Lost at School, By Dr. Ross Green

Thank you for joining the Student Support book study, "Lost at School." I will be moderating this book study through Twitter and from this newsletter. No need to show-up at the SDC, attend a class or even get out of your pajamas. My goal is this book study will change the way you look at behavior in your classroom or on your campus and shift your emphasis from behavior management to relationship management.

Make sure to access this link to complete registration for this course.

1. Create a Twitter account

2. Follow me on Twitter @TISD_StudentSupport

3. Post your first Tweet "I am ready to learn #TomballBook"

I will post questions every Monday throughout the duration of the book study from the @TISD_StudentSupport account with #TomballBook. Simply, search for #TomballBook to find the questions. Once you find the questions, "Retweet with Comment" and add your answer. This will allow you to respond the question. Don't worry, I will post a lot of examples. You will get the hang of it. Always put #TomballBook in your replies or Tweets.

Every participant is expected two post twice for each question to earn credit at the end of the book study. A response, could be providing an answer to a question, responding to another participant's comments on Twitter. Make sure to all use #TomballBook in your responses

Click here to complete your course registration and to enter you Twitter name.

Email: michaelwebb@tomballisd.net
Website: https://www.tomballisd.net/apps/pages/curriculum-departments/student-support/
Phone: (281)357-3041
Twitter: @TISD_StudentSupport

June 10th. Introduction, Chapters 1 - 3.

June 17th. Chapters 4 - 5.

June 25th. Chapters 6 - 7.

July 2nd. Chapters 8 - 9.

July 9th. Complete.

Lives in the Balance website with ALSUP and video resources

ALSUP Printable and fillable form

1. What was your reaction to the incident involving Joey introduced in the first chapter? Who seems to be suffering in this narrative? Why?

Do you believe anyone was at fault for what happened? Do you think any of the staff members could have reacted differently to Joey?

2. What is the basic premise of the book – what does Dr. Greene believe to be the main problem facing kids with behavioral challenges? Why are they not behaving themselves according to Dr. Greene?

3. What does the author say about the current state of our discipline system? How does it or doesn’t it serve students who behave well? What about students with behavioral challenges? Why or why not? Do you agree/disagree and why or why not? What do you think works and doesn’t work with your current disciplinary system?

4. How is Dr. Greene’s philosophy of children (“Kids do well if they can”) different from the prevailing view (“Kids do well if they want to”)? How do these differing views affect the way adults approach behavioral issues? Does you school seem to favor the former or latter view? How do your school policies or practices reflect the prevailing view about children? What can you tell about the teacher’s (Mrs. Woods) philosophy and the other staff member’s philosophies about challenging kids based on their reactions to Joey’s incident?

5. Dr. Greene proposes a long list of life skills that kids with challenging behavior are lacking. What is your response to this list? Which items stand out or resonate for you and your experience with challenging students? Would you add any life skills to this list that seem to be missing? Are any of the items confusing?

6. Looking at the list of possible lagging skills. How does this compare to the diagnoses we are used to seeing in kids with challenging behavior (ADHD, bipolar disorder, etc.)? Why does the author prefer not to use these diagnoses? Can you explain the following quote from the book -- “pills don’t teach skills.” Do you agree or disagree? Why?

7. Dr. Greene describes two culprits of children’s challenging behavior -- lagging skills and unsolved problems. What is the difference between them? What does the author believe should be the first step in addressing challenging behavior and how can the ALSUP tool help?

8. When teachers’ expectations are unmet, they often respond with Plan A. What exactly is this plan? Even if teachers have been successful with this plan, why does Dr. Greene say this approach still contains flaws? What has been your personal experience with Plan A – do you use it frequently? Do you consider yourself to use it “nicely”? How is Plan A different from simply communicating an expectation?

9. What are some of the benefits of using Plan B to address problems with kids? What are the three steps involved in Plan B? How do these differ from approaches you’ve used (even casually) or read about? What do you anticipate might be some obstacles to doing the three steps involved in Plan B? What are the most important benefits of the Empathy step? What might make this step hard to implement?

10. In the continuation of the Joey story from pp.92-108 we see some of Plan B taking place. What were the actions and words in the narrative that you think will contribute to making this a successful plan? Is there anything else you think the staff members should have said or done? What concerns do you have about the new plan?

11. On p. 208 Mrs. Woods attempts to use Plan B with her entire class to address a class issue. If you want to use Plan B with a group, what groundwork needs to be in place to make sure it’s successful? What is your reaction to how Plan B plays out with her entire class? Do you think this would work with any age group? Would it need to be modified? If you were to ask the same open-ended question as Mrs. Woods does about the kids in her class not getting along, what types of issues do you imagine would surface in your class?

12. Overall, how did you feel about the resolution of Joey’s challenging behavior? Does it seem realistic? Does it seem translatable to other kids in other situations?

13. How can you imagine Collaborative Problem Solving/Plan B working in your school? What would have to happen for your school to implement this? What obstacles would have to be overcome? Which students can you think of right now who would benefit?