the this episode of the teaching behavior together podcast! I am so excited you are joining us today for this chat about increasing class participation. This is one of my favorite topics and I am going to share three of my go to strategies when we are trying to increase participation.

All of these strategies fall under the umbrella of active student responding opportunities. These strategies are great for whole class or small group lessons where you are checking for understanding prior to a task or experiential activity.

The first strategy I have for you is called response cards. Response cards can take a variety of forms, I am going to talk about a couple of the more popular ones and you can tweak those to make them feasible for your classroom. The most popular form of response cards is white boards and dry erase markers. I like to either laminate or insert paper into those page protectors and have students use that as the white board. This can be more cost effective and you should be able to find those materials easily.

When using response cards, you pose a question or problem and students answer or complete that problem. When you give the signal, students raise their boards. You glance around the classroom and gauge understanding. If the majority of the class was correct you move on, if you noticed the class has mixed answers or the majority missed the answer, you review that content. This allows for minute by minute feedback on the understanding of the lesson. This way you can determine if the whole class understands a concept instead of just the student that raised their hand.

Another way to do this would be to print out ABCD cards and have multiple choice questions for students to answer. They would just hold up the letter that represented their answer. If you want to go even simpler, you can have students use the ASL alphabet and hold up their hands with the answers. All of these modes of answers are referred to response cards. This is an evidenced based strategy that has been shown to increase participation in the classroom immensely.

Ok, moving onto to the next strategy, choral responding. This is another great strategy for increasing participation. If students know they will have to respond they are more likely to pay attention, formulate a response, and engage with the content. This is a pretty simple strategy to use, all you have to do is ask a question, give a signal, and tell all of your students to respond. You can listen for the general understanding of the concept you are teaching. Again, this is a great way to determine if you need to reteach a concept or review something with your class.

Lastly, there is a strategy called number heads. This strategy involves pairing students up into small groups. You will have the students count off within their group. For example, if you have groups of five, students will count, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and each person will have a number. During your lesson or at the end of your lesson you pose a question that the group will answer to demonstrate their understanding. You can either call out a number for the whole class and the student with that number in each group share’s the answer for the group, or you can visit groups individually and call on different numbers to share. This strategy is great if you want to increase collaborative opportunities in your class and has been shown to improve academic performance and collaborative skills amongst your students.

Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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One Simple Strategy for Redirecting Behavior Jan 11, 2022

Hello everyone and welcome to this episode of the teaching behavior together podcast. Today we are going to be talking about redirecting behavior. This can be tricky in the classroom. Often times what I see when we are redirecting behavior is the potential for power struggles. Does this sound familiar “(insert student name), stop talking while I am talking And we get the response-I wasn’t talking. Or “insert student name, please put your phone away-It’s just one text, why are you getting upset?” Or insert student name “We can’t hit our peers-he hit me first.” All of these are defensive responses. And can lead to further conversation that is often unproductive. It doesn’t feel good when we are redirected. It often puts our students on the defense as well. If you are experiencing these types of responses to the redirections you give, here is the strategy I have for you: prompt around the behavior. I know this might go against what you learned about prompting, but hear me out first.

What I mean by prompting around the behavior is avoiding including the behavior of concern in your prompt. For example, with our prompt that sounded like “stop talking while I am talking-I might say something like “I don’t want you to miss this, let’s be quiet so you can hear me.” This prompt tells the student what we want them to do “be quiet” and avoids highlighting the behavior of concern.

Here’s another example, instead of put your phone away you might say “now is a great time to take notes on what I have on the board.” Again, this give the student an idea of what you want them to be doing instead of being on the phone. Yes telling them to put the phone away is another example of telling them what you want them to do, but this also tells them what you want them to do instead of being on the phone.

Ok, let’s do our last example: instead of we cant hit our peers you might say-We need to show kindness to our friends, how can we do that right now? Again this prompts around the behavior and avoids highlighting the behavior of concern which can promote a defensive response from the student.

Prompting around the behavior gives the student an idea of the behavior you would like to see instead and helps us avoid that defensive response. If you notice you are getting a lot of those defensive responses this might be a strategy you try with your class our a couple of students. As always, it is best practice to provide more positive acknowledgements related to behavior over redirections/corrections. Keep that in mind while you are using this strategy as well.

To make this more effective, if you are having to give a lot of prompts to a student, you might want to have a conversation with them about the behavior you are concerned about. This can happen in private and not immediately after an incident. Even the slightest prompt can be perceived as a criticism and result in that defensive response. When talking with the student we want to make sure they are calm and ready to have a productive conversation.

Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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3 Easy Ways to Deliver Praise Jan 04, 2022

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the teaching behavior together podcast. Wow, it has

If you have been around for a while you know how much I talk about reinforcement. We often think of reinforcement as a tangible object we give someone for appropriate behavior. However, reinforcement is anything that occurs after a behavior that increases the behavior in the future. We know we have reinforced a behavior if it occurs again. Reinforcement happens all day everyday around us. One form of reinforcement can be praise. Often we hear things like, nice work, great job, awesome! However, praise is most effective if it is personal and specific. Here are three strategies to up your praise game.

The first strategy is called post it praise. Before your class, jot down a couple of praise statements you might give to your students. These might be general praise statements, like great work staying on task, or more specific praise statements related to the activity you are working on, such as nice job completing that puzzle. I would say, write down maybe 10 and pass them out as you are completing the activity. This is an easy, unobtrusive way to guarantee to you provide praise during your lesson or activity. Sometimes, we get so caught up in the lesson and answering questions and helping students we forget to acknowledge all the behaviors we want to see!

Another strategy would be to use some compliment cards. These are very similar to post it praise statements, but you might give these out at the end of the day. You might write 5 of them prior to the end of the day and give them to your students. You can compliment progress towards goals they have or if you saw them helping others in the classroom, any behaviors you want to increase you can compliment!

Finally, you can use some nonverbal acknowledgements. You can give students a thumbs up, a smile from across the room, a nod in their direction. These might seem like very small moments, however, for some of our students who do not like attention from a public praise statement, nonverbals can be the way to go. You can also create secret signals with some of your students. Believe me, this makes their day.

These are all examples of delivering praise in your classroom that does not involve you repeating yourself over with the same old same old, great work, nice job. They are all personal forms of praise that have the potential to mean a lot to your students. Try one to two out and let me know over on Instagram how they work for you!

One thing to note, praise is not a form of reinforcement for everyone, if you do not see and increase or maintenance in behavior, praise might be reinforcing for that student, don’t worry though, subscribe to this podcast so you are notified each week when a new episode comes out. There are many more strategies to come!
Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Compliment Cards
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Thinking About Getting Your Doctorate Degree? May 25, 2021

If you are thinking about getting your doctorate degree and wondering what it is really like, this episode is for you. I get to chat with Lauren from @thinkdyslexia about getting our doctorate degrees. She has and doctorate in education (Ed.D.)focused on the practical aspect of serving as a change agent with the field. I have a PhD. in special education and applied behavior analysis and focused on conducting and publishing research related to evidence-based practices within the field.

Despite our different degrees, our experiences were pretty parallel. We both decided to pursue a doctorate degree while we were getting our undergraduate degrees. We both went to three year programs. We both agree that the workload is probably not the most challenging aspect of getting your degree.

We did have very different “whys” when getting our degrees which highlights the endless possibilities for going back to school and pursuing your doctorate. We delve deep into our whys and discussion how our motivation kept us going during the not so fun parts of the program.

In this episode we chat about what we found most challenging and most rewarding about getting our degrees. We also talk about the financial aspect of pursing higher education and the different options that may be available to you as your are navigating the finances. We talk about how life can get in the way, but how we stayed the course and finished our programs on time. And we give you our advice for getting a doctorate degree.

If you have ever thought about getting a doctorate degree, we hope you find this episode helpful! Feel free to reach out to either one of us and ask any questions you might have!

Q & A: What Does My School Based FBA Process Look Like? May 18, 2021

On this episode of the podcast I answer some frequently asked questions. I usually will ask over on Instagram if anyone has questions, they would like to be answered on the podcast, so if you have questions, go follow me over on Instagram so you can get your questions answered on the next Q an A episode.

In this episode I answer questions such as what my school based FBA/BIP process looks like. This is such a great question, because often this can look different from a home or clinic based FBA/BIP. Because I get this question all the time, I decided to create a school based FBA/BIP training for educators to learn about this process so that they can maximize the success of their students. If you are interested in that training, join my email list so you are the first to know when the training launches!

Another question I get all the time is how to find a BCBA supervisor in schools. This can be pretty tricky, and while BCBAs are working more and more in schools, there still are not enough of us in schools. A lot of teachers would like to become BCBAs but have a hard time finding supervisors. In the episode I talk about four different ways you can find a school based BCBA supervisor so you can get going on completing your hours and bring quality behavioral instruction to your school and district.
If you ever find yourself in a situation where you feel like you are broken record in your classroom and giving the same prompts over and over again. I’ve got you covered, I answer this question and how I would address this problem in your classroom so you can spend more time teaching and less time reminding. The strategy? Well it involves two parts, using visual or gestural prompts and teaching self-monitoring skills to our students, hear all about this in the episode right now!

Lastly, I answer the pressing question of what to do if you work in a school or are on a team where staff do not want to use rewards. This can be pretty tricky. I typically recommend talking with your multidisciplinary team and really determining what is best for the student. I also recommend sharing with the team the big picture related to rewards and reinforcement. Our goal is usually to teach the student skills so they contact naturally occurring reinforcement and the rewards that we are using in the beginning of our programming will be faded out over time so that the behavior is maintained by naturally occurring reinforcers.

I love answering all of you questions, so make sure you are following me over on Instagram so you see the next time I am doing a Q and A episode!
Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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Strategies for Disruptive Classroom Behaviors May 11, 2021

Strategies for disruptive classroom behaviors can be challenging to implement. In this episode I talk about my go to strategies for disruptive classroom behaviors that will help increase behaviors you want to see in your classroom.

First I want to start off by just defining what I mean by disruptive behavior. In most instances a disruptive behavior will be defined as anything that interrupts or takes away from the learning of others.

The first strategy I typically recommend would be having a conversation with the student about the behavior. During this conversation I would ask the student about the behavior they are engaging in and let them know how the behavior affects others in the classroom. Now I do not in any way mean you should talk with the student and “blame” them for their behavior or for how it affects others, but having a conversation with the student helps you build rapport and can help the student build perspective taking skills. Believe it or not, some students might not realize that their behavior affects others or that it is disruptive in the first place. A conversation and a collaborative plan could go a long way in the classroom.

Another strategy would be giving the student a piece of paper, dry erase board, post it, anything they can write on during class. Whenever they have a thought have them write it on the document and make time for them to share those thoughts with you or a peer later. This strategy works best in situations where the disruptive behavior takes the form of shouting out during the class or discussions with peers during the class. Our students want to be heard, but we also need to deliver a lesson to our class. This can be a great way to teach students some self-regulation skills and also can help them determine which information is really important and something they want to share with you or some peers.

Proximity is another great strategy for disruptive behavior. When using proximity you are placing yourself close to the student or students. This does a couple of things, first anytime someone comes closer to someone the behaviors usually stop. This is how proximity works. Additionally, when you are close to students you have an easier time prompting them. I typically recommend discrete or quite prompts as no student likes to be called out in class and doing this can lead to a power struggle, and being close by allows for this to happen.

