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Dominique Spillett, a Year 5 teacher in her first year of teaching at a primary school in Hertfordshire, was finding the behaviour of one particular boy in her class particularly challenging.
He had poor concentration and communication skills, and limited reading ability, but had no special needs statement. His behaviour seemed erratic and unpredictable.
But there were also times when he worked quietly, absorbed in a task.
Dominique looked at the RoM summary on primary school pupils with emotional or behavioural difficulties and in particular the case study section, to see if it could offer a positive way forward. She felt that the Directed Activities Related to Texts (DARTs) activities described in case study 7, such as
would help because they are designed for pupils who struggle with reading. She aimed to increase the amount she used these activities with the boy during science lessons.
Case study 3 (about training pupils how to communicate more effectively in order to improve their ability to express their thoughts and feelings, and help improve their confidence and behaviour) gave her the idea of creating a time every day when she would talk with him for ten minutes about his behaviour and his feelings about the events that had taken place (happy, sad, upset, angry etc).
She made a record of the key points they discussed at these meetings and asked him to grade them with a smiley or sad face:
She also kept a record of his behaviour in each lesson by drawing happy and sad faces on a blank timetable:
Dominique referred to these behaviour records as she discussed with him the occasions when he had behaved appropriately, commenting on how his behaviour was appropriate and why she had awarded his behaviour a smiley face.
For example, in one session, she talked about how it was good that he had settled to do his maths work even though he hadn’t wanted to do it at first. On another day, she said he had done well not to get upset when a boy had kicked him during a science lesson. She had recorded a smiley face for both incidents.
The daily meetings also gave Dominique an opportunity to discuss inappropriate behaviour with him, such as refusing to finish playing with the multilink when asked. In so doing, she discovered situations he found difficult to handle, such as changing from an enjoyable activity to a less enjoyable activity, falling out with friends, and feeling sad about a child leaving the class because the family was moving house.
She helped him to feel positive on occasions such as these by, for example, explaining how he should feel pleased that he had been able to take part in the activity at all because some of the class would never get a turn, and suggesting that he ‘walk away’ when friends fall out with him.
Dominique maintained her behaviour records and regular meetings with the boy for half a term. She recognised that the approach was unlikely to be a ‘quick fix’, but she felt that enabling him to talk about his feelings and how to manage them, and discuss what kind of behaviour is appropriate and what isn’t, was having a positive effect on his behaviour. She also felt that talking with him helped her by enabling her to understand why he behaved the way he did and how she could help him. She believes that Research of the Month is especially helpful in difficult situations such as this – ‘the information you need is all there, as and when you need it’.
