Script of Narration for Home Notes: a Behavioral Intervention Powerpoint

Script of Narration for “Home Notes: A Behavioral Intervention” PowerPoint

Slide #1: Home Notes: A Behavioral Intervention:

Home notes, a behavioral intervention, by Anita Gornati.

Slide #2: Coming up…:

This list should give you an idea of what I’ll be talking to you about during this presentation. I will explain what home notes are, along with where and when they should be used, and how they have worked in the past. I’ll show you examples of different formatting possibilities, as well as take you through a case study example to help you understand the process of using home notes as an intervention from beginning to end.

Slide #3: Glossary:

This glossary defines some words and concepts related to home notes. Take a good look at these. Once you have a thorough understanding of these concepts, you’ll be able to better understand the information discussed later in the presentation.

Slide #4: Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports:

Positive behavioral interventions and supports, or PBIS, are research-based strategies that support and encourage positive behavior in students. The key to PBIS strategies is that they’re aimed at prevention of negative behaviors. They can be applied to different circumstances and can be used school wide, classroom wide, and with individuals. So, how exactly do home notes fit into all of this? The connection is simple – home notes are one of these strategies. Home notes work well within the structure of PBIS – they’ve been researched, they can be used at multiple levels of prevention, and they work well with other forms of intervention.

Slide #5: Home Notes:

So let’s talk a little more about what home notes are. First of all, home notes also go by the names school-home notes and behavior report cards. Home notes are a way to keep track of or rate students’ behavior and performance at school and subsequently report on this to parents. These behavior report cards are usually given on a daily or weekly basis. Parents are then supposed to provide consequences, whether they’re positive or negative, for their child based on these reports. In practice, these consequences at home impact and improve the students’ behavior at school.

Slide #6: Support for Home Notes:

As I said before, home notes have been researched. Much of the research is in support of home notes as a valuable intervention. One study pointed out that a product of this intervention is increased communication between teachers and parents. This is a very positive outcome being that many times parents are not in good contact with their child’s teacher and may therefore be unaware of classroom conditions. Researchers also support behavior report cards because they’re an adaptable intervention – they come in a wide variety of formats, they can be used not only as an intervention, but also as a behavior-monitoring tool, and they can keep track of multiple behaviors. Several studies have demonstrated success with home notes in students of different ages. This supports the use of home notes with young children in Kindergarten and elementary school, as well as adolescents in high school.

Slide #7: Where Are Home Notes Used?:

As we’ve just seen, home notes are pretty adaptable. They can be used in a variety of situations. Seen here are specific examples of these settings with regard to different schools, classrooms, and prevention levels.

Slide #8: Case Study: Mrs. Gordon’s Class, Scenario:

Next, I’m going to introduce you to Mrs. Gordon and her class. This case study will give you a specific example to follow along with.

Slide #9: “Mrs. Gordon is a…”:

Let’s read through this scenario together and introduce you to Mrs. Gordon’s class. “Mrs. Gordon is a first grade teacher. Her class consists of 22 students. Several of her students are being disruptive during class. These disruptions are not only making the room chaotic, but they are also starting to affect the quality of students’ class work. Some students do not complete their work. Others do the work, but do not pay close attention to it and make mistakes. Even the class work of students who are not disruptive is being affected by the distractions others create. Mrs. Gordon feels that something needs to be done to improve her students’ behavior.” Later on, we’ll revisit this case study to see what happens.

Slide #10: Applying Home Notes as an Intervention:

So what should you do if you think home notes might be needed as an intervention? First of all, you need to decide if they should actually be used. Ask questions like is this feasible, is this appropriate, and are the necessary resources available? If you decide that this intervention should be used, the second step is to create the behavior report card. When doing this, follow these steps - define the target behavior, decide where, when, and how the behavior will be rated, design the report card, decide what sort of behavior will warrant a consequence and list some possible consequences, and finally, discuss and define the responsibilities of everyone involved. Once you’ve established a behavior reported card, the behavior reporting system can be implemented. Be sure that progress is being monitored at this point so the intervention’s effects are clear.

Slide #11: Behavior Report Card – Example A:

Now let’s take a look at some examples of behavior report card designs. This first example is of a very simple report card that would be suitable for preschool or elementary school students.

Slide #12: Behavior Report Card – Example B:

This second example is of a slightly more complex, checklist style report card for middle grade students.

Slide #13: Behavior Report Card – Example C

This final example is of a more sophisticated report card with checklist, as well as comment, sections, and is suitable for older students.

Slide #14: Keep in mind…:

Here are some do’s and don’ts to keep in mind when using home notes. So what should you do? Consider where students are at developmentally, keep parents involved and ask for their feedback, reinforce students’ good behavior with verbal praise, and graph or chart the intervention’s progress. What should you avoid? Avoid leaving students in the dark about what is expected, avoid giving attention to undesired behavior because doing so will only undermine your progress with verbal reinforcement, and avoid ruling out other interventions just because home notes are being used.

Slide #15: Case Study: Mrs. Gordon’s Class, Intervention:

Now let’s come back to Mrs. Gordon’s classroom and see what she’s decided to do about her students’ behavior.

Slide #16: “Mrs. Gordon has decided…”:

“Mrs. Gordon has decided that daily behavior report cards are an appropriate method of intervention for her students. She has informed the students’ parents about the situation, and explained that home notes have been successful in other classrooms and that she believes they will be successful here too. Together, she and the parents have agreed on what everyone’s responsibilities will be and how the intervention will be conducted. Mrs. Gordon has agreed to monitor and report on each student’s behavior and class work using the format in Example A. The parents have agreed that upon seeing the report each evening, they will provide appropriate consequences based on their child’s behavior and performance that day. Everyone involved is confident that by using home notes and parents providing consequences accordingly, the students’ behavior and class work will improve.” It sounds like everyone is being supportive of this intervention. Next, let’s see what sort of results they got.

Slide #17: Results:

Here are the results of the home notes intervention that were posted by the class. “Within the first week of using home notes, Mrs. Gordon began to see positive changes. After just three weeks, the students’ behavior improved significantly and their class work was much better. After the intervention, the class functioned much better as a group and the parents felt good because they were more aware of what was going on and were communicating with Mrs. Gordon more often.” It appears that using behavior report cards worked well with Mrs. Gordon’s students, and their behavior and performance improved greatly. This case study should have given you a good representation of the home notes intervention process from the planning stages all the way through the recording of results.

Slide #18: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

To help you with lingering questions you may still have, here are a few questions that are frequently asked about home notes. Concerning the amount of time and effort it may take a teacher to use this intervention, it varies according to several factors; however, research has shown that it does not necessarily require a massive commitment. Regarding how well home notes go with other interventions, they can be used with other interventions as long as they don’t interfere with one another. As far as students with behavioral disorders are concerned, home notes can be used, but we need to be cautious and make sure that behavioral expectations are within their reach.

Slide #19: References:

I hope that what you’ve learned in this presentation has allowed you to see the value of home notes as a behavioral intervention. The information cited in this presentation came from the sources seen here.