Any time you can use a visual or gestural prompt over a verbal prompt, I would do that. At times when we use verbal prompts it invites a verbal response back. Say for instance you redirect a student using a verbal prompt, which then get’s a reply-“I'm not doing that” first, this student is probably embarrassed for being called out. Second this could start a power struggle. Third, your verbal prompt could be further disrupting the environment. So in these situations, a gestural or visual prompt can be very helpful.

I know what you might be thinking at this point, what about situations where it seems like the student is engaging in the behavior to cause a disruption or on purpose. In these situations, I would first say that coming at it from the mindset that the student is engaging in the behavior on purpose might cloud our ability to provide strategies and supports to the student. In these situations, I would assess lagging skills and determine where we can provide explicit instruction on replacement behaviors. You can also explore conducting a functional behavior assessment to determine the function of the behavior and teach a functionally alternative replacement behavior.

Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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Interested in Becoming and Adjunct Professor? May 04, 2021

On this episode of the podcast we discuss how to become an adjunct professor. I get to chat with Caitlin from @beltransbehaviorbasics all about how we became adjunct professors and what is like teaching at the college level.

In this episode we discuss how we both became adjunct professors and ways you can explore this option as well. Caitlin is teaching at the University she attended and knew someone else teaching there which is how she started teaching her college classes. I emailed several program directors and heard back from two of them and started teaching at those two Universities.

If you are trying to become an adjunct professor, we recommend looking at local universities as they often post lecturer or adjunct positions. Another great strategy is to submit an application and email the director of that program to make sure the application is getting to the right place. You can also attend local conferences where Universities have booths and get your face in front of directors or professors in that program. I recommend bringing your resume and cover letter with you so they have it on file.

If you are curious as to what being an adjunct professor entails, we chat about that too. One of the most frequent questions I get is how much time does it take week to week to be an adjunct professor? Here is the thing, this will vary depending on a couple of different factors such as how many times you have taught that class, if you prep your content before the course starts, and if you prep activities before the course starts. Caitlin and I are both huge proponents of prepping the content before you course even starts. This way your week to week time commitment surrounds that actual class, answering questions, and grading assignments. This is much easier when you start teaching and have taught the same course a couple of times. In this situation you are often just making adjustments to the content you already have created. Over time you will get better and better at this and the course set up will take less time overall.

Another question people often ask is about imposter syndrome. In the episode Caitlin and I chat about how everyone experiences imposter syndrome and if you have a passion for a specific topic and have been practicing for a while, you probably have the ability to teach that topic. We also highly recommend looking at your reviews and taking into account what students say and using that to improve your class. One thing we both recognized this past semester is that our students do not like using zoom break out rooms, they would much rather do activities as a whole class. This is great information to have and can help you adjust your teaching plan.

Overall, we both love being adjunct professors and talk about what joys it brings us as educators and why we have been both doing this for over four years at this point. If you have ever been curious as to how to become an adjunct professor or what it looks like this episode is for you!
Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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Strategies for Prioritizing Behavioral Interventions In Your Classroom Apr 27, 2021

Prioritizing behavioral interventions can be the key to behavioral success in your classroom. I am going to give you key strategies you can use to assess and prioritize interventions in you classroom. The main goal of our intervention implementation plans should be that we are implementing plans that are feasible for us so that we are carrying out the intervention with fidelity.

Assess your classroom support. The very first thing I want you to do is assess you classroom support. To do this, outline your schedule for the day and identify when additional support like paraprofessionals and teaching assistants are in your classroom. If you have students who move in and out of your classroom throughout the day, also note that in your outline. Then you are going to identify what activities occur at the different times of the day. Based on this schedule, you are going to map out some different whole group or small group interventions you can carry out based on the times you have the support necessary to do so.

Prioritizing Behavioral Interventions. In order to prioritize behavioral interventions, go through your day and identify all of the supports, strategies, and interventions you provide. Once you have those identified, assess them in terms of skills they teach or how they support the independence of your students. I always prioritize behavioral interventions that focus on these goals. If you cannot identify how the support, strategy, or intervention meets these goals, I would put it on the back burner and bring other interventions into the forefront.

Batching your Supports. Another great way to increase feasibility in your classroom is to batch supports. What I mean by this is create a bank of supports you provide that are ready to go at any time. For this, I am talking about any antecedent supports like visual schedules or choice boards and consequence supports like reinforcers.

Batching Choices. Provide choice is a very powerful intervention, however, a lot of times I think we think tend to think of choices on the fly which can be difficult to do. Go through your day and identify the different activities you engage in. Then for each type or category of activity identify 2-3 choices you can offer. Use this as a launching place for when you provide individual choices. This reduces the amount of decisions you need to make and gives you a place to start so when a student is not completing a task you know what types of choices you can give and how you can support that students without starting from scratch.

Systematizing Your Classroom. As much as you can identify systems and procedures around the tasks and activities you do in your classroom. Then build strong feasible methods for engaging in then. The important thing is you are developing these systems and procedures to increase feasibility within your classroom. If you see another teacher doing something really well, ask them what they procedure is for doing that, this can give you a place to start and then make it your own. If you are just starting out with this, identify two are three activities or tasks related to your job and create a system or procedure around them. That wraps up the strategies I have for you around prioritizing behavioral interventions in your classroom. Again, a lot of this has to do with creating feasibility within your classroom to carry out these interventions and supports.

Resources Discussed in the Episode
Free Intervention Implementation Checklist
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Tips for New Teachers: Building Social Emotional Learning Skills with Rebecca Apr 20, 2021

If you are a new teacher, this episode is a must listen. We hear all the time about how important social emotional learning skills are for our students, but I would be willing to bet that you did not have a course in school that taught you how to focus on these skills…In this episode I chat with Rebecca from @missreadysetteach about her tips for new teachers as it relates to building social emotional learning skills. She focuses on her top 3 tips which will be hugely beneficial to you as a new teacher.

We talk about emotional intelligence, teaching collaboration, and working check ins into your routine. The best part….she is a high school teacher! That is right! Middle and high school teachers often feel left out of the social emotional learning conversation under the incorrect assumption that our students already have these skills. Well in this episode we chat all about these skills across different grade levels!

In terms of emotional intelligence, we chat about how when students are elevated in anyway they probably will not be able to process your lesson. Makes sense right, when we are upset it is really hard for us to process information, problem solve, make decision etc. It is the same thing for our students. It can be really challenging for them to process information or engage in tasks when they are upset or feeling various emotions. But, often times we feel like we have to hit all our teaching targets and we have to have all our students on task and engaged. However, we give you strategies for handling these situations in your classroom that allow the student to build strong skills around emotional intelligence. The life skills the students will learn from being able to tell you that they are upset of having a bad day and processing that emotion will serve them well into adult life.

In terms of teaching collaboration amongst our students Rebecca gives great guidance on directly teaching this skill. Kids love working in groups and collaborating usually, but at times they might be lagging some skills that makes this an effective process. You will take away some great strategies like teaching students what it means to contribute to the group and providing roles within a group to encourage collaboration.

Lastly, we talk about check ins. This can be such a great way to build relationships with your students. In elementary classrooms we can do check ins during morning meeting and make sure we follow up with students throughout the day. Rebecca talks about how she works check ins into her assessments so she can follow up with students when they are feeling great and when the need extra support. Believe me when I say this, this will be a game changer when it comes to relationships. Relationships with our students are built over time, check ins are a great way to build these relationships.

When it comes to being a new teacher, teaching social emotional learning skills can be daunting. If you take these strategies, you will have a great starting point to focus on in your classroom. Gone are the days of feeling so overwhelmed with behaviors and social emotional learning skill as a new teacher. If you are looking for more strategies to put in place as a new teacher, definitely subscribe to Rebecca’s podcast Ready Set Teach for tips one all things related to being a new teacher! Also, make sure you check out the free guide I have for teacher related to behavioral interventions. I give you 20 pages worth of behavioral interventions with descriptions and examples across the grade levels.
Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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Strategies for Work Refusal Behaviors Apr 13, 2021

Work refusal behaviors can be challenging to intervene upon. There can be several different reasons why students might be refusing to complete work or avoiding work in general. With all behavioral interventions we want to focus on addressing the behavior across the antecedent, behavior teaching, and consequence domains.

Antecedent Strategies. First, we can modify the assignment or task based on the skill area. If this is an area of weakness we can modify the task so the student can be successful with the assignment. If this is an area of strength we can also modify it so the student can be engaged and successful with the assignment.

Modes of Completion. We can provide alternative assignments or alternative modes of completion. I often provide choices to students about how they want to complete the task. Can they record a response instead of writing out their answers? Can they answer all the questions on a white board and someone else transfer them to a hard copy? Can they work with a peer?

Breaking Down Tasks. Breaking down the task into micro steps or into a to do list format can be very helpful. This can give students clear steps for each aspect of the task. I try and make these steps as small as possible.

Behavioral Momentum. With this strategy, we start with tasks we know the student can complete and then move onto more challenging tasks. This builds momentum towards the behavior we want to see by building on success. For example, say you are doing a math activity, I might start with problems the student has already completed successfully before moving onto more challenging or new problems.

Choices. I challenge us to go beyond the do you want to write with a pencil or pen choice and move into meaningful choices. For example, do you want to complete the task alone or with a partner? Would you like to complete 5 or 10 problems? Would you like me to write the sentence or would you like to write the sentence? These choices are more meaningful and can build stamina towards work completion.

Behavior Teaching Strategies. I would focus on skill building in areas of weakness if there are any. Small group tier 2 or intensive tier 3 interventions should be provided for students struggling with a content area. Executive functioning plays a large part in work completion, therefore building all skills related to executive functioning is also a great idea.

Consequence Strategies. If students are completing work and task that they previously refused I usually would default to providing students with some sort of break. Therefore, they were engaging in other behaviors before that allowed them to escape a task, now they are engaging in work and we are reinforcing that with a break. We are now building the contingency of I complete work I get a break instead of I engage in behaviors and escape the task. The student can engage in preferred activities during their break.

We have to recognize that we cannot force a student to engage with a task, in fact we cannot force them to do anything. Therefore, the most important thing to focus on are the antecedent and behavior teaching strategies. These may take some time to work well, and we need to be patient. What I always hesitate to do is take something away. Often if a student is not engaging in a task they need support with skills as opposed to take something like recess or choice time away.

Again, strategies for work refusal behaviors can be complex, and often times we need to attempt several of these strategies in combination to maximize student success.
Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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How to Enjoy Your Life as an Educator: Beating the Burnout Part 1 Apr 06, 2021

We know that burnout in the field of education is real. We know that there are systemic structures that lead to burnout amongst teachers, specifically special education teachers. However, there are educators that truly enjoy their job and enjoy their life as an educator. In this episode I chat with Braelan from @thatspecialeducator about how we enjoy our life as educators. This is part one two a two part series, part two is over on Braelan’s podcast That Special Educator so make sure you listen to both parts.

This is not your typical make sure you mediate and journal as a form of self-care (not that those are bad, love some good reflecting time) podcast episode. In this episode we ditch the script and just chat about our lives and what we do as educators to make sure we continue to love the job we go to each morning. One of the points we focus on throughout part one is that we are more than just educators. Yes, being and educator is part of our identity but we do not let that be the ONLY part of our identity. We talk about how we have passions outside of school that bring us enjoyment and help us keep our work life at work and our personal life at home. For example, at work I have a group of friends that I enjoy chatting with, but we do not chat about work. We chat about our lives and hobbies and what is going on in the world. It can turn into a negativity game or a “who has it the worst” contest sometimes when the focus is just on work. If I have one recommendation it would be to find your friends in your building that you can eat lunch with a couple of times per week and just chat about life.

