Psycho-Educational Skills for Managing Students with Recurrent BehaviorProblems: Cognitive-Emotive Interventions Carmen Y.

Reyes Smashwords Edition, License Notes Thank you for downloading this free ebook. You are welcome to share it with fell ow teachers. This book may be reproduced, copied, and distributed for non-commer cial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you e njoyed this book, please return to Smashwords.com to discover other works by thi s author. Thank you for your support. Copyright 2010 by Carmen Y. Reyes ***Connect With Me Online*** Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/thepsychoeducationalteacher We are Teachers http://www.weareteachers.com/web/carmen/marketplace Associated Content http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/683866/carmen_y_reyes.html?buddy=true Facebook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000487354629 Contents Introduction Thinking and Talking Rationally Irrational Beliefs Helping Children to Think Rationally Rational-Emotive Interventions References About the Author Psycho-Educational Articles by Carmen Other Titles at Smashwords.com by Carmen Y. Reyes Introduction These are dramatic times for teachers. In educating children, we have a difficul t and demanding role. Like no other, our profession is responsible in ensuring t hat children develop emotionally, socially, and academically. As society evolves in complexity, so does our role. With so many social and emotional issues influ encing directly a students potential for learning, we can no longer guarantee our

success in educating children relying only on academic expertise. The fact is t hat, like adults, in coping with today societys pressures and demands, children a re paying a heavy emotional toll too. At alarming rates, more and more children and adolescents are experiencing all kinds of stress and trauma reactions, and a t all levels of severity. This can turn into a chaotic scenario for teachers if it catches us ill prepared. Since childrens affective and emotional status strong ly influence how they perform in the classroom, it is imperative for teachers to become acquainted with how students develop and function socio-emotionally. If we are going to remain effective in doing our job thriving rather than simply sur vivingwe need direct access to the current ideas and latest development in psycho -education, a therapeutic educational model that blends psychological, sociologi cal, biological, and educational theories and research. How Habitually Disruptive and Acting-Out Students Benefit from a Therapeutic Mod el Psycho-education, a multidimensional model to the education and treatment of children with emotional and behavioral difficulties, trains children in understa nding how feelings and emotions relate to their behavioral difficulties. To help change dysfunctional behavior, this therapeutic model contains a mixture of aff ective (emotions), cognitive (thinking), and behavioral (behavior) elements, so that students with recurrent behavior problems learn to recognize and understand how their emotions and way of thinking drive their particular pattern of behavi or. This therapeutic model is based on the principle that behavioral change come s when children are able to understand the motives behind their behavior and are properly trained in productive and more positive ways of behaving. What Therapeutic Teachers Do for Habitually Disruptive and Acting-Out Students F ocusing on the unique socio-emotional needs of the acting-out child, a therapeut ic teacher develops an adult-child relationship that is conducive to a new insig ht, and is growth promoting. The therapeutic teacher coaches children in finding alternative ways of meeting their socioemotional needs in a more effective and socially appropriate fashion. The teacher-student therapeutic relationship takes into full consideration the cognitive and affective factors that are influencin g behavior, and involves the student in finding and implementing alternative way s of behaving. Students are actively involved throughout this process in their o wn emotional and behavioral improvement. A therapeutic model is ingrained in the belief that all troubled behavior is det ermined by a multiplicity of factors in interaction, and that, to be able to cha nge problem behavior, every aspect of the childs personality -feeling, thinking, and behaving-needs to be taken into account. The therapeutic teacher explains ps ycho-educational concepts and techniques to children, and trains disruptive and acting-out students in how to self-manage emotions and behavior. The therapeutic teacher develops an accepting and trusting relationship with the difficult stud ent, seeing the childs disruptive and acting-out behavior as a challenge for both the teacher and the student to master, and a rich opportunity to help the stude nt develop more productive ways of feeling, thinking, and behaving. The therapeu tic teacher never gives up on the difficult student, perseverating in strengthenin g a mutually trusting relationship while implementing skilled child guidance tec hniques to help the child. The therapeutic teacher always uses a solution-orient ed language, focusing on the possible and changeable when working with the stude nt, and expressing to the child that Change is Possible And All Students Can Learn Behavioral Self-Control Now You Can Develop Therapeutic Teacher Skills

