Lesson Five | Review

Mr. Roberts and Miss Avila have followed the guidelines and modified their rules accordingly, but Mr. Roberts continues to struggle with one student. Ronald is a retained third grade student who has been suspended on multiple occasions for noncompliance with school and classroom rules. Ronald was in Miss Avila’s class three years earlier and she informed Mr. Roberts about her difficulties with Ronald. As a first grader, Ronald was so difficult to control that Miss Avila, simply allowed him to do what he wanted. She found that it was easier for her and he was actually more compliant with the rules when given choices. Ronald’s second and third grade teachers repeated the same sentiment. By the time Ronald entered the third grade he had over twenty discipline referrals and the office staff knew him by name. In fact, his teacher from last year warned Mr. Roberts against trying to get Ronald to follow the rules because Ronald would actually encourage the other students to misbehave.

Mr. Roberts decided to have a discussion with Ronald regarding his behaviors and asked Ronald what it was about the rules that made it difficult for him to follow them. Mr. Roberts found that Ronald’s reading ability was at the first grade level, and that Ronald really enjoyed the company of Chris, the young man who processed the discipline referrals. According to Ronald, Chris was “nice and let him talk.”

1. What is a possible explanation for Ronald’s difficulties with classroom rules?

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2. What can Mr. Roberts do to encourage Ronald to follow the classroom rules?