Also, if you create strong systems and procedures in your classroom-you will be able to manage your time so you do not have to stay late every day. I have never stayed late because of the work I have to do and I never work on the weekend. When I was in grad school and getting my PhD I had 3-4 jobs at a time while taking a full class load. This forced me to develop strong systems and procedures for getting everything in my life done and still having time to enjoy the things I wanted to enjoy. I knew when I started my job this was something I needed to focus on or I would become overwhelmed. This truly helps me enjoy my life as an educator.

Look to other people in your building for their systems and procedures if you see that they are doing things really well in an area. It probably took them a while to develop that system and I am sure they would be happy to share it with you. I am talking about systems around collecting data, parent communication, and scheduling all the meetings. If you feel like you are in a constant state of just treading water, this is probably something that will be hugely beneficial and can really help you enjoy your life as an educator.

Lastly, stop playing the comparison game. People are looking to you for how you do things in your classroom just like you are looking to them. Instead of comparing yourself to the teacher next door, collaborate! This will help you increase your self-confidence as an educator and really enjoy the work you do.

Enjoying your life as an educator does not have to be this far off goal that only a small percentage of teacher achieve. We all can truly enjoy our jobs. You just listened (or read) our strategies, use these as a launching point and build some of your own. We need as many amazing teachers as we can get and that includes you! So start enjoying education and stick around for a long time! Make sure you go listen to part to about we enjoy being an educator outside of school!

Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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Strategies for Getting your BCBA Practicum Hours: With Nicole Mar 23, 2021

If you are in pursuit of your BCBA, you probably are very familiar with the hour requirement. If you are thinking about getting your BCBA getting BCBA practicum hours is part of the requirement towards your BCBA that you are going to want to plan for. This process can be a little confusing (and by a little, I mean I got 1,500 hours and supervised 20+ teachers as they got their hours and I still reference the handbook for a guidance!). In this episode I chat with Nicole from @adaptationstation. She is a former special education teacher turned BCBA in training. She is currently in the thick of it getting her BCBA hours and has some strategies for you in terms of what you can do to get your hours. If you are a teacher who is interested in getting your BCBA this episode is definitely for you. Not only do we talk about hours we talk about Nicole’s decision to become a full time BCBA in training and her advice for getting your hours in the classroom setting.

If you are a current teacher, it is possible to get your hours in the classroom you teach in. I highly recommend finding a BCBA that can come in your classroom and help you identify how you could get your hours. This can be very helpful in terms of determining which aspects of your job count towards hours (it is more than you might think) and how you can feasibly track the tasks that you are engaging in to get your hours. One aspect of getting your hours is finding a supervisor. I will not sugar coat it, this can be harder to do in the school setting. Yes, there are more BCBAs in the schools, however, they are not everywhere and they may not be in a school you work in. I typically recommend contacting a local education agency to see if they employ a BCBA in the county that could possibly supervise you. Since BCBAs often have multiple buildings that they work in they may say that they could supervise you for a portion of your hours. Initially, this might sound like a not so great situation, however, this is immensely helpful believe me. You can get guidance from a BCBA on school based ABA which can look very different than clinic based ABA and you can have an additional opportunity to gain hours through another supervisor adding an additional perspective about behavior change.

Having more than one supervisor can be highly beneficial to you and your experience during your hours. If you do need an additional supervisor, a lot of times agencies will provide supervision if you pick up some clients with them. If you can swing 5-10 hours a week outside of your teaching job, this can be huge. You will get to learn principles of ABA that you might not be applying each and every day in your teaching job. One big barrier to getting your BCBA can be the cost of supervision, with these two strategies you may be able to get your supervision for free or at a reduced cost. I highly recommend assessing your options for getting your BCBA supervision hours so you can make an informed and financially sound decision.

In this episode Nicole talks about how she gets her hours at a clinic and some opportunities for hours in the classroom as well. These strategies for getting your BCBA hours can really help you plan out your path to getting that credential. I know this can be a very daunting process, as someone who got their BCaBA and BCBA and assisted 20+ teachers in getting their certification…I know how confusing and overwhelming it can be. Make sure you subscribe to this podcast so you are notified whenever I release an episode about getting your BCBA so we can go through the process together!
Resources Discussed in the Episode
Free Intervention Implementation Checklist
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Strategies for Teaching Replacement Behaviors in Your Classroom Mar 16, 2021

If you are in the process of determining how to teach a function based replacement behavior you should have conducted a formal FBA, therefore you have identified the function of the behavior or they why behind the behavior.

If you have not done that yet, that would be your first step, you need to know the function of the behavior prior to teaching a function based replacement behavior.

Let’s first break that down. What does a functionally equivalent replacement behavior mean? Basically you are going to be teaching a behavior that results in the same outcome. Therefore, if the function of the behavior is escape, you want to teach the student to engage in a behavior that results in escape, just in a more school appropriate manner. For example, if you have a student who is engaging in a tantrum and it has been identified that the function of the behavior is escape, then we would want to teach the student an appropriate manner to access escape which could be asking for a break or using some sort of break card or something to that effect. The key here, is that the alternative behavior matches the outcome of the behavior of concern.

So how do we go about teaching these behaviors…

When we are deciding on a behavior to teach, we want the new behavior to more effective and more efficient than the previous behavior. In terms of it being more effective, we want to make sure that the behavior results in the outcome as close to every time as possible. Let’s take our example from before, if we are teaching the student to use a break card instead of throwing a tantrum, then whenever the student uses the break card to request a break, it needs to be effective, meaning it results in a break. At the start of our programing our focus is to build the skills and we do that based on reinforcing the appropriate behavior with the outcome that was maintaining the behavior or the function of the behavior. Next we want the new behavior to be efficient, meaning it takes less effort to engage in that behavior than the undesired behavior. This can be where I see a lot of plans run into some bumps. Keep the new behavior as low response effort as possible. We want our student to engage in that behavior over the other behavior because it easier to engage in the appropriate behavior. It is possible to use a very simple response and then shape it into a larger behavior if that is the route the team wants to take. For example, say with our tantrum example, if we are teaching the student to signal to the teacher that they need a break, we might shape that into them asking for a break and expressing why they need a break such as “can I take a break I am feeling frustrated.”

Behavioral Skills Training

In terms of actually teaching the skill, we often will use the behavior skills training model in which you provide information on the skill, model the skill, allow time for practice, and provide feedback. For our example, you would provide the student information or why behind using the break card to access a break. You would model it for the student. You would allow the student to practice in a small group or one on one and then in the classroom setting as well (this might take some prompting) and provide feedback. The key takeaways here are that the behavior we are teaching results in the function as the original behavior and the new behavior is more effective and efficient. Additionally, we want to focus on systematically teaching a skill to the student related to the replacement behavior.
Resources Discussed in this Episode
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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Tier 2 Behavior Interventions and Supports with Shannon Mar 09, 2021

If you are familiar with the tiered levels of support of Multitierd Systems of Support in the school setting you are probably familiar with tier 2 behavior interventions and supports....or more likely the lack of tier 2 behavior interventions and supports.
Tier 2 behavior interventions and supports can be challenging to implement as we do not really have strong norms to determine what warrants a tier 2 or tier 3 level of behavioral support. With academics we have a lot of this data. We have norms on top of norms with reading scores and math scores that let us know which students need some additional supports in various areas, however we do not have that for behavioral supports.
These supports can be vital to overall student success as some of our students need additional layers of support to develop various behavioral and social emotional learning skills. Having strong tier 2 interventions that schools and teachers can pull from is very helpful when teams are determining which interventions might be most beneficial to a student's overall success.
In this episode Shannon from @basicallybehavior and I chat about a training we attended through thinkkids.org. They have an evidenced-based framework for a tier 2 level plan that we think would be great to implement when we are looking to add additional layers of support for a student.
We chat all about how the framework works and how we think it could be used in the school setting. We also talk some different tier 1 level supports and of course tier 3 levels supports. If you are thinking of building a more robust tiered system within your school or classroom this episode is for you.
The thinkkids.org program focuses on building skills. We all know this is the best way to lead to durable behavior change and they provide a pretty structured approach to building these skills! Additionally, the framework provides you with language and great documents to use through the process so you are not reinventing the wheel. They have an assessment of lagging skills they use that is a great place to start when you are trying to determine which skills to focus on when implementing tier 2 supports. Shannon brought up a great idea about using the lagging skills assessment as a screener for tier 2 level groups in the school setting.
The evidence behind this program is strong and they address behavior from a culturally responsive and trauma informed lens which is something all behavioral interventions and assessments should take into account. They have so many free resources and trainings you should definitely check them out and sign up for a training if you are interested.
Developing strong tier 2 behavior interventions and support can really help maximize the success of our students. Social emotional and behavioral skills are so important and having a robust tiered approach to teaching these skills can be a game changer in the school setting.
Resources discussed in this episode
Free Intervention Implementation Checklist
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Thinkkids.org

Do Clip Up Clip Down Charts Work? Mar 02, 2021

Clip Up Clip Down Charts...I am sure you have seen them, usually they are colored charts within the classroom and students move up and down these charts based on the level of their behavior each day. Usually students start in the green zone or ready to learn and then move up based on appropriate behavior or move down based on inappropriate behavior.

I do not recommend these for use within the classroom setting. Additionally, in terms of classroom management I do not recommend writing students names on the board if they are engaging inappropriate behavior or denoting publicly that students are presenting with challenging behavior.
I do not recommend these types of interventions for several reasons, one of which being that I focus on interventions that teach students skills. If we are engaging in some type of intervention within the classroom my focus is always on how is this building a skill and increasing independence. I am making this general statement knowing I am painting broad strokes in terms of the traditional way these are used in that if a student engages in appropriate behavior they move up and if they do not the move down. Moving down typically involves a consequence like a call home or time outside of the classroom (either of these options do not usually focus on teaching a skill).

For example, if I recommend to a teacher to use a visual schedule with a student, this increase independence, creates predictability, and provides structure which can be really great tools for a student. Therefore, I recommend this intervention.

Now that we know I do not recommend these, what interventions do I recommend?

Well, since for the most part these types of interventions are whole group interventions, here are few whole group interventions I think are very beneficial to the classroom setting:

Building classroom community, nothing will ever replace a strong classroom community. I have talked about this program before, but I believe the Actively Caring for People Program is a great program to provide structure and supports if you are looking for more resources about building community in your classroom.

I also recommend group contingencies. Group contingencies are a fancy way of saying group rewards. In the field of ABA we have three different types of group contingencies we typically talk about: independent, dependent, and interdependent.

For each of these group contingencies the same expectations are set for all of the students and there is access to available backup reinforcers based on certain criteria of engagement with appropriate behavior. The expectations should be on building skills and increasing independence and creating a positive classroom community. Additionally, the consequence for not engaging in the expectations should focus on targeted skill building based on data collected and lagging skills. In this way group contingencies pass my standard of increasing skills and independence.