To learn how to cope with stressful or troublesome events, build positive attitu des and effective life skills, and achieve their social and academic goals, scho ols provide the ideal environment in which classroom teachers and related servic es personnel with the adequate training can teach psycho-educational skills to c hildren. Teaching psycho-educational skills to students relates directly with th e role of schools in preparing children to function effectively and to deal comp etently with societys demands. When we teach psycho-educational skills to student s, we are giving them the ability to understand and self-manage emotions and beh avior, and we are assisting them in developing resilience in coping with further troublesome events along the road. Unfortunately, a great deal of this very muc h-needed information from the psycho-educational literature never reaches teache rs. In this psycho-education skill-building series, we recognize and address thi s need. Now we can train teachers to resolve students behavior problems by applyi ng therapeutic techniques based on psycho-educational principles. Grounded in th e authors strong psychological and educational background and expertise, the psyc ho-education skill-building series takes full advantage of current psychological and educational theory and research to train teachers in the child guidance tec hniques they need to become skillful behavior managers and behavior change promo ters. Thinking and Talking Rationally Cognitions are ideas expressed through self-talk ing or self-images (thoughts) that direct the processing of events (perceptions) , and ultimately, behavior. According to the perceptual controltheory, people co ntrol perceptions, not actions (Maag, 1998). Cognitive psychology adds that, alt hough we cannot change what happened (the event), we can change the way we think about what happened; that is, we can change our perception of the event. Other people or situations do not make us feel anything; we make ourselves feel in a p articular way when we think about the event in that particular way. If we do not like the way we are feeling, we need to change the way we are thinking about th e event. A person can achieve emotional health by learning to think and talk in ways that help the person feel more the way he wants to feel, and feel less the way he does not want to feel (Borcherdt, 1989). Using cognitive behavior modification, therapeutic teachers can train children t o generate an internal dialogue that structures their thinking and control their behavior. Through thoughtcatching and becoming thought detectives, children lea rn to monitor the things they say to themselves, and to substitute their irratio nal beliefs (angry and self-defeating thoughts and ideas) with rational thinking . The rational-emotive approach (RET) helps children see the link between their thinking and their emotional reactions and behavior. The goal of this training i s to teach children how to see themselves accurately, so that when problems are their fault, they take responsibility for it and try to correct their behavior, but when problems are not their fault, they still feel worthwhile (Seligman, Rei vich, Jaycox, and Gillham, 1995). The cognitive method involves treating childre ns angry and self-defeating beliefs as hypotheses that can be tested, and then ch anging the belief when it is proved wrong. This adds D and E to Elliss A-B-C Mode l of Emotions (Ellis in Ellis and Grieger, 1977). In this model, A is the activa ting event or experience (what happened or the trigger); B is the belief about t he experience (rational and irrational ideas); and C is the emotional (feeling) or behavioral (reward or punishment) consequence. Neither A nor C is the determi ning factor in how children feel; what matters is what they are thinking or sayi ng to themselves at point B about the activating event and/or the expected conse quences. At point D, the irrational thinking is attacked for its veracity; that is, D is the disputation of the belief (B), or the argument the student makes to counter the belief. When the child disputes the belief at point D, he winds up with a new effect or philosophy (E); that is, the child develops a new way of th inking (cognitive effect), feeling (emotive effect), and behaving (behavioral ef fect). This new, rational thinking aligns with emotional health and improved beh avior.

