Managing Impulsivity
Teaching how to Manage Impulsivity
For many of my students this is their first time in school and in a classroom setting with structure and routine. A habit and mindset my students are continuously working on is the ability to manage impulsivity. In "Habits of Mind Across the Curriculum," Costa and Kallick explain managing impulsivity as thinking before acting and thinking through alternatives and potential consequences of their actions. Some students are able to manage impusivity through strong systems and routines set in the classroom while others may need more reinforcements. For any of this to be effective, students must have internalized what managing impulsive actions means, how to do so, and why it is important. To explicitly teach students what it means to manage impulsive action, I hold regular community meetings and follow a social-emotional curriculum called "Kimochis," which I introduced in the Habits and Mindsets "Persistence" page. The lesson Bring Yourself Back teaches self-control and being able to focus and settle down. Below is the lesson I have followed and reinforced to teach students to manage impulsivity.
For many of my students this is their first time in school and in a classroom setting with structure and routine. A habit and mindset my students are continuously working on is the ability to manage impulsivity. In "Habits of Mind Across the Curriculum," Costa and Kallick explain managing impulsivity as thinking before acting and thinking through alternatives and potential consequences of their actions. Some students are able to manage impusivity through strong systems and routines set in the classroom while others may need more reinforcements. For any of this to be effective, students must have internalized what managing impulsive actions means, how to do so, and why it is important. To explicitly teach students what it means to manage impulsive action, I hold regular community meetings and follow a social-emotional curriculum called "Kimochis," which I introduced in the Habits and Mindsets "Persistence" page. The lesson Bring Yourself Back teaches self-control and being able to focus and settle down. Below is the lesson I have followed and reinforced to teach students to manage impulsivity.
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This is the Kimochi lesson that teaches students self control. This lesson is effective because it can show that everyone may struggle with this from time to time and there are ways to help control our actions. Also, students are able to walk-away from this lesson with clear ways to help them settle down and remain focused such as saying out loud, "(name) slow down," or "I can stop myself." Although this lesson is taught in the classroom and around classroom behaviors, I also have students brainstorm where else they can use self control. Students explain to me that sometimes on the playground they get upset and act out when they don't get picked for a game. Or, they respond negatively when someone cuts in line. I explain how students can use self control strategies to help control their action in a variety of settings. For example, if at recess someone doesn't pick you to play a game and they feel they may say something negative, I tell them to breathe in and out and ask themselves "Is that going to help the situation?" If what they were going to do isn't going to help then they should think through another solution. I explain to use non verbal reminders if they need personal space like putting up their hands in a pushing motion, instead of using a whining voice and telling someone to move. I have noticed this most in the hallway as students are walking in line and someone is too close to them or pushing into them. Since this language and non verbal reminders are taught to all students, students respond positively to it and each other.
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In addition to delivering this lesson, I also showed a video to teach students how to "belly breathe." The video is age appropriate and created to target lower elementary aged students. Students loved watching a "movie" in class and had fun practicing their "belly breathes" with the video. Below is the video I showed during the Kimochi lesson.
Below are pictures of students practicing their "belly breaths" together and a student showing a non verbal to ask someone to stop or to give them personal space in line.
In Class Strategies to Support Students
As students are maturing and internalizing what it means to manage impulsivity, I support them with a variety of strategies to help students control their actions and think through potential outcomes; this includes having a visible and visual schedule, consistency, countdowns, walking patterns, paper passing procedures, etc. All of which are taught and practiced within the first 2 weeks of school. In addition to systems and routines, students also control behavior and their own impulsive actions with positive incentives and a behavioral chart. In my classroom I use a clip chart with a range of colors for students to visually see a positive incentive or consequence. Each student has their name written on a clothespin and they clip up for positive choices and behaviors or clip down for negative behaviors or irrational impulsiveness. At the end of class students color in a shape on their homework with the color their clip was on at the end of the day. Parents are able to see how students were doing behaviorally and their ability to control their impulsiveness.
As students are maturing and internalizing what it means to manage impulsivity, I support them with a variety of strategies to help students control their actions and think through potential outcomes; this includes having a visible and visual schedule, consistency, countdowns, walking patterns, paper passing procedures, etc. All of which are taught and practiced within the first 2 weeks of school. In addition to systems and routines, students also control behavior and their own impulsive actions with positive incentives and a behavioral chart. In my classroom I use a clip chart with a range of colors for students to visually see a positive incentive or consequence. Each student has their name written on a clothespin and they clip up for positive choices and behaviors or clip down for negative behaviors or irrational impulsiveness. At the end of class students color in a shape on their homework with the color their clip was on at the end of the day. Parents are able to see how students were doing behaviorally and their ability to control their impulsiveness.
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My students thrive on routine and consistency. When students know what their day is going to be like and what they will be doing there is less chance for students to act on any impulsive actions. To ensure my students know what their day is going to consist of, I have a students facing schedule. Students are able to see what lesson or activity is coming next, the time, and the objective of the lesson. To the right is my class schedule. I use pictures to show each block for my emerging readers to access.