Independent Group Contingency. For the independent group contingency all of the students can earn praise, points, tickets, whatever it might be based on engagement with the classroom expectations. Usually these function best on intermittent schedules of reinforcement in that you are not providing reinforcement for each instance of a behavior, but whenever you see them engaging that behavior. It would be impossible for teacher to catch every instance of appropriate behavior for every student in their classroom, therefore, this is the best way to use this group contingency. Whenever the teacher decides, at the end of the week, month, whatever it might be
Resources Discussed in this Episode:
Free Behavior Intervention Guide
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Behavior Intervention Strategies for Middle School Students with Angela from Spedtacular Inclusion Feb 23, 2021

Implementing behavior intervention strategies in middle school can be challenging. We all know middle school can be tough for a lot of our students, and finding behavior intervention strategies that work for our student can throw a whole other level of challenge on our plates. In this episode, I chat with Angela from @spedtacularinclusion about strategies she has found effective in her middle school students.
We talk about so many different strategies, from playing games, to building rapport, to token economies. Angela shares it all and give us actionable steps we can use in our classrooms to help promote behavior change.
We know all students love to play games and playing games allows us to teach so many different skills. In middle school we want to focus on building social skills and games are a great way to do this. We also want to help reinforce other skills like taking turns, how to lose, and how to encourage others. Again, games are a great way to do this. Students love the competition aspect of this and they love being able to work together. As much as you can work games into your day, do it!
Building rapport can be challenging as well at the middle school level. We know rapport with our students is vital to a positive classroom culture. It is also so important when we have challenging behavior episodes. We want our students to know we are on their side and want them to do their best each and every day. However, in middle school our students are starting to seek out more peer connections for support. We talk about strategies for how to build relationships with our students while also allow them to seek out peer support as needed.
Lastly we talk about token economies in the classroom. Using a token economy is a way to help motivate behaviors that are already in our students repertoire. Sometimes we might think this are a little childish, but I would point you towards our economy and you will see that we function in one big token economy! This is not to say we should be rewarding every student with tokens and tickets all the time, because research shows this can decrease intrinsic motivation and this is not something we want at all. What we do want though, is to build skills to fluency and allow them to start to contact naturally occurring reinforcers. A great way to do this is through token economies. Angela talks all about how she uses a token economy in her classroom.
If you are a middle school teacher and are desperately searching for behavior intervention strategies that will work in your classroom, this episode is your place to start. Listen today, start implementing tomorrow.
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What to Do After a Meltdown in Your Classroom Feb 16, 2021

Meltdowns can be very challenging in the classroom setting. Sometimes they leave you feeling exhausted and ready to call it a day. In this episode we talk about what you can do after a meltdown to support the student and rebuild that relationship but also to support yourself and the other adults in the classroom.
Now classroom meltdowns can look different across different grade levels, in this episode I provide general strategies for after the meltdown, tantrum, large disruption occurs that can be used at any grade level.
Right after a meltdown, the goal is going to be to make sure the student is safe and calming down to the best of their ability. At this point, we want to maintain students safety without placing a lot of demands on the student.
I always recommend making a positive touch point with the student so they know you are not upset with them. This can be as simple as praising something they are doing well in that moment. Once you can see the student has calmed down, you can approach the student and ask if they are ready. to return to the learning environment. If you need them to return, but they say no, I highly recommend providing them with a couple more minutes to calm down and using a timer to help them determine when it is time to come back to the classroom. This gives them a little more control over the situation and can prevent a re-escalation of the behavior.
After some time has passed, I would talk with the student and let them know you want to process the situation with them. I would not spring a conversation on them and make them talk about it right when you want to talk about it, but give them a time frame and let them know you are going to need to talk about the situation at some point. This will help the student prepare for the discussion and will make it go not only more smoothly but it will be much more productive.
Think about when someone has brought something up to you and wanted to talk to you when you weren't ready. You probably did not have much to say or felt on the spot. We want these conversations to be very productive so, the more the student can process and prepare the better.
Lastly, I walk you through strategies for debriefing with the student and making a plan after a meltdown in your classroom. We want to make a plan for situations that might arise in the future. We want our students to be involved in that plan as well and take into account their perspective on the situation. This also clues you into any lagging skills they might have that you can then teach in the future.
This episode provides you with feasible and actionable steps to take after a meltdown in your classroom has occurred. We also touch on steps you can and the other adults in the room can take to help take care of yourself after a meltdown. All of these components are essential to maximize the success of your students.
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Using ABA Principles to Teach Academics with Cassie from Adventures in Behavior Feb 09, 2021

Using the principles of aba to teach academics is a long standing practice. After all, academics are behaviors, right? In this episode, I chat with Cassie from @adventures.in.behavior about how she uses ABA to teach academics in her classroom.
In this episode she talks about different strategies she uses to teach a variety of academic skills. These strategies provide a framework for teaching specific skills but can be applied to really any academic skill.
Some of the strategies she uses include discrete trial training, prompting programs, and direct instruction programs. Discrete trial training is a specific systematic method for teaching discrete skills. Discrete skills are skills like letter identification, math facts, identifying shapes, numbers, etc. You would use discrete trial training to teach these explicit skills over time and build on the mastery of different concepts.
Often we use discrete trial training in a one-on-one format, but I have seen it done in a small group format too. In order for this strategy to be successful, you have to be pretty fluent in the methods to keep up the pace of a session. We want to keep up the pace so that students stay engaged and have fun in the process.
Prompting programs, like errorless prompting are a great way to teach new skills that allow our students to build on success. If you are using errorless prompting you are providing a prompt towards an academic skill such as "match the shapes" and then immediately prompting to the correct answer. This is great because it allows our students to build on success and eventually we fade out that prompt so our students maintain their success and independence.
Lastly, we talk about direct instruction programs. Direct instruction is a method of instruction delivery rooted in the principles of behavior change. The programs are scripted and provide a systematic progression for teaching a variety of skills. These programs are great for teaching a variety of skills and take the guess work out of teaching those skills. Don't worry though, you can add your own teaching style to direct instruction programs and include fun and engaging strategies inside the programming to keep your students interested.
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Strategies for Attention Seeking Behavior Feb 02, 2021

Attention seeking behaviors are behaviors that students engage in in order to gain the attention of a peer or an adult. More popularly referred to as "connection seeking behaviors" these behaviors can be hard to intervene upon in the classroom setting when the opportunity for attention is so great.
In this episode, we discuss strategies for intervening on behaviors that are maintained by peer attention specifically. We go way beyond the popular suggestions just to ignore it, and provide you with practical and feasible strategies for these behaviors.
My first strategy is to, yes, talk with your class about ignoring behaviors that are disruptive to the classroom. This is a good strategy, but a strategy that can be very hard to implement and hard for our students to carry out. We are asking our students to do a lot by ignoring various behaviors, but it is a strategy that can work in some instances.
My second strategy is to adopt some of the teachings from the program actively caring for people. This program provides you with strategies for creating an inviting, compassionate, kind, empathetic classroom culture. The whole program is rooted in the science of behavior and provides you with actionable steps to creating this culture in your classroom.
The program focuses on teaching our students to engage in behaviors that promote caring for people such as being kind, compassionate, empathetic, sympathetic and more. These are key social skills our students need and will help them as they move through the grade levels. The program highlights engaging in these behaviors to build connections with your peers, thus by using this program you are teaching your students how to gain attention from others is a productive way. This can go a long way for attention seeking behaviors as it hits on possible lagging skills, which brings us to our next strategy.
My third strategy is to teach appropriate attention seeking behaviors. If you have students who are engaging in attention seeking behaviors in a way that is inappropriate in the classroom we want to teach them how to engage in behaviors that will allow them to gain attention in an appropriate way. Sometimes we forget that not all of our students have these skills and that we need to teach them explicitly. I give you feasible ideas for teaching these skills in. your classroom to further build on the work from the actively caring for people program.
Lastly, we talk about what to do if one of these behaviors occurs in your classroom. We talk about logical consequences you can engage to help support the student but also convey that we cannot engage in the behaviors in the classroom setting. This comes into play when the behaviors involve the other students, if they are particularly disruptive or mean in nature we want to make sure we are helping our student recognize how their behaviors affect other students.
If you are looking for new strategies attention seeking behaviors beyond telling your students to ignore the behaviors, this episode is for you.
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Strategies for Building Relationships with Students with Whitney from Rooted in Resource Jan 26, 2021

Building relationships with students is something we always hear about. It is a key antecedent strategy to overall student success. However, it can be really difficult to find the time or fun and engaging strategies to building those strong relationships with our students.
In this episode I get to chat with Whitney from @rootedinresource all about building relationships with students and what she does to build strong relationships with her students.
Whitney is a special education teacher teaching students in third and forth grade in a resource setting. She has some great strategies we can use to help build our students success through building relationships with our students.
In this episode we talk about what to do on the first week of school to build those relationships. She mentions going over the classroom expectations but also having a lot of fun with your students the first couple of days so you are able to build that relationship right from the start.
Whitney also discusses her strategies for incorporating student interest into her lessons. She likes to learn about what her students like and then finds materials related to those topics to keep her lessons fun and engaging which can really help build that relationship.
We also talk about making sure we learn about our students outside of just academics. Whitney takes note of things that are important to her students and then reminds herself to bring those topics up later so that relationship continues to build overtime. She also talks about remembering when big and important things are happening for our students like a sporting event or a birthday. It can go such a long way when someone remembers something important to you and it is no different for our students. They absolutely love it when you remember to ask them about their basketball game or their birthday!
Whitney also shares with us how she makes time for each of her students. It can be so important to connect with your students one on one but at the same time it can be hard to find the time to do this. We talk about different strategies she uses, so that the time fits seamlessly into her sessions with her students.
If you have a student who struggles with behavior in your classroom, someone has probably come into your classroom and recommend starting with building a relationship with that student. This can be so daunting as that is such as abstract concept. There is no playbook for building relationships with your students and there can be so many different things you have to fit into a day that this may fall through the cracks. But this can be invaluable to overall student success. If you are looking for new and fun ways to build relationships with your students this is the episode for you!
Listen today and learn all the strategies you can start working into your daily teaching that will go such a long way toward building relationships with your students!
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Classroom Behavior Change Takes Time with Caitlin from Beltrans Behavior Basics Jan 19, 2021

Classroom behavior change can take a lot of time, and when you are in the thick of it, waiting out that behavior change can be really difficult. In this episode, I talk with Caitlin from @beltransbehaviorbasics and she gives us amazing strategies for waiting out that behavior change. In this episode you will learn these different strategies as well as some key points related to determining if we should change up the intervention to maximize student success.
Specifically, we talk about data collection. I know, everyone's favorite topic, right? Caitlin shares with us how she uses data to help determine if behavior change is occurring and how using data can be key to waiting out that behavior change. We know that it can take a long time to learn a new skill and classroom behavior change is no different. Using data can help you see the progress you are making even if it is hard to see it day to day. Some days may be harder than others, but if you have reliable data showing increases in the skill you are teaching and decreases in the undesired behavior, it will make waiting out that behavior change so much easier.
We also talk about strategies for tackling those really hard extinction bursts. Extinction bursts are when the behavior gets worse before it gets better. This can happen and is actually pretty common. There are some key strategies special education teachers can use when the extinction burst hits that helps us wait out that behavior change. One strategy Caitlin mentions is having a plan with your staff. It is so important to make that plan and know what you are going to do when that undesired behavior occurs so that everyone is on the same page and you do not go into panic mode. We talk about how to make this plan and elements of a good plan.
Caitlin also shares some strategies for teaching new skills to students. This can help immensely when it comes to waiting out that classroom behavior change. While we want to see a decrease in the undesired behavior, we know that true behavior change does not occur if we do not teach a new replacement skill. This can help take the focus off the undesired behavior and put the focus on skill building. This can be a game changer in your classroom and really help maximize student success.
Caitlin also gives us some great strategies for antecedent interventions that bringing the student into the planning process for the behavior intervention plan. Again, this can be a key strategy to overall behavioral success. The more buy in you have from the student, the better chances you are going to have when it comes to maximizing student success.
Lastly, she shares her experience as a behavior specialist in schools. If you have been thinking about becoming a behavior specialist or have any interest in becoming a board certified behavior analyst, you definitely want to hear about her experience! School based behavior specialists are becoming more and more popular and there is such a need for behavioral services in schools.
Listen now to get all the strategies for waiting out that classroom behavior change!
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3 Strategies to Repaying Your Student Loans for Teachers Jan 12, 2021