The rational-emotive approach helps troubled, anger-prone, and behaviorally diso rdered children understand how their emotions relate to their behavior, making e xplicit the direct connection between what they believe to be true and how they behave. Cognitive-emotive interventions are designed to help students see the li nk between what they think and how they feel. Children learn that what they beli eve about themselves, others, and their environment directly influences their be havior. Using rational-emotive techniques and interventions, troubled, angry, an d acting-out students learn that controlling their thoughts is the way to emotio nal and behavioral self-control. Irrational Beliefs RET helps students understand the difference between a preference or a desire (e .g., I would like to have that video game, ) and a demand ( I must have that video ga me ). By turning their preferences into demands, students fall prey of their own i rrational thinking, which according to the RET philosophy, is the source of all frustration, anger, and emotional disturbance. Ellis (in Ellis and Grieger, 1977 ), identifies the four basic forms of an irrational belief: Basic Form 1: The ch ild thinks someone or something should or must be different from the way it actu ally does exist. Basic Form 2: The child finds it is awful, terrible, or horrible when it is this way. Basic Form 3: The child thinks he cannot bear, stand, or tolerate the pers on or thing that should not be this way. Basic Form 4: The child thinks that himself, or the other person, have made or k eep making something terrible, and because of this (the child or the other perso n) deserves condemnation and does not deserve anything good in life. Consequentl y, the child gives himself or the other person a negative label like lousy, jerk , or rotten. Ellis defines irrationality as any thought, emotion, or behavior that leads to s elf-defeating or selfdestructive consequences. Irrational thinking interferes wi th the ability to get along well with others. According to RET, irrational think ing stems from: -Demands like must and must not; should and should not. We make a demand when we believe and consider an obligation that the world, other people, or both world and other people are different. Examples would be, ---The world should be fair and just. ---Others should treat me the way I want. ---Others must be nice, kind, and considerate to me. If they are not, it is my r ight to blame and condemn them. ---I must be liked by everybody. ---I must be loved and accepted. ---People must approve what I do. If they do not, it is because (they are bad or I am rotten). ---I must excel at everything that I do. ---I must get what I want quickly and easily. ---I must not get frustrated.

---I must not get anything of what I do not want. -Exaggerating by magnifying the significance of what happened. The negative even t is turned into a catastrophe; examples, ---This is the worst day of my life. ---It is terrible, horrible, and awful that things do not go my way. ---If I do not get that video game, I will just die. Teachers can identify students exaggerations when we hear in their sentences word s like always (e.g., I am always messing up ) or never ( I will never learn this stuf f ); everyone ( Everyone hates me! ) or nobody ( Nobody likes me ). -Distorting and filtering the event; for example, Drake is only saying that I sho uld expand my essays summary because he is jealous of me, or I had a bad grade beca use Mr. Evans hates me. -Externalizing by believing that external circumstances (environment or other pe ople) are the cause of our anger and unhappiness. Examples would be, ---Theresa made me angry. ---They are so unfair to me. ---Everyone is against me. ---Mr. Evans always blames me. ---I had a low grade because the math test was too hard. ---She is always doing that to me. -Denying responsibility; for example, ---It is not my fault. ---Deon started it. ---I cannot help it. That is just my temper. ---I just have bad luck. -Self-judging; for example, ---I am just a failure. ---I can never do anything right. ---The other kids think I am stupid. ---I am always wrong. ---I stink! ---I am the worst dancer. ---I am a loser.

