Triggers and Signals: The Hidden Habit of a Calm Classroom

“He arrives at school escalated, he escalates at lunch in the cafeteria, he escalates during the clean up song at the end of the day.” A teacher reported to me recently.

“Awesome, you know your kiddo and you know what triggers them! Now, what can you do before these events to prevent the escalation? What do you notice the student doing right before the big escalation?”

These are the questions you need to ask to prevent the escalation and stop the escalation loop before it even begins.

You play a powerful role in decreasing challenging behavior and creating a calm learning environment. But it requires action before the escalation happens.

Have you noticed challenging behaviors occur at the same time every day? Transition to Music class. Walking to lunch. Cleaning up at the end of the day.

Patterns are not random, they are clues.

The student is telling you something with their behavior - what are they trying to communicate? They are giving you signals right before they escalate.

This is why it’s so important to know our students, know them well - know what sets them off and what behaviors appear right before the big behavior.

I’ve seen this time and time again when coaching teachers, they don’t even realize there is a trigger until they are saying it aloud in a conversation. Then they have an “aha” moment as we are talking.

Sometimes, you just need a thought partner to talk it through. Get it out of your mind and into the world to realize the whole situation.

You can ask for help. You don’t have to go through it alone.

Here are some key points to recognize the early warning signs so you can stop the loop before the escalation begins, you can decrease challenging behavior and you can increase the likelihood of a calm classroom.

1. Know the environment triggers. Triggers are something in the environment that sets off or cues a behavior for the student. This could be a fire alarm, change in schedule, another student teasing, transitions, placing a task demand, being told “no” and even boredom to name a few. → Once you identify a trigger, you can try and eliminate it from the environment if possible, or warn the student it is coming or perhaps replace it with something else that does not trigger the student.
2. Know the behavior signals. Signals are behaviors the student starts to exhibit that lead up to a big behavior. Signals are the students early warning signs. If you miss them, escalation often follows. Some examples are head on the table, up from seat and wandering around a classroom, blurting out, teasing another student, arguing, and even smiling. → Once you know the behavior signals of your student, you can jump in right away and begin de-escalation strategies to prevent the behavior from turning into a crisis. You can offer choices, give more time, switch adults, offer assistance, model the desired behavior or ask how you can help.
3. Gather the data. When and where are the triggers and signals happening. What’s happening right before the challenging behavior? What’s happening right after the challenging behavior? What interventions can you put in place to anticipate the escalation? → Collect the data on the triggers and signals so you can anticipate the escalation.

When you learn to recognize the triggers and signals, behavior stops feeling unpredictable and starts feeling safe.

You shift from reacting to anticipating.

From feeling overwhelmed to feeling prepared.

That shift changes everything in your classroom.

It shifts how you think about behavior.

Please reach out to me at https://www.kristybanks.com/contact to learn more.

Thanks for reading.