Repaying your student loans can be daunting. Believe me, after spending 10 years in school and getting 4 degrees, I wish I was more prepared to repay my student loans. Over time I learned a couple of different strategies that have completely taken the overwhelm out of repaying my student loans. In this episode you will learn my top 3 strategies for repaying my student loans that have allowed me to repay 20 thousand dollars back in just 18 months.
The first strategy I use when repaying my student loans is talking with a financial advisor. A lot of teachers aim to use the federal student loan forgiveness plan, and that was my plan too. However, after talking with a financial advisor I decided that was not the route I was going to take. I choose this for myself for several different reasons, one of which being that the program may not be around when it is time for my loans to get forgiven and there a lot of rules that you need to follow or your loans will not qualify. I give you my opinion on this program in this episode, but most importantly, you should set up a meeting with a financial advisor to see what your options are. I highly suggest sitting down with someone who knows about the federal student loan forgiveness program before deciding on that route.
The next strategy I have used would be getting a second job. Now, I know this might not be appealing to everyone, but if you can find a flexible very part time job you can make extra income that can go directly to your student loans, which can be invaluable and save you so much on interest. I teach as an adjunct professor and make enough money to make my monthly student loan payment and direct extra money toward my two biggest loans. This has and will continue to save me SO much money over time. It is worth looking into at the very least.
Lastly, I would look into refinancing your student loans. I know this might sound daunting and scary, but there is a completely free resource out there called Juno. Juno is a company that was started by a couple of millennials that saw so many students were drowning in student loan debt. With their FREE services you can get lower interest rates which will save you SOOOO much money in the long run.
If you want to sign up for their free service, use the link below and start saving!
Save with Juno TODAY
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Teaching Executive Functioning Skills to Your Students Jan 05, 2021

Executive functioning skills can be very complex and teaching these skills can be even more complex. It is really helpful to have a well developed scope and sequence plan when you are teaching executive functioning skills. In this episode I walk you through my scope and sequence for teaching executive functioning skills across all of the grade levels.
In lesson one I introduce the concept of executive functioning skills and play a game with the students. I really like playing memory with the students and they learn so much about the basic concepts related to executive functioning and they don't even know they are learning them.
In lesson two I focus on teaching students how to break down a big task into macro and micro to do lists. This lesson focuses on breaking things down and targets task initiation and completion. It can be really overwhelming for students to have to break down a complex task into smaller pieces and when students are overwhelmed they often avoid those tasks. This lesson helps build these skills explicitly so we can increase the success of our students. I start off the lesson with a fun game where we all have to build something together and then we relate that concept back to an academic task. With each of these activities, the students are practicing breaking down the big pieces of the task into smaller pieces and we are reviewing this skill throughout the week.
In lesson three I teach students how to estimate the time related to finishing a task. This can help students with foundational time management skills that are vital to task initiation and completion as well. In this lesson we estimate how long it is going to take us to learn a short dance as a class (throwing in some social skills and teamwork as well there) and then we relate it back to academics. We practice estimating how long it is going to take us to do different aspects of the tasks so students get explicit practice with these skills and can better estimate how long academic tasks will take them.
In lesson four I teach the students all about making a schedule. We put the previous two lessons together and work on breaking tasks down and estimating how long those tasks are going to take us so we can plan out our time. I once again use a fun activity like making slime or something along those lines and then have students help plan out our chunks of time throughout the day. You can never practice executive functioning skills too much.
In the fifth lesson we focus on goal setting and making reasonable and attainable goals. We start with smaller goals and then make bigger goals so that students get practice with setting both types of goals. We tie in a lot of the skills we learned previously and continue to build on those skills. I have students plan out their week and set goals for what they would like to accomplish.
During the last lesson in this sequence, we play a review game. This gives me a chance to determine if we need to review any concepts or if we are ready to move onto the next scope and sequence.
This is a framework for how I teach executive functioning skills and all of the lessons can be adapted to different grade levels.
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How To Use Pear Deck During Your Social Emotional Learning Groups with Lauren from Structured Special Ed Dec 15, 2020

Looking to take your social emotional learning groups to the next level? In today's episode Lauren, from Structured Special Ed talks all about how she uses Pear Deck to make her social emotional learning groups fun and engaging.
Have you heard of Pear Deck? Are you using it? I had no idea how amazing this resource could be for SEL groups. Lauren tells us all about how she started to use Pear Deck and how much her students love it. She gives teachers a lot of practical tips for using Pear Deck in their social emotional learning groups and the types of activities her students like the most. She has seen so much growth from her students and shares it all with us in this episode.
We also talk about her favorite read alouds for her social emotional learning groups. If you are looking to add some more SEL content to your classroom library, you need to hear all of her suggestions for which books to get and which books her students love. She also gave some amazing ideas for how to get SEL books into your school for super cheap!!
Lastly, we talk about games, she is a huge fan of playing games with students when they need to practice some basic SEL skills. She gives us tips for adding games to your classroom and which skills to focus on when playing those games.
This episode is filled with some many great strategies that will give you so many ideas for incorporating fun and engagement into your social emotional learning groups!
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Classroom Behavior Management Strategies to Use After a Long Break Dec 08, 2020

Are you up with the Sunday Scaries after a long break? Coming back from breaks can be challenging for students and teachers. Let's face it, we all get out of our routine when we are on a break, that is what breaks are for. Coming back from a break can be challenging for a lot of our students if they have been out of the routine for extended periods of time.
Also, during breaks there is a lot less predictability and some of our students really need predictability in their daily schedule. This can also be challenging when students come back from break. In this episode, I give teachers strategies they can use to make that transition back to school go more smoothly.
Specifically, I talk about ideas for what to do on the first day of school. I give you a lot of great antecedent strategies you can use to help set your students up for success during that first week back after break. We dive into topics like what to do with academics that first week back, when to go over routines and procedures, and what to do in your social emotional learning groups.
It is so important that students come back to a warm and inviting classroom. They also need you to review routines, procedures, and coping skills with them so they can be successful on that very first day! Listen now to get all of the strategies!
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From SPED teacher to BCBA Grad Student-With Kelsey (ExceptionalElementary) Dec 01, 2020

Are you a teacher thinking about becoming a board certified behavior analyst? It can be a confusing process and you might not know what it would be like as a grade student. Today I talk to Kelsey from Exceptional Elementary. She is a former special education teacher turned BCBA grad student.
She is currently going to grad school full time and getting her Master's in early childhood education and BCBA certification. In this episode we talk about how she made the decision to go back to school. We also talk about her decision to choose a full time option as opposed to a part time option.
Additionally, we talk about the classes she is taking and the research she is doing! Also, did you know there is funding available for students in graduate school? Kelsey explains how she works for the school and gets parts of her schooling covered by the University!!
If you have ever thought about going back to school to get your BCBA, listen to this episode to hear all of Kelsey's advice!
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Classroom Strategies for Behavior Management with Navigating Behavior Change Nov 24, 2020

Looking for evidence-based classroom strategies for behavior management? In this episode I talk with Danielle and Amanda from Navigating Behavior Change! Danielle and Amanda are both BCBAs who work in the school setting. They are a wealth of knowledge when it comes to evidence-based practices for behavior change in the classroom.
In this episode you will learn

Strategies for escape maintained behavior. This can be really hard to implement in the school setting. Amanda and Danielle provide some practical options for teachers that they can use in their classrooms.
Strategies for training paraprofessionals in your classroom. Again, this can be a challenge for teachers in the classroom setting. There often is no time to provide training and guidance on behavior intervention plans, data collection, or just simple routines and procedures for the classroom. Danielle, as a former teacher, gives her advice and strategies she used as a teacher to train paraprofessionals in her classroom.
Strategies for seeing behavior change across multiple settings. We all know that all too often we are working with a group of students or an individual student on a skill. They can engage in the skill when they are with us, but when a situation arises outside of our classroom or small group, the student does not always engage in the skill we taught them. Amanda walks us through her process for making sure students are engaging in the skills across all settings and that we are promoting generalization of these skills for long lasting behavior change.

This episode is filled with practical tips for teachers to use for in the classroom to promote behavior change in our classroom. Listen to this episode for classroom strategies for behavior management.

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Implementing Consequences for Aggressive Behavior in the Classroom Nov 17, 2020

Aggressive behavior in the classroom can be a challenge when implementing behavior change programs. In this episode I talk about natural and logical consequences for various types of aggression that can occur in the classroom.
I start off the episode talking about the elements of a behavior plan that need to be in place prior to focusing on the consequences piece of it. We talk about the elements of the behavior plan like antecedent strategies, replacement behaviors, and reinforcement for appropriate behavior that should be in place prior to thinking about the consequences for aggressive behavior in the classroom.
Then we talk about strategies for implementing consequences for verbal aggression, physical aggression, and property destruction. We talk about the natural consequences of each of these types of aggressive behaviors. Then I talk about logical consequences for each of these types of aggressive behaviors. For example, we talk about students apologizing and engaging in restorative practices with other individuals that may have been affected by the behavior.
If you are looking for strategies for implementing consequences for aggressive behavior in the classroom, this episode is a must listen. I give one key strategy that is SO important when implementing logical consequences so our students can be successful in the classroom. Listen to the episode today!
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Incorporating Social Emotional Learning Games in your SEL Groups with Kaylan from Caffinatedbehaviorchange Nov 10, 2020

Do you incorporate social emotional learning games into your SEL groups?
Kaylan from cafefinatedbehaviorchange on Instagram has a secret to social emotional learning group success....games. In this episode we talk about her social emotional learning groups and how she incorporates games to make them fun and engaging. Social emotional learning skills such as turn taking, cooperating with peers, communicating with peers, waiting, sharing, and so much more can be taught so easily through playing games. Guess what? Kids love it too, just listen to how Kaylan talks about how engaged her students are when she walks into the classroom.
In this episode, Kaylan, who is a BCBA, gives teachers some great ideas for how to incorporate naturalistic learning opportunities to build social emotional learning skills! Hint, when kids are playing there are teachable moments that occur which you can use to teach so many skills. Also, when you are using games you can incorporate behavioral skills training to teach social emotional learning skills seamlessly. Your students will pick up on these skills over time as you continue to provide these naturalistic learning opportunities.
Kalyan gives teachers great advice for teaching social emotional learning skills all throughout this episode! Additionally, she shares her favorite games that are teacher must haves and how to incorporate student interest into your social emotional learning groups.
If you are thinking of incorporating social emotional learning games into your SEL groups you have to listen to this episode to hear all of Kaylan's strategies. After listening to this episode you could start a group tomorrow in your classroom!
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Strategies for Making Token Boards More Effective in Your Classroom Nov 05, 2020

