The student who has an Emotional Behavior Disorder (EBD) is one that I have

felt extra compassion toward. It has given me a heavy heart when children have to
deal with hardships. I have found in my past experience that many students who
are dealing with an emotional or behavioral problem have not had the type of
childhood all children deserve. They may have had to deal with abuse, neglect, and
other horrific things. There are many things that may underlie the diagnosis of an
EBD but these hardships often seem to go hand in hand. Whatever the cause of
their Emotional Behavioral Disorder these students require mutual respect. I have
based my classroom behavior strategies on respect. I give students respect, I hope
to get respect in return, and they must respect each other. I keep it as simple as
possible but when dealing with students who have behavior issues going on I have
found that they appreciate being treated with respect and over time will show
respect in return.
There are many strategies that I have found that will help EBD students to be
successful. I have read about some but also found that some are classroom proven.
The first strategy for helping the student is having the teacher stay calm. It is hard
not to get frustrated at times. Students can challenge every request, throw temper
tantrums, and exhibit all kinds of behaviors. The teacher must stay focused and
calm. One must remember that the student has problems and getting upset will
only escalate the problem. When students are having behavior breakdowns I talk to
them in a quiet, calm voice. I would try to emit caring and calm instead of anger
and frustration. It seems like something that is very easy to do but when a student
is having a severe behavior outburst it is a huge challenge. In my past teaching
experience I have seen that staying calm can diffuse behavior problems very
quickly. I have also noticed that students who have EBD do not respond well to
reprimands or yelling. I have noticed this while watching students play sports. When
the coach would yell at the player he or she would get even more upset and then
would quit participating and seclude themselves. Coaching is a unique situation but
it still showed that yelling or intensity usually escalated the issues that student was
already having.
The first students based strategy that I will discuss is a behavior sheet. I have
seen behavior sheets work extremely well for students in primary grades. The
behavior sheet is a sheet of paper that a student caries with them throughout the
day. They are responsible for the sheet and the teacher gives students points at the
end of each hour or class. The teacher can also take points away for behavior
problems. I see two main benefits for the student. The most important outcome is
that the student gains awareness of his or her own behavior. The EBD student may
not realize that his or her behavior is inappropriate or they may not be able to
distinguish what is good or bad behavior. The behavior point sheet allows the
student to get immediate feedback on both positive and negative behavior. The
second major outcome is responsibility. The student becomes responsible for the
sheet and they become responsible for his or her behavior. Many issues are caused
by students blaming others and justifying inappropriate behaviors with this blame.
The point sheet puts responsibility on the student.

The second strategy is linked to the behavior point sheet but can be designed
in multiple ways. The student works toward an achievable short term and long term
behavior goal. I feel very strongly that extrinsic rewards are great for students as
long as they are reminded about the intrinsic value too. I think that the EBD student
as well as all students benefit from developing a goal. The student helps set the
goal and also the reward. I use small treats or whatever PBIS system the school
district uses for small daily successes. I make sure the student is active in picking
the larger rewards in example: gym time, extended recess, trips to waterparks, and
even Milwaukee Brewer games. I make sure to extra emphasis on the positives. The
students must feel that through their hard work they have achieved something
great. The students really feel proud when they work and achieve the reward and
that feeling of pride is what can push students to academic success for their future.
One negative to the reward system is that it is sometimes very hard for the student
to handle if they do not reach their goal. I recall a past experience where a student
was going to get an hour of free time at the end of the quarter if he could keep from
getting no more than 3 infractions. Infractions were the discipline system at the
school in which I was subbing. He was very close to achieving his goal and towards
the end of the quarter was involved in a verbal fight with another student. There
was swearing, yelling, and he received several infractions for the incident. Later the
student was actually sobbing over his choice. I honestly felt bad for the student but
the guidelines must never be bent when it comes to rewards. We have to be strict
and honest or it undermines the meaning of the reward. So the student could not
get his free time but he learned that there are always consequences to the actions
that he took.
A third strategy that I have found to help a student with an EBD is selfreflection. There are many different options for self-reflection but one that I
especially like is journaling or drawing pictures. Aggression and anger often seem to
stem from the students inability to make sense of his or her feelings. Students need
to be able to step back and assess the situation. The act of journaling, or for
students who do not enjoy writing, drawing pictures can help them get their feelings
out in a safe and controlled manner. The journal gives them the opportunity to read
what happened as if they were someone else and then the student should become
empathetic. It is an important skill to have feelings for the wellbeing of others.
Journaling also lets students help visualize what they want to write about. It makes
them become a better writer which is extremely important for the future success.
The fourth strategy that I have use and found to work very well is the cool
down time. This is simply an option for a student to leave the room and go to an
area where they can gather themselves and calm down. The place could be
anywhere as long as they are supervised. Sometimes students may just go in the
hall or to a different room. In most cases, it seems that students just need to get
away from the other students and have a quiet place alone. Many times when
students have a major behavioral issue the having other people around can
intensify the problem. Simply being alone can allow them to handle their problem.
When students are left in the room the problem can become a lot worse since they
seem to think their peers are judging them. An EBD student usually has self-esteem