---I am going to do awful. Helping Children to Think Rationally To develop rational thinking, Seligman, Rei vich, Jaycox, and Gillham (1995) advice children to use clues and to find the ev idence for the negative and self-defeating belief using the following steps: Step 1: Thought catching; that is, being aware of the irrational beliefs at the times the child feels worst. Step 2: Evaluating the thought by acknowledging that it is not necessarily true and accurate, and seeing the belief about herself and/or the world as a hypothes is that needs to be tested. Step 3: Generating a more accurate explanation about the negative event and using that explanation to challenge the irrational thoug ht. Step 4: Decatastrophizing by redirecting the childs energy away from feeling sorr y, troubled, or angry about the event and toward solving the problem. As Seligman et al. say, there is a difference between thinking that a bad event cannot be changed and it is going to last forever, and thinking that we can chan ge at least part of the negative event or our feelings about the event. Rational -emotive thinking or RET helps children see stressful and troubling events as pr oblems to be solved as opposed to personal threats. Prompting the Student Bernard and Joyce (1984, p. 195) recommend using the following prompts to help t he student clarify the irrational ideas or beliefs (B) that trigger a particular emotion or behavior: -What were you thinking when _____ happened? -What sorts of things were you saying to yourself when? -What name did you call Ricky when? -Tell me the first thing that comes into your mind when you think about _____. -Picture yourself back in the classroom; what did you think when? The Disputation Technique In RET, the goal is not to change A (to make the negative event disappear), but to change the students reaction to the event, so that the child learns to accept what happened and tries to change only the parts that can be changed. Rather tha n spending time discussing A (the activating event), the RET teacher intervenes at the B level or beliefs. Zionts (1996) recommends asking the student, What if i t is true? What is the worst thing that can happen? Alternatively, we can ask, Ass ume that you are never going to _____. Why is that so awful? The objective of thi s kind of disputation is to show the student that although the event is uncomfor table, it is probably not terrible, and the child can stand it. When using a RET approach, the teacher needs to be careful to allow the student to dispute his o wn errors in thinking ( self-disputation) before the teacher does. When disputing an irrational belief, the child identifies the way he is evaluati ng the event and the things he is saying to himself that are causing him to feel angry or upset. Zionts advises teachers not to ask, How this situation makes you feel? (external attribution) but to ask the child, How do you feel about this sit uation? The first question blames the event for the childs feelings; the second qu estion implies that the student is responsible for his feelings and reactions. I

n addition, you can ask, What was going through your mind that caused you to feel this way? Through disputation, the child answers primarily two kinds of questions: evidenc e-gatheringquestions (evidence supporting or against the belief) and alternative interpretation questions (what are other ways of seeing this problem). Disputin g a negative or irrational belief means answering questions like: -What evidence supports my belief? Alternatively, where is the evidence for my b elief? -In which way my belief is true or false. -Do I base my belief on fact, opinion, or inference? -How am I exaggerating this situation? -Is this really terrible and awful, or only annoying? -Is this something that I cannot tolerate? In what manner cannot I? Answering qu estions like these help the student in identifying the thoughts or irrational be liefs that are troubling him. The therapeutic teacher challenges the student to prove his belief; for instance, What can you do to test your belief? The two key q uestions to ask a student to dispute and challenge the childs irrational belief a re: -What is the evidence that this belief is true? And, -What is another way to see this situation? Another technique used in the disputation process is debating. Once the child id entifies the ideas that led to emotional upset, the next step is to challenge th e irrational thinking through a debate. The cognitive technique used to debate i s called rational analysis of the belief, a forceful dialogue between the ration al and irrational ideas to determine if the belief makes sense. The student answ ers a set of why questions similar to these ones: -Why must she be the way you want? -Why must she agree with you? -Why do you have to like what she did/said? -Why must Jonathan be nice to you? Why cannot he be not nice ? -Why do you have to get even on him? Disputing, and then debating between rational and irrational beliefs, aims at de stroying, or at least minimize, the childs irrational beliefs. An effective dispu tation procedure includes the following steps (Seligman, Reivich, Jaycox, and Gi llham, 1995): Step 1: Evidence gathering, looking for both the evidence that supports the beli ef and the evidence that counts against the belief. Step 2: Generating alternatives or other ways to see the event. Step 3: Perspect ive taking by thinking of how other people will see what happened; for example, an impartial observer, best friend, or parent. Step 4: Decatastrophizing by accurately evaluating the implications and the what

