A case of disruptive behavior
A teacher in an early childhood classroom approaches a little boy (Josh) during quiet time and invites him to sit and draw a picture about a story they had read in class that morning. Earlier, the teacher noticed that Josh fidgeted, squirmed, and disrupted other students by talking and pinching throughout the story. Redirecting worked for short periods of time but the behavior continued. While they are drawing, the teacher said, I’ve noticed that you were having trouble sitting next to your friends during story time. Sometimes you get too close to other kids or you get up on your knees, pinch, or talk and others cannot see the book. What do you think we can do about this problem? After thinking and drawing for a few minutes, Josh decides that he should sit in a cube chair in the back row. (The other children typically sit on the floor in loosely defined rows facing the teacher). He seems to know that the cube chair will help define his space and allow him to sit up high enough to see the book.
Answer the following questions:
Is Josh’s behavior an example of disruptive or non-disruptive behavior?
What has the teacher done to redirect Josh during this situation?
What other types of developmentally effective interventions would you suggest if Josh’s behavior continues?
What types of teacher actions do you think would be counter-productive?
What would you do in this situation?