For the last week, I have been blogging about Dr. Ross Greene and his
approach to handling challenging kids. His focus has been on lagging skills,
and unsolved problems occur when those skills are outstripped by the demands of
the environment. Problems are solved when the adults and kids look at the
skills that are lagging and come up with solutions together. It has been an eye
opener because as I revisit and write about what I've learned, I have come to
realize it's not much different than what happens inside these
walls.
Bridgeway has been focusing on skills deficits when it
comes to behaviour for years. When there is a behaviour issue at our
school, students are asked to see our behaviour specialist. They sit together,
discuss the situation and work together to come up with solutions. Over time,
behaviours start to become less frequent.
But the focus on
skills doesn't stop at the behaviour room. Because all of our students have
learning disabilities, they all have skill deficits, whether it's in math,
reading, social skills or behaviour. Every teacher and staff member focuses on
the student and the skills that she/he may be lacking. Reading classes teach
the child at the skill level they're at, and work to build those skills. Social
skills classes help children learn the skills that they haven't developed
because of where they are in their cognitive development. Teachers in
curriculum know what skills deficits each child is facing, and adapts their
teaching to accomodate.
How do we know where to start? Each of
our students comes to us with a psycho-educational assessment, which is a
professional measure of their skill deficits (and strengths) done by a
psychologist. We do some additional testing so we can develop just the right
balance of support of skills and use of strengths in a student's individual
program. We keep working with a skills focus until kids start to learn - and
succeed! It's a pretty amazing thing.
Of course, skills development can benefit any child, not just the ones inside Bridgeway. That's why we started Turning Tides Community Outreach. Through this program, we can offer social skills supports to children and youth in the community through after school or summer camp programs. We can also offer academic and organizational skills suppots to children and adults through our tutoring programs. And we can help parents and teachers support those new skills by providing them with training. For more information on how we might be able to help you or your family, contact the Turning Tides office at 902-404-TIDE (8433).
Rhonda
Wednesday 14 December 2011
Tuesday 13 December 2011
Plan B - Or solving unsolved problems together
Finally, we're at the meat of Dr. Greene's presentation - helping challenging kids to be less challenging. I'm sorry to have
been so long-winded on this one, but wanted to share the information I have
learned. I'm going to tie Dr. Greene's approach to Bridgeway and Turning Tide's approach soon,
but first I wanted to get into some detail on Plan B. I can't cover it all, so
if you're interested in learning more, please check out Dr. Greene's website or pick up
his books - The Explosive Child and Lost at
School.
Rhonda
Plan B is the collaborative problem solving approach I mentioned a few days ago, and is the recommended approach to helping a challenging child with lagging skills. This approach makes the child a fully-invested participant, solutions are more durable, and (over time), the child - and often the adult - learn the skills they were lacking all along.
A quick note now on when the best time to start this process would be. It's not in the middle of a heated moment, which would be reactive intervention. Plan C might be a better approach in those moments. Instead, Plan B is most effective when it's done proactively, or when things are calm.
There are three basic steps in the Plan B process, with the first being the Empathy step. The goal is to gather as much information as you can to get the clearest possible understanding of the kid's concern or perspective on a given unsolved problem. Ask the child what they're being bugged about or getting in trouble for - those are the unsolved problems! Stay neutral, but get specific - when, where, with whom, etc.
Now kids aren't always going to open up, and Dr. Greene has some suggestions for drilling for information. I won't get into the details here, but he has some terrific "How To" videos on his site. You can see those here. He also has a Plan B Cheat Sheet worth checking out too.
So once the information is gathered, it's time for the next step - Define the Problem. The goal of this step is to ensure the adult's concern or perspective is entered into consideration. The definition of the problem at this stage is - two concerns that have yet to be reconciled. This is tough because as adults, we usually want to skip this part and go straight to solutions. Kids tend to do the same thing, triggering what's called dueling solutions - also known as a power struggle. You can't start thinking about solutions until the concerns of both parties are clarified.
The third and final step is The Invitation Step. The goal here is to brainstorm solutions that will address the concerns of both parties. It's called the invitation step because the adult is inviting the child to solve the problem together. You want to address the concerns of both parties, and offer the child an opportunity to propose solutions. Remember, you're not a genius - you don't know how the problem will be solved.
