Training #5 Homework 1

As Summer Camp staff members, you will be challenged many times throughout the summer with children who are demonstrating difficult behaviors. Use this time now to reflect on your past and present child care experinces.
 

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Please comment on one of the two following topics:

1. Describe a time you had to work with a child who was exhibiting challenging behavior. What was the behavior like? How did you handle the situation? What advice would you give to staff members that may need to deal with this type of behavior in the future?

2. How do you utilize attention getters in your regular routine when working with kids? What attention getter works the best for you? After reading through the guidance packet, what verbal attention getter are you most interested in trying out? What non-verbal attention getter? What is the most effective way you found to choose partners or form groups? Why?

After replying, please comment on 2 other fellow staffers' posts.

At my site, I currently work with multiple children that exhibit challenging behavior. There are many cases in which these children are comfortable with saying "no" to an adult when given specific instructions, comfortable with hitting an adult when they do not get their way, and find that running away from and ignoring an adult to be the best way to avoid them. It can be extremely frustrating when children completely ignore you or are not at all phased by threats made. The best way to handle these types of situations is to first and foremost remain calm or if you have already become angry, have another counselor handle the situation, leave the room, and collect yourself. Not remaining calm in this situation could result in behaviors from the counselor that could ultimately cause them to lose their jobs. For example, if a child is constantly running away from you when you are trying to talk to them, grabbing or snatching them in the heat of the moment is not the proper solution.
When a child constantly refuses to listen, I am sure to 1) Write them up. 2) Ensure that they do not participate in any activities planned for the day until I've had a talk with them 3) Talk with the parent.  If the behavior continues multiple times and the child has been written up on numerous occasions, it is then time to discuss with the parent the possibility of suspension from the program.

It is also important with difficult behavior to let all children know what behaviors are not tolerated. If you continue to let a child run around the cafeteria and stand on the tables, they will think that it's okay and will actually be confused if at a later point you decide to punish them for it. In addition to this, do not overlook some of your more well behaved children. If they are breaking a rule, even if it is unintentional, it is important to always correct them as well in order to be fair to all children and again, establish what behaviors are and are not tolerable.
These are my best words of advice based on what I have learned thus far working with children, however, I feel that I am still in the learning process especially in finding ways to best manage children with difficult behaviors.

Throughout the years that I have worked with children, I have experienced a multitude of challenging behaviors. However, more recently I have been dealing with attitude problems and disrespectful behaviors from the children at my current site. This type of behavior is in my opinion the most difficult to deal with because the only way it will stop is if the child chooses to stop based off of your request. You cannot make a child lose an attitude or give you respect. Instead of getting frustrated or writing the child up immediately, I try to use these types of situations as a teaching moment. As an example, I recently had an older child at my site yell at one of the counselors simply because he did not like the fact that one of his friends had his toys taken away because he had been throwing them. After this occurred, I immediately pulled the child aside and asked him why he thought it was okay to yell at counselors. After coming to the conclusion that it is not okay to speak to anyone like that, let alone adults, I asked the child to sincerely apologize to the counselor for the yelling. Hopefully this kind of reaction will show the child that acting out in such a way is not okay and will not be tolerated. If simply reminding the children that they need to show respect to gain respect does not work more drastic measures need to be taken. I find that if I am at my wits end with a child’s behavior it often helps to speak with the parents and find out what’s going on and if they have any advice with how to deal with the situation. Often the parents are a very useful and untapped resource when dealing with this type of behavior. In the end, if this type of approach does not work I believe that a write up maybe necessary to document the behavior because our counselors and the other children deserve a happy and healthy environment.

Your advice to remain calm is really the most important thing to remember when dealing with challenging behavior. Sometimes as counselors we get caught up in the moment and lose our cool which is not a good way to deal with a misbehaving child. Children also notice when their behavior affects adults and so by remaining calm we are more effectively able to take control of the situation without reacting in a way that we might regret later.

svaughan2 wrote:At my site, I currently work with multiple children that exhibit challenging behavior. There are many cases in which these children are comfortable with saying "no" to an adult when given specific instructions, comfortable with hitting an adult when they do not get their way, and find that running away from and ignoring an adult to be the best way to avoid them. It can be extremely frustrating when children completely ignore you or are not at all phased by threats made. The best way to handle these types of situations is to first and foremost remain calm or if you have already become angry, have another counselor handle the situation, leave the room, and collect yourself. Not remaining calm in this situation could result in behaviors from the counselor that could ultimately cause them to lose their jobs. For example, if a child is constantly running away from you when you are trying to talk to them, grabbing or snatching them in the heat of the moment is not the proper solution.
When a child constantly refuses to listen, I am sure to 1) Write them up. 2) Ensure that they do not participate in any activities planned for the day until I've had a talk with them 3) Talk with the parent.  If the behavior continues multiple times and the child has been written up on numerous occasions, it is then time to discuss with the parent the possibility of suspension from the program.

It is also important with difficult behavior to let all children know what behaviors are not tolerated. If you continue to let a child run around the cafeteria and stand on the tables, they will think that it's okay and will actually be confused if at a later point you decide to punish them for it. In addition to this, do not overlook some of your more well behaved children. If they are breaking a rule, even if it is unintentional, it is important to always correct them as well in order to be fair to all children and again, establish what behaviors are and are not tolerable.
These are my best words of advice based on what I have learned thus far working with children, however, I feel that I am still in the learning process especially in finding ways to best manage children with difficult behaviors.

