When a student’s intensity rises, adults’ also rise along with him. You will have to be mindful and stay calm, cool, and collected on the outside, even if you are intensifying on the inside. There are several parts of this.  

• First, your voice and speech should be considered. 

• Second, eye contact, or no eye contact, should be considered.  

• Third, physical contact for soothing should be considered.  Some students need very little talking, no eye contact, and no touching.  Other students might need a soothing voice, direct eye contact, and an arm around their shoulders to get them back to learning.  

Your choices should match what your student needs.   

For some students, time and space to regain control over themselves is a good strategy. This brief break strategy could be right where they are in the moment; the student just puts his head down on his desk and regains control. It could also be a designated space that the student moves to.  Note: Moving to another space can make the situation worse and, in that case, this would not be a strategy that you would choose. Read more about how to use breaks effectively in The Behavior Code Companion.

Your proximity to the student can be a strategy to use. For some students, your proximity can be comforting and calming.  That helps the student get back to learning more quickly. For other students, your presence just keeps the intensity rolling and it is important to decrease proximity.  While you may not be able to physically distance due to safety concerns, you can turn to the side, reduce eye contact, and step a little ways back.

Removing the audience can help things get back on track. A classful of watching students can create a situation in which the behavior can not de-intensify.  For some students, a good plan is for the other students to exit. This exit should be pre-planned, practiced, and implemented quietly.  For other students, moving them to a location away from the audience can be effective. 

Ignoring the behavior is another strategy to consider. In this strategy, the adults simply don’t talk about the behavior that is happening. For example, if a student has scribbled on his worksheet and is trying to rip it with his eraser, the teacher might instead respond to what the student is trying to communicate with those behaviors.  The teacher does not need to address the scribbling and ripping directly as she responds to the message.  She could say, “It looks like you are having trouble with that worksheet.  Would you like a hand or maybe a brief break from it?”

Distraction is a strategy in which you distract the student from the behavior and emotion at hand. For some students, this is easy.  You ask them a question unrelated to the behavior at hand.  Once you’ve distracted them, you can then help them get back on track.  For some students, particularly students who have intense behaviors and get stuck in those emotions, distraction can be take more time and effort. You can physically relocate them to distract (can you take this note to the office for me?) or you can distract their train of thought by asking questions or making comments.  For students who have a particular fascination with a topic, distracting by asking about that topic can be effective.  Remember, you are distracting to keep the situation from getting more out of hand so that you can move the student back to learning and you to teaching.

Changing people can be an effective distraction strategy.  In this strategy, having someone step in and replace the initial adult can help break the escalation and get the situation back on track. This operates as a distraction, not because Adult B is more effective than Adult A. 

Redirection is a strategy intended to guide a student towards more appropriate responses.  You do this by providing feedback. This feedback can be nonverbal – you signal for them to use their escape plan to calm down or it can be verbal – you remind them how to get help in the situation or you remind them what they should be doing.  Redirection as a strategy can be helpful in getting students back on track. 

Giving choices is another strategy that can help get the situation back on track. Offering choices helps move the student to the thinking part of her brain as she has to consider the choices you are offering. Offering choices will only work if students are regulated enough to move from their emotional brain to their thinking brain relatively easily. If they aren’t thinking critically, they won’t be able to evaluate the choices effectively.  

Note:  you should be aware that it is not a “choice” if you are offering the student a “do what you are told or face the consequences” kind of choice. That is a threat and not likely to get things back on track or build your relationship with that student.

Similar to giving choices, you can also help some students get back on track and thinking more effectively if you help students move to a more thoughtful place in their brain.  You might ask “what’s wrong?” and then reflect on what she said.  You might also get them thinking more effectively if you ask how you can help right now.  These thinking strategies are only useful if students are regulated enough to move from their emotional brain to their thinking brain relatively easily.  For students who can’t do this because they are unable to move to a more thoughtful place, this strategy will not be effective and overwhelm them even more.  This is why reactive strategies have to be chosen on an individual basis.

Using visual reminders - a social narrative, consequence map or other visual reminder - to show the student what will happen if he proceeds on the path he is on may be another way to help him get back on track. These are tools that would have been introduced when he was in the right state to learn from them.

Sometimes, student behavior gets out of control and needs some physical intervention in order to help get him back on track.  He might need assistance to get to a calm-down area.  He might need you to help him stop hitting himself.  She might need assistance to keep from hitting the child across from her.  If you know these situations may arise, you can talk to the student ahead of time and practice how you will help them so that they are aware of what will happen.  Physical assistance as a planned strategy must be practiced with the student so that she knows what is going to happen.  If this strategy makes the situation more intense, it is not a strategy to use in the planned reactive strategies section of a behavior intervention plan.