ifs of the experience. The authors advise children to find: ---4A: The worst possible thing that could happen: How likely is it? What the ch ild can do to help stop it happen? What the child can do to improve the situatio n? ---4B: The best possible thing: What the child can do to help make it happen? ---4C: The most likely outcome. Step 5: Developing a plan for the most likely outcome, but the child should plan for the best and worst possible outcomes too. What specific actions the student can take to improve the situation? Seligman et al. train children in disputatio n using the following outline: Step 1: Evidence gathering: What is the evidence for my belief? Step 2: Generating alternatives: What are other ways of seeing th is problem? Step 3: Perspective taking: How my best friend will see it? My fathe r? Spiderman? Step 4: Decatastrophizing by accurately evaluating the implication s using what ifs. The student defines the best and worst possible outcomes; also i dentifies the most likely outcome. Step 5: Developing a plan for each: ---5A: Worst thing that could happen ---5B: Best thing that could happen ---5C: Most likely outcome Seligman, Reivich, Jaycox, and Gillham (1995) also offer a shorter version to di spute irrational thinking: Step 1: Be a detective ---1A: Evidence for ---1B: Evidence against Step 2: Other ways to see the situation Step 3: Worst thing that could happen: What could I do to stop it from happening ? Step 4: Best thing that could happen: What could I do to help make it happen? Step 5: Most likely outcome: What is my plan of action if that happens? Using Rational Self-Statements Examples of rational self-statements that children can use to deal with troubled feelings and negative events are: -This is really a bad grade. At least it is just one test. This grade does not m ean that I cannot do better next time. If I study more and ask for extra help, I will do better next time. -Sometimes, I think the task is too hard and I feel upset. However, I find that when I concentrate and ask for help, I can do the work. -I do not need _____. It is only frustrating not to get it, and I can stand to l ive without it. -It is (irrational or unhelpful) to think that Mr. Rivera is the only one that n eeds to change. I need to change too. -When I think rationally, I control my emotions.

-When I think rationally, I control my behavior. -Sometimes, I think that I make mistakes because I am (dumb or stupid). When I t hink that way, I feel like a loser and I want to quit. However, I find that when I (ask for help, try harder, use my strategies, or concentrate), I can fix my m istakes. -Because I made an error this time does not mean that I am (stupid, rotten, bad, or terrible). A part of me can learn this (skill or behavior). -Is it really important that I was not invited to Nellys party? -The only thing worse than losing the game is losing the game and then making my self miserable after it. More examples, adapted from Bloomquist, 1996: -This is not helpful thinking. I am going to change my thoughts. -Just because I cannot do _____, does not mean the world is going to end or that I am a bad person. It would be more helpful to realize that I cannot do everyth ing perfectly, and even if I mess up, it is not the end of the world. -I am too hard on myself. I am okay just the way I am; I make mistakes, but I al so do many things okay. -I am blowing this problem out of proportion. It is impossible for everyone to l ike me. Some kids like me; others do not. My friends think I am okay. -I am being irrational. I have no proof that I am going to have this problem all my life. I have to wait until the future to find out. Rational-Emotive Interventions As we can see, in the psycho-educational classroo m we can use RET techniques for socioemotional growth, for personal help and the rapeutic intervention, and for problem solving. Therapeutic teachers help studen ts develop emotional insight by teaching children to react to troublesome events in a way that is compatible with rational thinking. Some strategies derived fro m the rational-emotive approach that we can use in our classrooms are: Cognitive Mediation You are teaching cognitive mediation when you ask students who are talking, out of task, or out of their seats, What you should be doing at this moment? Beliefs Manipulation Manipulate the students belief about her performance in a given situation, making the child believe that she handled the situation better than she actually did. Attribution Retraining Tell the child that she succeeded in the task because she tried harder, and when she fails, tell her that she needs to try harder. Cognitive Rehearsal Have the child mentally review or visualize each step in the disputation or prob lem-solving sequence until the child visualizes himself successfully doing all t he steps.

