Busy Behaviours - Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board

Behavioural Strategies
Off-Task Behaviours
Special Education Services
Common characteristics that staff may observe in
students academically and socially.
This tip sheet is to be used
only as a reference for your
own understanding and to
provide information about
rs
different kinds of behaviou
and mental health issues
you may encounter in the
classroom. It must not be
used for the purpose of
making a diagnosis.
Academically
Socially
• Easily distracted
• Impulsive
• Impatient
• Defiant
• Difficulty following direction
• Poor social relationships
• Blurting out in class
• More successful with younger peers
• Talking too much
• Aggressive
• Seen as forgetful/often losing/
misplacing belongings
• Emotional- crying, tantrums
• Difficulty taking turns/playing quietly
• Difficulty sitting
• Disorganized
Educational Implications
• May miss time in class due to office referrals or breaks
• Lower achievement
• Gaps in learning due to inattentiveness
• Potential for disengagement
Instructional Strategies
• Provide step by step directions, one at a time
• Use visual supports, such as list, graphs and exemplars to explain concepts
• Assist student with organization
• Remind the student of routines and expectations using both visual and verbal prompts
• Use transitional warnings
• Allow extra time for processing
• Provide immediate, positive feedback. State what they are doing well/right
• Chunk tasks. Check in regularly
• Differentiate instruction to be more kinesthetic, using senses and movement
• Provide and encourage the use of planned and time-limited breaks
Classroom Management
• Establish and post consistent routines and expectations
• When the student is disengaged and/or off-task, attempt to reengage
without calling attention to the behaviour (eg. increase staff
proximity, prompts)
• Make time to talk privately to build rapport
• Provide reminders and visuals on desk
• Allow for opportunities to move with purpose – (hand out papers,
deliver items to library or office, put the bin for completed work on
opposite side of the room from student desk)
• Provide a class wide organizational system that uses colour coded
subjects, materials and schedules
• Provide a calm environment
• Have areas set aside for private, focused learning (eg. study carrel)
• Help students prioritize, plan and act
• Use proximity to your advantage
• Provide alternatives to regular classroom seats (eg. podium, table,
exercise ball seats, beanbags)
• Provide fidget items (eg. stress balls, pipe-cleaners, doodle pads,
Lego)
• Don’t assume student is not listening just because they are not looking
Next Steps
• Communicate with parents or guardians to inform of concerns and
possible solutions
• If looking for possible next steps beyond this reference contact the
Special Education Resource Teacher (SERT), Instructional Leadership
Consultant (ILC), Behaviour Support Assistant (BSA), School Board
Counsellor (SBC) and/or Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA)
Co-ordinator
References
www.additudemag.com “Living well with Attention Deficit”
Educator Handbook for ADHD by Dauneen Abel and The Davis School District,
Farmington Utah
www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/tannock.pdf
üL
RC
Resources
üA
ttention Deficit
Disorder Associati
on
www.add .org
üL
earning Disabilit
ies
Association of Ont
ario
www.ldao.com
üL
earning Disabilit
ies
Association of
Peterborough
www.ladptbo.com
ü Learning Disabil
ities
Association of Dur
ham
Region www.ldadr.o
n .ca
Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board • Special Education Services • November 2013