[kbach]

What do you guys do for a student that has behaviors for attention seeking purposes? If we try to ignore (which is what I would typically do) he amps it up to chair throwing and dangerous stuff. I obviously have to address it but by dealing with it, he gets rewarded. How do you minimize contact with a violent student?

[expertteacher]

To get attention? If so, give him the attention he needs in small, frequent increments throughout the day. This should alleviate his need to become aggressive when he wants attention. I teach elementary so I set up a plan where the student got to get a sticker from the adult each time he finished a part of the day. I also included frequent praise and high fives. This student could also earn "bonus" buckets to help motivate him. I would give him little army men, pencils, etc to put in his bucket in addition to his usual sticker. The bonuses were frequent in the beginning but as he started behaving we decreased the bonus and he doesn't know when or what gets him the bonus. Your situation could be totally different and it may not work.

[Miller]

first you need to find out why he's behaving the way he is...what's teh function? Perhaps something sets him off. Try to give him attention prior to whatever makes him seek attention.

[kbach]

The function is to get attention away from other students and have one on one with an adult. We do visuals, working for lunch with me or other preferred activity. He has a father that was in jail and is now back in the home and I suspect something isn't great there (I've contacted everyone I can about that.) At any rate, he starts acting out on the bus before he unloads (so several people have to take him off, some of he favorite people.) I've asked that we rotate people so he doesn't necessarily get someone he wants and I've asked that they not speak to him at all. Prior to his dad returning, he would do this but once he came in my room, I was able to pull him back with distraction and then praising him and hanging out with him when he was making good choices. However now, his behavior starts before I ever see him. During the small times he is under control, I do interact with him, as well as other adults, but now he will immediately react as soon as the adult as to attend to another child.

[serval]

We all have our share of attention seekers in our classes that's a fact. The one you mention is a bit of an extreme case, I mean with the violence, chair throwing and all... I personally work with students with age groups ranging from 12-16 and I guess that if it was to happen to me [thank god it's not the case...yet ] I would try by all means, get in touch with the kid's parents and would involve the rector together with the rest of my staff for sure. Anyway, as you proceeded, you found out that your student's problem was most probably connected with his dad's carceral encounter... It's so often the case isn't it. A pupil behaves real bad and 9 out of 10 it's a family issue. I wonder sometimes, if I'm myself, more of a teacher or a councellor . Strange times. So how to deal with attention seekers then? From what I learned from training, it doesn't matter too much which kind attention they get, be it positive or negative. Actually they don't care: it's the attention they're after. So the idea is to give them positive attention but... at random. That is, not at the time when they are misbehaving. It can vary between eye contacts, smiles, words of encouragement, regular checks on their progress or the casual pat on the shoulder. If the student is good at writing he could be encouraged at reading his stuff in front of the class. If he enjoys visual arts, his drawing could be pin on the class-board etc. All colleagues working with that child should also feel concerned, so that there is a uniformity of approach towards the method.