problems and when they feel that everyone is watching them it makes their feeling
worse.
The cool down strategy for older kids is related to another great idea for
primary grades. The student can use a symbol for happy face or sad face when their
emotions start to overwhelm them. The young student will experience these levels
of frustration or over stimulus. The same behavior meltdown can be caused by good
feelings. The student may not understand how to handle him or herself when the
class gets to do a fun activity, etc. The symbols are paper face puppets that the
student can hold up when they are at a loss for words. This can also have a calming
effect if the teacher asks the student to stop whatever inappropriate behavior is
being done and simply put up their feeling card. The cards can get to be more
complex as the student can identify what he or she is feeling.
The last strategy is a more whole classroom strategy. It is very important to
keep the classroom a safe and comfortable learning environment. When I use the
term safe I am referring the way each student feels comfortable answering
questions, asking questions, expressing their feelings, etc. without being judged or
ridiculed. It is a classroom that celebrates the differences in people and gives
everyone the utmost respect. I have read the work therapeutic being used to
describe the most effective classroom for a student with EBD. One of the key factors
in having a safe classroom is having a precise and short set of classroom
expectations. There is a trend in education to change the word rules to expectations
and I am all for it. In the minds of students simply changing the term rules to
expectations may cause the students to appreciate them instead of want to break
them. Rules are harder to swallow for all of us. The point of making a simple list of
expectations is so that the students understand what is expected of them. I review
the expectations frequently so that they can do a check down system. When a
student is having an issue, I simply ask them if they are meeting the expectations
that we all agreed upon. I always let the kids help with our classroom expectations,
most are based on respect, and then they have ownership over their classroom.
When students are involved in decision making they take pride in making the
classroom a nice place.
Another aspect of making a safe learning environment is keeping it
structured. I have found in both my past subbing experience and student teaching
that many problems arise for the student with EBD during unstructured time. Recess
or classes such as Physical Education can cause major behavior breakdowns. I think
that most students can control this problem through some of the techniques listed
above or also understanding that a fair and fast consequence will occur if they have
a behavior issue. Within the classroom, the teacher should write the class schedule
on the board, follow it as best as possible, and I always make sure to warn students
about changes or interruptions. A teacher must keep the classroom structured by
keeping class volume down. I always put extra emphasis on keeping fun activities
as calm and quiet as possible. We do activities in step-by-step procedure and
students are never given access to materials in advance. I make sure the slightest
deviation from procedure causes the student to be removed from the activity. This
seems to keep activities fun but not chaotic.

The last aspect to keeping a safe environment is having meaningful

consequences. There is a lot of things that I have read that are against certain
consequences. I think the main guideline for a consequence is that it appropriate
and fitting. I think it makes total sense for a student who writes on the desk to wash
the desks. If a student exhibits inappropriate behavior during recess then they are
removed from recess. It is extremely important to keep the parents involved.
Communication with the parents allows for united front to keep the student on track
and EBD issues controlled.
All of the strategies that I have discussed may seem simplistic but at times
less is more. The value of respect and remaining calm is of utmost importance. The
teacher truly sets the tone for all students and as soon as they sense frustration
more problems will occur. Some students with EBD lose control when the teacher
gets frustrated. Through the strategies above we can help students with EBD. I want
all students to succeed. I want the students to be happy and get to enjoy their lives.
The caring teacher may be the one person who shows positive feelings. This is what
everyone deserves.