Response to Intervention Using
Personality Surveys & Research
Based Interventions
By Laura A. Riffel, Ph.D.
Give and Score the Student Learning Style
Survey- Select Student Color Based on Results:
RED
ORANGE
YELLOW
GREEN
LIGHT BLUE
INDIGO
PURPLE
TURQUOISE
BURGUNDY
PEACH
LIME GREEN
HOT PINK
Indigo Interventions
Based on Student Style Survey
Laura A. Riffel, Ph.D.
INDIGO
These students are emotionally over reactive, but usually are quiet and extremely cautious. They
are often too stimulated to perform well in school and anything that reduces their anxiety will
improve their performance. They frequently try to avoid things that most children find enjoyable
and are particularly susceptible to school phobia. Because of their quiet reserved demeanor,
teachers often do not recognize that they need special attention.
Recommendations for LOW Eagle and HIGH Rabbit Students:
•
Allow longer periods on a task for LOW Eagle students.
•
Educators should put less emphasis on praising LOW Eagle students after doing good work and
•
more emphasis on reassuring them before they begin work.
•
Give feedback to the LOW Eagle student in private.
•
Allow the LOW Eagle student to work individually as much as possible.
•
Use opportunities to do individual tasks to reward appropriate group participation.
•
The LOW Eagle student may have to be encouraged to be less cautious in responding to
•
questions and giving opinions.
•
Test or question the LOW Eagle student immediately after he or she has studied material.
•
Threats of negative consequences can be used effectively with LOW Eagle students.
•
Use subdued, "serious looking" materials with LOW Eagle students.
•
Avoid arousing (stimulating) the LOW Eagle student during school work.
•
Putting the LOW Eagle student under pressure to perform well may lower performance,
•
especially with difficult material.
INDIGO CONTINUED
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Details can be emphasized with LOW Eagle students.
Encourage the LOW Eagle student to initiate interaction.
Teachers in the lower grades should concentrate on making their instruction more
consistent with the learning styles of LOW Eagle students.
LOW Eagle students, especially girls, should be encouraged to act in a more extraverted
manner.
Praise the work that the High Rabbit student does well.
The threat of negative consequences is effective for High Rabbit student, but actual
punishment may be
harmful to their performance.
Avoid emotional experiences, especially negative ones, with High Rabbit students.
Avoid stress to perform well, especially on difficult tasks.
• Article that identifies what causes stress
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•
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Use relaxation techniques and desensitization for specific fears.
Discourage either extreme impulsivity or extreme caution, but do not allow the child to
go to the opposite extreme.
INDIGO CONTINUED
And
• A subdued, personal approach is called for with High Rabbit students.
• De-emphasize testing and evaluation of work for highly High Rabbit students.
• Give frequent tests rather than a single final exam.
• Avoid arousing (stimulating) the High Rabbit student emotionally during school work.
• Structure the High Rabbit student's time and environment as much as possible.
• When the High Rabbit student is upset, allow him or her to postpone work until another
time.
• Educators should give the highly High Rabbit student a good deal of emotional support.
• Elementary teachers, especially, should identify highly High Rabbit students and modify their
• teaching methods for them.
•
Low Porpoise
This child scored low on the Porpoise
Scale. Here’s what that means:
Conduct
• Very sociable, friendly, and seldom exhibit
hostility or aggression.
• Not very susceptible to serious psychological
disorders.
Acquire
• Learn easily from experience.
• Do better in school at all levels.
• Teachers find Low Porpoise students more
“teachable” and less troublesome.
Regulate
• Tend not to be disruptive and easy to
discipline.
Excitement
• Do not find high levels of stimulation
particularly enjoyable and therefore will tend
to less stimulating kinds of activities and will
have greater regard for the potential
consequences of their behavior.
Low Eagle
This child scored low on the Eagle
Scale. Here’s what that means:
Conduct
• Tend to work slowly and make few errors.
• Will appear to be very motivated and
attentive and will persist in most tasks.
Acquire
• Perform best under conditions of intermittent
reinforcement or feedback.
• Recall material better immediately following
learning or after a long delay.
• Typically do better in high school.
Regulate
• Respond to reward and punishment.
• Both reward and negative consequences
should be low key.
Excitement
• Perform more poorly under external stress.
• Arousal to stress relative to the Eagle trait is
primarily related to external stimulation
(noise, cognitive, challenge, problem solving).
• Low arousal in easy or difficult tasks.
High Rabbit
This child scored high on the Rabbit
Scale. Here’s what that means:
Conduct
• Are very sensitive to emotional stimuli, have
strong reactions to them, get upset easily and
are slow to calm down.
• Will often attempt to avoid situations that are
apt to be emotionally charged.
Acquire
• Approach learning in a more rigid and
compulsive manner.
• Can study for long periods on a regular basis.
Do better in high school.
Regulate
• Tend to be more receptive to punishment.
• Both reward and punishment need to be
somewhat more intense to affect.
Excitement
• More easily stimulated by emotional stimuli and often
perform poorly on tasks because they are overly stimulated
or motivated.
• External pressure will erode the performance. High arousal
level is best for easy tasks and relatively low arousal is best
for difficult tasks.
• Particularly susceptible to “test anxiety” and the
importance of tests should be down played with these
children.
p e r
Low P- Low E- High R
Channel competiveness into schoolwork
(E.g.: Token Economy, Reward menu, Student vs. Teacher
Rating Scale)
Allow to work for short time with frequent breaks.
