Documenting Student Behaviors

It is important to document specific behaviors related to students not previously identified with a special need or any kind of need. When a student has a drastic change in behavior, something is definetly wrong, and the situation needs to be looked into. In order to figure out what special needs a child has, the child's work needs to be documented over a period of time so that areas of difficulty can be identified. It is important to know how students are doing academically before deciding what kinds of services they need. It is important to have as much information as possible on these students in order to make the right decisions for them. Even if the students don't end up having special needs, it's important to know for sure. It's important to identify special needs as soon as possible so that students don't fall too far behind. It's important to document behaviors since certain behaviors are attributed to different disabilites. It's also important to document the severity(or mildness) of the behavior in order to know how mild or severe the case is. It's important to know how long these behaviors last, and how often they happen.

It's also important to know if these behaviors normally happen during a specific subject since it means that the student is having the most trouble in that subject area. If the behaviors are repetitive or ritualistic or even neurotic, it can be symptomatic of a mental disability. If the behaviors involve spasms, involuntary movements, jerks, etc., it can be symptomatic of a muscle/brain disorder. In my opinion, it's unprofessional, careless, and lazy not to document the behaviors or student work of any child that might have special needs. It may not be fun to document student behaviors, but it needs to be done for their sake.