When I am dealing with a large group of kids my go to attention getter is using a whistle. Whistles work wonders and help save your voice. Once blowing the whistle I have students gather in the area where I want them to be. Once I need their attention I will blow the whistle again, signaling for them to get quiet. If they do not get quiet I tell them they are wasting their playing time, typically this gets them to quiet down pretty quickly. If not, I just wait patiently until they do. After reading through the packet I am most interested in using the Power Clap attention getter. I feel this will be an easy way to get the campers attention quickly and they do not have to talk while doing it. The non-verbal attention getter that I am most interested in trying out is the Cheeks Out-Hands Up, where the counselor raises hands and puffs out cheeks, and the campers have to follow suit. I think this will be fun for the campers but will also get them in order and quiet quickly. When I am teaching a game where students need partners, the best way I have found is to find a person wearing the same color shirt as you and stand toe to toe with them. This usually happens quick and the students do not have to worry about being left out because they are concentrating on finding someone with the same color shirt on.

I have never used a whistle but just the thought of not having to try and yell over a mob of children makes me want to use one! It also seems much more time efficient because even though not all the kids can hear your voice, they will most definitely hear the whistle and more than likely listen up! The cheeks out-hands up technique also seems like it could work well to get the kid's attention in the gym or in a more closed off environment where they could more easily see the counselors and their peers and follow suit. Great ideas overall!

dallasmavs134140 wrote:When I am dealing with a large group of kids my go to attention getter is using a whistle.  Whistles work wonders and help save your voice.  Once blowing the whistle I have students gather in the area where I want them to be.  Once I need their attention I will blow the whistle again, signaling for them to get  quiet.  If they do not get quiet I tell them they are wasting their playing time, typically this gets them to quiet down pretty quickly.  If not, I just wait patiently until they do.  After reading through the packet I am most interested in using the Power Clap attention getter.  I feel this will be an easy way to get the campers attention quickly and they do not have to talk while doing it.  The non-verbal attention getter that I am most interested in trying out is the Cheeks Out-Hands Up, where the counselor raises hands and puffs out cheeks, and the campers have to follow suit.  I think this will be fun for the campers but will also get them in order and quiet quickly.  When I am teaching a game where students need partners, the best way I have found is to find a person wearing the same color shirt as you and stand toe to toe with them.  This usually happens quick and the students do not have to worry about being left out because they are concentrating on finding someone with the same color shirt on.  

When working with children I have experienced many challenging behavior. For example my kids now a days are very disrespectful. They are always talking while I was talking and not listening to what we were going to do next so then I would get multiple questions of answers that I have already said because no one was listening. In all the elementary schools by me they all had the same technique to when the kids are all taking. This technique was they would put their hand up and then when the kids saw that they would have to do the same and stop talking. So when I was working with them I would put my hand up and they all would know what to do and I would explain to them that I am trying to explain the next activity and that they need to pay attention. When it comes to explaining something you need to make sure that the students are quiet and listening so you don’t have to explain it multiple times and you want to make sure the kids are safe while playing the games and doing the activities.
The attention getter I used was having the hand up to get them to all quiet down and pay attention. I use that one because that was how I was taught all through elementary school. But after reading this packet I really would like to try the power clap attention getter. That one would be a fun one to use with the kids and I think they would like that as well. A non-verbal attention getter that I am interested in trying would be the freeze monster. I think the kids would really enjoy that one and I think it would work but we would just have to make sure it doesn’t get to out of hand. One way to find or choose partners is seeing who has the same colors on to make different teams and also you can have them line up and then randomly give each kid a number.

I never thought about using a whistle, but I really like it because I really feel like this would work and get the kids attention. Also I like how you tell them that if they don't quiet down then they won't have that much time to play because many kids value their play time. The power clap attention getter was my most interested one as well because I feel like kids won't talk when they are clapping because they will be distracted on what they have to do. Also I agree the same color shirts help with teams and partner activities.

dallasmavs134140 wrote:When I am dealing with a large group of kids my go to attention getter is using a whistle.  Whistles work wonders and help save your voice.  Once blowing the whistle I have students gather in the area where I want them to be.  Once I need their attention I will blow the whistle again, signaling for them to get  quiet.  If they do not get quiet I tell them they are wasting their playing time, typically this gets them to quiet down pretty quickly.  If not, I just wait patiently until they do.  After reading through the packet I am most interested in using the Power Clap attention getter.  I feel this will be an easy way to get the campers attention quickly and they do not have to talk while doing it.  The non-verbal attention getter that I am most interested in trying out is the Cheeks Out-Hands Up, where the counselor raises hands and puffs out cheeks, and the campers have to follow suit.  I think this will be fun for the campers but will also get them in order and quiet quickly.  When I am teaching a game where students need partners, the best way I have found is to find a person wearing the same color shirt as you and stand toe to toe with them.  This usually happens quick and the students do not have to worry about being left out because they are concentrating on finding someone with the same color shirt on.  

