The Visit

OK.  Today I did what I was told.  I went and visited a model elementary school behavior program.  I tried to appear excited.   I took copious notes.  I smiled a lot.

We had things in common.  We both use a daily point sheet.  I like mine better.  I get more information from my sheet.  My point sheets also integrate nicely with a spreadsheet that tallies the points and spits out a percentage at any given time for a certain behavior.  So, for instance, if a parent wants to know if their child is progressing (on a given IEP goal) I can open up the spreadsheet and generate a graph in a matter of minutes.  To get a percentage for a goal, this teacher would simply pull a random (hopefully representative) sample from the sheets and come up with (how?) a number.

I’m not saying the program sucked.  Rather, the students behaved impeccably.  They knew the expectations and followed them.  Very impressive.  The teacher used a timer (attached to his belt) for a lot of different things, e.g., time-outs, certain academic tasks, etc.  The timer proved very effective.  Kids knew when and how to do things.  I could learn a thing or two from this guy about creating a detailed structure.

All in all, I label the visit a success.  I maintained a positive attitude.  I learned a few things.  I obeyed my boss.  Well done.