In this section of the behavior intervention plan, the team makes a plan for how to address occurrences of interfering behavior while the rest of the plan - environmental supports and teaching around developing skills - has time to help change the behavior. Reactive strategies are not intended to be used as "consequences," punishment, or as instruction. Their only job is to help rescue the situation and get back to teaching and learning (so that the other parts of the plan can be implemented).
Reactive strategies are planned responses -what we do in response to interfering behavior when it happens. The goal is to keep people safe and get things back to calm as soon as possible. It is a “rescue” for the student and the situation. Then when the situation returns to regulated and calm, teaching (and learning) can happen.
The power of your behavior intervention plan is in the environmental supports part of your plan – the proactive strategies. The long-term power of your plan is in what you teach the student to use instead during a difficult moment. You need reactive strategies because most students who need a behavior intervention plan have engaged in interfering behaviors for a long time and turning them around will take time, practice, and supports. Behavior episodes can still occur while the student is developing skills and you need planned responses to address them effectively.
The strategies the team chooses to include in the plan are selected with the intention of using them to get students back to learning and on track quickly. They are not intended to be “instructive.” The other parts of your behavior intervention plan address developing skills and creating a supportive learning environment.
For some students, one of these strategies, for example, giving a choice, may be all it takes to get the student back on track. For other students, you may need to use several strategies in combination. For example, the plan might be to ignore the student's specific words and the tone she is using. However, they can validate that she is having a hard time and invite her to speak privately – removing the audience. As she describes her concerns, they reflect on what she says, saying it in more appropriate ways. When she is calm after the brief break, she rejoins the group.
If the strategy the team has chosen to use when the behavior happens makes the situation more intense, it is not an appropriate strategy to use. The goal is to get back to teaching and learning as quickly as possible, rescuing the student and the situation.
In some instances, a strategy works sometimes but not always and in those cases, the team should have alternate strategies identified to substitute, keeping the goal in mind.
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.
If the safety plan is implemented, the team should consider what changes might be needed in the behavior intervention plan. The REFLECT document is a step-by-step process that allows teams to reflect on what happened and how it can be addressed more effectively.
Sometimes, despite our best, most thoughtful reactive strategy plan does not work as we hoped or as it has in the past. Or a behavior that has not yet been observed occurs. In these situations, having a safety plan is critical. A safety plan is a plan about what will happen in an emergency - when the behavior escalates to a point beyond what the behavior intervention plan addresses.
Every behavior episode, including very intense episodes, would not require implementation of a “safety plan.” If you know the behavior is likely, then you have time to pre-plan a response. A safety plan is for situations that you did not expect.
A safety plan identified specifically when, and under what conditions, it will be used. The plan is focused on health and safety of the student and the people around him. It can include who will be called and what will happen when they get there. It may address what will happen with the other students in proximity to the situation. Teams will have to keep careful records of when the safety plan was used. Practicing your plan until it is well-understood can be very helpful.