November 16th, 2011

The Functional Approach 

& Functional Analysis Activity.

In today's class we covered the final component of functional analysis (the functional approach), the five strategies all teachers must know! They are:

1. teach desirable behaviors. The teacher must attempt to instill desirable behaviors into her students, so that they have an alternative to harmful behaviors.  

2. consistently reinforce positive behaviors. The only way a trait can be deeply instilled into a student is if the teacher constantly reinforces it's importance to the student. 

3. have a predictable classroom routine. Predictability helps to reduce a student's anxiety. If he knows what will happen in class, the routine, he will feel better prepared and better equip to handle it. 

4. provide frequent opportunities for student choice. When a student is given the opportunity to choose for himself, he may feel more in control of the situation which can serve to decrease stress or the feeling of helplessness. 

5. adapt to support academic success. Every student deserves to succeed. Students learn at many different levels, and in many different ways... so the teacher must adapt her lessons to suit the majority of students, as opposed to only one learning type or one intelligence level. 

Functional Analysis Activity

Q: "A student in your class, Cody, refuses to do his desk work. What is a possible purpose or function of this behavior? Please suggest an alternate behavior he can learn or adopt to meet this purpose or function."

A: Cody could be struggling in another class, and unable to focus on his work in my class because he simply can't get the other class off his mind. Maybe he feels that his refusal to complete the work I've assigned him is a "cry for help"; a way to express his situation without just coming out and saying it. I would suggest that he not worry about the work I have assigned, and instead, go home after school and focus solely on the class he is having problems with. Obviously, I wouldn't encourage he do this every night, but for this one night only. In the future I might suggest he complete his homework or studying from that class first, and then move onto whatever I have assigned. This way he can feel less stressed because he will know it is done and he has spent sufficient time on it. 

A lot of teachers would not encourage this, as they assume their class is number one on every student's priority list; however, I realize that some teacher's idea of "study time" or "homework time" is totally unrealistic, and a student may not have time to complete everything that every one of his teachers has given him that night. If a student of mine could present me with a believable reason as to why the homework I assigned was not able to be completed, not "dog ate it" or "I fell asleep", I imagine I would understand and either extend their due date until the next day, or give them another assignment to do to make up for it. I don't picture myself being a very strict teacher. As I see it, if my students are respectful of my classroom, interested in learning and usually punctual but have a legitimate reason when they are not.. I won't see a problem with giving extensions occasionally. 

In Cody's case, if he explained his situation to me, and was normally a exemplary student, I would definitely try my best to accommodate his situation. 

Yet again, I realize this has been a somewhat short entry, but there is another one coming right away! Thank you for reading :)

Sincerely,

Natasha..