Nuisance
Behaviors
Technique:
Recognition and appreciation of individual differences allows a teacher
to promote self control and teach the fine art of honing self discipline.
Procedures: Interest in human traits focuses on recognizing that
students are individuals and many mannerisms and idiosyncratic behaviors
are as much due to genetics as environment. This suggests:
- learning
to appreciate rather than change some student characteristics.
- adjusting
expectations. By understanding that some behaviors are aligned to student
traits, we can avoid conflicts caused by asking the child to change
the immutable.
- Since
the student has a life-long adjustment, put energy into teaching the
student self management techniques.
- Increase
student awareness of the traits, framing the idea of traits as gifts
and abilities, and like all gifts and abilities, there are positive
and negative repercussions that go with them. The better the student
understands and accepts themselves, the better the adaptation can be
to "fit" self to others.
Informal Identification:
Activity level -- the amount and tempo of motor activity
Adaptability -- ability to modify an initial response in light of new information
Approach-withdrawal -- an personās initial response to newness
Attention span -- the length of time an individual engages in less desirable
self-directed tasks
Daringness -- fearful versus courageous responses to challenging or risky
situations
Distractibility - the ease with which irrelevant events change ongoing difficulties
Diurnal-nocturnal-- whether a person functions better early or late in the
day
Flexibility -- stubbornness or pliability in relationships with others
Intensity of reaction -- energy of a personās response
Mood - usual or customary state
Persistence -- the tendency to continue an activity despite obstacles or
difficulties
Reflectiveness -- the tendency to respond impulsively (spontaneously) or
thoughtfully
Rhymicity - the regularity of function
Sociability -- an individualās desire to be with or avoid contact with others.
Threshold of responsiveness -- the amount of stimulation required to evoke
a reaction
From
Grossman, 1990. pp. 296-97.
This list accumulated from several trait studies. Grossman 1990) provides
the following assist in determining if a student behavior may be a trait:
- The problem
fits trait descriptions.
- The behavior
is present in all aspects of the student's life.
- The child
has a history of behaving this way [she was stubborn from the moment
she was born; he's always been quiet].
- The behavior
does not appear to change much, even when appropriate techniques are
used to modify the behavior.
Source: Grossman, H. (1990). Trouble free teaching. Mountain View: CA. Mayfield.
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