I like how you pulled them aside the kid to talk to them about the situation and was calm about it instead of yelling at him in front of everyone. Then you made the kid go and apologize to the counselor. Also I like your advice that if you are having a hard time with a kid to talk to their parents. I feel like talking to the parents about it will show them that you care about their kid and will also help you make sure that their behavior doesn't happen again.

cnewton1 wrote:Throughout the years that I have worked with children, I have experienced a multitude of challenging behaviors. However, more recently I have been dealing with attitude problems and disrespectful behaviors from the children at my current site. This type of behavior is in my opinion the most difficult to deal with because the only way it will stop is if the child chooses to stop based off of your request. You cannot make a child lose an attitude or give you respect. Instead of getting frustrated or writing the child up immediately, I try to use these types of situations as a teaching moment. As an example, I recently had an older child at my site yell at one of the counselors simply because he did not like the fact that one of his friends had his toys taken away because he had been throwing them. After this occurred, I immediately pulled the child aside and asked him why he thought it was okay to yell at counselors. After coming to the conclusion that it is not okay to speak to anyone like that, let alone adults, I asked the child to sincerely apologize to the counselor for the yelling. Hopefully this kind of reaction will show the child that acting out in such a way is not okay and will not be tolerated. If simply reminding the children that they need to show respect to gain respect does not work more drastic measures need to be taken. I find that if I am at my wits end with a child’s behavior it often helps to speak with the parents and find out what’s going on and if they have any advice with how to deal with the situation. Often the parents are a very useful and untapped resource when dealing with this type of behavior. In the end, if this type of approach does not work I believe that a write up maybe necessary to document the behavior because our counselors and the other children deserve a happy and healthy environment.

I have experienced many difficult behaviors over the years, both in dance classes I've taught and in daycare/camp situations. One of the most difficult experiences I have dealt with was a situation between two school age boys at daycare. The one boy would constantly antagonize the other, causing the other child to get extremely frustrated and act out in inappropriate ways. The antagonizer was fairly quiet in his actions most of the time and knew how to push the other child's buttons quickly, so the other teachers and I did not always see the initial behavior, but we always saw the response of the other child (screaming and crying, throwing shoes, pushing his antagonist, etc). This situation was tough because we couldn't discipline the antagonist if we did not see him commit the action, but the other child needed to be talked to/disciplined about how he reacted to the situation.
When these situations occurred, which I knew to be on the lookout for, I knew that first and foremost I had to handle the child that was just antagonized. His reactions would sometimes be dangerous for the other children in the room, so he needed to be talked to and calmed down, and generally sent out of the room and down the hall with the director to have cool down time without his antagonist in the room. Generally, our discussions involved how to handle these situations more effectively and appropriately. We were also able to occasionally send him to a classroom with younger children in it, which forced him to think about his actions more carefully before acting out and caused him to act as more of a role model, and he ended up really enjoying spending time with the younger kids. This is certainly not a catch all solution, but it made him think, which is always a good thing. Once this was done, I made sure to ask the other children in the vicinity what had occurred. You obviously cannot take just their word for it, but listening to them can begin to piece the story together for future reference and for when similar situations would occur again. If I saw that the antagonist bothered the other child, he was required to sit out from the activity he was currently involved in and possibly latter activities depending on the severity of that day, and asked to help clean up the mess the situation caused (if there was one). If I or another teacher did not see the situation, but we knew he was in the general area of the incident, we would ask him what happened and try to alleviate the problem this way.
After this problem occurred multiple times, we would do our best to keep these boys apart as much as possible. They were around the same age, so their interests were somewhat similar, but varied enough that we knew centers and activities that would appeal to each of them. We made sure they were open for play in hopes the two would stay apart. You can't force them to play different games or at different stations, but having something available that would interest them separately definitely helped. We also had class discussions about different methods of handling situations like this, including walking away from the situation and telling a teacher if it persists. If the situation got too out of hand, incident reports, phone calls home and/or discussions with parents were also utilized.

I really like the idea of using a whistle. I have never had the chance to utilize one, but I think it would have helped my voice a lot in the past! It's a quick attention getter that kids can't ignore or say they missed because it is so loud.

dallasmavs134140 wrote:When I am dealing with a large group of kids my go to attention getter is using a whistle.  Whistles work wonders and help save your voice.  Once blowing the whistle I have students gather in the area where I want them to be.  Once I need their attention I will blow the whistle again, signaling for them to get  quiet.  If they do not get quiet I tell them they are wasting their playing time, typically this gets them to quiet down pretty quickly.  If not, I just wait patiently until they do.  After reading through the packet I am most interested in using the Power Clap attention getter.  I feel this will be an easy way to get the campers attention quickly and they do not have to talk while doing it.  The non-verbal attention getter that I am most interested in trying out is the Cheeks Out-Hands Up, where the counselor raises hands and puffs out cheeks, and the campers have to follow suit.  I think this will be fun for the campers but will also get them in order and quiet quickly.  When I am teaching a game where students need partners, the best way I have found is to find a person wearing the same color shirt as you and stand toe to toe with them.  This usually happens quick and the students do not have to worry about being left out because they are concentrating on finding someone with the same color shirt on.  

