Behavioral Case Study

Throughout my experience in my first semester of practicum, I have

observed a specific student who has shown problematic behavior. In this
paper I am going to name this student John for protection purposes. John is a
five year-old kindergarten student that has extreme behavioral problems.
From the time my dyad partner and I got into the classroom in January 2015
to now, April 2015, the behavior has worsened immensely. Our mentor
teacher told us that John was diagnosed with ODD, which means
Oppositional Defiant Disorder. When a child has ODD, it means that a child
expresses defiant and disobedient behavior to authority figures. Since Johns
behavior has gotten worse, he was able to qualify for a behavioral specialist
aide. She is there every day to help see what triggers him and to help him
control his own behavior.
One example of Johns problematic behavior involving his ODD would
be when he was told to sit on his square at the rug and he would not. When
told what to do, he immediately threw his arms up in the air and fell on the
floor crying. He told the teacher that he didnt want to do that, so he got up
and went and hid behind the bookshelf. Our mentor teacher continued to
teach to the other students, and when we asked her what she usually does
when John is triggered she says that she just lets him get it out. But in this
situation, Johns behavioral aide was there to help. When John was behind
the bookshelf the aide went around to try to help him calm down, but it
ended up getting worse. John then went to a chair and slid into the hole that

was it the middle of the chair and started scooting around the classroom.
The aide tried to stop him by getting in his path and telling him that this was
not a good choice. John grabbed her legs and slammed into her saying
move loudly. The aide stood her ground and told him that this was not a
good behavior. He continued to slam into her and said Im stronger than you
are. The students in the class started to pay more attention to John then
they were paying attention to their teacher. Our mentor teacher and the aide
had established before that when Johns behavior gets out of control, enough
to the point where the aide may have to restrain him, is when the teacher
should take the rest of the class out of the room and take them to the library.
That is exactly what happened in this situation. Our mentor teacher told the
class to line up and that they were going to the library to read a book.
Immediately John jumped up and stopped ramming into his aide and
yelled, Ill be line leader! But, our mentor teacher said to him, Im sorry
John, you chose not to sit on your square. So I am sorry but you are going to
have to stay here. He started to cry again and started rolling on the carpet
screaming. Our mentor teacher then left and took the class to the library and
all who was left in the class was John and his aide. She tried to have John sit
at the rug and he would not. He got up and grabbed a pencil and ran at the
aide trying to stab her, she got out of the way the first time and when he
tried to come at her again she just took the pencil away. He then began to
kick her and punch her and yell at her. She then had to restrain him by
wrapping his arms around himself in the front having his back to her. He then

tried to head-butt her and succeeded. She had someone call down to the
office and they both made their way to the principal. I asked the aide if the
mother was on board and she said that when they talked to her, she says,
John never acts that way at home. The principal then responded by saying
that she personally has seen John hit and kick his behavioral aide. They
ended up suspending John the next day.
Another experience that I observed was when the students were out at
recess. They were lining up to come inside and use the restroom and get a
drink, which is their usual routine, when all of the sudden John decided he
wanted to be line leader and cut in front of another student, who we are
going to call Bill. Our mentor teacher told us that John has singled Bill out
from the beginning of the year and had picked on him and bullied him. Well,
John butted in line and Bill did not like it. So Bill started to protest and say,
"John butted me!" John didn't like that Bill was tattling on him so he turned
around and tried to start strangling him and hitting him. My dyad partner and
I immediately went and stopped it and John's behavioral aide came out with
us and said to John, "That is not a good choice!" John immediately started to
blame Bill for his own actions and say, "I just wanted to be line leader!" The
behavioral aide said to John, "I'm sorry, but you decided to cut in front of Bill.
So I'm sorry but you will have to go to the back of the line." Once the aide
said that to John he got upset and started to cry once more. My dyad partner
and I then took the class to go to the bathroom and get a drink.

One situation that our mentor teacher told us about when we came in
for SEP day was, John and Bill got into another fight in P.E. John apparently
didn't like something that Bill was doing so he started to choke him to get his
way. Like I said before, our mentor teacher had told us that John has singled
Bill out from the beginning of the school year. She thinks that its because
they are so similar in ways. Bill has an IEP and an aide that comes in and
helps him sometimes. Bill is developmentally delayed and my mentor
teacher thinks that he needs to be checked for ADD. John has ODD,
oppositional defiant disorder, and my teacher has tried to cooperate with the
parents of John to get him checked for bipolar disorder. She thinks he needs
to get checked for bipolar disorder because when he does get triggered and
then something happens that he wants to do, he immediately snaps out of
his tantrum and its like his bad behavior never happened. That is what his
aide is trying to help him with, that when he has bad behavior he has to be
responsible for it. When my dyad partner and I were sitting in on some SEP's,
our mentor teacher really wanted us to be present for John and his mother.
But, his mother never showed up. When I asked about John's home life to our
mentor teacher, she said that John told her that his mom sometimes lets him
stay up till 3 A.M. and play Halo, which is a video game that is pretty violent.
She says that the mom told her that she does the best she can, and that the
husband has not been around for a while. But, just recently Johns dad has
come back into their life. John has so many things happening at home that I
believe also affect the way he acts in the classroom.

