The Importance of Behavioral Management

Behavioral management is a difficult teaching skill to learn while in college for teaching. In my opinion, we should begin student teaching earlier, just to prefect this skill. There also are no classes that focus on behavioral management at SNHU. There should be a group of classes devoted to how to deal with behavioral issues in the classroom and the best way to promote good behavior. In the classroom that I am currently observing in, I have found that the teacher I am working with is extremely skilled at behavioral management. She uses a card strategy. On a poster behind the door there are numbered envelopes. Each envelope has a a blue, green, yellow and red card. When a child is misbehaving she asks them to "go get a card" the child gets up, finds their number and changes blue to green, green to yellow, or yellow to red. Ms. V. has not had to give a red card in two whole years! The students know the consequences of their behavior and act the best they can to avoid getting a card. A green is a warning, a yellow is a stern talking to during recess and a red is a meeting with the vice principle and a call home to parents. I think this is a great way to control bad behavior in the classroom! I hope someday to be a behaviorist and I think that observing different behavioral management skills will help with my career!

Why Special Education?

When I first began my college career I wanted to be a nurse. I felt that the best way to help a child was to be a pediatric nurse. As I went through my nursing training I realized more and more that I should have thought through all the other professions that also help children. At the time I was working in a small hospital daycare. I loved it. I love the other teachers, the children and knowing that I was teaching them new things. From there I had to sit down and think about what I truly wanted. Not what paid more, or what was the easier route, but how I pictured my future. I liked the biology of nursing but I had a hard time with nursing ethics. Watching a person die was not something I thought I would be able to handle. Also I knew that as a nurse new to the field you are often placed in geriatrics which was very far from my ideal of being a pediatric nurse. My last and deciding factor was when we were told that only a few spots were open for clinical, and I realized that my heart was not in nursing to push myself and compete. I made my decision. I still wanted the biological, emotional, and behavioral parts of nursing which was when I decided that special education (particularly behavioral and psychological) was the right path for me. I love finding out why a child acts they way they do and the teaching methods used to help them through their disabilities. I transferred and started my new major, elementary education with certification with elementary education.  My family supported me every step of the way and they were excited for me because I finally was confident in my career choice. I have three aunts, one on my dad's side and two on my mom's and they are all in special education. I am actually named after two of them! Jacqueline (Jacqui) and Rebecca (Becky) were ecstatic to hear about my interest in special education. It is very fitting that I am following in their footsteps!