I definitely agree that staying calm is the best way to go, even though it is sometime so difficult to! If you can't remain calm in a situation, how can you expect your campers to? I also agree that kids need to know their boundaries. Kids will do everything they can to push their limits, so sticking to your rules and boundaries is definitely necessary.

svaughan2 wrote:At my site, I currently work with multiple children that exhibit challenging behavior. There are many cases in which these children are comfortable with saying "no" to an adult when given specific instructions, comfortable with hitting an adult when they do not get their way, and find that running away from and ignoring an adult to be the best way to avoid them. It can be extremely frustrating when children completely ignore you or are not at all phased by threats made. The best way to handle these types of situations is to first and foremost remain calm or if you have already become angry, have another counselor handle the situation, leave the room, and collect yourself. Not remaining calm in this situation could result in behaviors from the counselor that could ultimately cause them to lose their jobs. For example, if a child is constantly running away from you when you are trying to talk to them, grabbing or snatching them in the heat of the moment is not the proper solution.
When a child constantly refuses to listen, I am sure to 1) Write them up. 2) Ensure that they do not participate in any activities planned for the day until I've had a talk with them 3) Talk with the parent.  If the behavior continues multiple times and the child has been written up on numerous occasions, it is then time to discuss with the parent the possibility of suspension from the program.

It is also important with difficult behavior to let all children know what behaviors are not tolerated. If you continue to let a child run around the cafeteria and stand on the tables, they will think that it's okay and will actually be confused if at a later point you decide to punish them for it. In addition to this, do not overlook some of your more well behaved children. If they are breaking a rule, even if it is unintentional, it is important to always correct them as well in order to be fair to all children and again, establish what behaviors are and are not tolerable.
These are my best words of advice based on what I have learned thus far working with children, however, I feel that I am still in the learning process especially in finding ways to best manage children with difficult behaviors.

I have encountered children exhibiting challenging behavior on several situations throughout my experience working with children. In my opinion, the most difficult behavior to deal with is when a child is being outrageously disrespectful. I understand that sometimes children can be disrespectful to authority figures, but occasionally I have had to deal with a child who is incredibly rude and disrespectful to other children, and authority figures. The most recent time I have experienced this was with a child who is around age 10 or 11. The child plainly refused to do anything any adult asked her, and continued attempting to manipulate instructions and directions so she would not have to do anything asked of her. When an authority figure attempted to talk to her, she would back-talk to the authority figure.

Ultimately, I believe the child was doing it for attention. After her fellow classmates stopped acknowledging her behavior as being amusing, she only continued for a few minutes. Every time an adult approached her though, she would do it again. My advice in this situation is to attempt to limit the disrespect, but if the child is doing it to get attention, simply ignore it as long as no one is being harmed by the child’s behavior. By ignoring the behavior, you are showing that behavior like that does not deserve attention, and the child may stop behaving that way.

One experience I have working with challenging kids was during a substitute teaching day at a middle school. The students were really rowdy and talkative. I think part of the reason was the assignment, they had to read pages 52 to 69 and do all of the questions in between, not engaging at all. The kids were repeatedly off task, talking, shouting, not raising their hands to get up. I had a student intern, and an aide with me and we were all struggling to keep some order in this classroom. Ultimately, we had to continue isolating them to get work done. For twenty minutes we'd break their desk pods into individual desks or work in smaller groups to lead discussion.
If I were applying this to a camp setting, I would have something much more engaging. I would also recommend options, or having a back up plan. Also, I find with some ADHD students, having some sort of a stress ball or object that occupies their hands makes behavior more manageable. I would also use camp songs to bring them back on task. The songs have a way of trumping whatever else is going on because they require active participation and immediate attention in a fun way.

Excellent points. Unfortunately, behavior management isn't something that is easily taught from a book. A lot of it depends on the child and the chemistry of the environment, and everyone in it. You certainly have to be able to think on your feet and determine the most productive response to behavior. I think your suggestion of not allowing a camper to participate in fun activities until the behavior is addressed is one I will definitely keep in mind. A talk with the parents is also a good idea. Camp is an expensive privilege and I'm sure every parent wants their child to get a positive experience out of it.

svaughan2 wrote:At my site, I currently work with multiple children that exhibit challenging behavior. There are many cases in which these children are comfortable with saying "no" to an adult when given specific instructions, comfortable with hitting an adult when they do not get their way, and find that running away from and ignoring an adult to be the best way to avoid them. It can be extremely frustrating when children completely ignore you or are not at all phased by threats made. The best way to handle these types of situations is to first and foremost remain calm or if you have already become angry, have another counselor handle the situation, leave the room, and collect yourself. Not remaining calm in this situation could result in behaviors from the counselor that could ultimately cause them to lose their jobs. For example, if a child is constantly running away from you when you are trying to talk to them, grabbing or snatching them in the heat of the moment is not the proper solution.
When a child constantly refuses to listen, I am sure to 1) Write them up. 2) Ensure that they do not participate in any activities planned for the day until I've had a talk with them 3) Talk with the parent.  If the behavior continues multiple times and the child has been written up on numerous occasions, it is then time to discuss with the parent the possibility of suspension from the program.

It is also important with difficult behavior to let all children know what behaviors are not tolerated. If you continue to let a child run around the cafeteria and stand on the tables, they will think that it's okay and will actually be confused if at a later point you decide to punish them for it. In addition to this, do not overlook some of your more well behaved children. If they are breaking a rule, even if it is unintentional, it is important to always correct them as well in order to be fair to all children and again, establish what behaviors are and are not tolerable.
These are my best words of advice based on what I have learned thus far working with children, however, I feel that I am still in the learning process especially in finding ways to best manage children with difficult behaviors.