Token boards are very popular in classrooms, however, a lot of times they are not as effective as they could be. In this episode you will learn 4 key strategies to make token boards in your classroom more effective. I walk you through each of these strategies so you can start using them tomorrow in your classroom.
In this episode you will learn:
Strategy 1: Take data on the behavior you want to increase in your classroom. Once you have data on that behavior you will be able to set an appropriate threshold for the amount of tokens the student has to earn before they can exchange them for the back up reinforcer. This is going to be key. If the student has to earn too many tokens before they get the backup reinforcer, your token board will likely not be as effective as it could be.
Strategy 2: You may need to condition the token as a reinforcer. What this means is you might need to pair the token directly with the behavior and the backup reinforcer when you are first starting with your token board. This sounds more complicated than it is, tune into this episode so you learn exactly how to do this in a couple of very easy steps.
Strategy 3: Have a menu of backup reinforcers. Raise your hand if you have ever said..."the student doesn't want to earn (insert item) anymore, the token board isn't working." Sounds familiar right? Creating a large menu of reinforcers can solve this problem in an instant. In this episode I provide you with some information of why this might be occurring and how to fix it.
Strategy 4: Have a plan for fading out the token board. Our goal for all of our students is that we teach them skills they need to contact naturally occurring reinforcers in the environment. This is something you have to explicitly plan for and have in the back of your head when you are first starting to use a token board with a student.
In this episode I walk you through all of these strategies so you can make token boards more effective in your classroom. Listen today!
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Day in the Life of a Behavior Specialist in a School Oct 27, 2020

Ever wonder what a behavior specialist in a school does all day?
In this episode I walk you through the different types of roles behavior specialists in schools can have and what their day to day jobs look like.
There are three different models of what your job could look like as a behavior specialist in schools (usually). I walk you through each of these different models and talk about some of the day to day tasks they might do.
Day in the Life of a Behavior Specialist in a School
I also talk about my main role and why I choose the model I choose as a career choice. See when I graduated, I had many different career paths I could have taken. I could have provided ABA services privately to families in the home setting. I could have pursued becoming a school psychologist (yes, I do have my school psychology license). Or I could have been a behavior specialist in a school.
I knew that this is what I wanted to do, and I knew what type of job I wanted. In this episode tell you what my job looks like and how to approach applying fo behavior specialist jobs.
The one, of many, things I love about my job is that each day is different. Each day I do new tasks related to being a behavior specialist in schools. I absolutely love that. I love having a wide range of responsibilities that allow me to reach so many teachers and students.
If you are thinking about becoming a behavior specialist in a school or you are a teacher looking for a career change, this episode is for you. Listen now and let me know what you think!
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Strategies for Teaching Kids Self-Awareness Oct 20, 2020

Self-awareness is one of the key competencies outlined by CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) They define self-awareness as “The ability to accurately recognize one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior as well as the ability to accurately assess one’s strengths and limitations (2020).”

Strategies for Teaching Kids to be Self-Aware
Throughout this episode I will share how I teach students self-awareness and what activities I use to do so. I outline and walk you through the seven lessons I use to teach this social emotional learning competency.
I also talk about all of the fun and engaging activities I use to teach student self-awareness. If you are looking for a road map to teaching self-awareness success you are in the right place.
The lessons I review are simple lessons that teach this competency explicitly. I love teaching skills explicitly and all of the activities I include are fun and engaging ways to reinforce the lessons.
You can take the information you hear in the episode and design a whole unit around teaching kids to be self-aware.
Too busy to create a whole unit right now?
No worries, I designed the whole unit for you! (Click here to get the unit now)
This self-awareness unit is perfect for busy teachers, counselors, or school psychologists who are looking for self-awareness lessons and activities to do with their students. The lessons are low prep and come with step by step directions for anyone using them. They can be done with the whole class or in small groups or centers in the classroom. Counselors and teachers can use these self-awareness lessons and activities in their small groups.
The Unit Includes

8 self-awareness lessons about
· What is self-awareness
· Self-awareness of emotions
· Self-awareness of thoughts
· Self-awareness of behaviors
· Connecting emotions, thoughts, and behaviors
· Self-awareness of values
· Self-awareness of strengths
· Self-awareness of goals

Each lesson comes with an interactive activity for students to complete to help reinforce these skills.

Classroom visuals that come in black and white are included so you can print them in either format.
This unit comes in print and digital versions.

The print version comes in a (non-editable) pdf format. This makes it easy and low prep for teachers. Everything is done for you, all you have to do is print the social skills lessons and activities for your students. Follow the lesson and instructions and your students will find the activities fun and engaging!

The digital version comes via google slides links. I recommend saving them in your google drive in individual folders corresponding to each lesson. There are step by step instructions included walking your through how to assign the activities to your students in google classroom.
(Click here to get the unit now)
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Join the email list for weekly emails, monthly freebies, and alerts for sales and new products. (Click Here)
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Learn How to Implement a Behavior Intervention Plan in the Gen Ed Classroom Oct 13, 2020

Are you writing beautiful behavior intervention plans, but struggling with implementation in the general education setting?
If you are a special education teacher you probably have written some pretty comprehensive behavior plans in your day. They were probably beautifully written and full of strategies and interventions that are evidence-based and effective for your students. I know I have, I have written some great behavior plans that I know will lead to success for my students. I know that, it’s a fact, right? Well, wrong, kind of
I can write the most beautiful behavior plan but if everyone on the team is not able to carry out the interventions, then it will not be successful.
How to Implement a Behavior Intervention Plan in the General Education Setting
In this episode I provide you with five actionable steps you can take to implement behavior intervention plans in any setting feasibly.
The goal for the implementation of a behavior intervention plan is for it to be feasible. We can take steps to making the plan feasible and most importantly successful for our students!
I've had years of practice writing school based behavior intervention plans, and let me tell you, they are beautiful! If I do say so myself. Here's the things, I follow all of my action items I tell you in this episode. And guess what? They work. These are evidence-based strategies for implementing behavior intervention plans across all settings.
All of the action items I give you are doable items you can start incorporating into your practice tomorrow! Give this episode a listen and let me know if the strategies work for you!
Join the Teaching Behavior Together Community
Join the email list for weekly emails, monthly freebies, and alerts for sales and new products. (Click Here)
Visit my website for more strategies and interventions you can use daily in your classroom. (Click Here)

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Follow me over on Pinterest for all things behavior and social emotional learning (Click Here)

Strategies for Avoiding Power Struggles with Kids Oct 06, 2020

Are you looking for strategies to avoid power struggles with kids?
In this episode, I provide you with five strategies for handling power struggles. These strategies can be used in the home or school setting and can be a game changer when it comes to power struggles.
In this episode, we first talk about what a power struggle is and what it could look like in your classroom. We also discuss some common situations in which power struggles typically occur.
Then we get into the strategies.
Strategies for Avoiding Power Struggles with Kids
My first strategy is to read the room. Know what is going on with your student. If you see that your student is upset of frustrated the best strategy would be to let the student know you are there if they need help and then walk away to give them time and space. Once the student has engaged in a calm down strategy (because you are teaching those to your class on a consistent basis) you can discuss the situation with the student. This will allow you to avoid the power struggle all together.
My second strategy is to know when to pick your battles. I give you some examples of how to determine this and how you can approach this situation. The key? Discuss the behavior of concern after it has occurred. Make a plan with the student in the future and then reinforce the use of that plan.
My third strategy is to teach an appropriate response to not getting what you want. I talk about how to teach this appropriate response and the importance of teaching appropriate responses to not getting what you want. This will increase the likelihood students will engage in an appropriate response instead of a power struggle.
Want to know the rest of my strategies for avoiding power struggles with kids? Listen to the episode now!
Join the Teaching Behavior Together Community
Join the email list for weekly emails, monthly freebies, and alerts for sales and new products. (Click Here)
Visit my website for more strategies and interventions you can use daily in your classroom. (Click Here)

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Follow me over on Pinterest for all things behavior and social emotional learning (Click Here)

Q & A: Working with Paras as a Young Teacher, My Thoughts on PBIS, Using Reinforcement Successfully, and More! Sep 29, 2020

Looking for advice on working with paraprofessionals in special education, especially as a young teacher?
Hearing conflicting information about PBIS?
Need help using reinforcement effectively?
I answer all of these questions and more in this Q and A episode. We talk about my strategies for working with paraprofessionals in special education especially as a young teacher. If you met me in the real world, you would probably think I was a student in high school at first glance. I get it all the time, people ask my age at an abnormally high rate. So working with older professionals in the building has been a challenge I have encountered. I give you my tips for working with paraprofessionals in special education as a young teacher.
We also talk about PBIS. There are a lot of misconceptions about PBIS, one being that it is a ticket system that is used to gain compliance from kids. However, this is not the case. I discuss what PBIS really is and how it can be used as a framework for promoting and teaching behavioral and social emotional learning skills to our students effectively. I also talk about my opinion of PBIS from a behavior analytic perspective.
I also got a question about what to do when a student has a token board and they pick their reinforcer they are working for but then change their mind. This can happen a lot. I walk you through some different strategies you can use if this occurs in your classroom to increase student success. We also discuss the main goal of behavior change programs and how we can keep that goal in mind while we are working through our behavior change program.
Lastly, we talk about classroom rotations. I give you some pros and cons to classroom rotations and help outline how to make that decision for your classroom.
Overall, this episode is filled with advice for classroom teachers on a variety of topics and can be useful throughout the school year!
Join the Teaching Behavior Together Community
Join the email list for weekly emails, monthly freebies, and alerts for sales and new products. (Click Here)
Visit my website for more strategies and interventions you can use daily in your classroom. (Click Here)

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Follow me over on Pinterest for all things behavior and social emotional learning (Click Here)

Effective Strategies for Teaching Conflict Resolution Skills to Kids Sep 22, 2020

Looking for strategies to teach conflict resolution skills to kids?

In this episode you will learn strategies for teaching conflict resolution skill to kids. The episode walks you through a conflict resolution process that involves, taking time to calm down, listening to each other's point of view, identifying things we can agree on, identifying things we disagree on, brain storming a solution, and moving past a conflict.
Throughout this episode I walk you through the activities I use to teach this process explicitly to students. You can teach these skills to your whole class using the activities described or you can use them in a small group. The activities are engaging and teach the conflict resolution process explicitly to your students.
In this episode I also talk about my full comprehensive unit for teaching conflict resolution skills to kids. The unit includes the guided lessons, engaging activities, and supporting materials discussed in the episode.
Get the full conflict resolution unit here!!!

Need more information on the conflict resolution unit?
This conflict resolution unit is perfect for busy teachers, counselors, or school psychologists who are looking to incorporate social skills lessons an activities with their students. The lessons are low prep and come with step by step directions for anyone using them. They can be done with the whole class or in small groups or centers in the classroom. Counselors and teachers can use the conflict resolution lessons and activities in their small groups.

