Manchester Public Schools

March 17, 2006

Teaching….

“If a child does not know how to read, we teach.

If a child does not know how to swim, we teach.

If a child does not know how to multiply, we teach.

If a child does not know how to drive, we teach.

If a child does not know how to behave, we…?”

Tom Herner (NASDE President) Counterpoint, 1998

How do we finish the last sentence?

Draw your response.

Functions of Behavior

• The purpose or reason the behavior occurred

• Why is it important for us to know the function/purpose of the behavior?

Functions of Behavior

Get

Avoid/Escape

Something to Note…

• One behavior can have multiple functions

• Several behaviors can have the same function

Name that Function!

LARRYMrs. Zimmer’s class is outside preparing to play a game of baseball. The students were told to go behind home plate and line up for turns at bat. All of the students except Larry scrambled for a place in line so they could have a turn. Larry, who has poor motor skills and wears thick glasses, left the group. Mrs. Zimmer looked around frantically before spotting him stacking bats against a shed. “Larry, if you can’t be a team player, go back inside to the office.”

SALLY

Sally reads two years below her peers. She and the other students were asked to work independently at their desk on an essay relating to the Constitution. While the teacher was sitting with another student, Sally started kicking her desk and tapping her pencil really loud. The teacher asked her to stop. Sally stopped for a time, then began to scribble on her paper.

CHARLIE

Charlie is a slightly overweight teenager and having difficulty dealing with teasing from his peers. One day in math class, Charlie called another overweight student “blimpie”. On another occasion, Charlie tripped a student who tends to be a bit of a “teacher’s pet”. Last week Charlie, laughed at student who dropped her books.