Solutions should be realistic and mutally satisfactory. It will take time, and it's hard! Don't forget, the aim isn't to determine what happens in the heat of the moment, but solve the problem so the heat of the moment doesn't occur at all.
So that's it! There is a lot more detail available in Dr. Green's books or his website, and if this feels like something you'd like to try, I'd encourage you do check it out. But you will need bravery, persistence and continuity. As Dr. Greene says, you'll need practice, and the process is incremental.
Good luck!
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Rhonda
Plan B is the collaborative problem solving approach I mentioned a few days ago, and is the recommended approach to helping a challenging child with lagging skills. This approach makes the child a fully-invested participant, solutions are more durable, and (over time), the child - and often the adult - learn the skills they were lacking all along.
A quick note now on when the best time to start this process would be. It's not in the middle of a heated moment, which would be reactive intervention. Plan C might be a better approach in those moments. Instead, Plan B is most effective when it's done proactively, or when things are calm.
There are three basic steps in the Plan B process, with the first being the Empathy step. The goal is to gather as much information as you can to get the clearest possible understanding of the kid's concern or perspective on a given unsolved problem. Ask the child what they're being bugged about or getting in trouble for - those are the unsolved problems! Stay neutral, but get specific - when, where, with whom, etc.
Now kids aren't always going to open up, and Dr. Greene has some suggestions for drilling for information. I won't get into the details here, but he has some terrific "How To" videos on his site. You can see those here. He also has a Plan B Cheat Sheet worth checking out too.
So once the information is gathered, it's time for the next step - Define the Problem. The goal of this step is to ensure the adult's concern or perspective is entered into consideration. The definition of the problem at this stage is - two concerns that have yet to be reconciled. This is tough because as adults, we usually want to skip this part and go straight to solutions. Kids tend to do the same thing, triggering what's called dueling solutions - also known as a power struggle. You can't start thinking about solutions until the concerns of both parties are clarified.
The third and final step is The Invitation Step. The goal here is to brainstorm solutions that will address the concerns of both parties. It's called the invitation step because the adult is inviting the child to solve the problem together. You want to address the concerns of both parties, and offer the child an opportunity to propose solutions. Remember, you're not a genius - you don't know how the problem will be solved.
Solutions should be realistic and mutally satisfactory. It will take time, and it's hard! Don't forget, the aim isn't to determine what happens in the heat of the moment, but solve the problem so the heat of the moment doesn't occur at all.
So that's it! There is a lot more detail available in Dr. Green's books or his website, and if this feels like something you'd like to try, I'd encourage you do check it out. But you will need bravery, persistence and continuity. As Dr. Greene says, you'll need practice, and the process is incremental.
Good luck!
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Monday 12 December 2011
So what skills should we be focusing on?
So we've figured out that lagging skills are behind challenging behaviours,
and they emerge when the demands in the environment outstrip the skills a child
has (aka, The Unsolved Problem). We can't move on to coming up with solutions
until we figure out what skills might need support. How to do that? Dr. Greene
has a solution. Read on for more info.
Rhonda
To help us figure out what lagging skills we might be dealing with, Dr. Greene has developed a one-page assessment tool he swears we can all use - the ALSUP, or Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems. It's a list of lagging skills and unsolved problems. Where do you get your hands on one? Right here. Dr. Green has made this tool and several others available on his website www.livesinthebalance.com. I would definitely encourage you to go to the site and explore - after you're finished reading this blog, of course!
So why fill out the ALSUP? It's to engage us (the adults) in a conversation, and helps us focus on the things we can actually do something about. Dr. Greene suggests that the goal is to have a meaningful discussion about the degree to which each lagging skill applies to a particular child. If you identify a lagging skill, the next step is to identify examples of when you're seeing it (the unsolved problems, which are conditions in which behaviours are occuring) and the degree to which it's occuring.
Once that conversation has taken place, you can then move on to finding new ways to handling unsolved problems. Dr. Greene identifies three options - Plan A, Plan B and Plan C.
