Are you a 1:1 behavior aid?

If you are, you enjoy taking care of kids who struggle and keeping them safe while they do their best to tackle what they might feel is insurmountable.

You have an incredible amount of patience and empathy for children who have specific behavioral needs. You are trained annually in crisis intervention programs like Pro-Act to recognize early warning signs of behavior and provide de-escalation strategies for the safety and dignity of your student and surrounding peers. 

This morning, your student may not have eaten breakfast, may have witnessed a fight between their parents, may be struggling with peer conflict, is facing homelessness, or didn't sleep because they played video games all night with no adult supervision or time limits.

Acknowledge the possible adversities by offering your student food and a walk around campus, a 5-minute meeting with their favorite instructor, and a card game before class begins. 

Be careful - they do not always want your help, nor do they understand how to accept it, especially if they're already struggling. They might glare at you, or scream for you to leave them alone. 

"Friend, how do we talk to staff and teachers?" Offer them tangible coping tools (you keep their favorite fidget in your pocket at all times.)

Don't react - reply:

When your student is calm, they ask to draw with you. You work on your collaborative comic book outside on the benches.

Whoops! They made a mistake in their drawing.

BOOM!

They knock over a nearby trashcan and begin to cry. You marvel at the mistake they made and turn it into a tree with your pencil. They sniffle and continue drawing.

When your kiddo has regulated back to baseline (their "typical" self), be sure to keep academic demands to a minimum at first. Kids who struggle with regulation do not successfully accomplish too much in one sitting, especially on the heels of an incident.

Finally time for their lunch! Keep your eyes open - unstructured slots of time like lunch and recess are a hotbed of triggers and peer conflict.