𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘆. Disruptive behavior is a symptom of a fired-up amygdala. Managing the symptom does not enhance our students’ social-emotional wellbeing. Managing the symptom simply acts as a band-aid. Since we all want our students to experience greater levels of self-regulation, we change our focus to discovering the cause.

 

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭? What if we switched our thinking from managing to developing. Instead of a mindset of managing (“the process of dealing with or controlling people”), what if we say we have a process of developing people? Every opportunity we have to develop our students’ wellbeing gives us the outcome we desire—and gives students a skill or strategy to modify their behavior in the future. This is the essence of behavior development.

 

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴? 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 . . .

 

𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Change Why are you (insert behavior)? to Are you experiencing something that brings up feelings of fear, anxiety, stress, or threat (FAST)?

 

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲.

Let’s say a student spoke unkindly to a classmate. During a break, you sit with the student and have a conversation that might go something like this . . .

 

𝘏𝘦𝘺, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘈𝘚𝘛—𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵?

𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵?

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥.

 

When our amygdala feels threatened, we tend to react quickly rather than stopping to choose the best response.

 

Stopping to choose the best response builds awareness and is the first step in behavior development. Now that we understand the cause of the student’s behavior, we can move from managing the behavior to developing their awareness of how the amygdala is influencing their reactions and responses.

 

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀.

Build your awareness of the questions you’re asking. Instead of asking Why are you behaving that way? ask Were you experiencing something that brings up feelings of FAST— fear, anxiety, stress, or threat?

 

As you elevate your awareness, you’re finding the cause rather than managing the symptom, and when we address the cause, we’re building students’ social-emotional wellbeing.

 

𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘆𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗼𝗺.

 

 

Contact us to learn more about how Quantum Learning can make a difference for your school and district. From engaging and rigorous PD to student programs, we are available to support educators with positive shifts in teacher effectiveness and student learning.