Samuel Sennott is a doctoral student at Penn State and the co-creator of the Proloquo2Go app for iOS.  I have seen firsthand how nonverbal students can use this software to communicate, and I can’t overstate how phenomenal an impact it has made on their confidence and independence, let alone their communication skills.

Although Sennott is no longer with Proloquo2Go, he is continuing his work in the field of AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) with a research study focusing on the writing experience for middle school students who use AAC.

Further details (including how students and teachers can participate in the study) can be found on Sennott’s blog.

In the last “Words Mean Things” installment, I wrote about the unintended signals our words sometimes send.  At least this magnet doesn’t have that problem.

I debated saying something to the staff or manager in the store, but I realize that they most likely have zero input into or control over what stock is sold, and it would be a waste of time and energy for everyone involved.

On the other hand, I think a letter to corporate may be in order.  If you’d also like to share your thoughts on this merchandise with the management of Five Below, you can send a message to their corporate office in Philadelphia or contact them through Facebook.

In the sidebar, I keep a list of the different categories of posts.  One of them – Reform – I feel has been hijacked by folks who attempt to advance political or business agendas at the expense of children and teachers under the guise of “Education Reform”.  When I first applied that label to one of my posts, it was done with a good heart – I intended for my writing to be reflective of my desire to reform what I see as detrimental or ineffective educational practices.  In light of recent events, however, I would hate for anything I’ve written to be aligned or connected in any way with those who see public education solely as a means to a political end.

You won’t see the “Reform” category in my sidebar if you look there now.  I’ve deleted it and replaced it with a word I hope more accurately reflects my intentions: Progress.

Like I said, I feel it’s a small but important change, because after all, words mean things.

Recently, my son was playing with one of his birthday gifts, and I noticed this phrasing on the back of the package:

I’m real torn as to how I feel about this.  What are your thoughts?

Section I (to be filled out by professional):

Section II (to be filled out by teacher):

I’ll just leave this here for you to do with what you will.

Let’s backtrack. We already know that behavior generally serves one of four major functions, and that we have to find an alternate way to meet the function. Simple enough, right? The function is to help me deal with frustration or anger, the behavior we want to get rid of is swearing, and now we just have to figure out how to make it worth my while to knock it off.

But wait! What if we could alter environmental conditions such that I wouldn’t be as likely to curse as much – wouldn’t that be helpful? I’ve found that my fuse is a lot shorter when I’m sleep-deprived, so one of my first steps toward cleaning up my language was actually trying to get more sleep. I didn’t collect hard data on this, but I did notice that on where days I slipped up, I usually had only gotten about 4 or 5 hours of sleep the previous night. Anecdotally speaking, days that followed 6 or more hours of sleep were far less likely to see me curse. Also, I tended to swear more when I drove (my wife and I drive to work together, so this was relatively easy to address – she agreed to take the wheel some days when I just felt particularly worn down from work). This is called controlling the setting event (long-term lead-up to the behavior, like how much sleep I got) and antecedent (letting me ride shotgun).

The flipside to the antecedent, of course, is the consequence. Although the word has negative connotations, it really just means what occurs as a result of the behavior. We already addressed my most consistent consquence: I felt a little better about whatever was bugging me after swearing. Fair enough, but the other consequences were that my son was repeating me and my wife was severely agitated. The cons outweigh the pros here, and things needed to change.

Let’s review!

Setting event _____ leads to antecedent _____ leads to target behavior _____ leads to consequence _____.

If you can successfully fill in these blanks, you’ll have the tools to manage any undesired behavior – yours or somebody else’s. @JackieB, @audhilly, and anyone else who’s trying to break themselves (or a student) of a bad habit, this is one fill-in-the-blank worksheet that might be worth your while. Next time, we’ll add the final two components: time and reinforcement.

Shortly after I announced my victory post to the Twitterverse last Sunday night, Jackie inquired:

@garageflowers -As I’m trying to give something up, I’m wondering: how do you know it’s a broken habit? I’m still thinking about mine -a lot

My response well exceeded the 140 characters limit, but as I wrote, I got to thinking about the behavioral and psychological implications of my silly little experiment. Here are my responses, compiled & edited for clarity:

There’s no way to “tell” for sure; I just have learned to better control my impulses – over the last 20 years or so, cursing has become reflexive for me, and I first started this project about a month ago, so I’ve had quite a few false starts. I finally feel like I have more control; I’m better able to stop and think and choose words more carefully before just letting loose.

I don’t know what Jackie’s thinking about giving up, but if you (or your spouse, or kids, or students) find yourself in a similar situation, it may pay to shift your thinking a bit.

Old & Busted: Why do I/he/she/it do that?

The New Hotness: What function does this behavior serve?

Generally speaking, human behavior can be boiled down to attempts to serve one of four major functions:

1. It feels good (self-stimulation)
2. It gets us out of having to do something difficult or unpleasant (task escape/avoidance)
3. It gets (or keeps) us attention (um… pretty self-explanatory, I think)
4. It reduces pain or stress (yeah, this one too)

For me, I think cursing suited functions #1 and 4. Go on, get real angry then say the “F” word – it feels so nice and percussive in that labio-dental sort of way – there’s a reason why we say that instead of “rutabaga” or “sassafrass”, you know. Ridiculous as it sounds, it soothed me when I was frustrated, angry, or in pain. Unfortunately, my wife hates it, and my kid’s starting to repeat it. Intellectually, I know I should stop, but the instant gratification I receive from the behavior is too strong. So what’s a reflective, self-aware pottymouth to do?  In the short term…

1. Figure out the function, then find another way to serve that function
2. Determine an alternate, preferred behavior
3. Provide incentive to choose the preferred behavior over the target behavior

More in Part II…

I was introduced to rap the same way as many other white suburban kids my age – when Run-DMC and Aerosmith collaborated on a cover of “Walk This Way.” I was 9 and in fourth grade, and I ate it right up – that was my gateway into hip-hop.

By the time I hit high school I was discovering the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Clapton, Hendrix, and focusing on rock music, but in that five-year span from 1986 to 1991 I’d absorbed a lot of rap (mostly via Yo! MTV Raps)*, including Eric B & Rakim, Kool Moe Dee, KRS-One and Boogie Down Productions, EPMD, Digital Underground (featuring a pre-solo success Tupac), Ice-T, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, N.W.A., and my personal favorite, Public Enemy.

My inability to musically multi-task as a teenager shut me off to a lot of great stuff of all genres, I’m sure, and I regret that. Even with my blinders on, though, I managed to pick up on Cube, Snoop, Dre, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, the evolution of the Beastie Boys, and later, Biggie, Busta Rhymes, and Wu-Tang Clan.

These days, in addition to the classics, I’m listening to Madvillain and Little Brother, both of whom I discovered through eMusic.

There’s a reason I’m posting this, to be revealed in Part II. For now, I’m just trying to stir the pot a bit. If you’re with me, drop me a comment – who are your picks for top rap artists?  Who’s out there right now that’s good that isn’t getting radio play?

*I’m showing my age – I’m so old I remember when MTV showed music videos.

If you’re not sure what on Earth this has to do with education, technology, or psychology (as stated in the red bar above), go here for the backstory. I swear promise I’m trying to maintain focus and not let this become another e/n blog (this isn’t LiveJournal, after all).