Expanding Alternative Thinking It is very common in children to answer, I can tell my teacher or I can tell an adu lt when asked how they would deal with another childs taunt. We can reinforce alte rnative thinking by adding, That is one thing you can do, but what else you can t hink or say to yourself to deal with this situation? Rational Role Reversal (RRR) Switch roles with the child. For example, in the students role, you talk about wh y other children have no right to _____ (e.g., call you names, talk behind your back, or refuse to play with you). In the teachers role, the child tries to get y ou analyze the rationality of these beliefs. The Flat Tire Technique

Wilde (1996) uses this technique to stop students negative and self-defeating gen eralizations like, I am stupid, I am dumb, or I never do anything right. Ask the child if he would throw a brand new car on a junk heap because it has a flat tire. (No , you fix the flat tire.) Using the same logic, help the student realize that yo u do not throw yourself into a junk pile because you make mistakes, or because y ou do not know how to do something. Nothing Worse than 100% Bad Technique To stop childrens catastrophic thinking, Wilde suggests asking the student to ide ntify the worst event that she can imagine. Then, challenge the child to see if she can make this event even worse; then to make it worse than worse, etc. Using Funny Exaggerations To stop the childs catastrophic thinking, and help the child dispute the irration ality of the belief, we can use exaggeration combined with humor (the funnier th e better). For example, If you are not invited to Nellys party, do you think your parents will still let you live in their house? So, I heard your parents are not g oing to buy you a cellular What a terrible and awful catastrophe! I bet tomorrow morning you are coming to school totally bald and missing twenty teeth. Alternatively, Well, you have been (worried or upset) millions and zillions of times before, and you never died because of it. The Time Projection In a time projection, you have the child imagine his life after the awful and ter rible catastrophe (after the feared outcome or consequence). For example, how the childs life would be after losing the basketball game. The student imagines his life one month, s ix months, or one year into the future. Help the Student Understand that Her Belief System is Unique Another cognitive t echnique that we can use to minimize a perceived terrible and awful event is to he lp children see that every persons belief system is unique. Ask, How would 100 peo ple react if they failed this test? Would they all be equally upset? When the stu dent acknowledges that each individual reacts differently, we can make apparent that it is the childs individual reaction to the event what is causing her feel u pset or angry (Zionts, 1996). The Search for Control Technique

When the student claims that another child made him angry, look around on the fl oor pretending that you lost something. When the student asks, you answer, Yes, y our control Somehow, you have lost your control over your feelings. We all have t he ability to control how we feel, but somehow you have lost yours. How else cou ld someone make you angry? (Wilde, 1996, p. 62) Help Anger-Prone Students Understand that Anger Control is a Source of Power Dev elop in the student the belief that anger control is a source of personal power. Tell the child that, when we get angry with another person, we give control of our feelings to that person, making that person powerful. On the other hand, whe n we keep our self-control, and we do not let an external event or another perso n dictate how we are going to feel, we become the powerful person. Self-control means that we are in control of our own anger, and that we only experience the f eelings that we choose to experience. The Trust Me Technique Use this technique to bring out to students attention that they are the ones deci ding who influence their thinking. In the following example, Maria is upset beca use Dennis called her retarded (adapted from Zionts, 1996):

Teacher: What if I say you are a smart girl. Would you believe Dennis or me? Mar ia: Maybe you But I also believe Dennis. Teacher: (Taking out an eraser.) This is a magic eraser. It turns everything int o smartness. You can have it for twenty dollars. Maria: No way! That is no magic eraser! Teacher: What if Dennis agreed this eraser makes magic? Maria: I would not believe him either! Teacher: Then, why did you believe Dennis when he said that you are retarded? Using RET Self-Statements Teach students to use RET self-statements (e.g., I upset myself about _____ ) and s elfquestions; for example, What am I thinking (or saying to myself) that is causi ng me to feel angry? and What can I say to myself to change my thinking? Reciting Rational Beliefs Have the child recite a rational belief that he can use when feeling angry or up set. For instance, we can teach the child to use one of these rational beliefs w hen other children call him names: Just because they call me a name does not make it true all me names, but is not terrible and I can stand it. The Key Words Technique Teach the student to recast the way he talks about a problem by changing one key word in the sentence with the word choose; for example, changing She made me ang ry to I choose to be angry or I must yell to I choose to yell. or I do not like when they c

