How can Ms. Rollison determine what behaviors she should address and when she should address them?
Page 6: Phase 4–Acceleration
During the Acceleration Phase, student behavior becomes more focused in an effort to engage the teacher. Specifically, students use a variety of behaviors (e.g., questioning, arguing, refusing to work, committing minor property destruction) to engage the teacher and interfere with instruction. Sometimes students will complete the required assignments but will produce poor-quality work or will complete only a portion of the assignment. Although the Acceleration Phase is in the middle of the acting-out behavior cycle, indicating that the behavioral concern has been building for some time, this is often when teachers first recognize that a problem is occurring.
Click here to see a short movie that portrays a student in the Acceleration Phase (time: 0:33).
Transcript/Description: Mark’s Trigger
Mark: (Mark makes a disruptive noise.) Whoa!
Teacher: Mark, that’s enough.
Mark: (Mark makes another disruptive noise.) Whoa!
Teacher: Mark, this has got to stop. You’re just acting like a baby.
Mark: Don’t call me a baby. I’m not a baby, and this is boring!
Teacher: You think this is boring, well let’s see how boring detention is this afternoon. I think…
Mark: You can’t give me detention! You’re stupid!
Description: Students are working on an assignment. Mark shifts in his seat and makes a disruptive noise, causing the other students in the class to stop, look up, and laugh. When the teacher reprimands Mark, he seems to understand and gets back to work. Not long after the first disruption, Mark makes another noise, again causing the other students to stop working, look up, and laugh. After the second outburst, Mark and the teacher engage in a brief interchange, which ends with the teacher’s writing Mark a detention slip.
The Acceleration Phase
Student behavior: He or she attempts to engage the teacher in an argument.
Teacher response: Prompt, redirect, or make a request, and give the student time to respond. Reinforce engaged behavior.
Possible student behavior: It is possible the student will only partially comply.
Teacher response: Reinforce the student for partial compliance, and request additional, limited engagement.
Listen now as Kathleen Lane explains more about how a teacher can interrupt the acting-out cycle during the Acceleration Phase (time: 2:04).
Transcript: Kathleen Lane, PhD
Interviewer: How does a teacher recognize a student in Acceleration Phase? How’s that different from Agitation?
Kathleen Lane: Typically, without any kind of awareness training about the acting-out cycle, this is where teachers will notice that there’s a problem for the first time, and this is when the kid is trying to take you on. They’re making statements to try to engage you in an argument. It’s like, “This is so boring. I did this when I was in third grade. I cannot believe I have to do this again.” They’re trying to provoke you as a teacher. And your typical response is to say, you know, “You need to do this because I told you this is what needs to be done.” And then you find yourself engaged in an argument with a 12-year-old. But at this point, it’s critical that you not engage in sarcasm and that you allow the child time to kind of manage their behavior. And so you need to be able to say things like, “I know you’re upset right now, but I really need you to start these problems.” And maybe your intervention, at that point, is a highlighter. You underline the first three problems and you say, “When you get these three done, please check them with a partner, and I’ll be right back to check on you after that.” And they will probably make a comment when you walk away, but that’s not the time to deal with that comment. You’re going to have to lose the battle to win the war kind of a thing. Because if you engage them then you will propel them into the next stage. And another symptom that is going to show up for this is that a lot of kids will do partial compliance during this time. So if you tell them to do the assignment, they’ll do it in a very, very sloppy or rushed way and just turn it in and think that’s good enough. And sometimes as the teacher, and this is hard to do, you’re going to have to just say, “Okay, I appreciate that. However, this last one is so unreadable. I can’t do this, so please erase just this last one and finish it.” But if you told him to go back and re-do that whole assignment at that moment, you would push them over the edge.
Interviewer: So, in summary, the best way a teacher can interrupt the Acceleration Phase is to…
Kathleen Lane: Offer a prompt and walk away. Make the request known, and then give the child the opportunity to respond. And then give them immediate reinforcement as soon as you see them engage: “I really appreciate you getting back on track. That’s great.”
Activity
Acceleration
Think back to the video and to the suggestions made by Kathleen Lane. Once Mark’s behavior accelerated, how could his teacher have handled this situation differently?
Click the movie frame to see a more appropriate teacher response to this same situation (time: 1:39).
Transcript/Description: Appropriate Response to Acceleration Phase
Mark: (Mark makes a disruptive noise that causes the class to laugh.) Oh…whoa
Teacher: That’s enough.
Mark: (Mark looks around and makes another disruptive noise.) Oh, wow.
Teacher: Mark, you’re certainly a talented young man. I really need you to get to work here on this worksheet. If you can go ahead and get started and let me see your first answer. (She pauses to wait for him to finish the problem.) Let’s see what you got there. Perfect! That is very good! Umm, go ahead and do number two, and then I’d like for you to come over and get together with Kerry and maybe check over her answer when you’re finished with that. (Mark finishes.) Good. Now help her a little bit with hers, and let me see what you got when you finish that.
Description: Students are working on an assignment. Mark shifts in his seat and makes a disruptive noise, causing the other students in the class to stop, look up, and laugh. As the teacher reprimands Mark, he seems to understand and gets back to work. Not long after the first disruption, Mark makes another noise, again causing the other students to stop working, look up, and laugh. The teacher approaches Mark and gives him specific instructions on the worksheet and then has him check answers with the girl sitting next to him.
Questions
- How did the teacher stop Mark’s progression through the acting-out cycle?
- What did she do after stopping his inappropriate behavior?
Acceleration
Once Mark’s behavior accelerated, how could his teacher have handled this situation differently?
The teacher used sarcasm and an insult (“You’re acting like a baby”), which caused Mark’s behavior to increase. She could have changed her lesson format, redirected his behavior, prompted him to do a specific amount of work and then checked it, or reinforced him afterward for correct work and behavior.
How did the teacher stop Mark’s progression through the acting-out cycle?
She commented on his behavior without insulting him, then asked him to do just one small part of the assignment, then another, and then had him work with another student.
What did she do after stopping his inappropriate behavior?
She gave him verbal praise on his work. It is important that after she stopped the acting-out cycle from progressing, she did not just resume the lesson as usual. She reinforced Mark for his academic engagement and continued to monitor and verbally praise his work.
(Note: Depending on the age, temperament, or culture of the student, public praise does not always work as reinforcement. Some students find public praise embarrassing and prefer reinforcement that is given on a more private level.)
Though it can be quite difficult, a teacher must put away his or her pride during this phase of the acting-out cycle. Remember, at this point, the situation is not about the teacher but about the student. And although it may be difficult to allow a little bit of inappropriate behavior to occur in order to de-escalate the situation, a power struggle between the teacher and student can move the student into the most unpredictable phase—Peak.
