Developing a Behavior Plan

It is nearly the end of the semester, and I still have many things left to do so I can complete all assignments and expectations for Benedum interns. In order to fulfill all the requirements for the Intern rubric this semester, I must meet the needs of at least one student with a behavior plan. With this plan, I am definitely going into an aspect of teaching that I didn't have experience with until now. Rarely have I had to deal with behavior issues beyond what is stated in a child's 504 plan, so I didn't even know what a behavior plan should include. After looking over my text from different education classes, I found some information to help me complete this requirement. I have chosen one student in my 8th period class to focus on with this behavior plan. This student has several issues with talking out of turn, without his hand raised, and with working on other assignments in class when he feels disengaged or bored. I have decided to make this behavior plan a cooperative activity with my student; I will take a moment out of class time to go over different aspects of the behavior plan with him and fill out the form together. The first thing covered on the plan is the behaviors that are not acceptable that we need to change. Like I have stated previously, this student has issues with talking out of turn and working on other assignments when it is not appropriate. We will then decide what he needs to do in order to change this behavior. Next, I will talk to my student about the things he enjoys doing in class that can be used as rewards; this particular student likes drawing and having special responsibilities such as handing out papers or writing utensils. I need to explain to my student that these will be rewards given to him when he successfully gets through class without talking out of turn or being off task.
I am very excited to see how this behavior plan works out and if it will have any effect on this student's behavior. It will definitely be extra work to keep track of this plan, but I think it will ultimately pay off.

Dealing with Classroom Interruptions

Classroom interruptions are an unavoidable element of any class or school; many times teachers will experience interruptions by intercom, a teacher or student entering the room, or even dealing with behavior issues within the classroom that take up class time. The ability to manage these pauses in instruction is not something that can be taught in school; in my opinion, learning how to deal with class interruptions can only come from experience. In education, we often talk about the idea of "withitness": the ability for a teacher to be present in the classroom and deal with issues as they are noticeable. A teacher must have "withitness" to be able to effectively handle interruptions and move on with instruction.

In my classroom, our most common interruptions are from outside the class; we often encounter announcements from the office for the school or for my students. Thankfully, my seventh grade students are able to handle announcements well. They know that when someone is on the intercom, it is their time to be quiet. I believe that much of the ability to recover from interruptions comes from classroom management strategies that have been implemented with the students from the beginning of the year; because the students have respect for me and know my expectations, I am able to reconvene and continue my lesson immediately after any interruptions.