Seven conflict resolution lessons that cover the following topics

Lesson 1: What is a conflict?
Lesson 2: How to Resolve a Conflict Step 1: Taking some time to calm down
Lesson 3: How to Resolve a Conflict Step 2: Listening to other’s point of view
Lesson 4: How to Resolve a Conflict Step 3: Identifying things we agree on
Lesson 5: How to Resolve a Conflict Step 4: Identifying things we disagree on
Lesson 6: How to Resolve a Conflict Step 5: Brainstorm a solution
Lesson 7: How to Resolve a Conflict Step 6: Moving past a conflict

The lesson includes a flipbook that corresponds with lesson one. This lesson also includes a conflict resolution workbook that corresponds with the remaining lessons. In addition, prepared scenarios are included for use when working through the workbook. There are five scenarios you can use with your students so they have repeated practice with this skill set and can build strong conflict resolution skills!

Classroom visuals that come in black and white so you can print them on paper that corresponds with your classroom colors or theme and in color.

This unit comes in print and digital versions.

How to Teach Children Self-Control: Learning to Wait Sep 15, 2020

Looking for strategies to teach your students self-control skills like learning to wait?
In this episode I give you strategies to teach waiting skills to your students. We talk about where to start with teaching waiting skills and how to build on waiting skills once a students has learned to wait for short periods of time.
The first step to teaching waiting skills is teaching students an appropriate request for an item/object/or activity. This is because waiting often occurs after the student has requested something. We want to make sure we are providing reinforcement with access to the requested item/activity/object based on an appropriate request.
From there, we move on to teaching tolerance for waiting. Some of our students might not have any waiting skills when we first start teaching these skills. I provide you with step-by- step instructions on how to increase waiting skills and the amount of time a student can wait.
Next, we talk about how to build on waiting stamina in a systematic way that can be very effective for your students. We can build up waiting stamina through different strategies that are discussed within the episode.
We also talk about to transfer waiting skills to situations that occur in your classroom. While students are waiting we can provide them with choices of other appropriate activities and use visual supports to increase appropriate waiting behavior.
Teaching students self-control skills can be tricky, especially when they involve waiting. Waiting can be an abstract concept to a lot of our students. The strategies included in this episode make waiting more concrete and can help our students develop appropriate waiting skills.
Throughout the episode I walk you through an evidence-based process for teaching waiting skills, therefore teaching self-control skills to your students.
Join the Teaching Behavior Together Community
Join the email list for weekly emails, monthly freebies, and alerts for sales and new products. (Click Here)
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Follow me over on Pinterest for all things behavior and social emotional learning (Click Here)

Effective Strategies for Teaching Social Skills to Kids Sep 08, 2020

Looking for effective strategies for teaching social skills to kids?

In this episode you will learn about effective strategies for teaching social skills such as listening, using kid words, sharing, and turn taking. These skills are necessary foundational skills that will lead to the development of more complex social skills. Throughout the episode I walk you through the activities I use to teach these skills in a school setting. I take you through step by step how I teach each of these skills and provide effective strategies for teaching social skills to our students.
We first talk about the foundational social skills that are needed to further develop more complex social skills in the future. We talk about effective strategies for teaching social skills to kids explicitly. This is key. Skills need to be taught explicitly so that we can build these skills and maintain the skills overtime.
In the episode I also talk about my full comprehensive unit companion to this episode. The unit includes the guided lessons, engaging activities, and supporting materials discussed in the episode.
You can get that full comprehensive unit here!!
Need more information on the social skills unit?
This social skills unit is perfect for busy teachers, counselors, or school psychologists who are looking to incorporate social skills lessons an activities with their students. The lessons are low prep and come with step by step directions for anyone using them. They can be done with the whole class or in small groups or centers in the classroom. Counselors and teachers can use these social skills lessons and activities in their small groups.

This Unit Includes

Five social skills lessons that cover the following topics

What are social skills
Developing Listening Skills
Using Kind Words
Developing Sharing Skills
Developing Turn Taking Skills

Corresponding interactive activities for each lesson as well an extra activity that can be used throughout the unit.

Classroom visuals that come in black and white so you can print them on paper that corresponds with your classroom colors or theme and in color.

Social skills badges for

Listening
Using Kind Words
Sharing
Taking Turns

These badges can be used when you see a student engaging in an appropriate social skill as a form of reinforcement. You can have students fill out the badge and put it in a jar, at the end of each week you can pick a couple of the badges and those students can receive a prize of some sort. This will motivate students to engage in appropriate social skills as the more badges you have the more chances you have to win.

If that type of class wide reinforcement is not your thing, you can give the social skills badges to students when you see them engaging in an appropriate social skill and they can serve as parent communication or a positive parent note in that the student can fill it out and bring it home to their parent so the parent can see the students social skills accomplishments!
Join the Teaching Behavior Together Community
Join the email list for weekly emails, monthly freebies, and alerts for sales and new products. (Click Here)
Visit my website for more strategies and interventions you can use daily in your classroom. (Click Here)

Follow me on Instagram for daily behavior and social emotional learning tips (Click Here)
Follow me over on Pinterest for all things behavior and social emotional learn

Using Functional Communication Training In Schools Aug 25, 2020

Functional communication training is when we teach our students functional communicative responses to get their wants and needs met. If you have not heard of this intervention, you are missing out, your students are missing out.
We can using functional communication training to teach our students how to ask for a break, how to ask for help, and how to get all of their needs and wants met so they can be successful in our classroom.
A lot of time, I mean a lot of time, our students engage in undesired behavior because they do not know how to communicate their needs and wants in that moment.
In this episode I talk all about the importance of functional communication training. I dispel some misconceptions of functional communication training that often stop us from using it in in our classroom. Lastly, I talk about how we can use functional communication training in ALL of our classrooms.
I walk you through all of the steps you need to start teaching students functional communicative responses and how this strategy can be so powerful in your classroom.
Our students do not always know how to communicate what they need when they become upset or frustrated or when they are sad or angry. That is where we come in. We can teach them functional communicative responses that are alternatives to the undesired behaviors we sometimes see in our classroom.
You won't regret listening to this episode! Learn how to use functional communication training in your classroom right now.
Resources You Might Be Interested In
FREE GUIDE TO TEACHING COPING SKILLS IN YOUR CLASSROOM!
Join the Teaching Behavior Together Community
Join the email list for weekly emails, monthly freebies, and alerts for sales and new products. (Click Here)
Visit my website for more strategies and interventions you can use daily in your classroom. (Click Here)

Follow me on Instagram for daily behavior and social emotional learning tips (Click Here)
Follow me over on Pinterest for all things behavior and social emotional learning (Click Here)

How to Become a School Based Behavior Specialist Aug 18, 2020

I get this question all the time, how do I become a school based behavior specialist? How do I get your job?
Well, first let me tell you, I have my dream job. I literally have the job I have been dreaming of for years and I love every minute of it. I love my role in schools and think every school should have a behavior specialist.
I have made it my goal to share behavioral and social emotional learning strategies with teachers so they can increase the success of their students. And guess what? I get to do that each and every day!
In this episode, I walk you through my journey (it was a long one) to becoming a school based behavior specialist. I talk about how I choose ABA and became a BCBA (board certified behavior analyst). Surprise, I also talk about my school psych license and how it helped me in my journey.
I also talk about steps you can take to create this role in your district. The truth is, more and more districts are hiring BCBAs as behavior specialists to help support teachers. I walk you through steps to talking with your district about supporting teachers in this role.
There are several different routes you can take to becoming a behavior specialist in your school, but one thing is for sure, if you are passionate about this, you need to pursue it. Being able to help support teachers with the behavioral and social emotional needs of their students is so valuable.
Sadly, teachers leave the field at alarming rates, and classroom behaviors is one of the number one reasons cited when teachers leave the field. You can help change that in your building. You can help teachers learn how to engage in effective classroom management skills. You can help teachers develop the behavioral and social emotional skills of their students.
When I tell you this job is so rewarding, I mean it. Again, this is my dream job!. If this is something you are interested in, listen to this episode all about how to become a behavior specialist in schools now!
Resources You Might Be Interested In
FREE GUIDE TO TEACHING COPING SKILLS IN YOUR CLASSROOM!
Join the Teaching Behavior Together Community
Join the email list for weekly emails, monthly freebies, and alerts for sales and new products. (Click Here)
Visit my website for more strategies and interventions you can use daily in your classroom. (Click Here)

Follow me on Instagram for daily behavior and social emotional learning tips (Click Here)
Follow me over on Pinterest for all things behavior and social emotional learning (Click Here)

Teaching Kids Self-Regulation Strategies: Taking a Break Aug 11, 2020

Teaching kids self-regulation strategies in your classroom does not have to be overwhelming. One great self-regulation strategy you can teach your students is how to take a break. Taking a break can help our students hit pause, walk away from a situation, calm their bodies, and return to your classroom ready to learn.
Self-regulation strategies for kids are essential for overall school success. We need to teach our students how to manage their emotions and behaviors when they become upset and frustrated.
As stated earlier, teaching students how to take a break is a great self-regulation strategy. There are several steps that go into teaching students to take a break in your classroom successfully.
In this episode you will learn the steps you need to take to prep prior to teaching students how to take a break in your classroom. I walk you through these prep steps that will lead you to being successful when teaching students to take a break in your classroom. These steps include, identifying what students can do while they are on their break, how to ask for a break, and how to return after they have taken a break.
Then, I walk you through, step-by-step how to teach students how to take a break in your classroom. I teach you strategies to make sure students understand how to take a break and then return to your classroom without a disruption.
Lastly, I walk you through the steps needed to make sure our students are taking a break in your classroom when they need it. We need to help our students make that connection between feeling upset, taking a break, and feeling better. Once our students make that connection, they will likely use taking a break in the future so they can calm their bodies as opposed to engaging in an undesired behavior in our classrooms.
Resources Discussed in This Episode
Classroom Break Cards
FREE GUIDE TO TEACHING COPING SKILLS IN YOUR CLASSROOM!
Join the Teaching Behavior Together Community
Join the email list for weekly emails, monthly freebies, and alerts for sales and new products. (Click Here)
Visit my website for more strategies and interventions you can use daily in your classroom. (Click Here)

Follow me on Instagram for daily behavior and social emotional learning tips (Click Here)
Follow me over on Pinterest for all things behavior and social emotional learning (Click Here)

Strategies to De-escalate a Student in Your Classroom Aug 04, 2020

Need strategies to use to de-escalate a student in your classroom? I know when student engages in escalated behavior it can be hard to determine what to the student needs in that moment. It can also be hard to know how to de-escalate a student in your classroom without any strategies to pull from.
We all want our students to be successful in our classroom. We want them to thrive and strive each and everyday. Sometimes, though our students become upset and frustrated and their behavior escalates. In those situations, we want to make sure we are providing them with the support they need to engage in a coping skill, calm their body, and re-enter the classroom.
Using simple de-escalation strategies will ensure our students are given the tools to calm their bodies and be successful in our classrooms. In this episode I give you strategies to de-escalate a student in your classroom that are effective and feasible for you to engage in.
I outline antecedent strategies (strategies that occur prior to a student's behavior escalates) that will prevent a student's behavior from escalating in the first place. These strategies are easy to implement and feasible in every classroom. They are effective and evidence-based strategies you can use in order to set your student up for success.
I also talk about the escalation cycle and strategies you can use to de-escalate a student in your classroom at each stage of the cycle.
Lastly, I talk about what to do after a student's behavior escalates in your classroom. There are steps we can take as educators to support each other after a situation occurs in our classroom and steps we can take to ensure our student's have the skills to manage their behavior and their emotions effectively.
Our students need tools to manage their emotions and behaviors, I talk about these strategies and more in this episode. Listen now to learn strategies to de-escalate a student in your classroom.
Resources Discussed in this Episode
FREE GUIDE TO TEACHING COPING SKILLS IN YOUR CLASSROOM!
Join the Teaching Behavior Together Community
Join the email list for weekly emails, monthly freebies, and alerts for sales and new products. (Click Here)
Visit my website for more strategies and interventions you can use daily in your classroom. (Click Here)

