Challenging student

amother

Beige ↓

Tue, May 01 2018, 6:52 pm

I teach nursery boys. One of my students lately became impossible
He can push, kick, smack/hit (bite). Impulsive behavior.
At random times-we can be eating lunch & will smack the boy sitting next to him.. I don't know when the next storm will hit. I talk to him many times abt how we are safe in a classroom. But nothing doing...
Any tips/ advice as to what I can do to help the situation wud be gr8tly appreciated!!

amother

↑ Beige

Tue, May 01 2018, 7:37 pm

imasinger wrote:

Have you spoken to the parents?

Do you have an assistant?

Can you record as much detail as possible about his day, do that you can figure out what is triggering the behavior?

I have spoken to his mother a cpl of times. She's sorry for all this, end result try to give lots of posit I've att.
I hAve an assistant, though she not in my class full day as I have a smallish class so...
I can try recording details & see which parts of day it's happens the most often

Rachel Shira

Wed, May 02 2018, 4:00 am

If it just started suddenly I would definitely think something might have changed at home - a new babysitter, a new big bed, mother working more hours, etc. Knowing if something is different won’t fix it but will help you understand why it’s happening.
Is he three? How verbal is he? It’s really very normal behavior for kids when they don’t have proper verbal skills to express themselves appropriately. It’s just very difficult in a classroom setting because it obviously affects the other kids and is unsafe.
One morning right when he comes in, before anything happens, talk to him about how we need to be gentle with our hands and feet and we do not touch anyone in the class. Tell him that if he’s sad/angry/frustrated/tired during the day he can ________ (go read a book, ask you for help if someone’s bothering him, say “I don’t like that,” etc) but he cannot hit or kick. You can ask him if he has any other ideas of things he can do if he feels like he’s going to be physical. It would help if you can document what’s triggering the behaviors first so you can direct the conversation there.
Then what I would do in my classroom is tell him that if he touches or hurts anyone, he will have to take a break until he can remember how to be gentle. When he pushes someone later, no warnings or anything - just calmly take him aside and remind him that if he pushes, he can’t play. He can sit on your lap or something for a minute while you point out that everyone is playing so nicely and not touching anyone, and does he think he can go show you how he doesn’t push while he plays? Rinse and repeat.