I'll start with Plan A. This is the imposition of adult will, and you're doing it if you're saying "No," or "You can't" or if you're insisting tasks are completed, or you're taking away things like TV time until something is done. This is pretty common, and won't generally set the stage for challenging behaviour in an ordinary kid. However, Plan A is not the preferred approach for challenging kids, despite the name. In fact, it's more likely to cause an explosion. Why is that? Because as Dr. Greene points out, challenging kids don't have a Plan A brain. If the child doesn't have the skills to handle Plan A, you've placed a cognitive demand on him that outstrips his capacity to respond appropriately. Plan A doesn't usually help to get the homework or other tasks done, and isn't helping the child to be more flexible, tolerate frustration more adaptively or solve problems more effectively. It just sets the stage for more explosions. The common sense solution - if Plan A isn't working, stop using it.
I'm going to skip Plan B for a moment and go straight to Plan C. That's when you drop expectations completely, at least temporarily. This isn't the same as giving in. That's when you start with Plan A and throw your hands up in frustration. With Plan C, you're intentionally and proactively decided to drop a given expectation, either because it's unrealiztic or you have other higher-priority expectations to pursue. This can be really hard, but if you're not dealing with the explosions, you can start working on development of other skills. Which leads us to...
Plan B! This is the plan Dr. Greene refers to Collaborative Problem Solving. It's fairly detailed, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to make you wait one more day for more info!
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Rhonda
To help us figure out what lagging skills we might be dealing with, Dr. Greene has developed a one-page assessment tool he swears we can all use - the ALSUP, or Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems. It's a list of lagging skills and unsolved problems. Where do you get your hands on one? Right here. Dr. Green has made this tool and several others available on his website www.livesinthebalance.com. I would definitely encourage you to go to the site and explore - after you're finished reading this blog, of course!
So why fill out the ALSUP? It's to engage us (the adults) in a conversation, and helps us focus on the things we can actually do something about. Dr. Greene suggests that the goal is to have a meaningful discussion about the degree to which each lagging skill applies to a particular child. If you identify a lagging skill, the next step is to identify examples of when you're seeing it (the unsolved problems, which are conditions in which behaviours are occuring) and the degree to which it's occuring.
Once that conversation has taken place, you can then move on to finding new ways to handling unsolved problems. Dr. Greene identifies three options - Plan A, Plan B and Plan C.
I'll start with Plan A. This is the imposition of adult will, and you're doing it if you're saying "No," or "You can't" or if you're insisting tasks are completed, or you're taking away things like TV time until something is done. This is pretty common, and won't generally set the stage for challenging behaviour in an ordinary kid. However, Plan A is not the preferred approach for challenging kids, despite the name. In fact, it's more likely to cause an explosion. Why is that? Because as Dr. Greene points out, challenging kids don't have a Plan A brain. If the child doesn't have the skills to handle Plan A, you've placed a cognitive demand on him that outstrips his capacity to respond appropriately. Plan A doesn't usually help to get the homework or other tasks done, and isn't helping the child to be more flexible, tolerate frustration more adaptively or solve problems more effectively. It just sets the stage for more explosions. The common sense solution - if Plan A isn't working, stop using it.
I'm going to skip Plan B for a moment and go straight to Plan C. That's when you drop expectations completely, at least temporarily. This isn't the same as giving in. That's when you start with Plan A and throw your hands up in frustration. With Plan C, you're intentionally and proactively decided to drop a given expectation, either because it's unrealiztic or you have other higher-priority expectations to pursue. This can be really hard, but if you're not dealing with the explosions, you can start working on development of other skills. Which leads us to...
Plan B! This is the plan Dr. Greene refers to Collaborative Problem Solving. It's fairly detailed, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to make you wait one more day for more info!
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Sunday 11 December 2011
Don't blame the parents - or the kids!
There was a time when challenging behaviour in children was linked to poor
parenting. There was a belief that behaviours due to passive, permissive,
inconsistent or non-contingent parenting (no consequences). In other words,
because of poor parenting, kids learned that challenging behaviour is an
effective means of getting something, or escaping or avoiding something. But
now that we know that challenging behaviours happen when the cognitive demands
being placed on the child outstrip his/her capacity to respond adaptively, we
know that our parenting isn't to blame. Finally, one less thing to feel guilty
about!
So now that we know why, what should we do about it? Here's a little bit more context and Dr. Ross Greene's solution - Collaborative Problem Solving.
RhondaSo we've figured out that lagging cognitive skills are the root of challenging behaviours, and challenging behaviours emerge when the lack of skills clashes with the demands of the environment. If the skills are there - no behaviour. If the skills aren't there, but there's no demand either - no behaviour. No skills and demand - challenging behaviour. That's pretty straightforward. But how do we fix it? That's the question that had me squirming in my seat at last week's presentation by Dr. Greene.
