Classroom Management in Special Education, Pre-K and K: Notes from consultation observation

(Before I start, my spell check isn't working so pardon the errors.)

In some of my consultation work, I see classrooms that are just getting started with children with autism. While they may not incorporate DTT in their instruction, the principles of behavior analysis are applied and are inherent in proper classroom management. I wanted to post some of the recommendations I have made across classrooms: these are simple changes that can be made to help the classroom run more smoothly, aid student transitions, and help students understand the expectations of the classroom and day. As the school year goes on, I'm sure more suggestions will come up.

Before I post the observations and recommendations, I want to be clear that working in a classroom with children with varying needs and disabilities while rewarding, is incredibly challenging. I have taught in these classrooms, and recognize that as a consultant, it is easier to identify ways to improve the classroom that may be difficult to see when you are in the trenches, on the floor, with a child that is frustrated and showing you how frustrated he is (to put it mildly). I give props to these teachers and the efforts they make to teach their students and work diligently to ensure that they progress over the weeks, months, and school year.

1. Follow the lead of the classroom teacher - Teacher assistants are not shadows for our children. They are essential members of the team, without which, these classrooms wouldn't work. But there is also a role that needs to be followed. Teacher assistants need to support the teachers lead, follow it, and ensure that the students are attending to the teacher. There should be no side converstations, or additional and possibly contradictory directions given. For example, if a teacher assistant says "time to clean up the blocks now" and then the teacher makes an announcement "Clean up in two minutes" the student(s) have just been given a contradictory message. Keep it consistent, and keep the big direction coming from one person.

2. Any activity can be turned into an instructional acitivty - Even clean-up. In many classrooms, adults are doing the clean up while the children are running around with the classroom teacher trying to get them to sit. Every part of the day can incorporate instruction and language. clean up can have a visual schedule that children need to follow and complete. Within this visual schedule, you are working on picture recognition, reading, following a sequence, communication, attention, and appropriate clean up skills. This will not only teach, but keep the children engaged during transition activities which decreases probability they will get more riled up while clean up is completed by someone else.

3. Length of time in group instruction - For many of out children, staying in a group is not a time for instruction, but rather a big "wait" program. Waiting is an important skill to learn, but should not be run this frequently. Group instruction in these class is often too long, and after 5-7 minutes, instruction is lost, children get antsy and problem behavior develops. Proactively, limit group instruction and after 5-7 minutes provide an interactive hands on activity that will apply the group instruction. This goes for circle, morning meeting, math lessons, writing, etc. Change it up before things get ugly.
Example: Break a lesson up with different activities that might address the same concept
Math – a math song, manipulatives at table, math and the computer, counting with blocks,
number hunt in the classroom (each less than five minutes)

4. Don’t push the children too far beyond what they are capable of – We want the children to continue to learn throughout the day, but it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that we are pushing the children to their appropriate level and not to do something that is way beyond their ability level.
For example: A child that is using one-word requests, can be pushed to use a two-word
request, but if you take it further than that, frustration is inevitable.


5. Individual schedules – As the first couple of months of school are passing, attend to who would benefit from and individual schedule, prioritize and slowly introduce it with each child. See Krantz and McClannahan for information on creating visual schedules.

6. Respond to appropriate requests – Most of our kids have a difficult time with communication skills and behavior. Therefore, we want to ensure that when the DO use appropriate language, that we are responding to them quickly and appropriately.
Even if a request cannot be honored, acknowledge it and identify when it can be honored, or a replacement suggestion. Otherwise we will be encouraging perseverative requests.

7. Modify lesson on the spot – If you are engaging the students in a lesson, and it looks like it is not working, change it or modify it based on your student responses
Example: Observing that a game is becoming "tired" and children are losing interest,
change it and move on, or you might incur the wrath of problem behavior. Proactively,
identify what your students can handle.
Example: If children aren’t responding on the rug, get them off the rug and change it up.
You might address the same skill at the table, then move them back to the rug to break it
up, and then even to a different spot in the room to generalize the same skill.

8. Table top time – This is not a time for just independent play. We need to engage the children with: Language, Play models, New play ideas, Commenting
Example: Maybe create idea cards to keep in each activity bin to help each child come up
with new ideas on how to play with the activity.

9. OBJECTIVES – For each lesson plan, activity, song, manipulative, we need to have a “POINT” to the lesson. Look at your activities, and write out objectives of what you think and what you want you students to get out of the activity. Start simple, with one or two objectives for each activity, and maybe alternate them between days.
- Move on when the students have mastered the objectives
- Differentiate objectives depending on the students level
Having written objectives is the ONLY way to know if our students got something out of your lesson. It makes your lesson measurable.


10. Positive feedback – Children need to get not only corrective feedback about their behavior, but positive feedback about what they are doing correctly. This needs to be differentiated for each child and by each activity
For example, if we know a particular child has a hard time with writing, we need to
increase praise feedback during writing, while other times that he has an easier time, we
could decrease the positive feedback making it a little more natural and sporadic

If we see a child is not responding, it may not be a skill deficit, but no understanding the expectation and needed clearer reinforcement. Bump it up a notch to get them excited again.

11. Pre-requisite skills – When preparing a lesson, keep in mind the skills that are needed to perform the activity that might be unrelated to the goal of the program: You may need to teach them first before you implement your lesson:
- Waiting in line to jump in a bean bag and find a match
- Sitting on the rug appropriately in order to engage in a math lesson on the rug
- Holding a crayon properly in order to color and identify a rectangle

12. Identify when the activity should end – Sometimes an activity can be modified and maintain the children’s attention, other times it needs to end. We need to REALLY attend to the behavior of our students in order to identify when it is time to end the activity and move on to something else.


13. Pay attention to your staff ratios when lesson planning – Staffing is often a problem, and some lessons don’t work, no matter what, with only two staff in the room. Monitor and plan accordingly. Additionally, when you have high staff ratios, plan your intensive 1:1 academic time. These are opportunities to be capitalized on with no one on book on tape, long-term computer, or independent activities.


Hope some of these guidelines help. As always, feedback is requested and welcome!!