Interventions
for Defiant Kids in the Classroom
Overall
I have a pretty well behaved class this school year, except for ONE. This “one” student feels like 10 because of
his extremely defiant behavior. Mood
swings, aggressive behavior, temper tantrums, extreme self-centeredness are
only a few of the issues I’m running into with this child. He knows the classroom rules really
well. He can even recite all of them on
his own and recognize which rules he is breaking. He purposely chooses to hurt
others and myself to get attention or to get his way.
I
noticed several things about this student.
He had trouble focusing, adjusting to new routines, frequently got out
of his seat, needed a lot of adult assistance, excessive oral fixation. What really sets him off is when he doesn’t
get what he wants.
Here
are some of the interventions I’ve tried:
Give frequent breaks:
Use Break Cards:
Click
HERE to download it for free.
This
student gets 4 break cards a day. He
gets one during our language arts block, one for our math block, and two for
our afternoon block. I give two in the
afternoon because that is when he is the most restless. You can give more depending on their
needs. Make sure you really explain when
a good time would be to use their break card because once they use it they won’t
get another one until the next work block. During their break they can go to
the classroom library, get a drink of water, or go to a quiet place in the
classroom to take a break. If you have
an aide, you can even have them go on a brief walk. I set a timer for 2 minutes or more if needed
and then when they hear the buzzer they come back to join the class.
Reward chart for
focusing on work:
Here
is what my reward chart looks like:
Click
HERE to download it for free.
Because
my student needs frequent breaks and needs to feel like they have something to
look forward to, he only has to move his race car 3 blocks before he gets his
reward. When I first introduced this to
my student, I moved his racecar anytime I saw him doing something
positive. For example, sitting down at
his seat quickly, getting out his school supplies, opening his book, getting to
work right away, etc. Because I looked
for any positive behavior, he was able to get to his first reward quickly and
could understand what the chart was for.
The
rewards will be different depending on what motivates your student and what you
want to offer. For my kiddo, I have a
sensory box filled with different kinds of toys. His sensory box has an assortment balls with
different textures, sand box, play dough, interactive books, blocks, connecting
cubes, etc.
Excessive oral
fixation
My
student is a thumb sucker. If it isn’t his
thumb it will be anything and everything that is around him. It could be glue, a pencil, scissors, piece
of paper, or even his clothes. Because
this is a safety concern, I talked to our school’s Occupational Therapist to
get some ideas.
Here
are just a few:
Necklace with plastic
tubing:
You
need yarn and some kind of toxic-free plastic tubing that you can string. Your student can put this around their neck
and place the tubing in their mouth rather than objects in the classroom. My OT also recommended using straws.
Offer
Chewy Foods:
Bagels,
jerky, gum, Starburst, etc. works well.
You can use this as a reward or an afternoon snack. Ask you child’s parents if they can bring
these in for their child.
Pencil
Topper:
My
OT gave me plastic tubing to stretch over the eraser of his pencil. They can chew on the tubing rather than
school supplies. You can also purchase
these at specialty online stores.
Use a timer for Time
Outs:
There
have been many times when my student needs to go on a time out for poor
choices, but either refuses to go or gets out of his seat midway through his
time out. It took a while for my student
to get used to taking a time out since it is his first year in school and his
parents weren’t firm with him when he threw tantrums. He had trouble understanding that as soon as
he finished his time out he can join the class.
Here’s
what I do: I turn on my timer 5 or 10
minutes depending on the severity of his poor choice. If he got up out of his seat before the timer
rang, I would reset the timer. When it
rings he apologizes and then gets to join in our activity. If he does not apologize, then he isn’t ready
to join.
Now
I know you must be thinking, “why should my defiant student get all of these
rewards?” for doing things that my other students do without being asked or
given rewards. Or you may be you’re
thinking, “My other students will be jealous and will ask for the same
rewards.” The truth is none of my other
students have asked for the same rewards because they know this student has
challenges and that he has different needs.
EQUAL DOESN’T MEAN FAIR! Children
have different needs, so we meet them where they are (differentiation).
When you do this…this
happens
I
have to explain frequently why my student’s choices are either poor or
good. I used to say things like… “I like it when you ____.” or “I don’t like it when you
____.” But I found that it doesn’t give
them a reason for why you like or don’t like their behavior. Now I frequently say, “When you do (behavior),
it (give an explanation).” For example, “when you get to work right
away, it allows us to finish quickly” or “When you bother your seatmate during
carpet time, it makes your friend feel unhappy and upset.”
My
interventions are still ongoing and I continue to brainstorm new ways to help
my student. Some days these
interventions work, and some days it completely flops. This may not work for every student, but it
has helped mine. I can finally teach and
I don’t get as frustrated as I used to be.
I hope these interventions help your defiant kids in the classroom.
I'd love to hear what kinds of interventions you are doing in your classroom. Leave me a comment!
Till next time,
KKAP
