Samantha Jackson

Graduate Portfolio

Standard 9 Reflection

EDSP 679: Proactive Classroom Management and Advanced Positive Behavior and Support -

Use procedures to increase the individual’s self-advocacy, self-awareness, self-management,

self-control, self-reliance, self-esteem, self-discipline, problem solving, and conflict resolution.

Radford University

Fall 2022
 The course Proactive Classroom Management and Advanced Positive Behavior and

Support also had a significant impact on me as a teacher. This course taught me about the

importance of an FBA (Functional Behavior Analysis) and a BIP (Behavior Intervention Plan).

The semester prior to this course I had a student undergo the FBA and BIP process themselves. I

was included on the team as the student's general education teacher. This course helped me

understand the process that we went through for that student and will help me guide families I

meet going through this in the future. Proactive Classroom Management and Advanced Positive

Behavior and Support also gave me more tools to use in my classroom with the standard “use

procedures to increase the individual’s self-advocacy, self-awareness, self-management, self-

control, self-reliance, self-esteem, self-discipline, problem solving, and conflict resolution.” To

increase these skills in my classroom I implement classroom jobs, brain breaks, and a help

request form. These procedures allow my students to practice these skills and grow as an

individual in a safe place.

Implementing classroom jobs has been highly successful in my classroom. I use

classroom jobs to help students practice their skills with self-management and discipline in all

my classes. I started using classroom jobs last year and this class gave me ideas of more jobs I

could implement in my classroom. For example, in Artifact 9a readers will see a pdf of the jobs

I offer my students at the beginning of the year. I tie this into the economics portion of my

Civics Class as well and pay each student Americana to complete their jobs. Throughout the

year the job pay will go up due to inflation, but so will the price of items they want to buy in the

quarterly Auctions. To help them with their self-management I give them a to do list on the

board and the students go through the beginning of class routine by writing in their agenda,

doing their warm-up, and then completing their classroom job (if applicable). The students must

be disciplined with completing their job, or it will be passed onto another if the problem is not
fixed. Implementing classroom jobs has helped my students increase their self-management

skills, along with the amount of Americana in their wallets!

Another way I implement this standard in my classes is by incorporating calming brain

breaks for my students into my lessons. Adopting brain breaks into my class has helped my

students with their self-management, self-control, and their self-awareness. These work well for

the students I have right after they finish lunch. Usually, the students need a moment to refocus

and reevaluate their behavior before we start a lesson. Brain breaks have been the perfect way to

give my students time to reflect on themselves. It is an extremely positive practice and provides

students with a skill to help them calm down. I do this prior to any power point slides or

informational videos in my class. I usually have my students lay their heads down or close their

eyes and take deep breaths and for 10-15 seconds. I have noticed that when I do this longer than

that the students get distracted, bored, or they fall asleep. I remind them at the beginning and the

end of those moments that when they lift their heads it is time to quietly focus on me or the

board. I also use movement breaks in my classes when I have students with 504 and IEP

accommodations that include movement breaks. I like to incorporate these things into the whole

class environment. That way, the student does not feel alone or isolated in needing breaks,

because many students benefit from movement or calming breaks as well. Incorporating brain

breaks or movement breaks has been essential in helping my students reflect on themselves and

refocus in class.

A third way I incorporate the standard into my class is by utilizing a Help Request Form

(Artifact 9b) using a Google Form. I use this form to help my students build their self-advocacy

skills in my class. I have many students who will refuse to raise their hands and ask for help.

This class taught me that there are multiple ways I could encourage students to advocate for

themselves. The Google Form is just one way I encourage students to do this for themselves. I
embed this into a page into Canvas (our digital learning platform) and link it on my homepage.

Students have access to this from their computers and phones, which makes it easy for them to

use. I make it simple and quick to fill out, so students do not back out halfway through the form.

Students enter their full name and type out what they would like extra help with. They are

reminded to be specific, and I model this prior to posting it for them to use. The students have

utilized this skill often and it helps them check whether they need help or understand something

or not. I remind the students to fill it out If they need to at the end of every class. I check this

Google Form at the end of every day. Then, I sign these students up for Tiger Time the next day

they are available. Tiger Time is our remediation time at school during the second block. Once

signed up, the student is sent to me on the assigned day, and we work through what confused

them. This has been extremely helpful for assignments and helps my students learn how to

advocate for themselves on assignments and topics.

Proactive Classroom Management and Advanced Positive Behavior was an extremely

important course. It taught me about the FBA and BIP process and those processes gave me a lot

of tools to help my students in the classroom. I learned about a lot of ways to implement this

standard: “use procedures to increase the individual’s self-advocacy, self-awareness, self-

management, self-control, self-reliance, self-esteem, self-discipline, problem solving, and

conflict resolution” in my daily lessons and activities. Three of the ways I implement this

standard in my classes are through classroom jobs, brain breaks or calm down moments, and a

Help Request Google Form. By implementing these factors in my classroom, I can help my

students increase their self-management, discipline, control, awareness, and advocacy. I

incorporate these into my everyday routines to help give my students a safe place to practice

these important skills.