My students need various board games to encourage rapport building with new staff and students. They will also be used throughout the school year as reinforcements for appropriate behavior and to continue working on social/emotional goals.
I teach high school students who have been placed in a classroom designed for individuals with emotional and behavioral disorders. Emotional and behavioral disorders is an umbrella term for many mental disorders (i.e. anxiety, bipolar, conduct, eating, obsessive-compulsive, psychotic). These disorders can include characteristics like hyperactivity, aggression or self-injurious behavior, withdrawal, immaturity, and learning difficulties. No one knows the true cause of emotional and behavioral disorders, although several factors (heredity, brain disorder, diet, stress, and family functioning) have been suggested and researched. The majority of students in my classroom are low-income and some come from a residential treatment center but are able to appropriately access a general education campus.
These students need a safe space and appropriate materials where they can learn academics as well as practice social-emotional skills.
My students are aware of their differences and supporting them with preferred age and developmental materials will reduce behaviors and increase their success inside and outside of the classroom.
My Project
Several games will be used for rapport building with new students and staff members as students with emotional and behavioral disorders have difficulty connecting with new individuals.
The board games will also be used as reinforcements for appropriate behavior on the school campus.
Students in my classroom earn points throughout the day and can earn privileges when they earn a specific number of points. Having a variety of new games that are appealing to high school students will encourage appropriate behavior, increasing the success of the students. Rapport building and reinforcement games include Catan, Word Slam, Apples to Apples, Monopoly, Pictionary, Taboo, and Scattergories.
The games will also be used to practice social/emotional skills and IEP goals. Games that specifically target social/emotional goals include Moods and Awkward Storyteller. The games also mentioned above will also be used for social/emotional skill practice.
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