Great idea! I will add whistle to my list of things to get. I've seen some quiet attention getters like "if you can hear me clap once, if you can hear me clap twice" and finger on the nose. I think most of the time the natural instinct is just to yell louder.
I thought the role reversal was especially interesting. When the shoe is on the other foot they might be more respectful to camp leaders!

dallasmavs134140 wrote:When I am dealing with a large group of kids my go to attention getter is using a whistle.  Whistles work wonders and help save your voice.  Once blowing the whistle I have students gather in the area where I want them to be.  Once I need their attention I will blow the whistle again, signaling for them to get  quiet.  If they do not get quiet I tell them they are wasting their playing time, typically this gets them to quiet down pretty quickly.  If not, I just wait patiently until they do.  After reading through the packet I am most interested in using the Power Clap attention getter.  I feel this will be an easy way to get the campers attention quickly and they do not have to talk while doing it.  The non-verbal attention getter that I am most interested in trying out is the Cheeks Out-Hands Up, where the counselor raises hands and puffs out cheeks, and the campers have to follow suit.  I think this will be fun for the campers but will also get them in order and quiet quickly.  When I am teaching a game where students need partners, the best way I have found is to find a person wearing the same color shirt as you and stand toe to toe with them.  This usually happens quick and the students do not have to worry about being left out because they are concentrating on finding someone with the same color shirt on.  

I know who this was about! It really worked and I think it is very important to talk to the parents and find out if anything is going on outside of school that we may not know about. Something could have happened that is making the child act out and unless we have good communication with them and their parents we would never know how to handle the behavior.

cnewton1 wrote:Throughout the years that I have worked with children, I have experienced a multitude of challenging behaviors. However, more recently I have been dealing with attitude problems and disrespectful behaviors from the children at my current site. This type of behavior is in my opinion the most difficult to deal with because the only way it will stop is if the child chooses to stop based off of your request. You cannot make a child lose an attitude or give you respect. Instead of getting frustrated or writing the child up immediately, I try to use these types of situations as a teaching moment. As an example, I recently had an older child at my site yell at one of the counselors simply because he did not like the fact that one of his friends had his toys taken away because he had been throwing them. After this occurred, I immediately pulled the child aside and asked him why he thought it was okay to yell at counselors. After coming to the conclusion that it is not okay to speak to anyone like that, let alone adults, I asked the child to sincerely apologize to the counselor for the yelling. Hopefully this kind of reaction will show the child that acting out in such a way is not okay and will not be tolerated. If simply reminding the children that they need to show respect to gain respect does not work more drastic measures need to be taken. I find that if I am at my wits end with a child’s behavior it often helps to speak with the parents and find out what’s going on and if they have any advice with how to deal with the situation. Often the parents are a very useful and untapped resource when dealing with this type of behavior. In the end, if this type of approach does not work I believe that a write up maybe necessary to document the behavior because our counselors and the other children deserve a happy and healthy environment.

I think sometimes it is important to separate the kids because some groups that they may hang out with may be bad for them and get them into more trouble.

JBaker wrote:One experience I have working with challenging kids was during a substitute teaching day at a middle school. The students were really rowdy and talkative. I think part of the reason was the assignment, they had to read pages 52 to 69 and do all of the questions in between, not engaging at all. The kids were repeatedly off task, talking, shouting, not raising their hands to get up. I had a student intern, and an aide with me and we were all struggling to keep some order in this classroom. Ultimately, we had to continue isolating them to get work done. For twenty minutes we'd break their desk pods into individual desks or work in smaller groups to lead discussion.
If I were applying this to a camp setting, I would have something much more engaging. I would also recommend options, or having a back up plan. Also, I find with some ADHD students, having some sort of a stress ball or object that occupies their hands makes behavior more manageable. I would also use camp songs to bring them back on task. The songs have a way of trumping whatever else is going on because they require active participation and immediate attention in a fun way.

One summer I worked with a student who had Down's syndrome and another who had autism. It was a very challenging experience, despite the fact I had been trained to work with special needs children. The best advice I can give is remain patient, and understand the child's limitations. If you remain calm, the child will feel comfortable, and will be easier to talk to. It is also important to understand what sets kids with special needs off. If a change in the routine is a trigger, make sure you work to stick with a routine.

As a college instructor I usually allow students to pair themselves off. I also usually just call their attention by asking them to quiet down. Working with kids, however, will provide a different challenge. I suggest numbering kids off to pair or group them. It's easy, and most kids know numbers by the age if five. As for getting their attention, I would use 'quiet fox', where you make the hand signal of quiet fox until all the children have settled down.

dallasmavs134140 wrote:When I am dealing with a large group of kids my go to attention getter is using a whistle.  Whistles work wonders and help save your voice.  Once blowing the whistle I have students gather in the area where I want them to be.  Once I need their attention I will blow the whistle again, signaling for them to get  quiet.  If they do not get quiet I tell them they are wasting their playing time, typically this gets them to quiet down pretty quickly.  If not, I just wait patiently until they do.  After reading through the packet I am most interested in using the Power Clap attention getter.  I feel this will be an easy way to get the campers attention quickly and they do not have to talk while doing it.  The non-verbal attention getter that I am most interested in trying out is the Cheeks Out-Hands Up, where the counselor raises hands and puffs out cheeks, and the campers have to follow suit.  I think this will be fun for the campers but will also get them in order and quiet quickly.  When I am teaching a game where students need partners, the best way I have found is to find a person wearing the same color shirt as you and stand toe to toe with them.  This usually happens quick and the students do not have to worry about being left out because they are concentrating on finding someone with the same color shirt on.  

Love the idea of a whistle. Kids instantly respond to that as they use them in gym class.

