1. Conducting Social Skills in the Classroom
Presented by:
Zatara Bolden, Positive Behavior Coach
Summer Symposium 2014

2. Social skills
Definition:
Social skills are those communication, problem-solving, decision making, self-management, and peer relations abilities that allow one to initiate, build, and maintain positive social relationships with others.

3. Why do I need to teach Social Skills?????
NOT everyone naturally ‘gets’ social skills
There is a direct correlation between poor social skills, behavior problems, and academic achievement!
Poor Social Skills
Behavior Problems
Lack in academic achievement

4. Why teach social skills?
Understanding social interactions helps us to predict the behavior of others
Helps students take part in groups
Helps students form friendships

5. Social Skills
One’s social competence is linked to peer acceptance, teacher acceptance, success of inclusion efforts with students with disabilities, and post school success.

6. When students lack social skills….
Unable to handle rejection
Greater difficulty with relationships
Difficulty managing their own emotions
Often have fewer skills for dealing with these problems

7. Why don’t our kids have social skills???
Four primary reasons that explain why students are socially unskilled:

8. Primary Reasons:
They don’t know another way to (re)act other than their present pattern of behavior
They know (cognitively) other ways to behave, but haven’t had enough practice to display them competently.
They tried another way, but it didn’t work for them the first time(s) they tried it, so they assume that it would never work for them.
Tension and anxiety interfere with the ability to perform the practiced behavior well in real life.

9. Now…let’s conduct social skills in the classroom

10. Remember!!!
Be Proactive!!
Not Reactive!!
We are TEACHING!!

11. What are you teaching when teaching social skills?
(Among other things)

12. “manners” & positive interactions with others
How to approach others in social acceptable ways
How to ask for permission rather than acting impulsively
How to make and keep friends
How to sharing toys/ materials

13. Appropriate classroom behavior
Work habits/ academic survival skills
Listening
Attending to task
Following directions
Seeking attention properly
Accepting the consequences of one’s behavior

14. Better ways to handle frustration/ anger
Counting to 10 before reacting
Distracting oneself to a pleasureable task
Learning an internal dialogue to cool oneself down and reflect upon the best course of action

15. Acceptable ways to resolve conflict with others
Using words instead of physical contact
Seeking the assistance of the teacher or conflict resolution team

16. Steps of Teaching social skills
1. Discuss the need for Social Skills
2. Select a Social Skill
3. Teach the Skill
4. Practice the Skill
5. Pause and Reflect
6. Review and Reflect

17. FOR TEACHING SOCIAL SKILLS
Strategies
FOR TEACHING SOCIAL SKILLS

18. Helpful for students with limited receptive ability
Discrete Trial
Strategy #1
Helpful for students with limited receptive ability
Help students learn basic words so they can later respond to verbal instructions and questions
Help students attend to a task when they do not respond to verbal instructions to pay attention
Help students maintain eye contact, and to identify objects, actions, or adjectives

19. Discrete Trial A cue, prompt, behavior, and reinforcement
What does it consist of??
Four components:
A cue, prompt, behavior, and reinforcement
Highly structured
Relies heavily on the teacher cueing the child
Build prerequisite language and attention in preparation for other kinds of social skills training that may facilitate greater social interaction

20. Incidental Teaching
Strategy #2
Teaching a student about a social situation as it is occurring rather than in a structured lesson
GOAL: to amplify the social environment as it is unfolding so the student picks up on social cues, rules, others’ feelings and perceptions that are all part of the social situation
Must always be part of teaching social skills because it involves teaching students in the real situations where they need the skills

21. What to do???
Explain to the student what is happening in a social situation through words or visuals, and by coaching and praising the student’s behavior.
Incidental Teaching

22. Social skill Picture stories
Strategy #3
Mini-books that depict, step by step, children demonstrating various social skills
Each skill is presented like a cartoon strip

23. Cognitive picture rehearsal
Strategy #4
Utilizes cartoon-like drawings on index cards combined with positive reinforcement principles
Students are shown the sequence of cards until they can repeat what is happening in each picture
Sequence is reviewed just before the student enters the potentially problematic situation

24. Three components of cognitive picture rehearsal
1. The antecedents to a problem situation
2. The targeted desired behavior
3. A positive reinforcer

25. Modeling of skill steps Role Playing skills with feedback
Structured Learning
Strategy #5
Core Teaching Model: Four Teaching Components
Didactic Instruction
Modeling of skill steps
Role Playing skills with feedback
Practice in and outside the group

26. Didactic Instruction
Involves the teacher explaining the steps of a particular skill
Verbal or Written
The key to this approach is to engage the child’s attention

27. Modeling the skill steps
Once the skill steps have been explained, it is important to model them for the students before asking them to carry them out.
To do this, the facilitator needs (a) a situation to act out (b) co-actors.
Students and teachers can serve as co-actors to help model the skill.
Before the skill is modeled, it is important to give the students who are observing very specific instructions on what to look for to maintain their attention.

