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Challenging Behaviors Module 4

 I think I may have learned more about my coworkers this module than I did anything else. I say that jokingly of course but its also partly true. I'm always nervous to receive feedback, not because I can't take it, but because I always fear the worst which means having to do a lot more work. Fortunately for me, the people I work with are great and might even be a little too polite. The four staff members I showed this presentation to were all almost universally kind in their remarks and I sort of had to pry for criticism. I personally think the presentation would benefit from a little more research but I was happy to have their positive input regardless. I was also surprised how difficult it was to find any sort of evidence that token economies and other incentives may have drawbacks. I think the system is proven to be effective but I would be interested to see research on the impact of students who want to participate but struggle to do so either because of an academic deficie...
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Challenging Behaviors Mod 3

This module really served to further and compound my understanding that each student must be taken individually in order to best serve them. Anything less is a disservice to the overall classroom. Learning the difference and the benefits of group contingencies, positive reinforcement, and social skills teaching has allowed me to better understand what interventions each individual may require. I also feel in a way that a lot of what we covered isn't necessarily new to me so much as defining strategies and techniques I have observed or absorbed in my limited time working in special education. I think that is probably the greatest take away I have had so far from time with the American College of Education, it is not only an expansion of my knowledge but also a sort of certification of the knowledge I already have. 
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Challenging Behavior module 2

More than anything this module has shed a lot of light on how I was treated as a student. Being someone with an ADHD background I saw many of these behaviors exhibited either by myself or the students around me. This module has also taught me that empathy seems to be the name of the game so to speak. Being able to put ourselves in our students shoes is crucial to understanding the behaviors they might be exhibiting. One of the reasons I have been so eager to work in special education is because I feel very strongly that I can do better than my teachers did for me. It's not quite a vendetta, but it is certainly personal. This module has only underscored that notion because it seems so obvious in retrospect that the causes for challenging behavior are not simply because the student has a disability. To brush a student off simply because of their disability is cruel and callous but having completed this module I can see how some of my teachers may have felt overconfident or perhaps in...
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Challenging Behaviors

 Challenging behaviors in an academic setting have a variety of causes and contributors. The key to this weeks module was understanding what those behaviors are, what their root causes might be, and which strategies can be used to prevent them. Our module assignment was to create and interview protocol to analyze a school of our choosing in an effort to understand whether or not that school was using RtI in a way that effective prevents negative behaviors. I chose the school I work in for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was it being the easiest. However, I did learn quite a bit about functions of the school that I may have otherwise been unfamiliar with. According to our class lectures "Teachers can develop methods for helping students learn how to self-check their inappropriate behaviors. According to Dodd (1994), having a guidance approach to challenging behaviors will help nurture positive relationships and will enhance the students' learning experiences."...
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