I am an education major at Salisbury University so I am in a classroom every semester. This semester I am in a kindergarten classroom and we have a student who tends to get off track and on certain days the child will even hit other students. One day this student was having a very bad day and was hitting other students and taking things that were not his. So my mentor teacher and I made the decision of removing him from his group table and having him sit at his own table that day. He needed to know that you could not treat other people that way and when you do you will be separated from others and you will work by yourself until you can learn to treat others better. We also wrote a note to his parents letting them know his behavior that day. The advice that I would give my fellow staff members would be to not yell at the child and to remain calm during the situation. If you get upset the camper may be encouraged by that. I would also tell them to remove the child from the situation that he is struggling in and make sure that they know the behavior is not acceptable and that you will be contacting their parents.

While I can think of a number of situations where I had to work with a child exhibiting challenging behavior, one situation stands out. When the child wanted to go inside when we were outside, and we said it was not time, he decided to take matters into his own hands and run inside. After making sure the other counselors were okay I ran inside after him, I asked him to come talk to me and after asking twice he stopped. The reason I asked him to talk to me and did not tell him to stop is because I knew the child and I knew what he would best respond to. There were many days where he would sit in a corner and only talk to a select amount of people. I knew that ordering him to stop would make the situation worse and he would continue to run away. When he came to talk to me I told him that he was never allowed to run away and that if he needed to go inside for water or the bathroom he just needed to ask. He said he just did not want to be outside and I told him clearly that he could not leave the group and that he especially could not run away from a counselor.
In a situation like this I would advise a counselor to think about the child that is exhibiting this behavior and think of the best way to handle the situation. Sometimes it is more important to make sure the child is not doing anything that could cause themselves harm before discipline. Discipline comes when you have them under control and no danger can come to them. If the child would have continued to run he could have caused himself danger in my situation.

I agree that the whistle is one of the best ways to deal with a large group. Not only is the whistle loud but it also allows the kids to know that it's time to settle down. Another thing I like is "Kids" "Klub" The counselor says kids and then the campers follow with klub. This works great because every camper wants to say it as loud as they can and it gets the others attention. Once you have the attention of a few you can then say kids more quietly and they'll say klub more quietly. This can go on until they are all paying attention.

dallasmavs134140 wrote:When I am dealing with a large group of kids my go to attention getter is using a whistle.  Whistles work wonders and help save your voice.  Once blowing the whistle I have students gather in the area where I want them to be.  Once I need their attention I will blow the whistle again, signaling for them to get  quiet.  If they do not get quiet I tell them they are wasting their playing time, typically this gets them to quiet down pretty quickly.  If not, I just wait patiently until they do.  After reading through the packet I am most interested in using the Power Clap attention getter.  I feel this will be an easy way to get the campers attention quickly and they do not have to talk while doing it.  The non-verbal attention getter that I am most interested in trying out is the Cheeks Out-Hands Up, where the counselor raises hands and puffs out cheeks, and the campers have to follow suit.  I think this will be fun for the campers but will also get them in order and quiet quickly.  When I am teaching a game where students need partners, the best way I have found is to find a person wearing the same color shirt as you and stand toe to toe with them.  This usually happens quick and the students do not have to worry about being left out because they are concentrating on finding someone with the same color shirt on.  

I totally agree with your advice about how to deal with special needs children and I think it would work for all children. Staying calm and remaining patient is essential because children can sense when you're angry or frustrated. While they may have been disrespectful or disobeyed it is essential to remain calm and not let them see your emotions. If you are angry and discipline them angrily they will remember that and they could either act out later or be really upset with the situation. I also agree that when working with special needs children understanding their limits is a must, routines are also a key part to making sure they feel comfortable and safe.

sekiefer wrote:One summer I worked with a student who had Down's syndrome and another who had autism. It was a very challenging experience, despite the fact I had been trained to work with special needs children. The best advice I can give is remain patient, and understand the child's limitations. If you remain calm, the child will feel comfortable, and will be easier to talk to. It is also important to understand what sets kids with special needs off. If a change in the routine is a trigger, make sure you work to stick with a routine.

As a college instructor I usually allow students to pair themselves off. I also usually just call their attention by asking them to quiet down. Working with kids, however, will provide a different challenge. I suggest numbering kids off to pair or group them. It's easy, and most kids know numbers by the age if five. As for getting their attention, I would use 'quiet fox', where you make the hand signal of quiet fox until all the children have settled down.

I like your idea of having the students raise their hands and having the other follow suit. One thing that I have found helpful when working with younger kids is having them puff out their cheeks like they are holding a bubble in their mouth, this helps to get their attention and keep them quiet. I also liked the freeze monster technique but worry that it may get out of control.

talvanos1 wrote:  When working with children I have experienced many challenging behavior. For example my kids now a days are very disrespectful. They are always talking while I was talking and not listening to what we were going to do next so then I would get multiple questions of answers that I have already said because no one was listening. In all the elementary schools by me they all had the same technique to when the kids are all taking. This technique was they would put their hand up and then when the kids saw that they would have to do the same and stop talking. So when I was working with them I would put my hand up and they all would know what to do and I would explain to them that I am trying to explain the next activity and that they need to pay attention. When it comes to explaining something you need to make sure that the students are quiet and listening so you don’t have to explain it multiple times and you want to make sure the kids are safe while playing the games and doing the activities.
  The attention getter I used was having the hand up to get them to all quiet down and pay attention. I use that one because that was how I was taught all through elementary school. But after reading this packet I really would like to try the power clap attention getter. That one would be a fun one to use with the kids and I think they would like that as well. A non-verbal attention getter that I am interested in trying would be the freeze monster. I think the kids would really enjoy that one and I think it would work but we would just have to make sure it doesn’t get to out of hand. One way to find or choose partners is seeing who has the same colors on to make different teams and also you can have them line up and then randomly give each kid a number.