28. Role-playing the skill
During role-plays, students are asked to act out the skill steps in the right order.
More effective when done with two teachers or one teacher and two students (this way the teacher can avoid participating in the role-play directly and act as a coach to help students through the skill steps)
The observers of the role-play should be given instructions to see if each step is done correctly or not

29. Reviewing the skill/ providing Corrective feedback
After each role play, the teacher provides feedback about how each step was enacted.
Feedback should always begin by noting what was performed correctly and include ample praise
Observing students are asked to tell what the role playing students did well.
Always give corrective feedback!!!

30. Practicing the skill outside of the classroom
Lastly,
Practicing the skill outside of the classroom

31. Structured Learning is about to take place!
Partner up!!!
Structured Learning is about to take place!

32. Taking turns visual

33. Say hello visual

34. Topic board visual

35. Conversation checklist

36. PlayDough People role-play

37. Pie chart conversational skills
PIE CHART TEMPLATE

38. TOPIC STICKS ACTIVITY

39. Filtering thoughts activity

40. The filtering thoughts Activity Is designed to:
Raise awareness of okay vs. not-okay things to say when you are mad
Introduce and reinforce the idea that thoughts can be “filtered” before they are turned into words.
hands-on-social-skills-activity-to-help-kids-with-autism-to-manage-angry- verbal-outbursts/

41. Green zone activity

42. Green zone activity

43. Green zone activity

44. Green zone Activity
m/autism-strategies/green-zone- part-2-downloads-see-previous- blog-for-text-directions-etc/

45. Compliment tag
Tell the kids: “This is Compliment Tag. A compliment is when you say something nice to someone — about the way they look, something they have, something they did, something they said, or they way they are. When you play Compliment Tag, the person who is “it” tries to tag you. To keep from becoming “it,” you have to give this person a compliment quickly before they tag you. If they tag you before you can give them a compliment, then you are ‘it.’ ”

46. Emotions charades ANGRY BEING TOLD NO HAPPY SAD OPENING A GIFT
CONFUSED

47. NEGATIVE VS POSITIVE ACTIVITY
SITUATION
NEGATIVE
POSITIVE
You have to take a test.
I am going to fail. This is going to be too hard.
I’ll try the best I can and be happy with that. It will be OK.
You are going to a new school
You need to ask the teacher a question

48. Red choices, green choices
A Decision Making Visual that allows the student to determine what happens next, depending on whether they make a red choice or a green choice.
RED CHOICE
GREEN CHOICE

50. ARE THERE ANY STRATEGIES YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE?????

51. What are some other helpful tips when conducting social skills in the classroom???
Posting visuals around the classroom
Engaging in open conversations with other teachers, administrators, parents, etc. (in front of students) during unstructured times (cafeteria, hallway, playground)
Displaying some emotions in the class to the class (be careful about this one!!!)

52. WHY AND HOW ANSWERED…WHAT ABOUT WHEN AND WHERE???
Social skills training can take place in a large classroom or in a small group
The teacher may use a daily “show and tell” or “morning meeting” to work on conversation skills like staying on topic and starting a conversation.
In the classroom, the formal skill lesson may be conducted early in the week and the less structured practice times spread out during the rest of the week through specific conversation and play activities organized by the classroom teacher

53. Planning…
When conducting Social Skills in the classroom, it is beneficial to develop a daily plan that outlines which social skills you all will teach throughout the day.
See example

54. References http://www.behavioradvisor.com/SocialSkills.ht ml
and-Assessment/Special-Education- Services/Documents/IDEAS%2013%20Handouts/So cial%20Skills%20in%20the%20Classroom%20ppt.pd f
Baker, Ph.D, Jed E. (2003). Social Skills Training: For Children and Adolescents with Aspergers Syndrome and Social- Communication Problems. Kansas: Autism Asperger Publishing Co

55. Zatara bolden positive behavior coach 901-238-1576
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!!!