Reflecting on what happened in Term 2 to my Target students.
Student 1
Toward the end of term 2, student number 1 seemed to struggle with managing his emotions. His anxiety increased and became more restless. He was emotional and got upset easy. This student accessed the Regulation corner more often throughout the day. He did a pretty good job taking himself to the self-regulation corner when needed. Student 1 tried his best to calm himself but seemed to me that he needed more help to support his emotions. This student knew what to do but he cannot cope or handle it when difficult challenges occur.
Student 2-
“NO” …… was always the response from Student 2 when he was asked to complete a required task. He often drops to the ground and refuses to comply. Student 2 prefers to play and not to participate in required activities. Our team had to brainstorm some ideas to ensure student 2 was also following the instructions given and complying with our classroom rules.
Student 3
In term 2, student 3 has made a great improvement in his ability to cope when other students interfere or join in his game. When others knocked his creation down he managed his emotions quite well. He often gets up and walks away. His toleration skills in play have significantly improved. However, there is an area
where he struggles to build resilience.
Student 3 hurts himself every time a particular student calls his name. Student 3 does not want to interact or play with this student. Student 3 cannot tolerate this and he showed his frustration by scratching his face. This incident was bad in term 2 because of the scratches and marks on his face. Student 3’s parents and I had to talk about strategies to use to address this behaviour. Student 3 became more upset in term 2.
Due to all the challenges and behaviours that my students displayed in term 2, I had to do something different.
What did I do?
I contacted these key people for their support.
Through discussion, we came up with this plan.
1-Behaviour Specialist
-Assigns time to come in and observe the students.
-Gives advice and support to staff by trialling/implementing
strategies to address the behaviour.
-Provide ongoing support for the students. Take notes and monitor their progress.
2-Occupational Therapist
-Create an appropriate program to support the targeted behaviour.
-Explain the importance of the programme and its benefits to the students.
-Demonstrate and support staff to implement the program.
3-Parents
-A regular meeting with the parents to talk about the behaviour/ anxiety/emotions that are noticed at school.
-Update the parents with what is happening at school.
-Inquire about information from the parents about what the
student is like at home.
-Request for ideas/strategies/methods parents are using at home.
-Share with parents ideas/ strategies/ methods used at school.
-Ensure both parents and teachers are on the same page to address the target behaviour.
What are the new changes implemented into
the classroom programme in term 3?
1- Ongoing support from Behaviour Specialist.
2-Regular meetings with the parents.
3- Run a daily “Go Zone” programme in the morning by (OT)
Resources:
Teacher and Parent meeting Template
Go Zone! Activity (prepared by our OT)
When the tamariki (child) has had a sustained 10-15 minutes
of movement and pressure with the above activities, you
have assisted them to regulate their senses in their environment.
This period of regulation can be effective for up to 2-3 hours.
1. Animal walks:
2. Spinning on the chair
3. scooter Board crawling
Pushing bean bags
4. Sushi roll ’n’ squish
