Margaret Fitzsimmons

Guiding Child Behavior

Behavior Change Project
Overview
A difficult behavior is when a behavior is disruptive, and often times as teachers we
have to stop what we are doing in order to deal with the behavior. For my behavior
change project I chose a behavior that is very disruptive. It would happen during
nap time. I observed a child that wakes up before his friends. When E wakes up, he
is loud. Some days he wakes up at least half of the class. As soon as he wakes up,
he makes noise. Sometimes he kicks his feet on his cot, other days he wants to talk
and move toys around. And he even throws books in library, and turns pages as
loud as he can. I normally encourage my children to read, talk, and play with toys.
But during nap time I want their volume to be no louder than a whisper. I looked at
the antecedent, or the triggers of the behavior. I came up with two possible
triggers: 1) boredom and 2) an over stimulation environment. E takes his naps in
the library. There are two large shelves filled with books from top to bottom. There
are many family pictures with colorful backgrounds on the walls, and many pillows
and stuffed animals on the floor. When E wakes up, he kicks his feet on his cot.
When we ask him to choose a book, a puzzle, or a table toy, his behaviors start. E
talks loud, throws the books around, and makes un necessary noise with the toys.
Then the consequence he receives is attention from the caregiver and friends.

SMART Goal
After gaining permission I came up with a plan for E. I came up with a plan with the
other caregivers in his life because family and teacher involvement is very
important. We decided he needed a reminder to be quiet. This reminder would
remind him to be quiet and tell him why he needed to be quiet. We decided he can
still whisper. I put together a SMART goal. A smart goal is a goal that is specific,
measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. My SMART goal: E will do an activity,
no louder than a whisper, after he wakes up from nap, with only one reminder to be
quiet, for at least seven out of fifteen school days.
Data recording methods
I used three forms of observation. I observed using anecdotal records, a checklist,
and running records. Anecdotal records are notes that are brief, but give just
enough detail so we can refer to them later on. These notes can be written after we
see the incident. Unlike anecdotal recording, running records are written while an
incident is happening. I wrote these observations while my co-teacher was with me.
Running records include more detail, and are usually five to ten minutes of
observation. Running records are exactly what the teacher sees, and anecdotal
records are details chosen by the teacher and written down. That is why I chose to
do both. These observations helped me learn more about E. I learned about what
he enjoyed to do after he woke up from nap. For example, he enjoys coloring
quietly after he wakes. Puzzles worked out fine as long as it wasnt a truck puzzle

because he likes making truck noises. These notes also made me think about the
location of his cot. I used a checklist to remind myself which toys he was more
interested in.

Modifications made to my plan

Modifications had to be made to my plan along the way. The first modification the
co-teacher and I made was the choices of activities E was offered during nap time.
Licensing requires three choices during nap time. We always offered him at least
three things to do, but they were always the same toys. He needed new quiet
activities. We offered him a variety of toys like a clipboard with paper and crayons,
dry erase board with marker, small containers filled with animals, and new puzzles.
After learning some of his interests, we were able to offer him new toys he would
want. Next I changed out the books for the month of December. I realized how long
the same books were in our class library. And finally, after looking at the
environment where E slept, we moved his cot to a new spot. His new spot is near a
table, where nothing is hung up on the wall.

The Process
I began by getting permission from Es mother. I discussed this with his mother and
my co-teacher. On the first day I just watched and gave him a reminder. By day
three, I wanted start trying new wake up time toys. Here is my first observation
(anecdotal):
Today E did not want to play with the shape builders from the table toy shelf. We
gave him the shape builders and he wanted to put them on the floor, and throw
them in library. (My co-teacher and I decided to find some new toy options other
than puzzles). E was loud and gained attention from us. I began to try to figure out
Es interests. I took new toys out of the closet. I used a checklist to keep track.
Here is my checklist:
toy/new nap time
activity
sea
animal/dinosaurs
dry erase board
paper, crayons,
clipboard
new puzzles

E seemed
interested/engaged
in the activity

x
x
x

E did not seem

interested/engaged
in the activity
x

comments

when given ideas

of what to write
quiet and engaged
noisy with truck
puzzles

new books

loud but excited

and interested

Along the way I slowly learned details about each toy. For example, E was noisy with
truck puzzles. And he was so excited about new books that he wanted to talk about
them. My co-teacher set a good example of how to give him reminders.
Here are two running record observations I made:

-room 4: 3 year old room -co-teacher: Miss Jessica

-during nap time

-1:38pm to 1:48pm

-Child: E D
E woke up
E began by moving his body on his cot, he rolled back and forth and waved his arms
in the air
J walked ove to his cot. She asked, Would you like to go back to sleep, or find
something to do?
E kept waving his arms
E I wnat to play.
J How about a puzzle?
E I want the truck one.
J I will get the truck puzzle for you. You can have it as long as you are quiet.
E sat up and started to dump al of the puzzle pieces on his cot. He put some of the
pieces on the puzzle. Then he picked up the firetruck puzzle piece. Wee oooh
weee ohhh, E said, while waving the piece in the air.
J walked over to his cot. This is your only reminder, you can have the puzzle as

long as you are quiet. Friends are still sleeping, we need to be quite.
E continued to say, Wee oooh
J took the puzzle from E and said, Im sorry but Im taking this. You need to be right
quiet now.
J put the puzle away.
J Now lets choose something more quiet to do. How about a book? J brought E a
book. J said, Now you can read this as lon as you read quietly.
E read the book quietly (after 1 reminder)

-12/02/2015 -During nap time

-1:35pm

-room 4

E fell asleep around 12:25 and woke up around 1:35pm

E woke up and started kicking his feet against his cot. His blanket fell off of his cot.

J You can go a book or a nap time toy, as long as you are quiet. We need to be
quiet because friends are sleeping.
E got up, picked up 2 books from the nap time bin. He started reading the first book
on his cot. On the 4th page he yelled, Theres a puppy.
J The teacher gave 1 more reminder by saying, E you need to be quiet. Please
read with your eyes. I know you are excited about the puppy. We can talk about it
after nap.
E continued to read the stories quietly
(It took 2 reminders for E to be quiet during nap. He chose one of our new books we

put out, and he read the book instead of throwing it.)

Analysis
Now nap time is more enjoyable for E, my co-teacher, and I. Some days he needs
two reminders, but that is a huge improvement than when we used to give him
eight reminders. Since this project, most days we can remind him one to two times
to be quiet. My SMART goal stated: E will do an activity, no louder than a whisper,
after he wakes up from nap, with only one reminder to be quiet, for at least seven
out of fifteen school days. The one problem with my goal was that some days he
would need two reminders, not one. Here is my chart I used to keep track of Es
progress:
Novem
ber

mon

tue

wed

thu

fri

sat

sun

10

11

12 no

13 no

14

15
22

16 no
23 no

17 yes
24 yes

18 yes
25 yes

19 no
26

20 yes
27

21
28

29

30 yes

1December

2 no

closed
3 yes

closed
4 yes

yes

yes= 8

no= 7

E just got one more day than the SMART goal stated. He reached his goal. I saw
huge improvement in his progress when we moved his cot on November 19, 2015.
Now E and I are working on him waking up with no reminders. We started a sticker
chart in the classroom.