Allow to work on creative projects as much as possible.
(Give choices on how to show mastery)
Stimulating punishments should be avoided.
Remind student about overall goal.
Encourage to “stop and think.”
Material rewards work best rather than social rewards.
(access to materials, stickers, school supplies etc.)
Use loud, stimulating activities to encourage.
Permission to copy as long as original author is cited "Riffel" copyright 2008
p e r
Anxious
Use anticipatory set lesson plans to connect learning to real life. (Hunter)
Use visuals such as Venn Diagrams, Webs, and logic models. (Marzano)
Use a variety of choices about different ways to show mastery.
Give verbal and visual clues about what’s important.
Teach mnemonics for remembering difficult facts.
Label appropriate behavior when noticed.
Use the student vs. teacher rating sheet.
Use token economy.
60 beats per minute music.
Yoga breathing exercise.
Permission to copy as long as original author is cited "Riffel" copyright 2008
p e r
Interventions
Friends Program (Barrett, 2002) Cognitive Behavior Therapy
program for children with anxiety disorders
http://www.friendsinfo.net/downloads/FRIENDSintrobookle
t.pdf
Permission to copy as long as original author is cited "Riffel" copyright 2008
Helping Students
with Low-Self
Esteem Climb
Toward Success
Laura A. Riffel
Self-esteem Gets “KILLED”
while kids are in school.
• 80% of first graders have high self-esteem,
• 20% of fifth graders and
• 5% of high students
– (J. Canfield)
Strengths
Academic
Social
Have the behavior
support team first focus
on the student’s
strengths- Develop at
least four strengths for
the team to focus on
while thinking of
interventions.
Needs
Academic
Social
Physical
Medical
Mental
Have the behavior support
team focus on any areas
where the student might
need interventions: Be sure
to think about:
•Academic needs
•Social needs
•Physical needs
•Medical needs
•Mental health needs
Settings and
situations
That might require
intervention?
Examples: After PE,
After hall pass,
before test, before
reading aloud, when
bored, when sick
• Behaviors you
targeted for
change
– Make sure they
are measurable
and observable.
What did the data show?
Look at your data:
What antecedents or setting events played into the behavior
appearance?
How often did the behaviors show up?
What consequences occurred in the environment after the behavior
occurred?
Antecedent
Behavior
Consequence
• What are your hypotheses?
– Does the data indicate these behaviors are
possibly due to low self-esteem?
•
•
•
•
Public Relations
Focus on the Four “P’s”
Proficiency
Power
Philanthropy
P
P
ublic Relations:
roficiency:
What skills can you give
this student to help them
relate better to others
socially?
What skills do they need to beef up
academically?
student with Low SelfEsteem
P
ower:
Use social autopsy sheets to help
student see where situations went
wrong.
P
hilanthropy:
Help this student do something
for others. A way to raise selfesteem is to help others less
fortunate.
Public Relations
• All students
need to feel that
they belong.
• Be their public
relations person
by letting their
appropriate
behavior earn
the class a
reward.
Some students who get
complimented….
Privately tell them:
• I know you are good at technology so I’d
like you to run the SmartBoard® for me
today while I work with the class.
Call on them for class reward:
• Act like it’s random- but call on the child to
give the answer to five problems that you’ll
do for the class instead of them having to
do it for homework.
Proficiency
• Many behavioral
issues occur
because the student
feels inadequate
academically.
• Pre-teach part of the
lesson in a study
session, an online
learning lab, or
resource room.
Assessments
• Look at previous assessments and
determine what areas the student is
lacking skill- “Do whatever it takes to get
that student caught up.”
Consider Learning Disabilities
• We don’t know what we don’t know- think
about it.
– A student may not know that everyone else
sees the letters right side up or without a halo
around it.
– Help them figure out what works specific to
themselves.
Power
• Give the child
the power to
control their
destiny by giving
them
independence.
• Using options,
teaching them to
think “How’s this
next decision
going to affect
me?”
Yoga
Karate
I know it sounds counterintuitive to teach a student karate- but it’s
all about “control” and “respect”- find a good instructor.
Social Autopsies
See www.behaviordoctor.org – forms and tools- social autopsy sheet
Philanthropy
• You will be surprised
that these students
are generally great
working with younger
students or students
with disabilities.
– Their behavior is
typically more
appropriate with
younger and less able
students.
Local Philanthropy
School Philanthropy
Once you
put the Four
P’s in Place
Your student will
PROSPER
Assignment Procedures
I wish you’d add some more detail
describing the main characters.
Way to go, I can’t wait to read it
again.
1. The way you used
in
2. personification
The spacing of your
3. The
action
words
this story
really you
cursive
handwriting
chosevisualize
made the
helped
reallyme
made it easy
climax
of the story
the
setting.
for me
to read.
very pivotal.
3-2-8 Paragraph
My Summer Vacation
This past summer I went to Paris, London,
and Venice. While I was in Paris I rode the
elevator up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I
bought a snow globe of the Eiffel Tower.
When I went to London, I saw the guards at
Buckingham Palace. I told my best knock,
knock joke to make the guard laugh. In
Venice, we rode in a gondola. The water in
the waterway was very smelly. I had a great
vacation in Paris, London, and Venice this
past summer.