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Home Visits
In addition to the clip chart and student facing schedule, I also do a home visit for each of my students. During the school year I reach out to parents and schedule a time for me to visit them in their home. This allows me to build relationships with parents, make connections with students, and get a better understanding of their home life and community they live in. Home visits are a great opportunity to discuss with parents their expectations in the classroom and show students that parents and teachers work together to ensure they are successful and meeting their goals. In many of my home visits I discuss student behavior and what students can do to help manage their impulsivity. Typically, the behavior I see in the classroom mirrors the behavior of students at home. Often times parents do not know what to do to help their children control their impulsiveness at home so I am able to share what I do in the classroom. I explain how well students respond to positive reinforcements and seeing their own progress. I tell parents to create their own sticker tracker that can be connected to good choices. So, if their child is acting up then show self control, they can get a sticker and if they get X amount of stickers in a week, they can get a prize. This not only gives something for children to look forward to, but also helps them manage their own actions. Another strategy I have shared with parents is making their own clip chart at home. Just like we do in the classroom, if a student is making positive choices at home they get to "clip up" or, on the contrary, if they make a negative choice they "clip down." If parents do decide to use this strategy I explain the importance of communicating why they are clipping up or down and connecting it to incentives. It is important the "why" is being communicated so children are clear on what they did that was good/negative and if they should do that in the future or not. I also explain the Kimochis curriculum I use and teach parents self control strategies like counting down, breathing in and out (belly breaths), or using self-talk. Many parents have expressed gratitude for sharing various resources and strategies to help students at home and in the classroom. I am not only reinforcing this habit and mindset in the classroom, but also at home.
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Additional Reinforcements and Student Reflection
Although there are many systems and routines in place to manage impulsiveness, some students still need additional reminders or strategies to help control their impulsive actions. Some students have a daily tracker to remind them of the expectations in the classroom and to help manage their impusivity. This tracker has visuals of the expectations such as raising a hand, sitting in their chair, and completing work. Each block of my class is listed on the tracker and anytime I see a student with a tracker managing their impulsivity I give them a star for that expectation. If a students gets at least one star for each block they earn a prize at the end of the day. This tracker has helped greatly for students struggling to manage their impulsiveness. Students are given reminders on what the expectations are and why it is important. Parents of students who have this tracker have also created a similar tracker at home to support students personal growth. With the tracker, I have noticed students increase their ability to control their impulsiveness and are able to stay focused on completing their work and adhering to the class system and routines. This tracker also serves as a conference point for students, when they are not getting their stars I check in with them and we discuss ways to help control their impulsiveness in order to meet their goals.
Below are images of a sample tracker and a completed student tracker. This tracker serves as an excellent self reflection for students because they can see specific things they need to work on and in which block. For example, this focus student makes great choices up until guided reading when they are working on independent work centers. To help support this student during that time, I verbally check in with him and have him review center expectations with me and what he feels he needs in order to be set up for success. At this point in the school year, this student will choose to work at an isolated desk or near me to ensure he is not distracted by his peers and to make sure his work is completed at a high quality. This tracker connects to managing impulsivity because it is connected to our basic classroom expectations such as sitting in STARS ("criss cross applesauce" and hands in lap), tracking the speaker, raising a hand, and completing their work. This tracker helps students from shouting out or not keeping hands to themselves because the expectations are being incentived for them in each block of the day. For example, when I see a students who struggles keeping their hands to themselves on the carpet and they are sitting properly, they get a star.
The left column says "I can..." then lists the expectations of sitting in STARS, tracking the speaker, raising hands, and completing work. Then, the next columns have the days of the week and the blocks of the day. The blocks listed are Language Board, Phonics, Reading Comprehension, Writing, and Guided Reading.
Although there are many systems and routines in place to manage impulsiveness, some students still need additional reminders or strategies to help control their impulsive actions. Some students have a daily tracker to remind them of the expectations in the classroom and to help manage their impusivity. This tracker has visuals of the expectations such as raising a hand, sitting in their chair, and completing work. Each block of my class is listed on the tracker and anytime I see a student with a tracker managing their impulsivity I give them a star for that expectation. If a students gets at least one star for each block they earn a prize at the end of the day. This tracker has helped greatly for students struggling to manage their impulsiveness. Students are given reminders on what the expectations are and why it is important. Parents of students who have this tracker have also created a similar tracker at home to support students personal growth. With the tracker, I have noticed students increase their ability to control their impulsiveness and are able to stay focused on completing their work and adhering to the class system and routines. This tracker also serves as a conference point for students, when they are not getting their stars I check in with them and we discuss ways to help control their impulsiveness in order to meet their goals.
Below are images of a sample tracker and a completed student tracker. This tracker serves as an excellent self reflection for students because they can see specific things they need to work on and in which block. For example, this focus student makes great choices up until guided reading when they are working on independent work centers. To help support this student during that time, I verbally check in with him and have him review center expectations with me and what he feels he needs in order to be set up for success. At this point in the school year, this student will choose to work at an isolated desk or near me to ensure he is not distracted by his peers and to make sure his work is completed at a high quality. This tracker connects to managing impulsivity because it is connected to our basic classroom expectations such as sitting in STARS ("criss cross applesauce" and hands in lap), tracking the speaker, raising a hand, and completing their work. This tracker helps students from shouting out or not keeping hands to themselves because the expectations are being incentived for them in each block of the day. For example, when I see a students who struggles keeping their hands to themselves on the carpet and they are sitting properly, they get a star.
The left column says "I can..." then lists the expectations of sitting in STARS, tracking the speaker, raising hands, and completing work. Then, the next columns have the days of the week and the blocks of the day. The blocks listed are Language Board, Phonics, Reading Comprehension, Writing, and Guided Reading.
Conclusion
My students have learned various strategies to help control impulsive actions. Through belly breathing, trackers, home visits, parent communication, and schedules my students are aware of their day and have clear systems in place to help maintain their focus. Students are able to apply what they have learned in my classroom at home to help control their actions at home, as well. I have noticed students maturing over the course of they year by knowing how to control their impulsivity and why it is important.
My students have learned various strategies to help control impulsive actions. Through belly breathing, trackers, home visits, parent communication, and schedules my students are aware of their day and have clear systems in place to help maintain their focus. Students are able to apply what they have learned in my classroom at home to help control their actions at home, as well. I have noticed students maturing over the course of they year by knowing how to control their impulsivity and why it is important.