The "Fish Tank"
The "Fish Tank"
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We often receive new students with many different needs and backgrounds. Since we firmly believe that each student deserves a support system that fits them uniquely; we have a process of establishing this.
Using the "fish tank"...
Builds relationships
Provides scaffolding
Promotes pairing
As a kid, my dad had a saltwater fish tank. The fish tank sat at the top of our stairs in an atrium area. My dad enjoyed going out and added new fish. We would make trips out to Lancaster county about an hour and a half away to a massive fish store called "That Fish Place." (who would have thought 20 years later I would be living 10 minutes from that very store).
For anyone that doesn't know, when you buy a fish they pump a squirt of oxygen into the bag filled halfway with water and the fish itself. They then quickly tie the bag and off you go.
We would travel back home with the bagged fish trying not to hit too many potholes until we finally made it home. He would let me carry the bag up the stairs and open the lid on the tank.
Instead of cutting open the bag then and there you actually let the sealed bag sit on top of the water. There are two reasons for this...
1) It allows the water in the bag to acclimate to the water already in the tank
2) The other fish are less likely to attack the fish if they have gotten used to it in the tank for a few hours.
Leaving the bag at the top gives the fish the highest rate of success within its new environment.
Implementation
Implementation
OVerview
This is a pairing process.
Every time we get a new student we treat them with the fish tank philosophy. The new students need to build a relationship with us and learn the systems of our school. They need shelter without being thrown to the wolves so to speak. We start by having every student work with us for a day or two. This extends or decreases based on how the student acclimates. Relationships in our world are the most important thing. The kids need to know they can rely on you and what the boundaries are. This method has truly helped keep our itinerant model successful.
Core Components
Used as a pairing relational process
Leveraged to support students in general education
Focus on building understanding of rules, expectations, & supports
Proactive Implementation
Proactively implementing the fish tank method requires setting up the expectations that students must be paired in some sense with an environment or adult prior to pulling back on structure within the day. This starts by defining the process from the start of a year or semester.
Responsive Implementation
Responsively implementing the fish tank method may occur when structure and relationships may completely deteriorated between a student and a specific environment. The student is collaborated with and a new individual is brought in possibly with an existing strong relationship to rebuild.
Bucket fits
Bucket fits
Connection
If the need is connection then the student works with a supervising adult and completes things like tour the school and other get to know you activities.
Skills Training
If the need is skill building then the student may practice specific skills while in the "fish tank" to ensure higher levels of proficiency when in a less structured environment.
Awareness
If the need is awareness then the student may work on strategies that build a sense of self. These may look like mindfulness or grounding activities.
Emotional Regulation
If the need is regulation then the student may practice coping strategies and trial many to select what works best for them.
Consider Factors Prior to Start
Student factors-
Gender, race, function, topography, family dynamics, interpersonal relationships
Contextual factors -
Resource availability, classroom instruction, physical space, time, technology
Intensifying or Fading During
Duration
Frequency
Feedback
Reinforcement
Goals
REMINDER
Make a note to document when you're starting this intervention.
After 10 consecutive school days of implementation, use collected data to determine the intervention's effectiveness.
Resource
Resource
*Specialists will be notified of any new student and have the option of meeting with the emotional support teachers prior to the student coming to their classroom if needed.
Don't FORGET the specialists. Unstructured times and specials are often the first experiences a new student will have. They see these students each week and in very different structures. I designed a new student checklist to remind myself of all the stakeholders found below.
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