Sometimes we just need to LISTEN with ears wide open...

I am called on to prepare for and/ or facilitate Functional Behavior Analyses on a regular basis.  Often a team is feeling the pressure of finding a plan that works in a hurry, and in doing so perhaps we overlook some information that could lead to more success.  A week ago, I arrived at a school to work with a team on an FBA to learn that the meeting had been postponed.  As I reviewed the FBA form we use here in Cowley County with one of my new teachers, I was reminded that "student interview" is one of the ways to collect data, one we often overlook.  Within a few minutes, the teacher had the student (KF) in hand, and we proceeded to do a student interview.  Many interviews are available if you "Google it", and the one we used was very simple:
1. What about school works well for you?  What are the best parts of your day?
2. What about school does not work well for you? What are the worst parts of your day?
3. What could adults do to make your days better?
4. What could you do to make your days better?
5. The team is working on a plan to help you be more successful.  What do you want or not want to have in that plan?

K, a 5th grader, was a bit leery at first, wanting to know who would get to see his answers.  We put the power of disclosure in his hands, letting him know we needed honesty from him.  We would not share any answers without his permission.  His answers were very revealing, and the more he talked, the better we were able to envision his difficulty in class.  One surprising answer was that (using Zones language) he said he was almost frustrated in class, and when he slaps his hand on the dest he is moving into yellow.  If he holds his hand up for help at that point and does not get it right away, it makes him mad.  He will then have outbursts.  If an adult calls him down for the outburst, he will get quiet and put his head down, but inside he has moved into red, he is boiling.  When an adult approaches him at that stage, he will lash out physically and verbally.

Wow, what good information.  Adults were not interpreting his head down as a signal for the Red Zone, and would often give him redirects.  They were throwing gas on the fire and not even realizing it.  I am not sure what plan will evolve, but the effort to interview this student will surely result in more success.