Teach students to say, I feel angry about this situation makes me feel angry.

rather than This situation instead of I am a tota

Teach students to say, I failed in this particular situation l failure.

Approach Negative and Self-Defeating Beliefs from an Empirical Standpoint Do not counter an irrational belief by taking the opposite stance; for example, Yes, yo u can do it if you try. Approach negative and self-defeating beliefs from an empi rical standpoint, Would you be willing to test your belief? (Shaw and Beck in Elli s and Grieger, 1977) Teach Cognitive Exercises Teach students to discriminate between positive (rational or helpful) thinking a nd negative (irrational or hurtful) thinking. Have children complete and discuss Positive and Negative (or Rational and Irrational) exercises such as: Scenario 1: Your social studies project is due the 21st of the month. That gives you two weeks to research and complete the project. Positive Mind: __________________________________________________________ Negative Mind: __________________________________________________________ Scenario 2: Your grandparents invite you to go on vacation to Disney World for o ne week. Rational Mind: ________________________________________________________ __ Irrational Mind: _________________________________________________________ Teach How to Change Irrational Thinking into Rational Thinking Teach children ho w to change irrational thinking into rational thinking. Some examples: Irrationa l: My life is ruined forever. Rational: Some aspects of my life will be harder for a while, but I will get thr ough this. Irrational: I must have this video game. It will be terrible, horribl e, and awful if I am the only one in my class without the game. I will die. Rational: I do not need this video game. I will be sorry if I do not get it, but I am not going to die. I can stand to live without it. Using Rational-Emotive Imagery Train children in using rational-emotive imagery. For instance, have the student picture a scene that angers her. After a few minutes, tell the child that she w ill work in calming herself down. The student keeps imagining the scene, but thi s time, she uses rational self-statements and visualizations to reduce the anger to annoyance and to disengage herself from the situation. Explain to the studen t that she can use this same technique to calm herself down when she feels troub led. The Stoplight System Implement in your classroom a stoplight system. This is a comprehensive procedur e where children use cognitive techniques, problem-solving, and self-statements to deal with problems. You will need three areas in the classroom clearly labele d Red, Yellow, and Green. When a student knows he is feeling angry or troubled, the child goes to the Red light area. In this area, the child uses relaxation an

