Contracts Posting - by Helen

Contract Posting – by Helen

Thank you, Patrick, for your great idea about using our names in the heading.

I think back to a grade 6 student in my short practicum (Feb-March) who was very defiant.  I’ll call her Kay.  She would sulk at her desk, refuse to do the work, claim helplessness, constantly get up and walk around and ask others for support, glare in a slumped position with folded arms.  Kay “forgot” her gym strip for several classes in a row (the rule was if the student forgot their strip they could not participate and have to write line during the class).  She would not follow the classroom procedures, nor did she do her assigned chore (floor clean-up duty) for her assigned week.  The students who did chores for the week received extra draws for the monthly jar of candy, and Kay would lose those extra draws, but she didn’t care.  In fact students were adamant about writing on the white board which of their classmates lost these coveted draws.  The SA advised she had been struggling with this girl the whole year.  I would get to school by 8:00 am (the bell rang at 8:35) and noticed Kay on the swings by herself, often in the rain.  She would give me a feeble wave.  My understanding was that her mother ran a daycare and sent Kay to school early to get her out of the house.  Kay was reminded, redirected, and reprimanded on a daily basis by myself or the SA.  She had been sent to the principal’s office on previous occasions.  The SA told me to feel free to do so, but I couldn’t.  These behaviours seemed so out of character for this petite, delicate-looking girl who was so excited about celebrating the teacher’s birthday on the very first day of my practicum.  I mentioned this to the SA that Kay had whispered the class plans to me about sending the teacher out for a few minutes so the pre-planned cake could arrive via a parent and the class could get things set up.  The SA had been surprised that Kay seemed to care; the SA told me how she had been tough on the girl all year.   

I wondered a lot about Kay.  As challenging as she was, I don’t think her needs were being met.  I think contracts would have helped Kay.  Each one of the specific behaviours needed to be dealt with and have an agreement in place that would allow 1 or 2 “slips” but then a low key response could have re-directed her, whether it was “the Look” or her name.  Kay’s behaviour escalated to power struggles very quickly because of the prior relationship.  Patience, time and a refocus were needed to support Kay to stop the undesired behaviours.  Katrina pointed out B & S’s guidelines for contracts in her blog. 

On the last day of my practicum, one of the seasoned LST teachers was organizing a leadership group.  He wanted Kay to have this opportunity and approached my SA; I was permitted to observe this exchange.  Kay could be a support person for another child in a lower class.  I thought the idea was brilliant – give Kay the opportunity to show her strengths and let her care for somebody.  It took a long time for my SA to buy into this – she felt Kay was being rewarded for her challenging behaviours.  I had to keep quiet; my only input was that I noticed Kay was on the school ground in the early a.m.  The teacher agreed.

I found the following at “rewards” for a student on contract:  http://specialed.about.com/cs/behaviordisorders/a/behavcontract.htm, but I wonder if they are truly rewards.  I think these strategies are showing care to fulfill a child’s missing needs:

Some Successful Reinforcers/Rewards

·        Teacher Helper

·        Caring for Class Pet

·        5-10 Minute Free Choice Activity

·        Happy Note to Mom

·        Tell the Class a Joke or Read a Text Selection

·        Free Library Period

·        Read with a Buddy

·        Listen to a taped story

·        Provide Office Help

·        Leading the Group

·        Helping In Another Classroom

As far as the Burnout article goes, Patrick mentioned taking care of oneself first with his first aid examples.  He is absolutely correct.  You cannot help others if you cannot take care of yourself.  This is called self-care.  I think this article should be distributed to all districts.  I also found it a bit sad that such a young person was already experiencing this level of stress.