Encouraging Appropriate Behavior Through Reindeer Reinforcements & Santa's Surprise

When our afternoon students came back from Thanksgiving break, we quickly realized we needed some back up to reinforce and support good behavior to survive until Christmas break.  Not only were they feeling the Christmas spirit but they were also "outside time" deprived as we hit a patch of bitterly cold weather. Sadly, there was no outside insight! 

So as I frantically searched my toolbox of ideas, I remembered the class treasure box intervention we did last spring.   It worked like a charm then so I began tweaking it for this group of kids’ needs. I decide this group of children needed something more individualized. Hopefully by this spring we will be able to work toward a class goal but at this point we are just not ready for that.  We needed something that made every student accountable for their actions and aware of what they needed to work on and do to be a good friend, listener, and participant in the school setting. 

I used each child’s IEP goals and my own observations of their behaviors to decide what  each child would be working on:  listening to the teacher, waiting hands, following directions, etc.  I took the top two or three needs for each student and made visuals for them that would then be added to their individual schedules.  I then added reindeer to each child’s schedule.  With the idea being that each child needed to earn 12 reindeer in order to get Santa’s surprise at the end of the day. 

The students could earn reindeer at the end of every activity.  There are actually 14 activities each day. This helps the kids know they still have a chance to earn Santa surprise even if they don’t earn a reindeer or two.  Kids make mistakes (just like adults). After all, we are only human! :) We don’t want a student to lose their first reindeer of the day and then give up for the rest of the day.  What we do want is for the student to be aware and accountable for their mistakes so they can learn from them.

 

Here is a look at each individual system. The individualization of each system at every child’s own level is what makes Santa’s Surprise successful for the whole classroom.  System one is a name tag system that simply shows the students where they need to go and in what order. 

Front

Back

Beside each activity there is a reindeer. If it is earned, staff circle the reindeer with a visavis marker at the end of each activity.  If they did not earn their reindeer, staff write an X over the reindeer and then show the student what skill they struggled with at the bottom of their schedule.  This helps students become aware and learn from their behavior.  This system is the easiest to manage and is used by most of our students.  We use a name tag for this schedule as it helps the students be responsible for themselves.  They attach the name tag to their shirts and are accountable for its use the whole day.  

Over the years, I have realized that if I have students on a schedule that makes sense and means something to them, they will take responsibility for it and become completely independent with it because it becomes important to them.   

Teacher's Tip: Our name tag schedules are in Ziploc name tag covers.  I found these at our local office supply store and I love them!  They are a little more durable than typical name tags and they can be sealed shut so the kids don’t get water on them while washing their hands or playing at the sand table.  I keep a few extra schedules on hand so if I have a change in schedule or a kid is out sick I can adjust the students' schedules to be with different children or do activities in a different order.

This schedule was designed for one of my little guys whom really needs movement, especially with limited outside time during colder weather.  We tried the name tag schedule for him but he took it off and chewed on it or threw it so we needed to adapt the concept.  Therefore, we mounted a velcro wall schedule with a library pocket for tickets.  Each time he is presented a ticket, he knows he must walk to his schedule, put the ticket in and pull of the next icon on his schedule.  

At first this took a little extra training as he envisioned the icon schedule as a choice board and he would try to take the icons for the activities he enjoys first. But with a few gestures and prompts to redirect him, he figured it out and got the movement he needed by going to and from his wall schedule between activities.  Note that the tickets he puts in his library pocket are ‘reindeer’ tickets.  At the end of the day, he counts his reindeer tickets to see if he gets Santa’s surprise. 

This next schedule was designed way before Santa’s Surprise was created.  It is a flip schedule that really speaks to another student.  Remember I said I know I have the right schedule if the child takes responsibility for the schedule.  Well, this is definitely the case for another little guy.  He carries his flip schedule around like it is his most prized possession.  He is a student who is always seeking power and control so originally the schedule had a small key velcroed to the last page.  If the student made it through all his activities for the day, he was able to open a locked box with small surprises in it for himself and his class at the end of the day.  This really spoke to him as he felt he had control.  It was also very reinforcing because if he didn’t complete all his activities for the day the key was removed and his peers would get the surprise in the box (fruit snacks, goldfish, stickers, etc) and he would not.  

