Changing Behaviors of 'Frequent Flyers'

What can we do differently to change the behavior of those students who seem to always be in the office?  You probably already know these students very well.  These are the kids who are the 'frequent flyers' of the behavior modification system of your school.

Ross Greene, an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and senior lecturer in the Department of Education at Tufts University wrote an article titled, "Calling All Frequent Flyers" in Education Leadership. This article examines the challenges posed by frequent flyers to school discipline and he recommends using a different approach.  His entire article can be found here.

The idea is called 'Collaborative Problem Solving'.  This approach focuses upon the question:

• Why are challenging students challenging?  

The first component of this approach is to view frequent flyers simply as students who lack the necessary behavioral skills required to successfully navigate the social demands of the school environment.

"When the environment demands skills that a kid lacks, the class of the the two forces occurs and the likelihood of challenging behavior increases.  In each challenging student,  this clash occurs under highly predictable conditions, which we sometimes refer to as antecedents, triggers or situations.  I refer to them as unsolved problems" (Greene, pg. 29)  So this results in these students becoming frequent flyers.  The next relevant question is to then identify:

• When are challenging students challenging?

To answer this question the use of Collaborative Problem Solving is necessary.  Green proposes to use  an Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems (ALSUP) to help educators identify lagging skills that trigger challenging behavior.   Click here for an online copy of an ALSUP.

The Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems:

Collaboratively assessing specific student behavioral challenges between teachers, administrators and parents and the student enables actionable information.  This identifies behavioral factors of control and provides each group with actionable information to solve problems.

Here is Dr. Greene's suggested method to solve the problem of frequent flyers called Plan B, since plan A to solve frequent flyer behavior has shown to be ineffective.

"Plan B involves solving problems collaboratively. I'm much more enthusiastic about this approach. Plan B is composed of three basic steps. The first—Empathy—involves gathering information from a student to achieve the clearest possible understanding of his or her perspective on a given unsolved problem. The second—Define the Problem—involves entering the adult's concern or perspective on the same unsolved problem into consideration. The third—Invitation—is where student and adult brainstorm solutions that are realistic and mutually satisfactory."

More information can be found at Dr. Greene's website: http://www.lostatschool.org

What do students think of vodcasts?

Mr. Aaron Sams is a high school science teacher in Colorado who uses video podcasts to flip his class. He currently teaches in Woodland Park Colorado and is writing a book about the Flipped Classroom.  He filmed some of the reactions and opinions from students in his flipped classroom in the video below.  More information about this teaching technique can be found online at the Learning 4 Mastery website at: http://learning4mastery.com

The University of Northern Colorado has information on vodcasting and homework flipping at this website.  This website describes the process as, "Students conduct experiments, watch video podcasts, work on assignments, interact with the class Moodle site, have one-on-one discussions with their teacher, and get tutored by their peers and cadet teachers. This is Mastery Learning at work.


Mastery of Learning allows students to work at their own pace through the science curriculum. When they complete a unit they must demonstrate that they have learned the content by taking an exit assessment that includes both a lab and a written component. If students score less than 85% on these exit assessments, they must go back and re-learn those concepts they missed and retake the exam. Grades are no longer determined by a percentage but rather how much content they have mastered." 


Teaching Vodcasting Network, a social network site for teachers using vodcasts, was created to support teachers who are using this new educational technology.

8 subtle ways to prepare middle schoolers for success

Jay Matthews, an educational columnist for the Washington Post, outlined several positive tips for parents to help middle school students.  The article titled, "Eight Subtle Ways to Prepare Middle Schoolers for College", was published on February 2, 2011 in the Washington Post and is available online here.  He asked several college admissions and education experts about positive steps that middle-school parents can take.  Mr. Matthews states in his article that "Some of the ideas don’t sound like college prep at all, but they are. If you help a preteen get ready for life, there will be some preparation for college in there somewhere."


Here are his eight suggestions for parents:
1. Notice what they enjoy doing, and help them do more of it.
2. Make sure your child knows that B’s are fine in middle school and that fun is important.
3. Enroll them in Algebra I in the eighth grade.
4. Insist they develop some practical housework skills. 
5. Flavor family trips with a bit of college atmosphere.
6. Encourage children who are curious about the world to take a foreign language.
7. Character counts. Encourage its development.
8. Do everything you can to encourage reading.


As you can see, some of the suggestions on the list are very general, while others appear very focused and specific.  I think that many of the stated ideas are helpful suggestions but ultimately parents should be mindful not to take this list as a recipe for success.  I tend to agree with the famous quote of Booker T. Washington, "Success is to measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome."


Source: http://ed.stanford.edu/in-the-media/8-subtle-ways-prepare-middle-schoolers-college
excerpt, edited