Are you looking for strategies to help students who exhibit sudden mood changes? If so, keep reading.
1. Give the student many chances for social and academic success.
2. Notify the student in advance when a change at school is going to happen (e.g., change in routine (schedule), special activities, end of one learning experience and beginning of another, etc.).
3. Give a consistent routine (schedule) for the student to enable stability.
4. Attempt several groupings to ascertain the situation in which the student is most comfortable.
5. Allow flexibility in meeting academic requirements when the student shows sudden or dramatic mood changes (e.g., allow more time, modify tasks, give help with tasks, etc.).
6. Separate the student from the peer who stimulates the sudden or dramatic mood change.
7. Teach the student problem-solving skills: (a) find the problem, (b) find goals and objectives, (c) create strategies, (d) create a plan for action, and (e) carry out the plan.
8. Teach the student to recognize a mood change so they may deal with it appropriately.
9. Maintain a pleasant/calm atmosphere that would lessen the possibility of sudden or dramatic mood changes.
10. Make the appropriate adjustments in their surroundings to prevent the student from experiencing stress, frustration, anger, etc.
11. Provide the student with sufficient time to make adjustments to learning experience changes, situations, etc., (e.g., give the student several minutes to move from one learning experience to another).
12. Do not criticize. On occasions where correcting the student, be honest yet compassionate. Never cause the student to feel bad about themselves.
13. Stop the occurrence of specific stimuli that cause the student to demonstrate sudden or dramatic mood changes (e.g., demanding situations, interruptions, competition, announcing test scores, abrupt changes, etc.).
14. Refrain from discussions or prevent stimuli in their surroundings that remind the student of unpleasant experiences/sensitive topics (e.g., divorce, death, unemployment, alcoholism, etc.).
15. Intervene early and often when there is a problem to prevent a more severe problem from happening.
16. Consider using an adaptive behavior management app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
17. Click here to learn about six bonus strategies for challenging problem behaviors and mastering classroom management.
18. Consider using a socio-emotional learning app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
19. Consider using an emotional intelligence app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
20. Consider using a school counseling app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
