Action Plan

Implementation

My action plan consisted of several interrelated steps including explicit instruction of interventions, guided practice, data collection, data analysis, and reflection.

I implemented social skills instruction as a daily intervention for 30 to 45 minutes. I taught self-regulating behaviors using Zones of Regulation along with the Verbal Behavior program. The four, first-grade students were receiving this intervention through an Errorless teaching program that taught the students how to self-regulate their emotions and feelings. Students were using the language of the program, Zones of Regulation, as they identified how they felt and identified a calming strategy to self-regulate their emotions. For example, Student M might indicate that he is in the "red" zone because of something unfortunate that happened before school that was upsetting.

Every day, I would "cold probe" students to gather formative assessment data. This data informed my teaching through identifying mastered skills and those requiring further instruction. I would teach social skills using the self-regulating curriculum and then students would “show what they knew” by using the zones in the classroom by identifying a feeling word and strategy to get them to be ready to learn again. I worked alongside our school's Speech Language Pathologist who also taught Zones of Regulation during the student’s speech time using the Verbal Behavior program.

Verbal Behavior is a program of instruction for involved learners that is based on and growing from continuing research using Skinner’s work. The research-based program focuses first on the child developing a functional form of communication. It teaches the child that language is useful and meaningful. It is based on the theory that language is learned behavior and teaches children necessary skills to be successful in the general education classroom setting.

The "operants" in the Verbal Behavior program were used for data collection and analysis:

Tacts: Zones and feelings using picture prompts, then video scenarios

Motor Imitation: facial expressions and body language

Matching: emotion pictures to the correct Zone

Sorting: multiple emotion pictures into correct Zones, tools needed for each Zone

Listener Responding and Discrimination: Show me the person who is happy. Find the boy who is angry.

Intraverbals: What tool do you need in the ____ Zone? What clues show you that she is happy/sad/angry?

Research Calendar

Culturally Responsive Practices Supporting All Learners

I chose these research-based, instructional strategies because the students within my classroom have a difficult time regulating their emotions and feelings. Some of these students are verified with autism. At the beginning of the year, I was using Zones of Regulation curriculum during our daily social skills instruction but the students with autism were having a difficult time identifying and stating feelings when looking at faces, how they are feeling, and given certain situations.One example included I would ask the student to check in, they would stare at me with confusion. Another example is anytime I would use the language of Zones of Regulation, they would argue or become frustrated as they were unable to understand what I was talking about. After observing these students only learning rote skills, I decided that they needed an additional program to teach them how to generalize and apply the self-regulating curriculum. Verbal Behavior was used to teach the students with autism language and communication skills and, with the decision of the Speech Language Pathologist, we made Zones of Regulation accessible through the program, Verbal Behavior. During social skill instruction, I would provide visual prompts, Video Modeling to demonstrate the skills, picture cues, and had peer models to show the expected vs. unexpected behavior. The language that was taught during Verbal Behavior was used throughout the day in order for the students to be able to identify and generalize the strategies taught.

I differentiated instruction based on individual need. Student A needed a slower pace and less questions or operants whereas Student B would pick up on the questions and operants quickly. Student C did a nice job identifying the strategies, sorting the feelings into the zones, but needed extensive prompting when he was in a specific zone other than “green zone” to self-regulate his body. With the appropriate accommodations and modifications with each student, I was able to help the students build common language we would use throughout the school day to help them identify emotions, feelings, and tools to de-escalate.

My study supported culturally responsive practices because it allowed the students to learn through Errorless teaching and then practice it within the classroom. Materials were displayed and accessible throughout the school day. Each student was able to visually see the Zone prompts throughout the classroom and use them when they wanted to self-regulate their emotions. These tools were accessible to them throughout the school day and encouraged to use. When I could see a student was becoming frustrated or tired during instruction, I would prompt them by asking, "What Zone are you in?" They would identify the Zone and then a feeling word that associated with the Zone. With little to no prompting, I would help the students identify a strategy to get back into the "green zone" in order for them to have a calm body and get back to work.

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