Conduct an assessment to determine the reasons why students lack social skills so you can develop strategies to meet their individual needs. For example, students with emotional and behavioral disorders may be unable to connect with people or sustain relationships.
Decide what social skills training the students need, such as manners, developing and maintaining friendships, appropriate behavior in class, anger management strategies, conflict resolution skills and impulse control.
Develop social skills training strategies based on the learning styles of the students. For example, students with autism spectrum disorders have language developmental delays, difficulty maintaining conversations, no empathy and difficulty making friends. Students with autism may learn best primarily from visual teaching presentations.
Introduce the content of the program to the students and explain the benefits of learning social skills, such as being able to have better relationships with others. List desired behaviors such as attentiveness and a positive attitude. Explain how you will recognize and reward correct social interaction.
Form groups of three to five students who require similar social skills training. The groups enable students to practice with peers, watch others, and to receive teacher and peer feedback.
Use handouts to encourage discussion about when certain behaviors can be used. Provide two or more scenarios with right and wrong behaviors that students can role play. Provide specific praise and positive feedback and ask the students and their peers for input.
Identify the factors that will motivate students to pay attention to the training and encourage the students to try new behaviors. Add incentives such as individual or group points or tracking progress on a graph.
Motivate students to monitor their behavior and develop self-control. Prompt students to exhibit new behaviors with subtle hints and cues.