Anna Gallacher Dr. Wolpert 25 November Functional Behavioral Assessment Student: Alise Observer: Ms.

Gallacher Behavior: Alise tantrums every day during mathematics usually during the independent work time. Her tantrums include crying, yelling, stomping her feet, kicking her table, and putting her head down on the desk. Once the mini-lesson or anything requiring her to figure out an answer alone causes these tantrums. Goal: The goal is to decrease this excessive behavior to the point where she can function and complete her work during a math block. Baseline: To take a baseline of the behavior I would observe the duration of the behavior when that behavior occurs. I will use an observation form to record the duration of Alises behavior for three days. A-B-C Chart Date/Time 9/30 Antecedent Conditions The class was in a small group to learn math and were asked by the teacher to complete the independent work section. There are 7 Behavior Alise began to cry and stomp her feet on the ground. She also put her head down. Consequences Teacher asks the student to stop. When the student refuses the teacher then removes the

students in this group.

childs points. The behavior continues for the rest of the period.

10/1

The class was in a small group to learn math and were asked by the teacher to complete the independent work section. There are 7 students in this group.

Alise began to cry, scream, and kick her desk.

The teacher removed the childs points, which resulted in the child screaming louder. She was then asked to leave the classroom so the teacher could speak to her quietly. Her mother was called.

10/2

The class was in a small group to learn math and were asked by the teacher to complete the independent work section. There are 7 students in this group.

Alise puts her head down, cries and kicks her desk.

The childs points were removed. The teacher yelled for her to stop. Her chair was then moved away from her desk so she could not kick

any more.

Function of Behavior: The function of the students challenging behavior is to avoid doing the independent math work because the student is aware that the work is beyond her mathematical abilities. She is trying to avoid something that she feels she cannot do. Purpose: The behavior keeps the student from doing her work therefore she doesnt have to feel the struggle of learning the material or the experience the feeling of incompetence. The purpose of the behavior is to avoid the embarrassment of not knowing how to do the problems in front of the other students and the teacher. Hypothesis: I believe that developing an intervention plan to desensitize the student to the math anxiety is the best approach. I am going change the environment of the math lesson for Alise. I am going to give her only a couple of problems, which I will choose, that will help her build confidence. I will start with a few problems and increase the number of problems as or if she becomes more comfortable. I will also reward her participation and good behavior during this portion of the math lesson. I will also overly praise her and will reward her with the point system when her behavior is appropriate. How and when to evaluate success: I will begin evaluating her success as soon as I minimize the number of problems that she will be given and when I being the increase of the reward system. I will evaluate Alise over a three-week period using a duration chart to chart her behavior during math lessons. I will use this chart to determine if the behavior decreases and if her math anxiety decreases.

Baseline Assessment Date 9/30 10/1 10/2 Behavior Begins 1:15 1:02 1:24 Behavior Ends 1:40 1:33 2:05 Duration 25 minutes 31 minutes 41 minutes

Probe Assessment Date 10/7 10/8 10/9 10/10 10/11 10/15 10/16 10/17 10/18 10/21 10/22 10/23 10/24 10/25 Behavior Begins 1:26 1:14 1:00 1:22 1:05 12:50 1:07 1:03 1:21 1:15 1:06 12:57 1:30 1:13 Behavior Ends 2:00 1:45 1:35 1:35 1:30 1:12 1:15 1:18 1:30 1:20 1:12 1:10 1:32 1:20 Duration 34 minutes 31 minutes 35 minutes 13 minutes 25 minutes 22 minutes 8 minutes 15 minutes 9 minutes 5 minutes 6 minutes 13 minutes 2 minutes 7 minutes

Conclusion: As time went on, Alises problematic behavior decreased because her anxiety level when performing math went down as well. By giving Alises less problems and praising her when she made an effort to complete the problem definitely boosted her self-esteem. I hope that as time goes on I will be able to successfully eliminate the tantrums altogether.