When Santa’s Surprise began we simply added Velcro to each flip page in this schedule.  On the velcro, we put mini reindeer. As the student completed each activity, he would move the reindeer to the last page of his schedule to be counted at the end of the day.

In theory this worked beautifully...but in reality, this student had his own plan and would move the reindeer back and forth from page to page, not really understanding the concept of "earning" reindeer. So instead we taped reindeer to each page and vis-à-vis marked each one he earned rather than moving them to the last page.  In the end, the system worked and the student was able to participate in Santa’s surprise. :)

Finally, I have saved the best, or in this case most complicated, for last!  This student uses a DVD case schedule.  As all of you know working in special education, not one technique works for every child and no two students are alike.  That's what makes our jobs challenging, exciting, and frustrating all at the same time!  

Anyway the little guy that uses this schedule has some pretty significant needs, as well as a very short attention span. My staff and I knew reindeer tickets or a reindeer name tag was not going to cut it.  He needed something more.  Something where he was reinforced for good behavior on a more regular basis...say every 10 minutes!  His schedule was actually also developed long before Reindeer Reinforcement and Santa's Surprises. 

The front of his schedule was simply a "time for" icon and then a Velcro spot to add an icon for his next activity. When we started the Reindeer Reinforcement, I simply moved the "time for" icon over and added a Ziploc pouch for the student to earn reindeer each time he transitioned to a new activity.  

This particular student has the most difficult time with transitions that is why one of his goals is to ‘walk to where I need to be’.  He actually earns his reindeer for transitioning to each activity successfully.  Then while at each activity he works for one of 5 preferred choices.  He chooses between playing on the iPad, getting five mini m&m's, playing a mini basketball game, playing live angry birds (where he tries to knock down cardboard blocks with a stuffed animal angry bird), or playing a soccer game on my iPhone.   

On the back of his schedule is a place to put an icon representing what he wants to work for, the rules he needs to follow to earn it and then five token spots he must earn to receive his preferred item.  

The beauty of this schedule is that all his preferred items are in one small area in the classroom.  Each time he earns one, he is asked to match the icon to the preferred items in that area. Then, he can play with the preferred item.  

When his time with the preferred item is over (usually 1 to 2 minutes later), he makes his next choice of what to work for and puts it on the reinforcement side of his schedule. Staff then flips the schedule over and asks him to go to the next activity.  In turn making him practice the skill of transitioning twice as much as his peers by transitioning to and from activities and to and from his preferred choice area.  

It works like a charm most of the time and puts him in a movement pattern of successful transitions and errorless movement.  Are you a bit perplexed?  Click on to this video of my son and I reenacting the use of this schedule and reinforcement system.  In practice it is actually quite simple and very effective!

All of his schedule icons and reindeer reinforcers are velcroed inside his DVD case schedule.  

THANK YOU to DIXIE TEETER for the great idea of using a DVD case as a reinforcement system!

Putting It all Together

Okay, now that you have seen an inside look at each schedule and Reindeer Reinforcement System, I want to share a little bit about the end of our school day and how the kids earn Santa’s Surprise.  During our last circle time of the day, all the students bring their systems with them.  Staff members then help the students count up how many reindeer they earned and circle that amount on their Santa ticket.  

The students need twelve reindeer to be circled in order to get Santa’s Surprise.  Remember there is actually the possibility of earning 14.  If all twelve reindeer are circled on the ticket, then they circle "yes" I get Santa’s Surprise.  

Instructor's Insight: My students’ parents know about our Reindeer Reinforcement and Santa Surprise so each day the kids take their ticket home to show their parents, which makes both parents and students more accountable.  I write an extra note on the ticket if needed to tell parents about the day.  Sometimes these notes are to describe good things that happened and sometimes it is tell them why their child didn’t get Santa’s Surprise that day.  Interestingly enough, no student has not earned Santa’s surprise two days in a row!  I like to think this is because they are becoming accountable for their actions and learning what they need to do to earn it.

