Teaching the Concept of "Break" in the Classroom

As many of you know, I’m a classroom speech pathologist. Teaching speech, language, and communication in a classroom setting can be challenging when you have a larger group. On the other hand, when you have the opportunity to spend the whole school day with your caseload, you can make quite a difference in their lives. My favorite area to target is functional communication. It can give you the best payout and fast. When a child can communicate their basic wants and needs, his/her overall level of disruptive behavior decreases, leading to more learning and a better quality of life. Therefore a little work upfront can make your life much easier as a teacher.

One skill that eluded me for a while was the concept of a “break.” Support staff would come into my classroom when I had a significant behavior problem and tell me the solution was to teach my students to take a break before their frustration escalated. After they would leave, I often found myself wondering, “OK…where do I start?” The concept of taking a break is actually quite difficult in my opinion. Our students first have to have self-awareness that they are escalating and then they have to have the skills to request a break appropriately. I think it’s one of the most difficult functional communication skills.

I have compiled a list of things that have helped me teach this concept with my students.  Before I have to share that I am not a behavior analyst and these may not work for everyone.  It really isn't a step-by-step guide, but just helpful hints. With that said, here is what I have found works:

1. Teach the concept in isolation (1:1 or small group).  Functional communication skills are like any other subject, they need to be taught. So when you introduce your visuals and the concept, do so during a rotation group or when you have the child’s full attention. I have made this the sole goal of some of my lesson plans. My intention during my lessons was to teach the concept of a break. It made it so much easier to plan activities.

2. Teach the concept when your student is calm.  Your student will not be able to process new information in the middle of a tantrum.   During escalation, communication skills diminish and you will sound like the peanut gallery in the background.  Make sure you introduce this concept when the child is calm and as behavior free if possible. They will process the information much better.

3. The break area should be a comfortable, pleasurable experience (no time outs here!) Many times, I have had to remind myself that the break area is not a time out area. That gives it a negative connotation. Plus time-outs are no longer the go to for behavior management...and haven't been for some time!  It’s all about preventative strategies, positive behavior supports, and modifying the environment. With that said, if your break area is a chair in the corner, you may want to consider redecorating. Think pillows, stuffed animals, bean bag chairs, and weighted blankets. You can’t go wrong with fluffy and soft. Also the area should make your student feel secure, so it doesn’t have to be very big. It just has to be big enough to be comfortable and give them room to de-escalate. I should add that fluffy and soft works for the age group that I teach. For the older students, a break area may look very different, but have the same functionality.  Maybe your students like bean bag chairs and books?  It should make them feel safe, secure, and comfortable.

4. Use visuals. We all know students with communication disorders thrive with visuals. Since you will be teaching this skill like any other subject, you will need visual supports.  I use break cards.  Get them here FREE.  When my student is done working, I provide them with specific praise (e.g. "You sorted the colors.  Great job!") and then I provide them with whatever they were working for (i.e. a special toy, tangible reinforcer, etc.) and then immediately show them the break card and guide them to the break area.  I prompt them to take the break card to the area and tell them, "Awesome, now you get to have a break!"  The hope is that they will associate the break area with their reinforcers and teacher-free time.  It will be a positive experience.

5. Honor all requests initially and have a set fade plan.  Once some of your students understand the concept of a break, they may try to take a break during every possible opportunity.  It's great that they get the concept.  It's even more awesome that you have decreased the number of tantrums in your class, but there is also instruction that needs to happen.  When your student is first learning the concept, make sure you reinforce EVERY request.  Let them have as many breaks as they would like.  Reinforce them for requesting and follow through with a break.  Use a timer if you need to monitor the time they spend in the break area. After a while, you can start to fade the amount of breaks they have per day or activity.  Some teachers provide their student with a set number of break icons for the day.  Once they use all their allotted icons, they have no more breaks for the day.  This technique may work better for older students who have a little more awareness of what activities they may want to save their breaks for.   Also remember that the break area can be a reinforcer.  I have had students who really don't care for toys, candies, games, etc, but they love having teacher-free time in the break area.

If you have any other tips that have worked.  I would absolutely love to hear them below.  Share your wealth of knowledge (secret word!!).