Part 3: Plan A, B, or C?

Plan A: Impose your will (convenient)
I usually use plan A when there is something that has to get done that isn't my own requirement. Sometimes it has worked and other times it hasn't. I usually give my students options, but my options are geared for the students to select the one I want them to do. 

Plan B: Collaborative Problem Solving
This allows teachers to work with the student, other colleagues and the families. We work together to make things better and navigate some problems. This is the plan that is going to be more successful.

Plan A, imposing my will and desires on someone else, can cause the challenging student to exhibit challenging behavior.  Might makes right is how Plan A is perceived by others, at least through the eyes of a not challenging student.  Plan B is the Collaborative Problem Solving, CPS, 
Plan C is to drop the expectation for now, but it does not mean giving up.  I had a hard time with his example of the teeth brushing the "child" said no and his response was okay.  That's a tough pill for me to swallow.  I was raised with expectations and "rules" and when your parent requested that you did something you did it.  
Expectations of the unmet kind are the ones that deserve the focus.  The goal of intervention is to make the kid better based on where he/she is developmentally.  Not necessarily where he/she should be when looking as same aged peers.  

Plan A is when you try to force an expectation on a child. Instead of working with a child to help them reach the expectations and prioritizing it would be saying you must perform this behavior and forcing an ultimatum on the child for example counting down. I know I have done plan A in my teaching quite a few times like "you either need to sit in your spot or go to the office" which I have noticed does increase behaviors. Plans A and C are battle-picking. Plan B is not about battling, it is about solving problems and teaching students skills to cope with the problems they have difficulty solving. I have used Plan B in the past when I have met a challenging student before class and helped them make a plan for what they are going to do during class and how we are going to work together to have them meet the expectations. Using Plan A on a challenging student will only cause the behaviors to persist.

I use Plan A when I impose my will... I do this sometimes when I feel like students are being disrespectful because I'm the adult and they're the student, but this does not usually work for all students, especially the challenging ones. It leads to challenging behavior from them. 

Plan A is convenient and not something we should use. However, Plan B is something we should use. It focuses on actual collaborative problem solving and not just giving in. I think this would work best in my secondary classroom because this is something I can do with other teachers, their parents, and actually have meaningful dialogue with students to come up with solutions to help avoid this in the future instead of just simply reprimanding. 

I do not enjoy having demands imposed on me by someone just telling me to do things their way. I do not like the my way or the highway type of approach. So, I really try not to use Plan A, unless there is maybe a fight in the hallway or some other dire situation that requires immediate attention and reaction. 
Plan B, I like Plan B. I like it when people can come to the table and have a conversation and a dialogue and I really am striving to break things down for my kids to understand why I am doing what I am doing at any given moment.
I worked with kids who had social emotional learning delays for a number of years and we always used positive behavior reinforcement strategies. Starve the negative, feed the positive. I never really agreed with that approach. I always thought it was a cookie cutter, one fits all approach. I like how Dr. Greene breaks down the three Plans, A, B, and C. Plan A does not work. Plan B takes a while to produce results but is very beneficial and effective in the long run. I will choose Plan B. Thank you Dr. Greene.

Plan A is more of a first expectation when you don't know how a child is going to react. Until you have learned their behaviors or what to expect from them you don't really know if they are going to need more guidance. Plan A is also used in emergency situations where another child might be in danger of getting harmed. You would need to implement or impose an adult will on a student.
Plan B is collaborative problem solving. I work with kids that are in special Ed and we focus more on the realistic needs per child rather than what age group or class grade. We figure out their set of skills, whether they have an developmental delays and then decide what our expectations are. Keeping them at a level they are comfortable while being patient and allowing progress is a good environment for learning. We show them how to get good at certain skills first.

Plan A is imposing your will upon the students.  I find the phrase " because I said so" comes to mind.  Thwarting your authority.  Some students will accept this but the challenging students usually push back.  At this point I think Plan A is something that should only be used in a life/ death/ safety situation. 
Plan B- the collaborative approach while taking more time in the long run with save you a lot of stress and aggravation.  It will help you maintain your learning environment and has a more positive outcome.  Teaching is what we are doing and the importance of helping students learn life skills on how to handle their emotions and behaviors is one of them.  
The difference between the two is Plan A is all about you being in control and Plan B is about giving the student control but guiding them in how to get there.  

Plan A is imposing your will and plan B is collaborative problem solving.  I learned that "might makes right" can cause challenging behavior in challenging kids.  Making demands is convenient and instinctive for adults to use, but does not work with kids who are not developmentally able to handle it.  A situation when I might use plan A would be in an emergency situation and students need to obey orders right away.  Plan B is using collaborative problem solving and helping the student navigate problems and regulate their emotions.  This prioritizes teaching skills and problem solving.  It does not happen quickly and a quote used in the video that I really liked was " doing the right thin never takes as long as doing the wrong thing." 

Plan A (imposing adult will) causes challenging behaviors in challenging students. It triggers mal-adaptive behaviors .
and it teaches "regular" kids that "might makes right "and perpetuates its use. Might have to use plan A in situations of safety. ex. Hurting other students or not complying with safety rules.
Plan B (collaborative problem solving) make take a little (or a lot) longer but it helps establish trust when the teacher works with the student to solve the problem.

Plan A is more likely to be used at the beginning of the year. When you say “no”, “you must”, or “1, 2,3”. This is when you are trying to set boundaries and expectations. 

Plan A and Plan B are completely different.  Plan A is to impose your will to handle the expectations that are not being met. This can cause more behaviors in challenging kids. Plan B is between a teacher and student finding a way to get the student to do. This may take some time and trust on both ends. However, this does have a successful rate. This is for kids that are trying but are struggling. Having a teacher having a conversation with the student about what is the struggle allows the student to be more open and know you are there to help and not there to criticize.

Plan A is when adults use/impose their will in order to get a student to do what their supposed to be doing. It can and does cause more issues because it creates challenging behaviors in challenging kids. Plan B is a collaboration between the teacher and student to find a way to to get what is needed to be done done. It can take a long time to establish but it does have a successful result. For me Plan A is usually at the beginning of the school year to get students to understand and get into the class routine. What I have learned is that it can only be used a couple times in the right situation. Plan B is used if I have a student that is struggling but is trying. I will have a conversation with them to figure out what we can do to help each other. This is done through out the year. 

I teach in a very poor, inner city school.  I have two advanced middle school classes and the rest are what you would call "average" kids.  Most of my advanced students are children of teachers in the district.  They value education and have a parent or parents at home telling them to do their work and get good grades.  Plan A works perfectly with these students.  I need to use Plan A when there is cheating, too much talking, safety issues in the class, or someone using their cell phone.  These students have the skills and coping mechanisms to say "ok, I will follow the rules".  Plan B is giving your students a "tour guide" for problem solving.  This is the plan I use with most behavior issues in my other classes.  An example that sticks out to me is a certain student that I know telling him to put his cell phone on my desk when he is caught using it.  He responds in a way that I have never seen before.  He started swearing at me, slamming chairs, throwing stuff.  He was sent to the discipline office to prevent another student from getting hurt.  Later that day, I sat down with him one on one.  He explained to me why he was so upset.  His phone is the only thing that is truly "his".  He is homeless, living in a shelter.  We talked about what the expectations were in the classroom, what he though he could have done differently, what I thought I could have done differently.  We came up with a plan for what would happen the next time he felt the urge to use his phone.  I haven't had an issue with him since.