Santa’s Surprise is usually hidden in Santa’s mailbox or if it is too big to fit in his mailbox there is a note that says were Santa’s Surprise is hidden.  

Sometimes it is a choice of Christmas candy or stickers, other times it is the choice of trying out one of two toys from Santa’s workshop (AKA: Toys from my sons' toy box at home-a toy firetruck, helicopter, or other interactive fun toys).  

Santa’s Surprise is always a mystery.  If the students know what they are working for and don’t like it, they will stop trying.  The motivation is in the mystery!! I also always have two options for the students to pick from or play with as Santa’s Surprise making it even more effective because we all like choices! What would happen if Santa’s Surprise was one thing and not something a student liked? Well, he/she may not try for it the following day.  There is motivation in the mystery and choice of the surprise.

With that, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!! May your Holiday be filled with your very own Santa Surprises!  Make the most of your time off and spend some well-deserved time with family and friends.

Building Functional Pretend Play Centers

Hello, Everyone!!  Remember a few months ago when I gave you a tour of each of the activities and centers in our classroom??  Well...I'm back at it again!  I apologize for my delay in sharing these with you.  My recent excitement for successful large groups has kept me busy lately.  :)  (Don’t fear we will still have Mrs. Lisa Holt’s feature on low tech large group options coming up for a future Thumbs Up Thursday post. ) 

There is so much to share and so little TIME to prepare it!  So let’s jump right in with a video of our pretend play center.

As I mentioned in the video, this was just one example of a pretend play themed center. We have also done places like a restaurant, doctor’s office, grocery store, fire station, school, and dentist office (...the possibilities are endless!).  Click here to take a look at our vet clinic center as shared in a previous post.  Coming soon... an inside look at our birthday and grocery store centers!!

For now, here's a closer look at a few of the features mentioned in the video.  First, here are the name tag descriptions specific to "Gingerbread Bakery".

I usually make similar name tags for any pretend play center that has defined roles.  They really help our kids understand how to play and contribute to their peers' play in a specific manner.  When I was a Head Start teacher, this skill came naturally to most kids and was transferred by those early adopters to the students who didn’t understand the roles.  I am sure all you teachers are quite familiar with this!  

One little girl or group of girls assign themselves as the mommy/mommies. Then they assign the daddy, the big sister, the baby, etc.  You can find the Gingerbread Bakery name tags as well as the Bakery Aided Language Menu on Boardmaker Share.  Teacher's Tip: One quick suggestion for getting more language and functional pretend baking skills is to use the Melissa and Doug Cookie Set.  It's perfect for a bakery center!

Here are the felt placemats and velcro place settings used to structure setting up the table.

Prior to this modification, so many of our students would dump the container of plates and cups on the floor with no purpose other than to make a mess or spin the plates in a stimming fashion.  

Instructor's Insight:  The thing that makes this system most successful is that I only have the correct number of plates, cups, forks, spoons and knives needed to set the table.  Remember less is more!  If you have extras available, the students will not know what to do.  Later in the year, I could potentially add more and help the kids learn to make decisions like what colors they want to set the table with. 

This is our record player unit repurposed to be a refrigerator. It's complete with a functional food group sorting.

Notice I labeled each container with pictures of food from that food group as most preschoolers do not know the difference between a fruit and a vegetable or what foods are protein or dairy, etc. The visuals and sorting of this activity can help with that knowledge! You can access these labels at my teacher pay teachers store. 

Also food for thought (no pun intended), you may consider removing the wheels on the furniture in your pretend play center.  Most preschool furniture comes with wheels so staff can move it easily. But in our classroom, we have removed all wheels as they simply invite the children to push furniture when they become upset. 

Next, we have our dress up clothing drawers. They are a great way for kids to work on gender sorting and understanding.  These can also be found in the set on my teachers pay teacher store. 

You may have noticed in the video that the drawers were empty.  Again, remember LESS is MORE!   If we are doing a unit that does not include dress ups, we make sure the drawers are empty so the kids can focus on the center-specific activities set up for them.  