d self-calming strategies (e.g., deep breaths, counts to one hundred, or self-st atements). The child also says what is troubling him, so that he learns to verba lize his feelings. Next, the student moves to the Yellow light area to think abo ut what he needs to do. In the Yellow area, the student practices his problem-so lving skills. When the child feels ready, he goes to the Green light area to try out a solution and to check how the solution worked. As the last step, the teac her helps the student evaluate the solution (Dodge, 1994). #### References Bernard, M.E., & Joyce, M. R. (1984). Rational-emotive therapy with children and adolescents:Theory, treatment strategies, preventative methods. NY: Wiley. Bloo mquist, M. L. (1996). Skills training for children with behavior disorders: A pa rent andtherapist guidebook. NY: Guilford Press. Borcherdt, B. (1989). Think straight! Feel great! 21 guides to emotional self-co ntrol. Sarasota, Florida: Professional Resource Exchange. Dodge, K. A. (1994). Focus on programs: The fast track program. Child Therapy To day, Vol. 1, pp. 181-186. Ellis, A. (1977). The basic clinical theory of rational-emotive therapy. In A. E llis & R. Grieger (Eds.), Handbook of rational-emotive therapy (pp. 3-34). NY: S pringer Publishing. Maag, J. W. (1998). Teaching children and youth self-control : Applications of perceptual controltheory. Reston, Virginia: Council for Childr en with Behavioral Disorders. Seligman, M. E., Reivich, K., Jaycox, L., & Gillha m, J. (1995). The optimistic child. NY: Houghton Mifflin. Shaw, B. F., & Beck, A. T. (1977). The treatment of depression with cognitive th erapy. In A. Ellis & R. Grieger (Eds.), Handbook of rational-emotive therapy (pp . 309-326). NY: Springer Publishing. Wilde, J. (1996). Treating anger, anxiety, and depression in children and adoles cents: Acognitive-behavioral perspective. Bristol, PA: Accelerated Development. Zionts, P. (1996). Teaching disturbed and disturbing students: An integrative ap proach. (Second Edition). Austin, Texas: Pro-Ed. About the Author Carmen Y. Reyes, MSE, has more than twenty years of experience as a self-contain ed special education teacher, resource room teacher, and educational diagnostici an. As a teacher, Carmen has taught at all levels, from kindergarten to post sec ondary. Carmen is an expert in the application of behavior management strategies , and in teaching students with learning or behavior problems. Her classroom bac kground, in New York City and her native Puerto Rico, includes ten years teachin g emotionally disturbed/ behaviorally disordered children and four years teachin g students with a learning disability or mental retardation. Carmen has a bachel ors degree in psychology (University of Puerto Rico) and a masters degree in speci al education with a specialization in emotional disorders (Long Island Universit y, Brooklyn: New York). She also has extensive graduate training in psychology. Currently, Carmen is a full-time writer. In her articles and books, she focuses in assessing childrens learning capacities, alternative teaching procedures for l ow achieving students, and psycho-educational techniques and interventions. ***Psycho-Educational Articles by Carmen*** Managing Habitually Disruptive Students: A Psycho-Educational Approach

http://www.squidoo.com/managing-habitually-disruptive-students Classroom Management Strategies for Dealing with Habitually Disruptive Students: Applications of Psycho-Educational Principles and Methods http://www.squidoo.com/psycho-educational-models Psycho-Educational Principles Therapeutic Teachers Use to Reduce Habitually Disr uptive Behaviors in the Classroom http://www.squidoo.com/psycho-educational-principles-for-disruptive-behaviors The Psycho-Educational Teacher: Teachers Characteristics that Promote Positive Cl assroom Behavior in Emotionally Troubled and Acting-Out Students http://www.squidoo.com/psycho-educational-approach-for-positive-behaviors A Psycho-Educational Model for Managing Habitually Disruptive Classroom Behavior : The Solution-Focused Approach http://www.squidoo.com/psycho-educational-model-for-managing-disruptive-classroo mbehavior A Language and Communication Approach to Discipline: Improving Childrens Behavior Using Persuasion and Positive Messages http://www.squidoo.com/effective-discipline-strategies ***Other Titles at Smashwords.com by Carmen Y. Reyes*** Persuasive Discipline: Using Power Messages and Suggestions to Influence Childre n Toward Positive Behavior http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/20643 A Psycho-Education Skill Building Guide for Teachers: Social Problem-Solving http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/20187 A Psycho-Education Skill Building Guide for Teachers: The Cognitive-Emotive Meth od http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/20179 A Psycho-Education Skill Building Guide for Teachers: The Child Guidance Approac h http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/19992

All Behavior is Communication: How to Give Feedback, Criticism, Corrections, and Reprimands that Teach Appropriate Behavior http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/19966 Emotional Communication: Healing Childrens Troubled and Angry Feelings with Empat hy and Rapport http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/19894 A Psycho-Education Skill Building Guide for Teachers: Therapeutic Listening http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/19824