There is no behavioral plan set in place and there is no IEP, but our
mentor teacher and principal are trying to get him the help that he needs.
They are trying to see if he will qualify for a specific behavioral program that
they have here in St. George, Utah. Before my mentor teacher got an aide
for John, the way she handled Johns behavior is, she would give him three
prompts and then after that if he still doesnt listen then she would call down
to the principal and John would go with her. So now, they do have an aide,
which when we asked our mentor teacher how it is helping, she said that she
has not seen a difference yet. She said that the aide's job, as of right now, is
trying to figure out what causes him to have his episodes. The aide said to
my dyad partner and me that she tries to trigger him to see what they can
do to help him better. But every time John is told to do something, that
triggers him right there.
Unfortunately, there was a time that I had triggered him by asking him
to show me how to do a problem that was on his worksheet. The student
across from him said the answer to the problem that I asked him to show me.
John did not like that at all so he yelled and said, "I wanted to do it!" He then
continued to put his hands over his ears and say, "It's too loud in here!
Everyone is too loud!" I tried to reason with him to show me another
problem, but he would not listen. He then got out of his chair and hid under
his desk. Then his aide came into the room and I had told her what had
happened and she went to try to reason with him as well. He eventually
came out from under his desk and went straight to an IPad to play games,

which is a reward when our mentor teacher has fast finishers, without
finishing his work.
The aide is trying teach him responsibility for his actions. So when
everyone was done with their work and moving on to do centers, John also
wanted to do centers once everyone else was doing them too, but the aide
told him that since he chose not to finish his work, he wont be able to do
centers until he finishes the worksheet. He then continued to have a bad
behavior and went outside the classroom and started rolling around on the
floor. They eventually had to call down to the office for the principal and she
came and brought a teddy bear with her. They have been using this teddy
bear to try to help him control his actions and behavior. When I asked the
aide about the teddy bear, she said that they would ask John questions like,
"The teddy bear needs to go get a drink, could you go help him get a drink?",
"The teddy bear really wants to finish his worksheet, can you help him finish
his worksheet?" They said that by asking him these type of questions, it is
letting him be in control of the teddy bear, which eventually helps him get
his work done.
Our mentor teacher once told us that there was a situation where John
was pushing his chair around the room during centers. At the time she was
working with other students, when one of her students was trying to get her
attention by holding up his hand to his mouth and whispering, Mrs. _______,
Mrs. ______! John! John! She says that her students handle Johns
problematic behavior really well. They just continue working when John has a

behavior. I have seen that some students even try to help John. The problem
is, John has not worked well with others. So when the other students try to
help him, he gets more upset and says that he can do things on his own.
From what I have observed, Johns behaviors have made him not be
able to participate in a lot of what the rest of his class do. He misses out on a
lot of fun activities and being a part of the classroom community. When he
has a problematic behavior, he misses out on what the teacher is teaching.
His behavior is effecting the way he learns and communicates with others. I
have also seen how the students treat him as well. Some students try to get
him to play with them at recess, and some even try to help during his
episodes, but since John doesnt want help, they leave him alone now. This is
really sad especially for John being in Kindergarten. Children need
consistency, friends, and social skills. John is missing out on a lot of these
because of his problematic behavior. Our mentor teacher tries to help him
and make him feel loved in the class room. But this kind of behavior has
been happening all year long. His behavior is impacting how the rest of the
students treat him, it is effecting how John learns, and it is also effecting his
social skills.
This situation is an extreme example. For my first semester in
practicum, my dyad partner and I have seen a lot of what we have been
warned what we might see in our college classes. We have seen IEPs, ADD,
behavioral problems, fighting, screaming, hitting, kicking and more. I am
extremely grateful to have seen all of this in our first semester and have had

first-hand experience on how to handle certain behaviors. I have learned that

I may have students with extreme behaviors, where I just have to keep
showing them that I love them and never give up on trying to help them
become better and learn and feel comforted and loved in my classroom. My
mentor teacher has done such an incredible job with showing constant love
and a classroom where all the students feel comfortable to be themselves.
If I ever have a student with a behavior problem as intense as Johns, I
would do the exact same thing that our mentor teacher has done. She gives
him three chances to do what he is supposed to do, if that doesnt work then
talk to the principal. If that doesnt help as much, then get a behavioral aide
to be in the classroom with him to help him. Then if his behavior starts to get
out of control, take the class and go outside, go to the library, or just take
them away from the situation. I think this is the best thing to do when you
have a student who just doesnt want to do what he is told, so that you are
able to protect the whole class and have John feel comfortable to get it out of
his system and receive the help he needs.