Teacher's Tip:  I also use packing tape to close our pretend play washer & dryer doors most of the year unless the kids are doing typical house play.  If the doors are open, the kids open and close them in a stimming fashion or simply stuff materials in them in a nonfunctional manner. 

One more thing...the latest & greatest feature of the pretend play center are functional work tasks related to the center for lower-level students.  These were inspired by a Facetime consultation I had with the ladies at Jackson Public School in Missouri.  They put pretend play worktasks in their house center.  Brilliant...I love/stole it!  Thanks for the idea, Ladies.  

Here is a look at our functional house-related pretend play worktasks. They are all stored in this container.

Notice it says "Ask a teacher to use." on the outside.  This helps us set limits.  We can use the worktasks with students at our discretion to reassure systematic usage and learning. If we gave the students free reign of these materials, they may or may not use them functionally. 

On the lid of the container, there's a communication system for students to pick what they want to play with.  

And now for a closer look at each activity...

Here is theFisher-Price Oreo Game.  

My husband cut a slit in the lid of this game so it can be used as a simple put in task for lower-level kids. Higher kids can find the shape matches and then put  them in.  The slit really helps organize the kids play because they have a specific place for matches and do not spin, throw, or stim on them.

Here is the Egg Shape Game. 

I got my set from US TOYS.  If you don’t have a set and don’t want to spend the money, you could make a color matching egg task with plastic Easter eggs and a egg carton instead.
  

Here is our Silverware Sort.  If you are worried about having real utensils in your pretend play center, you could use pretend ones.  That may reduce noise as well!! :) 

Here is our Number Cookie Jar. I purchased it from Discount School Supply several years ago.  Back then, I just superglued magnets on the back of the cookies and programmed them to match the numbers on stove covers.  

Money-Saving Thought: Stove covers are 2 or 4 for a dollar at Dollar Tree. They are great for all sorts of magnet games!  

Also note, I did not purchase any of these items specific for our pretend play worktasks. I just looked around at what I had and made tasks out of that. Please don’t feel you need to make ones just like mine. Look around see what you have and make something from what you already have! Get creative.

Here is our last one...a Food Making Task.  It is my favorite! 

I simply took pretend food and superglued velcro to it to structure making a hamburger, hot dog, bologna sandwich and PB&J.  Then I made a social story system for the assembly of each one. 

You can access this story on Boardmaker Online or an updated version as well as a dress up story in my teachers pay teachers store .  The kids love it! 

You can also access the baby doll social story on Boardmaker Online.   Here is a closer look at that task.  

It is stored inside the baby drawer for use and practice at the pretend play center regardless of what our pretend theme is.  The repetition of it is really helpful for our little ones who just started playing pretend!

One last tip before I sign off...something we added last year that has really added structure and defined space is the door below.  

I simply used butcher paper to make a pretend door. Then, I added a cabinet handle, a welcome sign from Dollar Tree, and a "Yes We’re Open/Sorry, We’re Closed sign.   With the pretend play center being such a fun one, it really helps our kids to have the door so they know when it is off limits.  

This year we also added this visual. 

It reminds our students to not take pretend play stuff out of the center.  That is a tough skill for one particular student as she likes to roam around the classroom with dress up clothes or baby dolls. 

That is it for now. Until next time, think about how you can unleash your students' imaginations.  Your pretend play center is an excellent place to start!! :) 

More Tips for Large Group Success

Welcome back!  Last week, I shared one way of setting up large group instruction for morning calendar activities.  Well today, I'm sharing yet another way.  (Note: There is no right or wrong way to do it.  It's just a matter of what works best for you and your students!)  Today’s example takes a different approach and meets different goals and objectives.

At the beginning of this school year I realized that by using leveled lapbooks and having each student use individual systems, I was not supporting the students in attending whole group.  Each student was actively engaged through his/her individual systems but not engaged with one another, which in my opinion, is the essence of ‘large group’. 

Instructor's Insight: This may have just been a difference in my students’ needs and abilities this year.  Last year, my students were able to attend to their individual systems and attend whole group.  This year has been a different story as I was not seeing overall group participation....so it was time for a revamp!