Follow me on Instagram for daily behavior and social emotional learning tips (Click Here)
Follow me over on Pinterest for all things behavior and social emotional learning (Click Here)

Q & A: Tips for avoiding teacher burnout, Pursuing the BCBA, Advice for overwhelmed special education teachers, and more Jul 21, 2020

Avoiding teacher burnout is not something to take lightly. Teachers leave the field of special education at alarming rates. Research shows behavior management and burnout are two big factors when it comes to teachers leaving the profession. I am here to tell you teachers burnout does not have to be apart of your teaching story. Avoiding teacher burnout is something that is totally obtainable and will allow you to stay in the field for a long time!
In this episode, I answer questions about my tips for avoiding teacher burnout. Hint, I do not, and never have, had my work email on my phone! It is so important to me to unplug from work when I come home and do things that I enjoy so that I look forward to going to work every morning. And guess what? I still look forward to going to my job every morning.
See the thing is, I have my dream job. It has been my dream job for several years and when I got it, I knew I had to take steps to avoid teacher burnout so I could stay in my dream job for a very long time. Anyway, in this episode you will learn about the few things I do to avoid teacher burn out.
I also get asked all the time about pursing the BCBA (board certified behavior analyst) and if, as a special education teacher, I think it is worth doing. I give you my answer to this in the episode and tell you exactly why I think having the BCBA as a special education teacher will be a decision you do not regret.
Another frequently asked question I get is if I have any advice for overwhelmed special education teachers. This kind of goes along with my advice on how to avoid teacher burnout, but I give you some specific tips on how to manage the overwhelm and prevent overwhelm in the first place. There are a couple of things I do to make sure I am on top of all the overwhelm that comes in the field of special education. I am here to tell you it is possible to get on top of the overwhelm and not feel like you are just making it through day by day. There are strategies you can use to get ahead and not feel like you are just making it each day.
FREE GUIDE TO TEACHING COPING SKILLS IN YOUR CLASSROOM!
Visit my website for more behavioral and social emotional resources for your students.
Follow me on Instagram for daily content and tips as well!
PS. If you visit my website subscribe to my email list and get a free calm down corner kit for your class as well as weekly emails and monthly freebies!

How to Develop Classroom Routines and Procedures Jul 14, 2020

Without classroom routines and procedures a classroom environment can be unstructured, unpredictable, and confusing for students. This can lead to undesired behaviors and frustration for both teachers and students. Developing classroom routines and procedures can be a daunting task for new teachers or if you have not had to develop them in the past. In this episode you will learn

How to determine what routines and procedures you need in your classroom
How to develop routines and procedures in your classroom
How to teach your students routines and procedures
The benefits of routines and procedures in your classroom.

FREE GUIDE TO TEACHING COPING SKILLS IN YOUR CLASSROOM!
Visit my website for more behavioral and social emotional resources for your students.
Follow me on Instagram for daily content and tips as well!
PS. If you visit my website subscribe to my email list and get a free calm down corner kit for your class as well as weekly emails and monthly freebies!

Using Visuals to Manage Behavior Effectively in Your Classroom Jul 07, 2020

Classroom visuals can be such a useful tool in your overall classroom management plan. Classroom visuals can be used to in many different ways to support student learning and success. Classroom visuals can be used to support structure and predictability in a classroom.
There are strategies teachers can use in order to make their classroom visuals more effective. In this episode you will learn

Two different types of visuals to incorporate in your classrooms
Strategies for creating the visuals in your classroom
Tips for using visuals in your classroom to support you classroom management plan
The advantages to using visual prompts versus verbal prompts

Strategies for Setting Up Your Classroom Management Plan Jun 30, 2020

In this episode we talk about the most popular topic when it comes to strategies for classroom management: classroom rewards. In applied behavior analysis we talk about these as group contingencies, but that is just a fancy way of saying, classroom reinforcement systems.
In this episode you will learn all about

How to set up your classroom management systems
Strategies for setting up your classroom management system
Using reinforcement within your classroom management plan
How to decide which classroom management system is best for your classroom

Social Emotional Learning-Classroom Must Haves Jun 23, 2020

Supporting your social emotional learning curriculum with some must have items can be a great way to bolster your social emotional learning plan and classroom management plan. Outside of a curriculum, it can be hard to identify items you might need to increase the effectiveness of your overall social emotional learning plan and activities.
In this episode you will learn

My top recommendations for social emotional learning must haves for your classroom
Items you can make or create on your own for your classroom
Items you can purchase (and my recommendations for where and how to get them at a low cost) for your classroom
Strategies for using all of these items in your classroom to increase the social emotional learning skills of your students

Items discussed in this episode included in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store-
Social emotional learning classroom essentials bundle
Check in cards
FREE GUIDE TO TEACHING COPING SKILLS IN YOUR CLASSROOM!
Visit my website for more behavioral and social emotional resources for your students.
Follow me on Instagram for daily content and tips as well!
PS. If you visit my website subscribe to my email list and get a free calm down corner kit for your class as well as weekly emails and monthly freebies!

Essential Elements to Setting Up Your Classroom (Classroom Management Plan) Jun 16, 2020

Classroom set up is an element of classroom management that is often forgotten or overlooked when we are creating our classroom management plan. Setting up your classroom is a key element of classroom management that can increase the desired behaviors in your room, increase predictability and structure, and therefore increase overall student success. Whether you are setting up your first grade classroom, setting up a special education classroom, or setting up a 10th grade science classroom the tips within your episode can help you intentionally plan your classroom set up to optimize success.
In this episode you will learn

Where to locate your teacher table/teacher station for optimal success
What high traffic areas exist in your room and how to optimize them
Strategies for classroom organization and materials to fit into your classroom management plan
Tips for designing your classroom layout

A Guide to Teaching Classroom Expectations Jun 09, 2020

Classroom expectations are a key element to your classroom management plan. Classroom management consists of many different elements, with setting expectations in your classroom being one of the top elements you should focus on during the start of the school year. Classroom behavior expectations can be tricky though, so I have created 3 easy tips for you to teach classroom expectations to make it fun and feasible. So don't let setting classroom rules deter you from developing a strong classroom management plan!
In this episode you will learn

3 key elements to teaching classroom expectations
How to make teaching classroom expectations feasible
How you can continually teach classroom expectations throughout the school year

Q & A: Classroom Management Plan Essentials, Collecting Data for IEPs and BIPs, Teaching Kids to Take Breaks and More! Jun 02, 2020

I get so many questions on various topics related to behavioral and social emotional learning in classrooms. In this episode I answer some of my most frequently asked questions about the essential elements to your classroom management plan as well as tips for collecting data as a special education teacher, and how to teach kids to use a break appropriately!
In this episode you will learn

My top two areas of focus for your classroom management plan
My strategies for taking data efficiently in your classroom for your IEP and BIP goals
How to teach students to take a break appropriately
My tips for new teachers entering in a classroom with a behavioral focus
My book recommendations for learning about behavioral strategies for your classroom

Visit my website for more behavioral and social emotional resources for your students.
Follow me on Instagram for daily content and tips as well!
PS. If you visit my website subscribe to my email list and get a free calm down corner kit for your class as well as weekly emails and monthly freebies!

Does Punishment Work in Schools? May 19, 2020

Punishment, in the traditional sense, does not work in schools. There is an abundance of evidence that shows suspensions, detentions, etc are not effective behavior change strategies. Alternative strategies that focus on teaching students skills and building on behaviors that we want to see are much more effective than punishment. Punishment in schools does not work. Using punishment with kids does not teach them skills they need to engage in appropriate behaviors.
In this episode you will learn

What punishment is
Alternative strategies to punishment
The steps to teaching kids new skills

How to Use Positive (and Negative) Reinforcement in the Classroom May 19, 2020

Using positive (and negative) reinforcement in the classroom can be very effective at reinforcing (increasing) desired student behaviors. Reinforcement in classrooms increases desired behaviors and allows our students to build skills and success. However, there are a couple of things we need to discuss and understand about reinforcement before we can carry out these procedures effectively.
In this episode you will learn

What reinforcement is
The difference between positive and negative reinforcement
How to identify naturally occurring reinforcers
How to reinforce appropriate behavior effectively
The benefits of using reinforcement in your classroom

How to Use Consequences Effectively with Kids May 12, 2020

In schools we have the opportunity to teach kids new skills for behaviors that they might not be proficient at. Giving kids consequences in the classroom is often ineffective at changing the behavior. Good news, there are effective ways at using consequences that will allow your students to reach success!
In this episode you will learn

How to use consequences effectively in your classroom to increase desired behaviors
What consequences to stay away from
The difference between natural and logical consequences
Why teaching kids new skills is essential for changing behavior

How to Build A Strong Parent Communication Plan May 05, 2020

Parent communication for teachers is so important. We need to build strong relationships with our parents so that we can maximize student success. Building a strong positive parent communication plan can help take away the stress from communicating with parents and help build that relationship with families. We also talk about strategies you can use if you do have to call a parent and discuss their child's behavior in your classroom.
In this episode you will learn

Several different strategies for increasing parent communication
Several strategies for talking to parents about their child's behavior

Distance Learning Tips for Parents (Behavioral Supports) Apr 28, 2020

Distance learning can create some new challenges for parents in the home. This episode outlines some easy and feasible tips for parents to use in the home to increase student success in the home. Positive behavioral interventions can be successful in the home just like in the classroom with some tweaks to make it actually feasible for parents to carry out successfully, leading to maximum student success!
The tips include

Creating a schedule that actually works
Providing choice in the home
Sibling support to eliminate arguments and distractions
Providing reinforcement to the whole family
Providing praise and reinforcement to individual students

Easy Steps for Teaching Kids Coping Skills Apr 21, 2020

In this episode I teach you how to teach your students effective coping skills to help them manage their behavior. Teaching kids coping skills is essential for overall student success. There are various coping skills we can teach kids such as coping skills for anger, coping skills for anxiety, coping skills for stress, and so on. But the process for teaching these coping skills is the same.
In this episode I walk you through a behavior teaching strategy called behavioral skills training to teach the skills. Then we talk about what to do if the coping skills you taught are not working and how to shape more intense behaviors into more appropriate coping skills.
This episode if filled with easy to implement steps that are effective and will allow your students to maximize success.
Visit my website for more behavioral and social emotional resources for your students.
Follow me on Instagram for daily content and tips as well!
PS. If you visit my website subscribe to my email list and get a free calm down corner kit for your class as well as weekly emails and monthly freebies!

Let's Get to Know Each Other Apr 11, 2020

In this episode I tell you why I wanted to create this podcast and a little bit about my background with behavioral and social emotional learning. I encourage you to follow me over on Instagram where I post daily content with quick tips and strategies that are helpful for your classrooms. Also, if you have any topics you would like me to cover, please leave me a message on Instagram so I can talk about that on an episode of the podcast!
Visit my website for more behavioral and social emotional resources for your students.
Follow me on Instagram for daily content and tips as well!
PS. If you visit my website subscribe to my email list and get a free calm down corner kit for your class as well as weekly emails and monthly freebies!

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