Chapter+4

I have used a few strategies to help students, especially to calm students down. I really think behavior charts are an important part of our data collection because then we can determine the "when" and "why" certain behaviors occur and how to handle those behaviors. A technique that my occupational therapist told me to try on a particular student this year was "Heavy Lifting Activities." She told me that I should have him carry around heavy books in a backpack to the library. He would have a purpose which was to carry the books back and forth to the library, as well as a deep pressure activity to use for a calming technique. We also decided that he could rearrange furniture in the classroom, as well as place all the chairs on the desk at the end of the day. There are all kinds of ways this can be done but the purpose remains the same. I plan on using these techniques a lot this year.