The Effects of Teacher-Student Small Talk on Out-of-Seat Behavior

This paper presents the results of a function-based study initiated by a general education teacher to reduce a general education student's out-of-seat behavior. Procedures included direct observation, data collection, functional behavior assessment using a Functional Assessment Protocol (FAP; Schroeder, n.d.), hypothesis development, and creating an intervention based on the hypothesis. The intervention, adapted from Wong and Wong (2001), involved greeting the target student at the classroom door and engaging him in conversation on any topic with comments from the teacher ranging from compliments to encouragement, coupled with verbal prompts (subtle, but direct instructions regarding teacher expectations). The intervention reduced the student's out-of-seat behavior.