What might Ms. Torri consider to help her students stay on task and also help her regain some lost instructional time?
Page 3: Guidelines for Use: Who, What, When, Where, and Why?
| Who? | Students who have the necessary skills but are unable to improve their behavior |
| What? | To create change in classroom performance and behavior |
| When? | Instances in which the behavior is frequent and the student has the capacity to bring the behavior under control |
| Where? | In the environment in which the skill should be used |
| Why? | Because these strategies are effective, motivating, and useful with students, with or without disabilities |
Here are some questions for teachers to ask themselves to help them decide whether using a self-regulation strategy is appropriate:
- Is the student able to control the problem behavior (or is it impulsive or out-of-control)?
- Are the problem behavior and the target behavior easily observed?
- Does the student have the necessary skills to perform the target behavior?
- Does the problem behavior occur frequently during a given time period?
The answer to all of these questions must be yes in order for a self-regulation strategy to be appropriate and successful. Below are some sample situations:
J
ohn gets into a fight almost every day at school. Is he a good candidate for a self-regulation strategy?
| John | YES | NO |
| Is the student able to control the problem behavior? |  |
|
| Are the problem behavior and the target behavior easily observed? | |
|
| Does the student have the necessary skills to perform the target behavior? | |
|
| Does the problem behavior occur frequently during a given time period? | |
John is NOT a good candidate for self-regulation because his problem behavior is impulsive or out-of-control. In addition, it does not occur frequently during a given time period. For self-regulation to be effective, the behavior must occur numerous times during a short period of time (e.g., fifteen minutes).
Sam is an enthusiastic student. He constantly raises his hand in class in response to his teacher’s questions. Sam’s teacher would like to reduce the number of times Sam raises his hand during class. Is Sam a good candidate for self-regulation?
| Sam | YES | NO |
| Is the student able to control the problem behavior? | |
|
| Are the problem behavior and the target behavior easily observed? | |
|
| Does the student have the necessary skills to perform the target behavior? | |
|
| Does the problem behavior occur frequently during a given time period? | |
Yes, Sam is a good candidate for a self-regulation strategy. He is able to control his behavior, it is easily observed, he has the necessary skills, and the problem behavior occurs frequently.
Activity
