Challening behavior

This was my first week at my new position. It went pretty well considering I managed to make some teachers feel threatened and upset. By the end of the week, it was all worked out and things should be fine at this point. The issue at hand was over challenging behavior and what to do with it.

My views are a little different than some regarding behavior. Most of my views about behavior stem from my work with children with Autism. While working on my teaching degree, I was NEVER taught how to proactively handle behavior that is out of the norm. I was taught how to react to this behavior but wasn't really taught how to "figure a kid out" and determine why he or she behaving in a disruptive manner.

This skill came with my work in two different programs for children with children with Autism. One program used lots of behavior modification techniques, however this program never worked to understand the function of the behavior. The other program I worked at used more of a Positive Behavior Support Method, which works to understand WHY the behavior is occurring in the first place.

Because I have had experience with both of these techniques, I feel uniquely qualified to handle a variety of situations regarding behavior. Unfortunately, the advice that I had to offer was not what the teachers wanted to hear. Part of this stemmed from the misunderstanding about how much classroom experience I had. Also, the teachers were not aware of my previous experiences working with children who were displaying "challenging" behavior.

Next week will be better!!!!!!!