Creating a Classroom Staff Crisis Plan

Having a plan of action when it comes to anything, is, well... it's ideal. We commend you if you are someone that plans everything! Now, for those of us living in the real world, sometimes we fly by the seat of our pants. Don't worry, we won't tell. 

But, there are just some things that necessitate planning ahead of time and being prepared, and one of those things is crisis behaviors. When we talk about a crisis, we are talking about those moments where you forget your first name, don't know who is supposed to be doing what, chairs are flying, and punches are being thrown. Sorry, but your sixth grader who won't stop cracking inappropriate jokes in the middle of your math lesson is not a crisis. I'm talking about times when safety is now a worry. We are defining a crisis as something that involves behaviors that risk harm to self, others, or the environment. 

Whenever there is a behavior of concern that puts that student or others in danger, you need to sit down with your team and develop a series of steps that you will take in order to keep everyone safe. If your student does not have a behavior intervention plan with this already laid out, talk to your school psychologist or behavior specialist about your concerns. The type of crisis plan we are talking about in this post though is a STAFF plan. Some behavior intervention plans lay out what the staff should be doing in regards to the student, but not always the rest of the class. 

What happens when you try to come up with a plan DURING a problem behavior: 

• Adults start to panic because they don't know what they are supposed to do
• Other students might accidentally put themselves in danger because they see the adults panicking 
• Staff that mean well might try to intervene and get hurt
• You may inadvertently reinforce the behavior
• The scene it might cause could embarrass the child 
• Without a plan that takes their history into consideration your reaction may be more harmful than helpful (yes, it can be very easy to re-traumatize a child)

What should I include in my staff or classroom-wide crisis plan?

• Start signal - Discuss what signal or word you will use to alter one another that you are starting the crisis plan. Many classrooms come up with a code word. Gestures aren't the best because adults won't always be looking at you when a crisis starts. Whatever you come up with, make sure you all are clear on how you will announce it. We recommend calmly and quietly (but loud enough for your staff to hear) giving your signal. If you yell it across the room, you could increase student and staff anxiety which is the opposite of what you want to do. Take some deep breaths, stay calm, and give your signal. 
• Who will intervene - It is important to establish which person will be working through the crisis with the child and which staff will be responsible for the other children. Will you have a point person? If so, how will you determine who that is? In our program whomever was with the child during the start of the crisis takes the lead. This will all depend on how comfortable your staff are with working through this and if they have been sufficiently trained or not. We really recommend this part be well established so that you don't have unnecessary amounts of staff trying to help or people trying to help that really aren't prepared. However, if you are in a school or program where you don't have many adults around, you may need to extend the training to as many staff as possible just in case. 
• When to intervene - All staff need to know when they are to intervene. Maybe you decide that after two minutes into the crisis it is okay to step in and help. Maybe you decide that you will simply ask the person if they need help. Asking if someone needs help is easy and explicit. The person working through the crisis is able to say 'yes' or 'no' and then you can move along or stay and help depending on their answer. And please, for the love of all things behavior, do not intervene if there are already 10 people surrounding the poor kid! Thanks, but no thanks. 
• How to intervene - When you have decided the who, and the when, decide how staff will intervene. Do you want them standing back in case you need them? You want them helping you block access to things? Do you want them taking care of the rest of the students, but keeping an eye on whomever is taking charge? Should they talk? Not talk? (Hint...less talking). 

1. Now write all that down  - You want something to refer back to so staff have explicit instructions on what to do and what not to do. This is your teaching tool. You can even create a visual to go along with it if you are tech-savvy. 

2. Train on it!  - This is the time where you role-play lovers get to shine. Run through some practice scenarios so your staff become fluent in responding appropriately. There is a reason why we do fire drills and earthquake drills so much. We want it to become muscle memory and second nature. There is no time to stop and think when fists are flying. Make it fun! Bring candy and make a thing of it. This is the time to really get each other asking questions and playing devil's advocate. It will only help you make your plan that much stronger. 

3. Do your best to debrief - This part is easy to forget or not make time for, but it is one of the most important pieces. Gather your staff and take 5 minutes at the end of the day to go over what happened. Give positive feedback to staff that followed the plan or did their best to follow it. It's okay to give corrective feedback to, but do it in a solution-based way and don't point fingers. You can say, "Hey! We did a really great job keeping the other student's safe today by taking them to the library. One think we might need to review is our code word." This type of discussion can quickly go down a rabbit hole and turn into a 30 minute vent session. Keep the group on track and try your best to steer clear of admiring the problem. 

4. Give yourself grace - If you are new to this whole crisis scenario thing, that's okay! We all were new at one point. It can be scary, but if you have a plan you will be better able to navigate it without feeling like a complete mess. Give yourself grace for things not to be perfect. Behavior change can be a long, hard, bumpy road, but we are in this together!