This sounds like a great solution. Anytime I have a student that is constantly being disruptive to the learning of others. I give them multiple warnings and then if necessary I remove them from the classroom. This typically works and their behavior is better afterwards. Also, using mom and dad as a resort is great!

Kmarz17 wrote:I am an education major at Salisbury University so I am in a classroom every semester. This semester I am in a kindergarten classroom and we have a student who tends to get off track and on certain days the child will even hit other students. One day this student was having a very bad day and was hitting other students and taking things that were not his. So my mentor teacher and I made the decision of removing him from his group table and having him sit at his own table that day. He needed to know that you could not treat other people that way and when you do you will be separated from others and you will work by yourself until you can learn to treat others better. We also wrote a note to his parents letting them know his behavior that day. The advice that I would give my fellow staff members would be to not yell at the child and to remain calm during the situation. If you get upset the camper may be encouraged by that. I would also tell them to remove the child from the situation that he is struggling in and make sure that they know the behavior is not acceptable and that you will be contacting their parents.

2. One thing we would often do is throw up the peace sign which means quiet and those pay attention would soon follow until the whole group was quite. I personally like not verbal attention getters like clap routines or stomp routines. I think the Hanky/paper attention getting is going to be interesting the kids will definitely love it. The non-verbal attention getter of role reversal is an interesting tactic and we will see if it works. Honestly i think choosing the partners or groups yourself using numbers is the most effective way, its fast and no one is left out.

I agree remaining calm is important, set the example for the child, getting upset and yelling shows them that that is okay. Talking to them and telling them what they are doing wrong is also important, just telling them no or to stop confuses them and they don't know what to correct.

Kmarz17 wrote:I am an education major at Salisbury University so I am in a classroom every semester. This semester I am in a kindergarten classroom and we have a student who tends to get off track and on certain days the child will even hit other students. One day this student was having a very bad day and was hitting other students and taking things that were not his. So my mentor teacher and I made the decision of removing him from his group table and having him sit at his own table that day. He needed to know that you could not treat other people that way and when you do you will be separated from others and you will work by yourself until you can learn to treat others better. We also wrote a note to his parents letting them know his behavior that day. The advice that I would give my fellow staff members would be to not yell at the child and to remain calm during the situation. If you get upset the camper may be encouraged by that. I would also tell them to remove the child from the situation that he is struggling in and make sure that they know the behavior is not acceptable and that you will be contacting their parents.

Seeing how handy you said using a whistle was I'm excited to get one for camp. I can definitely see how it will be more efficient in both saving your voice and time. I'm worried about over using it to a point where the kids become immune to it.

dallasmavs134140 wrote:When I am dealing with a large group of kids my go to attention getter is using a whistle.  Whistles work wonders and help save your voice.  Once blowing the whistle I have students gather in the area where I want them to be.  Once I need their attention I will blow the whistle again, signaling for them to get  quiet.  If they do not get quiet I tell them they are wasting their playing time, typically this gets them to quiet down pretty quickly.  If not, I just wait patiently until they do.  After reading through the packet I am most interested in using the Power Clap attention getter.  I feel this will be an easy way to get the campers attention quickly and they do not have to talk while doing it.  The non-verbal attention getter that I am most interested in trying out is the Cheeks Out-Hands Up, where the counselor raises hands and puffs out cheeks, and the campers have to follow suit.  I think this will be fun for the campers but will also get them in order and quiet quickly.  When I am teaching a game where students need partners, the best way I have found is to find a person wearing the same color shirt as you and stand toe to toe with them.  This usually happens quick and the students do not have to worry about being left out because they are concentrating on finding someone with the same color shirt on.  

1)
When I was student teaching last spring I had a student who was very disruptive. The child would make noises, throw paper balls, and distract others. I walked over to him and asked him to please stop making the noises because it is distracting others. I told him if I was going to give him two more chances and if he could not handle it he would go sit in the hall until he could handle himself in the classroom. The child ended up getting sent to the hall. When I went to get him I discussed with him that if this behavior continued he would have lunch detention. The behavior started back up on another day, so he ended up getting a lunch detention. I thought this would cure the problem, but the disruptions continued. At this point closer toward the end of the year I told the child if this continued we would skip the lunch detention and stay after school for 30 minutes. With two weeks left in my placement the student made it to an after school detention. He was not happy because he was missing track practice, but the next day he showed me respect along with the rest of his classmates.
Some advice I would give is to stop the disruptions and distractions right away so they don't get out of hand and continue.

This past semester I have had the opportunity to work with students in the school system. On multiple occasions I have had to work with a child who was exhibiting challenging behavior. I have dealt with aggressive/violent behavior and also students who get emotional over things. A few days ago I was working with a student who also has a learning disability. He had been having a rough day all day and was full of tears. His tasks was to complete an assignment; however he was so upset a frustrated because he didn’t think his idea was good, and also had the pressure of time. I had him flip his paper over for about two minutes and just take a step back from the assignment. I asked him if he wanted to go get a drink and try and pull himself together. My plan of action seemed to work, because when he returned he was able to finish the assignment. When dealing with students with challenging behavior, I believe it is a good idea to pull them aside and try and talk it out and think of ways you can help them work past their issues.

