Dr. Ross Greene

Dr. Greene responded to a variety of emailed questions on today's program, including several related to difficulties wording unsolved problems on the Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems.  Relevant (and hopefully helpful) guidance was provided!

If you're solving problems collaboratively with students, how will they know their behavior is unacceptable?  Is punishment the only way to get the job done? Is the Empathy step only for the "really challenging" students.  All this and more on today's Educators Panel.

If you're familiar with Dr. Greene's model, then you already know that understanding and helping behaviorally challenging students begins with the Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems.  On today's program, the staff at Anytown Elementary received some assistance in using this instrument.

You can get away with Plan A with students who have the emotion regulation skills to handle it, but why would you want to? And if you've used Plan A with behaviorally challenging students without setting them off, consider yourself lucky.

On today's Educators Panel, one of our panel members indicated that some of the staff in her school have lately been calling for a return to traditional discipline for students whose behavior problems have persisted despite the use of Plan B. Other Panel members helped her think through why Plan B may not have been achieving the desired outcomes with those students, and all signs pointed toward the need to be using Plan B proactively rather than emergently.

Today we began a new feature on this program: Dr. Greene is going to begin working with an elementary school in western North America to help them solve problems collaboratively...and the best part is that they'll be recording their use of Plan B and Dr. Greene will be playing the recordings and providing feedback live on the program! Today we got to know them a little...they've been working very hard with their behaviorally challenging students already and trying to overcome many of the hurdles (time, doubts) that go along with transforming school disciplinary practices.  Welcome aboard, Anytown Elementary!

How do we do a better job of understanding and helping students with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges in our schools...while simultaneously feeling like we're "holding kids accountable"...while attending to the diverse needs of other students...while trying to make sure they all do well on high-stakes testing?  Not by simply increasing detentions, suspensions, and expulsions or referring behaviorally challenging kids into the judicial system!  In this program, Dr. Ross Greene -- author of The Explosive Child and Lost at School, and originator of the Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) approach -- helps you view challenging behavior in a more compassionate, accurate, productive manner and intervene more effectively. If you want to learn more about his model, have questions about how to get the ball rolling on using the model in your building or classroom, or are having difficulty using the model with a particular student, this is your opportunity to get your questions answered and listen to how other educators are overcoming obstacles and aplying the model.  You can join in live -- the program airs every Monday at 3:00 pm Eastern time -- or listen to archives of past programs.

The Newtown tragedy has affected us deeply. On this program, Dr. Greene interviews Officer Jon Shapiro from the Maine State Police, Kathy Busquet, a finalist for Teacher of the Year in Maine, and Nina D'Aran, a principal in Maine, for their perspectives on the tragedy, how it has affected those around them, and what can be done to prevent future tragedies.

Dr. Greene's model is a breath of fresh air for some folks, but for others it's quite a leap from what they'd been thinking all along.  Some skepticism is to be expected from the latter group, because seismic shifts in lenses are rare.  The most persuasive way to get people moving in the right direction? Engage them in a discussion of students' lagging skills and unsolved problems with the ALSUP as the discussion guide.

With two of our three Educators Panel members pulled away because of schedule conflicts and emergent unsolved problems in their buildings, this was still an interesting, informative disucssion...including an answer to the following question: Why would we want to deprive any student -- including the not-so-challenging ones -- of the benefits of Plan B? This program is sponsored by Lives in the Balance (www.livesinthebalance.org).

On today's program, Dr. Greene covered the key themes of his model...a great refresher for those familiar with the model and great place to start for the unfamiliar.  But before he got to the key themes, he had a very interesting discussion with a classroom teacher who was having some difficulty working toward a mutually satisfactory solution.  

Having a productive meeting using the Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems should take about 50 minutes...assuming the participants aren't spending lots of time theorizing, hypothesizing, and story-telling. Are there other reasons the meeting could take longer? You'll have to listen to find out!

Now this was an interesting discussion!  On the November Edcuators Panel, the discussion centered on whether, in a school that is oriented toward solving problems collaboratively, there's still a place for traditional discipline practices with some students.  OK, this is one worth a listen.

Lots of questions to answer, and that's exactly what Dr. Greene did on this program...including one from an resource room teacher who badly wants to solve problems collaboratively with one of his students...but felt that the student wasn't letting him help. Plus lots more...

Dr. Greene responded to lots of questions on this program. Can a school nurse help a behaviorally challenging student who has alienated all of the other adults in the building (and is well down the path toward alienation as well)? Can adults solve problems collaboratively with students with significant delays in communication skills? Can a student with behavioral challenges do well in a school emphasizing obedience to rules and regulations...or is it time to consider a different school?