The "Why" Behind Classroom Behaviors, PreK-5. Jamie Chaves

an inspiration to us for many years. Thank you so much for your guidance, wisdom, and generosity of spirit. Your dedication and passion for bringing people together is amazing, and we are truly so appreciative and full of gratitude for your support throughout this process!

      We are grateful for the families and teachers we have worked with over the years who have helped shape us as clinicians. As a general note, all the names and identifying details in the vignettes and scenarios have been fabricated, and edited to protect the privacy of individuals and families.

      Publisher’s Acknowledgments

      Corwin gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the following reviewers:

       Tamara Daugherty

       Third Grade Teacher

       Zellwood Elementary

       Orlando, FL

       Hope Edlin

       Teacher

       Bethel Elementary

       Simpsonville, SC

       Pérsida Himmele

       Associate Professor

       Millersville University

       Millersville, PA

       Marcia LeCompte

       Former Teacher

       Baton Rouge, LA

       Kellee Oliver

       Coordinator of Pupil Personnel Services

       Hopewell Area School District

       Aliquippa, PA

       Stephanie L. Turner

       4th Grade Teacher

       Bradley Academy

       Murfreesboro, TN

      About the Authors

      Jamie Chaves, OTD, OTR/L, SWC,is a pediatric occupational therapist with over 8 years of experience working with children who have sensory processing differences and learning differences. She received bachelor’s degrees in health science and psychology from Bradley University, and a doctorate of occupational therapy from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dr. Chaves is the division leader for the occupational therapy department at The Center for Connection in Pasadena, CA—a multidisciplinary clinic that provides an array of services rooted in the IPNB framework. She recognizes the importance of a play-based, relationship-based approach to therapy that is rooted in regulation. She does contract work with various private schools in Pasadena, CA, particularly delivering teacher in-services and parent education on a variety of topics including promoting positive handwriting, sensory integration strategies in the classroom, how diet and sleep influence learning and regulation, and the impact of screen time on development and learning. Dr. Chaves lives in Pasadena, CA, with her husband and two young children.Ashley Taylor, PsyDis a licensed clinical pediatric psychologist with a practice in Pasadena, CA. She is endorsed in California as an infant-family and early childhood mental health specialist. Dr. Taylor received bachelor’s degrees in psychology and Spanish from the University of Vermont in Burlington, VT, and attended the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA, for her graduate training. She has worked in Vermont, Massachusetts, and California supporting children, families, and educators for over fifteen years. She specializes in providing comprehensive pediatric evaluations assessing for developmental delays, autism, trauma, ADHD, and learning disabilities. She also provides parent–child dyadic mental health therapy as well as educator and parent trainings and workshops. She has provided evaluations and mental health services for the pediatric population across multiple settings, including intensive day-treatment programs, medical settings, schools, community mental health, and private practice. She believes in the power of building healthy relationships to build healthy brains! Dr. Taylor is also the mom to two fun and active boys who are always ready for the next big adventure!

       Please visit the companion website at resources.corwin.com/ClassroomBehaviors for downloadable resources.

      “To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.”

      —Albert Einstein

      Chapter 1 Searching for the “Why?”

       “When we begin to know ourselves in an open and self-supportive way, we take the first steps to encourage our children to know themselves.”

      —Dr. Dan Siegel, M.D.

      Most teachers and early childhood educators enter the field because they love children and are passionate about providing them with a learning experience that will benefit each child throughout his or her life. Many educators beautifully orchestrate the 25+ students in their classrooms while operating within the curriculum standards provided by each state. Teachers not only instruct children about how to write their name and execute multiplication tables but also are there for students in many different ways. They make a child smile who is having a bad day, put a Band-Aid on a child’s knee after she’s fallen down, give up their snack when a child forgets to pack one, and spend their nights tailoring lesson plans to motivate children to learn. They foster curiosity, empathy, friendships, and help students to learn who they are and who they one day hope to become. Parents entrust their children to a teacher’s care for the majority of each day. Parents “expect” that teachers are “doing their job” to help prepare their children for the next stage of education and the next stage of life. Teachers have an enormous job of preparing the next generation for success; however, many may feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities and experience the frustration of being underpaid and not supported.

      Nowadays, teachers are tasked with increasingly more responsibility for fostering development within the school environment. The burden often falls on them to establish foundational skills that children previously had when entering school: things such as postural stability (i.e., the ability to sustain an upright position in a chair), shoulder and hand strength, the ability to identify and express how they are feeling, as well as the ability to enter play with peers appropriately. Moreover, according to the Center for Disease Control, the rates of neurodevelopmental diagnoses, such as autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and sensory processing disorder (SPD), continue to increase, resulting in a more diverse population in every classroom.¹ In fact, the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) estimates one in five children have a learning difference.² With the lack of training and educational opportunities around how best to teach to a wide variety of learning needs and develop a foundation of emotional and relational safety, teachers often feel overwhelmed and underequipped. They may occasionally feel at a loss about how to best support the children they so clearly want to help. Oftentimes the strategies they use to manage challenging behaviors may seem ineffective, short-lived, or perhaps even detrimental to the student’s progress.

      At times, children with unique learning needs engage in behaviors that look oppositional, defiant, lazy, or disengaged. In fact, a 2017 NCLD report revealed “that children with learning and attention issues are as smart as their peers and can achieve at high levels but too often are misunderstood as lazy or unintelligent.”² They are assigned a behavior plan that may have good intentions but does not actually address the underlying cause of the negative behaviors. In order to optimize a learning environment that accommodates all children, it is necessary for teachers to explore “why” a child is displaying certain behaviors. As the “why” begins to be uncovered, better supports and