CarliC wrote:2. One thing we would often do is throw up the peace sign which means quiet and those pay attention would soon follow until the whole group was quite. I personally like not verbal attention getters like clap routines or stomp routines. I think the Hanky/paper attention getting is going to be interesting the kids will definitely love it. The non-verbal attention getter of role reversal is an interesting tactic and we will see if it works. Honestly i think choosing the partners or groups yourself using numbers is the most effective way, its fast and no one is left out.

I love the idea of non-verbal cues! In my placement the students seem to follow directions/stop being disruptive when my mentor uses the hand clapping signal where there students repeat the beat.

dallasmavs134140 wrote:When I am dealing with a large group of kids my go to attention getter is using a whistle.  Whistles work wonders and help save your voice.  Once blowing the whistle I have students gather in the area where I want them to be.  Once I need their attention I will blow the whistle again, signaling for them to get  quiet.  If they do not get quiet I tell them they are wasting their playing time, typically this gets them to quiet down pretty quickly.  If not, I just wait patiently until they do.  After reading through the packet I am most interested in using the Power Clap attention getter.  I feel this will be an easy way to get the campers attention quickly and they do not have to talk while doing it.  The non-verbal attention getter that I am most interested in trying out is the Cheeks Out-Hands Up, where the counselor raises hands and puffs out cheeks, and the campers have to follow suit.  I think this will be fun for the campers but will also get them in order and quiet quickly.  When I am teaching a game where students need partners, the best way I have found is to find a person wearing the same color shirt as you and stand toe to toe with them.  This usually happens quick and the students do not have to worry about being left out because they are concentrating on finding someone with the same color shirt on.  

I agree whistles are an awesome invention to save you from losing your voice! I like the non-verbal attention getter that you mentioned--Cheeks Out-Hands Up. That sounds like a really fun one for the campers and a nice way to get them quiet quickly.

saustin1 wrote:This past semester I have had the opportunity to work with students in the school system. On multiple occasions I have had to work with a child who was exhibiting challenging behavior. I have dealt with aggressive/violent behavior and also students who get emotional over things. A few days ago I was working with a student who also has a learning disability. He had been having a rough day all day and was full of tears. His tasks was to complete an assignment; however he was so upset a frustrated because he didn’t think his idea was good, and also had the pressure of time. I had him flip his paper over for about two minutes and just take a step back from the assignment. I asked him if he wanted to go get a drink and try and pull himself together. My plan of action seemed to work, because when he returned he was able to finish the assignment. When dealing with students with challenging behavior, I believe it is a good idea to pull them aside and try and talk it out and think of ways you can help them work past their issues.

This was the right thing to do. Getting the students mind off of what he is working on will relieve frustration and stress enough for him to return to the activity.

One of the most common challenging behaviors is probably kids that just won’t stop talking when you are given directions or speaking. I have come across this many times in both summer camp and teaching settings. I have found that before taking more serious action, small things like moving closer to the child talking will oftentimes get them to pay attention and stop talking. Perhaps just giving a child “the look” will stop their behavior. Also, mentioning how well another child is being quiet can be a huge motivator for better behavior. If these steps do not work, I move into asking them to quiet down.  After a few tries of this, sometimes we must move onto more serious consequences, like sitting out or writing the child up. I would urge staff members to be calm with children. Kids know when you’re upset and they’ll play off that even more.

I agree, a whistle is a great tool to have on hand when dealing with a large group of kids. It is easy for them to hear and gets their attention! You can also have different whistle blows mean different things.

dallasmavs134140 wrote:When I am dealing with a large group of kids my go to attention getter is using a whistle.  Whistles work wonders and help save your voice.  Once blowing the whistle I have students gather in the area where I want them to be.  Once I need their attention I will blow the whistle again, signaling for them to get  quiet.  If they do not get quiet I tell them they are wasting their playing time, typically this gets them to quiet down pretty quickly.  If not, I just wait patiently until they do.  After reading through the packet I am most interested in using the Power Clap attention getter.  I feel this will be an easy way to get the campers attention quickly and they do not have to talk while doing it.  The non-verbal attention getter that I am most interested in trying out is the Cheeks Out-Hands Up, where the counselor raises hands and puffs out cheeks, and the campers have to follow suit.  I think this will be fun for the campers but will also get them in order and quiet quickly.  When I am teaching a game where students need partners, the best way I have found is to find a person wearing the same color shirt as you and stand toe to toe with them.  This usually happens quick and the students do not have to worry about being left out because they are concentrating on finding someone with the same color shirt on.  

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CarliC wrote:2. One thing we would often do is throw up the peace sign which means quiet and those pay attention would soon follow until the whole group was quite. I personally like not verbal attention getters like clap routines or stomp routines. I think the Hanky/paper attention getting is going to be interesting the kids will definitely love it. The non-verbal attention getter of role reversal is an interesting tactic and we will see if it works. Honestly i think choosing the partners or groups yourself using numbers is the most effective way, its fast and no one is left out.

It is interesting to throw up a peace sign and see how long it takes for all students to get quiet. Looking around the group of kids you can see them nudging their friends, urging them to throw up the peace sign too and be quiet.