Establishing Environments In Which Children Can Succeed And Develop Positive Behaviors Mary Louise Hemmeter, University of Kentucky Mary Louise Hemmeter is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling at the University of Kentucky. She is a member of the Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education (IECE) faculty and teaches, supervises, and advises students in the undergraduate and graduate training programs in IECE. She is involved in a variety of research projects focusing primarily on activity-based instruction in preschool classrooms and effective practices for children with disabilities in elementary classrooms. She is the past president of the International Division for Early Childhood. Hemmeter has been involved in a variety of activities related to Head Start. In addition to presenting at Head Start conferences and meetings, she consults with local Head Start programs and serves on a technical work group on program outcomes for the Office of Head Start in Washington, D.C. She also has served as a reviewer for Early Head Start grant proposals. "Children should leave preschool believing they can do anything they want to do. We can have a positive impact on every child and every family we work with." — Mary Louise Hemmeter Presentation Highlights A child who is socially and emotionally competent is less likely to exhibit challenging behaviors. Children often use inappropriate behaviors to tell us something that they don’t otherwise know how to communicate. If we appropriately address the cause of challenging behaviors (i.e. boredom, frustration, lack of understanding), then we may experience fewer incidences of challenging behaviors in the learning environment. This presentation discusses the concept of challenging behavior and offers strategies for dealing with such behavior. Four Assumptions About Challenging Behavior 1. Development—Children’s challenging behaviors are related to their development in other areas. 2. Prevention—Most challenging behaviors can be prevented. 3. Focusing on prevention—Puts the responsibility on adults and takes the blame off the children. 4. Teachable Moments—It is important to capitalize on teachable moments. Some Questions to Consider> There is a responsibility to consider whether a behavior is truly problematic or if expectations need to change. The following questions may help in identifying challenging behavior: Is this really my problem? Am I being too impatient? Am I expecting too much? Is this behavior really problematic? Is it a behavior I can deal with? Is the behavior interfering with the child’s learning opportunities? Is this child trying to communicate something to me and just doesn’t know how? Preventing Challenging Behaviors Promote child engagement with the environment. Keep children busy, while teaching them appropriate social skills and behaviors. Minimize the length of time children spend in transition without meaningful activity. A classroom schedule that is well designed and consistently implemented may be the single most important factor in promoting children’s engagement in the learning environment, thus contributing to the prevention of challenging behaviors. Environmental Factors There are certain key factors affecting the physical and social environment that can minimize challenging behavior. Physical Environment Carefully planned traffic patterns; and Strategically designed and arranged learning centers. Social Environment Directions/instructions given in a way that all children will understand; and Teaching and modeling appropriate social skills and behavior. Teaching with Respect To be effective in promoting children’s appropriate social and emotional behaviors and to prevent challenging behaviors, we must: Teach all children with respect. Respect families by involving them in all aspects of the program and viewing them as part of the solution. Responsibilities of Administrators Provide different levels of support for different teachers. Minimize barriers. Adopt and model the "I think I can" attitude. Demonstrate and model a positive attitude toward families. Video of Presentation Presentation Highlights No Handout for This Presentation List of Social and Emotional Development presenters/presentations Information on how to view videos and view/download handouts

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