Is there a nice way to prevent off-task behv?

[lisle]

My son is notorious (literally)for off-task behavior and it seems the class has several kids who buy into it and reinforce it, so he is convinced that it is the best way to keep friends. Of course, this is not new. He is in sixth grade and has many years of class clowning behind him. He is actually very bright and funny but he keeps some kids from learning and somehow telling him that makes no difference. What can you do that isn't so harsh that he becomes more anxious (he is already very anxious and this is obviously a "coping strategy." We have tried rewards at home, having him set his own goals and get rewards, taking away Nintendo and computer, t.v. No luck. What can the teachers do? Nothing lasts it seems.
Something is very wrong here.
lisle
lisle

[mskris]

This is EXACTLY what we're going through with ds, age 8. The teacher complained that he was engaging in "attention-seeking" behavior. After speaking seriously with him, I realized that he does some of these things at home, too, when feeling overwhelmed ("falling" out of his chair, putting his head down on the desk, making faces). So I wrote a note to the teacher explaining that I thought these were coping mechanisms. However, it does make the teacher's job harder when the other kids are distracted. BTW, these began after the holiday break, when the review period was over and the work got harder.

While she agreed that ds may not have complete control over these, we agreed (with his input, too), to try a behavior modification chart. There is no punishment involved; it's mainly to make him more aware of what he's doing and to keep us at home "in the loop." The chart is divided up into the class periods of the day, with a certain number of possible points per period (ie, no redirection = 4 pts, one reminder = 3 pts, more than one = 2, constant reminders = 1). I also wanted to see if there was any pattern involved (ie, hunger before lunch, tiredness at the end of the day, etc.). He can earn a possible 24 pts for each day. His best days (this has been 1.5 wks now) he's earned 16 pts. That's been mostly 3s and a couple of 2s. His worst day he only earned 11 pts.

The teacher makes minor notes if necessary (eg, one day he was making faces behind her back), so I can tell him to focus on eliminating that one behavior first. I told her I didn't want this to cause him more stress, and that we may not be able to eliminate all the behaviors, certainly not all at once. Right now I'm focusing on the "worst" ones (making faces), and not worrying about him putting his head down, etc. It seems to be working. I do notice that he usually needs more reminders in the longer periods, and toward the end of the day, so fatigue may be a component there...

Anyway, we explained right up front that this was not punishment, and there would be no recriminations, just us talking more about specific behaviors and I give him lots of praise for the 3s (he hasn't yet earned a 4, but one reminder is okay by me). I have noticed a couple of new tics (he also has very mild TS), like eye-blinking and head-turning, but if these are compensatory actions, that's okay by us.

It's so hard to determine what they're doing on purpose and what they have little/no control over. Also, my ds' TS can be at work here, too, especially with the "face-making" - sometimes it looks like he's grimacing when it's really a tic...

I hope this has been somewhat helpful. I know just how you feel about making the situation worse by causing stress...

Let us know what the teacher suggests and what you decide to do.

Kris

[AnneM]

OH I too can relate to this ... Mskris gave such an excellent reply that I am not sure if I can add too much more except that my son (who is now 15) was also through many years just like you are describing in your own son ... "Class clown" ... always trying to make others laugh ... which in turn was distracting them from learning ... and JUST like you said some would buy right into it and that would set my son off even more !! ... OH YES I have been there ...

One big positive I can offer is that the class clowning has pretty much completely disappeared with age ... we have had "no" reports of off-task behaviour for around 18 months now ... (touch wood!)...

I always found the "rewards" worked reasonably well but you do say you have tried this to no avail. In the UK (not sure if this is the same in the US) .. but after a certain amount of "inappropriate behaviour" the kids are put on a "report" system ... meaning that they get a mark out of 10 for every single lesson they attend for a given period of time (normally 2-3 weeks) ... this (when it became necessay) was always VERY successful with my son ... suddenly when he was "on report" and being given a "score" on each lesson he was getting 10 out of 10 pretty much ALL DAY, EVERY DAY and turned into the "model pupil" !! (This I believe is because he LOVES good feedback and praise!!) ... it definitely worked for him ... but that isn't to say it will work for everyone ...

I also like the idea of the chart method that mskris mentions ...

GOOD LUCK!!!

[loveforeric]

mskris;

Thank You for the idea about hte point system. That just might work on my ds8, whom, I think uses his class clown behavior as a coping skill. I also htink it might help with him being more aware and taking some control. Thank You, again.
Have a good day,
Christina

[mskris]

Glad to be of help to someone! I just KNEW ds couldn't be the only kid experiencing this. He earned 18 pts on Monday, but Tues and Wed were rough - only 15 and 14 pts, respectively. He seemed to lose it most in the last 2 class periods of the day, and he seems to be fighting a cold, too, which may be contributing to it. I haven't said much to him about it, just "too bad, but tomorrow is another day, Honey." I don't want him to feel bad when he isn't able to completely comply.

I too, think he does it most when the work gets hard for him, or the lesson goes on too long. I think 50 mins is quite a long time to ask an 8 yo to focus on one subject...that's the same class length as in high school! I won't go there now, but I have real problems with our school district's expectations of elementary school kids...

Anyway, we are continuing with the program and I know he's trying, which is all I can really ask of him.

Good luck to all of you.

Kris