Re: [LM_NET] Dealing with difficult children/disruptive children----TARGET

[Shonda Brisco <sbrisco@GMAIL.COM>]

I wanted to share a bit more information (and to respond to a
negative, personal email that suggested that I was attacking Robert
for his actions--???) about my questions about the misbehaviors in the
library.  I had a few groups of 5th and 6th graders (different
classes) that had some students who would try their best to be
disruptive this year, too.

The first thing I did was check to see if these students were on an
IEP (after working with special needs children for over 10 years, I
find it's a habit now to be certain that I'm addressing the
instructional needs of the student correctly).  As it turned out,
about 10% of the student population who visited the library was on an
IEP and many of my behavior problems WERE on an IEP with behavioral
intervention strategies.  Once I had copies of these IEPs and knew
what I needed to do with some of the students, I talked with the
teachers to see how they were handling the problems in the classroom.
To make the procedures consistent, we had a behavioral notebook that
the students brought with them to class and to the library.  When they
misbehaved, we made notations of the incident and dated them. The
teacher would handle the punishments (if there were any) once the
student returned to the classroom---often this meant missing recess,
staying later or coming in earlier for extra work, etc.  These went to
the parent to review and later discuss.

While these helped with the documentation of behavioral problems, some
of the more personal and interactive things that I did included asking
the student to stay after class (or come in later) to talk with ME.
One student came by after misbehaving one day and his behavior was
entirely different alone than it was while "on stage" in front of his
peers.  Obviously, he loved the attention.  So, I told him that he
wasn't being punished, but rather that I needed him to help me with a
project.  He would be helping me with setting up some displays in the
morning during announcement time (a "down-time" for homeroom that the
teacher allowed me to take him for about 20 minutes).  The student
came in during the 20 minutes to work with me (often staying a little
later because he didn't want to leave) on different library displays,
projects, and later, even shelving.  What I discovered was he wanted
"attention" from someone and he'd use his behavior to get it.

Since the laser scanner was always a "big thing" for the students, I
showed him (and later about four other misbehaving students) how to
check books in and out.  He was the one who showed the others how to
shelve some of the books, and would be the leader rather than the
trouble-maker. (Once during a project, he even scolded a group for
shoving the books back on the shelves, telling them that he didn't
like straightening them later.  They listened, of course, because he
was the "bouncer-type" in his class.  I giggled inside, thinking I'd
just hired my own "library bouncer".)

I'd share with him and the others all the NEW books---as poor readers,
they were also the ones who loved the "Bone" series by Jeff Smith, so
they were the first to check out those books. The interesting thing
was that they brought the books back on time so they could get the
next one in the series...and once when I was doing a book talk about
the new titles, I asked this boy to tell the class about the series
(he did with enthusiasm--- and in the other classes, I had another
library trouble-maker / helper who gave a lengthy talk about the Bone
series which sparked a lot of interest from my boys.)

At the end of the school year, I told all of my library worker /
trouble-makers that they had done a great job and gave them each $10
worth of free books from the bookfair (from my profits).  Since it was
buy-one-get-one free fair, they were choosing the Bone series (getting
two books each) and two boys who lived next door to one another even
figured out if they each took two different titles, they could share
them over the summer and read them all.

I think the success for me was the behavioral changes because I didn't
fight them, but used them to work with me on projects that I needed in
the classroom.  They became the leaders (which I know can sometimes
backfire), but with this "younger group" I was hoping that the "child
inside" would come forward rather than the "mishaving teen" that was
trying to emerge.  Looking back, I remember that two of the boys were
almost intimidating and I felt that they would definitely be problems
for someone in high school one day.  By the time school ended, my
opinions changed because I realized that these kids came from
situations that weren't good and had little interaction with adults
who worked with them one-on-one.

I also had to laugh at one of the boys.  He came by on the last day of
school with an envelope.  His mom had written a very sweet note to me
about taking the time to work with her son and how much she
appreciated it...and the books!  She said that he would definitely
keep reading them because he LOVED that "weird book" so much!  (I had
met his mom only once during an Open House--- the entire family looked
"rough and mean"....but at least they were at school that night!)

As the boy handed me the envelope he blushed (which was a surprise)
and said, "Thanks for everything, Mrs. B....I hope you like to
gamble!"  After he left, I opened the envelope and read the card from
his mom, then realized there was also a "$1 lottery scratch card"
inside.  I laughed...scratched the card...didn't win anything
there...but realized that my "gamble" had paid off with this kid.
Hopefully, another librarian or teacher will see beyond this tough
exterior and find "the child inside" who is eager to please and do the
right thing.


~Shonda

-- 
Shonda Brisco, MLIS
Library Media / Technology Specialist
Digital Bookends wiki / blog:
http://digitalbookends.pbwiki.com
http://shonda.edublogs.org/
sbrisco@gmail.com

"Digital Resources" columnist
School Library Journal

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