Classroom Modifications for Students with Behavior and Emotional Disorders
3. Get students involved in social activities. Students who are involved in school clubs, sports teams, art or cultural activities are less likely to have behavior problems.
It is often said that there is “nothing to do on the reservation”. It is true there is not enough to do. Try to involve your students in any of the following: dance groups, drum groups, programs at the Recreation Center, school sports teams. Start a school club or school newspaper. (Yes, you. ) As I mentioned above, I started a class newspaper that became the school newspaper. It had stories, photos and drawings in it. I rotated the editor each issue so each student got to be the editor and have an issue with his or her name at the top. Some of those editors I had to help out a lot, but again, that was a positive experience for them to have an adult listening to their ideas on layout, selection of articles and so on, then putting those ideas into a product.
4. Get students involved in activities such as art, creative writing, dance and drama. These all provide opportunities for students to express themselves in socially appropriate ways. Most students with behavior problems have experienced a lot of trauma in their lives and are often confused, frustrated and angry. It is much healthier for students to learn to write in a journal how much they hate their stepfather for hitting their mother or draw a picture of him falling out of a burning building than for them to take out their feelings by beating up other students at recess.
5. Teach social problem solving to all students and do it as part of the curriculum. We say this repeatedly throughout our special education workshop. Do not substitute health promotion, behavior management and other activities for academic instruction. Integrate the two. Students with disabilities need instruction in academics more than students without disabilities, not less.
