Rebekah Hershey FBA Assignment March 19, 2014 1) Behavior of Concern a) Definition of Behavior: When given a reading or writing

assignment, T is off task, which is defined as talking out when he is not called upon during class. i) Through daily observations in small groups, the teacher noticed that T was constantly off task, which could be defined as talking out, staring into space, talking to others, and humming to himself. As time went by, the behavior that seemed to have a higher frequency than the others was talking out during small group instruction when he is not called upon. Often times, the talking out has nothing to do with the assignment or task at hand. It seems to only occur during small group instruction. Another reason why this behavior was chosen was because it was disrupting the teacher and other students as well. b) The behavior occurs in the resource room during small group. It occurs more during reading assignments. The other students in the small group laugh at him, which positively reinforces his comments. c) Ts off task behaviors occur several times a class period when he is located in the resource room. Each period lasts for 43 minutes, and he is usually pulled to small groups once or twice a day. d) Since his behavior is not hurting anyone or himself, it is not seen as severe. If it is severe, When T is with the student teacher and learning support teacher, the behavior occurs more, and can become severe. It may lead to T switching seats or classrooms because he cannot be quiet. e) Depending on the topic, Ts off task behavior of calling out can last from one to two comments at a time (approximately 1 minute) to an entire conversation (lasting 4 minutes). If the teacher talks back, the off task behavior can last up to a couple minutes. f) Ts talking out impacts not only his education, but also those around him. When he talks out, he is distracting the teacher and his peers. The other students stop what they are doing to listen to what he says, and often times laugh, which gets them off task as well. In addition to distracting his peers, T often takes up the teachers time. He asks off topic questions, and will demand attention from the teacher. Usually, the teacher will ignore his behavior to get him back on track. His talking out is a behavior that distracts others, and it allows him to not complete his work. On most assignments, he is behind his peers in completing it on time.

g) In order to prevent this behavior from occurring, the teachers have placed him in the hall so he is able to work by himself without being reinforced by other students for talking out of turn. When this occurs, he becomes upset that he is separated, and still does not do his work. Even though he may not be talking out, he finds other ways to be off task. Another intervention that has been tried to change his off task behavior is by creating a folder of his unfinished work that he must complete during his basketball practice. More than anything, T becomes frustrated and still does not do his work when this arrangement is introduced. He continues to talk out during class in the resource room. 2) Describe what you have learned about the factors that may influence or contribute to the behavior a) The Student i) Although there is no strong evidence besides observations, it seems that T does not respect the learning support teacher. He does not talk out while in the general education classrooms, but he still struggles to complete work in those classrooms. He seems to get into arguments with the learning support teacher. Ts off task behavior is mostly seen when the students are given independent, graded assignments such as tests and Think and Compares. It more commonly occurs in reading rather than math. His talking out happens much more frequently when the entire period is a work period, or the task is boring (independent). ii) T is smart, and the teachers recognize his abilities, which is why they push him to his potential. When he wants to do well, he can. On his most recent CBA, T scored the best out of the other fifth grade students in learning support and it seemed that he did not even try his best. One skill deficit that T does have is his behaviors and respect towards adults. He struggles with respecting teachers, and has a poor attitude when he does not get his way. iii) There are not any known biological factors that may contribute to his behavior. He is not currently on any medication, and there is no need for him to be on medicine. iv) Currently, there are no known basic need factors that are influencing his behavior. If he stays up late, it does not show in school. He does not fall asleep in class on a regular basis. He probably has fallen asleep once or twice a month in class if that. v) There are many external factors that may be influencing Ts off task behavior of talking out. He has a new living environment since November. He is now living

with his sister rather than his mother. Since this is a new home life, he still may not be used to it. Recently, T has been talking about his father more often, so his current living situation has not been confirmed. vi) The historical information that may affect his behavior is that this past November, Ts mother passed away from cancer. Although he came to school the next day, it seemed to affect him in ways that he might not have recognized. His biological mother passed away when he was born, and at the age of eleven, his mother passed away. He currently lives with his older sister, and her boyfriend. From what I know, Ts father is in the picture, but does not live with him. T has attended this school since he was in Kindergarten, and has experienced so much by age eleven. vii) Currently, the student is involved in basketball, which has a positive influence on his life. His coaches really care about him and often check in with teachers to check on his academics and behaviors. Unfortunately, basketball can be easily taken away from him when his behaviors and academics do not reach the teachers expectations. As mentioned, T has been talking about his father more often and their activities together such as grocery shopping, and clothes shopping. viii) T seems to like the attention he gets from other students when he speaks out in class. He seems to like the laughs from others when he tries to be funny. T also has the I dont care attitude, and it may be that he wants the reputation of the class clown or bad boy. He does not seem to mind it. b) Contextual Factors i) The student is most likely to engage in his off task behavior of talking out when he is given any graded reading assignments especially tests, read aloud, and Think and Compares. Ts talking out occurs most frequently when he is in the resource room with Miss Hershey or Ms. C. ii) T is least likely to engage in the behavior when he is in the regular education setting with Mr. J or Ms. W. He also does not engage in the behavior when the period contains a variety of activities such as work, reading, and discussion. He enjoys working with partners during math class. When the activities are more social and engaging, T is less likely to engage in his off task behavior. iii) The ecological events that contribute to the students behavior include the classroom, teachers, and tasks given during that period.

(1) Immediate events that change his behavior include transitioning to the resource room, the task given to the students, and whether the teacher says anything to T about his work during the period. (2) The distal events that are related to Ts behavior include the death of his mother and his new living situation. These past events influence the way T sees adults and affects his attitude. Future events that might affect his behavior is his basketball schedule. If T is able to practice with the team, then he seems to be in a better mood and better behaved. iv) Consequences that are associated with behavior are attention from adults that he receives. He will receive attention from the teacher in the classroom when she/he talks back to him and engages in conversation whether it is an argument or not. Also, if he very disrespectful, other teachers are made aware, and talk to him. A negative consequence that he sees from this behavior is his basketball time being taken away. His coaches are constantly checking up on his missing work or his behaviors. Summary of the Frequency Data Collection: Over the past three to four weeks, I have been able to collect frequency data on how often T talks out when he is not called upon in the classroom. As one can see from the graph, this specific behavior occurs anywhere from three to sixteen times in a class period, which lasts forty-three minutes each. Times when T had a lower frequency was often because he had been moved near a teacher because he was previously off task, or he was in a bad mood, and refused to do work or talk to anyone. As the observer, I made a mark every time he said something off topic and when the teacher did not call on him. I focused more of the data collection on reading because he seems to struggle more in reading rather than math. Also, since the behavior occurs more in the resource room, the data was only collected when T was pulled into the resource room in a small group. I feel the information and data collected does show that his behavior is impeding his learning and even his peers learning as well. It occurs too frequently and the data does not even show how long his comments last.

Frequency Charts
Date/Subject Frequency of Behavior Notes