Coding Scheme

Name of participant: BDT

Teaching Certification(s): P-3; Elementary K-6;Sp.Ed P-12

Education Level (Highest degree attained) M.A.

Total years of teaching experience: 2

Years of teaching students in preschool through third grade? 2

Date &time of interview: 7/23/18- 10:00

1. Are you currently or have you ever implemented a group contingency plan to manage your students’ behavior? (If the response if “yes” then ask all questions-; if the response is “no” then proceed to use questions 8-10.)

Yes.

2. How long have you been implementing group contingency plans? How did you learn about group contingency plans?

I guessthe last two school year.I learned about the plan through the CST who introduced the program and gave me a few articles to read on group contingency plans and the background on the specific plan… I also learned about class plans during my first year. I did work with an experienced teacher um who observed me in the classroom and reviewed with me different strategies and techniques to improve student behavior.

3. Describe the type of group contingency plan you are using.  (If not provided in the answer, ask about behavior criteria, schedule reinforcement, types of reinforcers, BSP, tracking system, use of visuals.)

So it’s a whole class behavior plan that [pause] um it uses a visual of a caterpillar that has circles that move up to the head of the caterpillar. And the overall goal is to encourage students to follow classroom rules and routines. As they follow those rules and make positive choices in the classroom a butterfly moves up the circles of the caterpillar and once the butterfly reaches top of the caterpillar's head there is a whole class wide reward system. So in a bag there's visual cards that show what the reward would be so for example there’s a dance party, umm they could time with bubbles, they could earn free choice time. That part of the plan is adaptable based on the interests of the student and once the top of the caterpillar is reached we pull one of those visuals from the bag and the entire class gets to participate in reinforce. [pause] It is important to review with students what the classroom rules and expectations are and to let students know that you're initiating the plan so you can use it at different times during the day.I mainly used it during circle time and other whole group activities.

4. How did you decide to use this type of plan?

From mentoring and advice from the CST. And then also once I started using the plan I saw the benefits and effectiveness of it so I continued to use it.

5. How do you monitor the effectiveness of this plan? Does anyone else assist in monitoring or overseeing the plan?

I guess based on how often the reinforcers are met, so how often we meet the goal

6. How do you determine what the reinforcers will be associated with the group contingency plan?

Just based on what I've seen in my classroom and the interests that I know my students have. So for example they love go noodle which we have used in the past so I knew that would be something they would want to earn. Um also on the playground we have used bubbles before and they loved it…so I kind of use my own background knowledge on the students and then also in class discussion about it

7. Do you believe this plan has decreased disruptive behavior and increased appropriate behavior (Ask their beliefs about specific components they believe contributes to reducing disruptive behavior and increasing appropriate behavior, if not provided)?

Yes, um… I think during a whole group activity if I’m able to pinpoint a student who is making a good choice it reminds me to give that verbal praise and then it’s coupled with the visual movement up the chart which really motivates the other students because they see the direct reward and because they are working as a whole group it gives them the feeling of teamwork and the students want, you know they want to get the rewards so once they see that one student helped them get to the top it encourages the other students to make similar choices.

8. Have you ever implemented an individual contingency plan?

Yes I have.I really like how the whole group contingency plan works because it takes the emphasis off of just one student and really puts the responsibility on the class as a whole… so you're able to focus on more behaviors at one time... and it encourages a classroom culture and it allows you to kind of spread your praise around versus constantly either redirecting or praising one student. When the whole class works as a team to make good choices, the entire class benefits and receives a class wide reinforcer which increases the effectiveness of the plan. The plan has also encouraged my students to work cooperatively and has motivated the entire class. I have run an individual plan along with the group plan. I think in a way the whole group is more beneficial… because it gives…say you have one student that does require some type of behavior plan and you are using an individual plan it can sometimes I guess need like constant change… whereas I feel the whole group plan doesn’t lose um its interest as much, so you can change it up a little bit more and I think that sometimes if you give maybe a child that needs redirecting or needs some assistance in the classroom, if you give them too much attention for a specific behavior it could increase the behavior. Where this really limits how much attention is just given to one student while they still are being encouraged by the plan and the reinforcer and it shows the whole class that when everybody does make good choices (pause) or a specific student that their friends could benefit from it as well as versus just one student getting a reinforcer.

9. What behavior management resources/supports are currently available to you for managing classroom behavior?

Um it wasn’t so specific but we definitely reviewed in my coursework we reviewed different types of plans you can use different types of reinforcers so I wasn't familiar with this specific plan but I’ve definitely been introduced to the use of positive praise in the classroom, um how to increase certain behaviors and decrease certain behaviors. Um so I would think like a general overview of behavior management in some course, not specific a course

10. Are there any final thoughts or feelings concerning behavior management you wish to share?

So I always had a visual rules board in my classroom which works really nice actually with this specific plan because you can reference it at the beginning of a whole group activity and um I like to make those rule charts with my students so that they are a part of coming up with what they think would be effective rules to have in our classroom. I think through this whole group contingency behavior plan I've really increased my use of positive reinforcement in the classroom and positive praise which I think just lifts the overall sentiment in the classroom and the students aren’t seeking to gain as much attention because it's already built into the way the whole group activities work and really limiting the use of redirecting in a sense of using language that explains what the students should  do versus what they shouldn’t do.

CRITICAL INCIDENT REPORT

During the interview process, you indicated that you have or currently are implementing a group contingency plan.  Please respond to the following questions. You may handwrite or type your responses. Thank you for your time.

Have you experienced any positive or rewarding outcomes regarding the implementation of a group contingency plan? If your answer is yes, please describe your experience(s) in detail. If your answer is no, please indicate whether you would change your implementation of a group contingency plan, and why.

Yes I have experienced positive and rewarding outcomes while implementing a group contingency plan in my pre-K classroom. The plan has enabled the students to work as a team to follow classroom rules and has greatly increased my use of positive reinforcement. the visual nature of the plan has also helped my students to clearly see the benefits of their positive choices. The plan is also adaptable, allowing the positive reinforcers to be directly related to the interest of the students. When the whole class works as a team to make good choices, the entire class benefits and receives a class wide reinforcer which increases the effectiveness of the plan. the plan has also encouraged my students to work cooperatively and has motivated the entire class. the plan has also helped me by reminding me to repetitively review classroom rules and to set clear and concise expectations. the plan also encourages the use of behavior specific praise connected with the visual increase which allows the whole class to again hear expectations coupled with a visual response that brings them closer to receiving their class-wide reward.

Have you experienced any unsuccessful outcomes regarding the implementation of a group contingency plan? Please describe.

No response provided