REM Sleep essays

REM Sleep essays REM, or rapid eye movement, sleep is a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as the paradoxical stage of sleep, the muscles are relaxed, except for minor twitches, during this phase. Although the muscles of the body are relaxed and considered temporarily paralyzed other systems of the body are very active. As one begins to fall asleep, the body goes through a series of changes. Gradually breathing slows, pulse rates begin to drop, and body temperature begins to decline. Quickly moving through the different stages of sleep, REM is eventually reached. While the back and forth movement of your eyes occurs (hence rapid eye movement), one enters a more active type of sleep. REM sleep is produced by the excretion of the chemical acetylcholine in the pons which is part of the brainstem. Other neurotransmitters (noradrenalin and serotonin) produced by other cells in the pons switch off the REM sleep. This formula is known as the reciprocal interac tion/activation-synthesis model. This model proposed that reciprocally interacting chemicals secreted in an elementary part of the brain that has nothing to do with complex mental functioning were responsible for the creation of dream images. Basically this is saying that the images were simply turned on and off and were not generated by any kind of motivation in the person. In this model, dreaming is simply an epiphenomenon of REM sleep. During the REM sleep, your pulse rate and breathing become irregular and the levels of adrenal and sexual hormones in your blood rise-as if you were in the middle of an intensely emotional or physically demanding activity. Muscles in the face and fingers begin to twitch, and temporary paralysis occurs within the arms and legs. The waves sent to the brain closely resemble those of an awake and active person. The Rapid Eye Movement stage tends to last from 15 to 45 ...

Improving Student Behavior With Behavior Contracts

Improving Student Behavior With Behavior Contracts Behavior contracts that describe appropriate replacement behavior consequences and rewards can really help students succeed, eliminate problem behavior and build a positive relationship with the students teachers. Contracts can eliminate the never-ending battle of wits that begins when a student engages the teacher and the teacher gets hooked. Contracts can focus the student and teacher on the good behavior rather than on the problems. A behavior contract can be a positive intervention to avoid the need to write a Behavior Intervention Plan. If a childs behavior merits a check in the Special Considerations section of the IEP, federal law requires that you conduct a Functional Behavioral Analysis and write a Behavior Intervention Plan.  If another intervention can prevent the behavior from getting out of control, you can avoid a lot of work as well as possibly needing to call an additional IEP team meeting. What Is a Behavior Contract? A behavior contract is an agreement between a student, their parent and the teacher. It spells out the expected behavior, the unacceptable behavior, the benefits (or rewards) for improving behavior and the consequence for failing to improve behavior. This contract should be worked out with the parent and the child and is most effective if the parent reinforces the appropriate behavior, rather than the teacher. Accountability is an important part of the success of a behavior contract. The components: Participants: Parent, Teacher, and Student. If both parents participate in the conference, more power to them! It is clearly an indication that they will support your effort. If you are in a middle school and other teachers besides the special educator will be enforcing the plan, they all need to sign off on the contract. Finally, the student should be consulted, especially about the rewards. What is a fitting reward for proving that they can improve their school behavior?The Behavior: Describing the behavior negatively (stop hitting, stop speaking out of turn, stop swearing) will focus on the behavior that you want to extinguish. You need to be sure that you are describing the replacement behavior, the behavior you want to see in its place. You want to be rewarding the student for the behavior that you want to see, rather than punishing the behavior you do not want to see. Research has proven conclusively that punishment doesnt work: it makes a behavior disappear temporarily, but th e minute the punisher leaves, the behavior will reappear. It is important that the replacement behavior serves the same function as the behavior you with to eliminate. Raising your hand doesnt replace calling out if the function of calling out is to get attention from peers. You need to find a behavior that will also provide appropriate attention. Data collection: How will you record when wanted or unwanted behavior has occurred? You may have a student self-monitoring protocol, or even a teacher checklist or teacher record sheet. Often it can be as simple as a three by five-inch note card taped to the desk, where the teacher can place a star or a check for appropriate behavior.The Reward: You need to be sure that you establish both the reward and the threshold for getting the reward. How many inappropriate behaviors are allowed and yet the student can still earn the reward? How long does the student need to exhibit the behavior before the student earns the reward? What if the student backslides? Does he or she still get to keep credit for the success that preceded it?Consequences: If the behavior you are targeting is problematic and can potentially inhibit the success not only of the student in question, but for the whole class, it needs to have consequences. The consequences also need to kick in when a certain threshold is me t. In most cases, the success of exhibiting the replacement behavior, along with the praise and positive emphasis that should accompany the success, it shouldnt need to be instituted. Still, if a behavior disrupts the classroom and puts other children at risk, the consequence needs to be one that returns peace to the classroom and makes the other children safe. It may be to remove the child from the room, or move the child to the quiet corner. Signatures: Get everyones signature. Make a big deal about it, and be sure that you keep a copy of the contract handy, so you can refer to it when you want to either motivate or redirect the student. Instituting Your Contract Be sure that everything is in place before you begin the contract. How will the parents be informed and how often? Daily? Weekly? How will parents be informed of a bad day? How will you know for sure that the report has been seen? What is the consequence if the reporting form is not returned? A call to Mom? Celebrate Success! Be sure to let the student know when you are pleased when they are having success with their contract. I find that often the first few days are very successful, and it usually takes a few days before the there is any backsliding. Success feeds success. So be sure to let your student how happy you are when they do succeed.