Positive Relationships with Students Teacher behaviors and attitudes that are characteristic of warmth and praise, listening to students, soliciting and using student ideas, and respecting student contributions

Behaviors that interfere with positive relationships Using shar or escessive criticism Usiing saracasm or humor at students’ expense Using reinforcers that are not meaningful for students Warning students to “calm down” without providing supports to help them Lecturing students about behaviors

Interfering Behaviors, cont. Being inconsistent in rule enforcement Talking negatively about students to other educators Teaching with no attention to student affect or stress during lessons

Student relationships with their peers Evidence suggests that children’s social behavior is closely correlated to both social success and academic success Students who experience difficulties with peers are more likely to exhibit conduct disorders, delinquency, anxiety, and depression

Social Skills Defined: Walker, 2204 A set of competencies that facilitate the initiation and maintenance of positive social relationships; that contribute to peer acceptance and friendship; that result in satisfactory school adjustment; that allow individuals to cope with and adjust to the demands of their environment

Types of social skills problems Acquisition deficits: skills the student has never learned to use, use correctly, or use in appropriate contexts. The student does not know how to do the skill and, therefore, could not exhibit an expected skill even if she wanted to

Social skill problems Performance deficits: skills that the student knows how to perform but chooses not to due to motivational factors. These are NOT problems of “can’t” like acquisition problems, but rather problems of “won’t”.

Social skill problems Fluency deficits: these occur in situations in which the student knows how to perform a needed skills, is motivated to perform the skill, but actual performance of the skill is awkward and ineffective. The student may use the skill in some situations but not in others.

Social skills vs. competence McFall, 1982: social skills are the behaviors that individuals perform to carry out social tasks. Social competence refers to the overall effectiveness of those behaviors and other’s evaluations of an individual’s social behavior. The goal of teaching is to enhance social competence

Assessing social skills Question to ask and observe: Is the student ever observed using the skill effectively under appropriate conditions? A negative response might indicate a acquisition deficit. A positive response might indicate either a performance or a fluency deficit

Tests for social skills The Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale- Second edition (BERS-2), 2001 The Walker-McConnell Scale of Social Competence and Social Adjustment, 1995 The Social Skills Rating System (SSRS), 1990 School Social Behavior Scales (SSBS), 2002 Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales, 1994

Remediating social skills Coaching: define the skill; explain the importance of the skill; discuss consequences for using and not using the skill; have students generate examples of when to use the skill Task-analyze the skill Describe examples of and nonexamples of the correct use of the skill

Remediating social skills Modeling: tow or more persons demonstrate the skill Prompt students to observe the modeling performance for evidence of teach step in the skill given task-analysis Modeling display always turns out well and produces desired outcomes Use a coping model where the demonstration models a struggle in performing the skill well to show effort it takes to perform the skill well

Remediating social skills Behavioral rehearsal: describe a real-life situation in which a person needs to use the skill. Role-play the situation Instruct students who are observing to look for each step in the skill sequence Ensure that each student has the opportunity to practice the skill at least once

Social skill curricula Aggression Replacement Training, 1998 ASSET: A Social Skills Program for Adolescents, 1995 Stop and Think Social Skills Program, 2001 The Tough Kid Social Skills Book, 2000

How to use precorrection Identify specific problem behaviors Identify antecedents to problem behaviors Identify desired alternatives for each problem behavior Practice appropriate behaviors with the students in the actual contexts where they are needed

Precorrection, cont. Consider whether environmental modifications can help increase the likelihood of desired behaviors Determine how appropriate behaviors will be reinforced Just before each antecedent associated with inappropriate behavior, remind student of expected behavior and consequences for exhibiting expected behavior

resources Csefel.uiuc.edu