| Therapy Room Training |
Therapy Rooms
Therapy Rooms are to be used for just that - therapeutic support of our students in order to help them be successful. They are not to be used to punish or isolate a student under any circumstances. The ultimate goal any time you enter the Therapy Room with a student should be to get both of you back to the classroom instruction as soon as possible. That doesn't mean that your time in there with your student should be rushed - but this goal should be kept in the forefront.
Although each visit to the Therapy Room will be different, Here are some basic guidelines for a Therapy Room visit:
If a student starts to shut down in the Therapy Room you need to do what you can to get them to talk. There are different techniques for getting students to open up - but one size does not fit all - each situation will be unique. There is no doubt that you will have some frustrating Therapy Room visits, but you can't give up on the student.
Teachers should not be using any electronic devices or reading while they are with a student in the Therapy Room. It sends a terrible message of uncaring behavior toward a student who needs to be helped over a hurdle so that they can get back to class. Students should not be allowed to sleep in a Therapy Room. Ask for help if you encounter a Therapy Room session that is going nowhere. A good way to get help unobtrusively is to look out into the hall for an experienced staff member and make eye contact and look like you want to talk. If that person is able to take the hint they will come over and ask you how things are going, thereby opening up a dialogue for you to relate your concern. This dialogue is like the Lead/Support dialogue and takes time to learn - but it is not difficult - and it is designed to help the student.
Therapy Rooms are to be used for just that - therapeutic support of our students in order to help them be successful. They are not to be used to punish or isolate a student under any circumstances. The ultimate goal any time you enter the Therapy Room with a student should be to get both of you back to the classroom instruction as soon as possible. That doesn't mean that your time in there with your student should be rushed - but this goal should be kept in the forefront.
- The Therapy Room is where you can utilize your LSCI (Life Space Crisis Intervention) skills. Who goes into the Therapy Room with your student will depend on the circumstance. Sometimes it will be the Support Teacher, sometimes the Lead Teacher and sometimes it will be someone who answers the call button request. If a Support or Lead takes a student out and brings them back - when they return to the room, the Teacher that is with the student should dialogue with the other Teacher in room that the student had a successful Therapy Room session, they understand the consequences they face and they are ready to be back with the group. If some other adult takes a student out and brings them back they should engage in that same type dialogue, both Teachers should welcome the student back in to the classroom. Do NOT bring up any sordid details right now - do NOT talk about how they spit and kicked and screamed. If they are ready to be back in the classroom it is because the two of you worked together to make that happen - don't sabotage their success.
Although each visit to the Therapy Room will be different, Here are some basic guidelines for a Therapy Room visit:
- Wait. Give them a minute or two if they need it. Some kids will need to yell and some kids will attempt to shut down. Acknowledge their feelings.
- Get them to tell you their side of the story without interrupting, judging or correcting them. Remember - you have asked them for THEIR view and that is what you are getting. It may not be how you remember it, but that is not unusual - it is how they remember it.
- Listen attentively and try to learn the basis of their current problem.
- Using therapeutic talk, try to help them to see how their behavior factored into the problem.
- Help them to devise ways to better approach this problem in the future. Give them some strategies and coping skills to use.
- Prepare them to return to the classroom. Inform them of any possible consequences. "You have done a wonderful job working through your problem, Billy - you know there are probably going to be some consequences for you to face." If you have been in there awhile, let them know that the class is probably not doing what they were when you left. "Billy you have done a great job in the Therapy Room and you are ready to get back with your group. I know that they will be glad to have you back with them, but I think that they have gone to recess and I think you still had some Math to finish up." If they have had a conflict with a student let them know what you expect of them upon their return to class. "Billy, now you know that Bobby will be in class and that you are going to have to walk right by him in order to get to your seat. Have you thought about how you are going to handle that?" And, of course, after your magnificent therapy session, Billy will reply, "I will walk by and ignore him if he says or does anything to try to upset me."
If a student starts to shut down in the Therapy Room you need to do what you can to get them to talk. There are different techniques for getting students to open up - but one size does not fit all - each situation will be unique. There is no doubt that you will have some frustrating Therapy Room visits, but you can't give up on the student.
Teachers should not be using any electronic devices or reading while they are with a student in the Therapy Room. It sends a terrible message of uncaring behavior toward a student who needs to be helped over a hurdle so that they can get back to class. Students should not be allowed to sleep in a Therapy Room. Ask for help if you encounter a Therapy Room session that is going nowhere. A good way to get help unobtrusively is to look out into the hall for an experienced staff member and make eye contact and look like you want to talk. If that person is able to take the hint they will come over and ask you how things are going, thereby opening up a dialogue for you to relate your concern. This dialogue is like the Lead/Support dialogue and takes time to learn - but it is not difficult - and it is designed to help the student.