Many of my students this year were getting distracted by the systems their peers were using next to them especially if their friend was using a different system. One day I told my staff let’s try doing group without any individual systems.  Initially, it was super challenging!!!  The students didn’t attend well.  They needed a lot of redirection and prompting to stay engaged until I added two meaningful whole group visuals.

The first was a schedule of the colored slides we would be doing each day.  

This image serves as a class visual to support the students in knowing how much work they have to do.  In the beginning, I would direct the students to this visual by pointing to the visual and saying,  “After we are done with all these colored pages, group time is over”.

The second whole group visual that was added is a photo flip chart that my paras like to call "my human billboard". :)  

 

I wear it as a visual to show whose turn is next.  I simply flip from page to page so the students know who comes up to the Smartboard next.

 

Why wear it you ask?  Well...by wearing it I strategically train the children to look at the teacher for information.  So many of our children with Autism and other developmental delays have a difficult time filtering out unimportant information.  By wearing "the whose turn is it?" chart, the children automatically look at me to know when it is their turn to come up to the Smartboard.  See the magic??

Here's my kindergarten acting team video modeling this technique.  

(A special thank you to my husband, Miss Molly and my kindergarten acting team:  Oaklye, Olivia, Maci, and Emmitt for helping put this video example together.) 

Remember these students are acting the part of special needs preschoolers so in reality it doesn’t go quite this smoothly. However, you would be surprised at just how well ALL of our actual students attend.
 

Why are they so successful? Well if you notice, each child was able to get up out of their seat at least 4 times to actively participate.  By standing up, they get 10% more oxygen to their brains.  Also by having a specific job to do when they stand, we are putting them in organized movement patterns which increases the likeliness of their success! For more information regarding this concept, see the work of Dr. Becky Bailey.
  

As stated by Dr. Kathleen Lane, “The more opportunities a student has to actively engage the more likely they will stay engaged.” Dr. Lane’s work is available here.  

Not only were the students actively engaging each time they were asked to come up to the Smartboard, but they were also actively engaging each time I asked them to imitate actions like "Today’s a school day. The flag is up. Wave your flag.", or "Student's Name is not wearing red. Show not red by putting your arms across your chest like an x ."  Imitating the x across their chest keeps them actively engaged and also has them cross midline with their arms which helps to reactivate the brain. 

Like in last week’s post, it is very hard to see each Smartboard page on the video. Below is a closer look at the pages that are different from last week’s post.
  

Page 1:  The Good Morning Song  

This song is "Get Ready" from the Conscious Discipline CD, It Starts in the Heart. By starting with this song, the students and staff are able to get present, unite and connect as suggested by Dr. Becky Bailey’s BrainSmart Start.
 

Page 4: Color of the Week

This is a variation of page 4 on last week’s post. It is simply differentiating between wearing the color of the week and not the color of the week.  The great thing about this slide is that we can work on simple addition by asking questions like "How many friends are wearing the color of the week?" and "How many are not?" and "Added together equals, how many friends in all?"

Page 5: How are you?  

This page was creating after parent teacher conferences this year.  One of the parents expressed that they would like their son to be able to answer the question “How are you?” when asked.  I quickly realized that is a good skill for all the students to work on so we changed our check in page to a very functional “How are you?” activity. The kids ask each other "How are you?".  Notice the page only has good, fine and okay as those are common responses in social situations.  

For our non-verbal kids, we do have the option of using an audio button system for the kids to ask how their friends are and for them to respond.  

We use the button system at arrival time also to get an added experience of answering the greeting, “Hi! How are you?”.  Another feature we have added is a "How are you?" worksheet during direct instruction.

 

Pages 7 & 8: Letter and Number of the Week

Again, we have variations of the letter and number pages from last week.  I have found that every so often it helps to change up the pages just a bit to keep the kids' interest and up the skill level throughout the year.

 

If you don’t have a Smartboard, no worries you can create similar systems using an iPad and a projector or by using low tech posterboards.  Mrs. Lisa Holt will be sharing her low tech poster version next week so be on the lookout!