But he had a bit more information to share first. (And yes, it's another mantra!) Incompatibility episodes cannot be viewed outside the context of development. The goal of intervention is to move development forward. Cognitive skills don't develop equally - we have neuroscience to prove it - but they can be developed with intervention. But we have to start where the child is now to get to the endpoint. (In other words, it's not the child's fault their brain developed differently!)
OK, we're almost ready for the how, but not quite yet. Let's answer the last question - the one I mentioned wasn't as important as the rest - What do challenging kids do when they're challenging? Basically, there are a variety of challenging behaviours when the clash of forces occurs, distinguished primarly by their severity. That could be anything from whining and sulking to head banging, cutting, or suicide - and everything in between. All the things humans do in response to unsolved problems. Dr. Greene calls those behaviours The Spectrum of Looking Bad. We all look bad when our skills are outstripped by the demand placed upon us, it's just a matter of degree. Don't forget - the behaviour itself is less important than the reasons for the behaviour.
OK, so the how. I can't explain it all today (yep, you guessed it, another blog posting is coming your way!). Dr. Greene calls his approach to helping challenging kids collaborative problem solving. Sounds straightforward - working together to solve problems. But it's a little more detailed than that, and relies on the adults to take a proactive approach rather than a reactive approach. Details tomorrow, but here are the general goals of the approach:
Lenses come first
- make sure that caregivers understand why incompatibility episodes occur (lagging skills and demand for those skills).
Get organized
- identify the specific situations in which incompatibility episodes occur (unsolved problems)
- create mechanisms for communication, continuity and proactive intervention.
Get busy
- solve problems and teach skills,
Tomorrow, a bit more info on assessing lagging skills and unsolved problems.
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
So now that we know why, what should we do about it? Here's a little bit more context and Dr. Ross Greene's solution - Collaborative Problem Solving.
RhondaSo we've figured out that lagging cognitive skills are the root of challenging behaviours, and challenging behaviours emerge when the lack of skills clashes with the demands of the environment. If the skills are there - no behaviour. If the skills aren't there, but there's no demand either - no behaviour. No skills and demand - challenging behaviour. That's pretty straightforward. But how do we fix it? That's the question that had me squirming in my seat at last week's presentation by Dr. Greene.
But he had a bit more information to share first. (And yes, it's another mantra!) Incompatibility episodes cannot be viewed outside the context of development. The goal of intervention is to move development forward. Cognitive skills don't develop equally - we have neuroscience to prove it - but they can be developed with intervention. But we have to start where the child is now to get to the endpoint. (In other words, it's not the child's fault their brain developed differently!)
OK, we're almost ready for the how, but not quite yet. Let's answer the last question - the one I mentioned wasn't as important as the rest - What do challenging kids do when they're challenging? Basically, there are a variety of challenging behaviours when the clash of forces occurs, distinguished primarly by their severity. That could be anything from whining and sulking to head banging, cutting, or suicide - and everything in between. All the things humans do in response to unsolved problems. Dr. Greene calls those behaviours The Spectrum of Looking Bad. We all look bad when our skills are outstripped by the demand placed upon us, it's just a matter of degree. Don't forget - the behaviour itself is less important than the reasons for the behaviour.
OK, so the how. I can't explain it all today (yep, you guessed it, another blog posting is coming your way!). Dr. Greene calls his approach to helping challenging kids collaborative problem solving. Sounds straightforward - working together to solve problems. But it's a little more detailed than that, and relies on the adults to take a proactive approach rather than a reactive approach. Details tomorrow, but here are the general goals of the approach:
Lenses come first
- make sure that caregivers understand why incompatibility episodes occur (lagging skills and demand for those skills).
Get organized
- identify the specific situations in which incompatibility episodes occur (unsolved problems)
- create mechanisms for communication, continuity and proactive intervention.
Get busy
- solve problems and teach skills,
Tomorrow, a bit more info on assessing lagging skills and unsolved problems.
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Saturday 10 December 2011
The clash of two forces - Or when challenging kids are challenging
So are you starting to get the feeling that I really like Dr. Green and his
philosophies? It's common sense, but often hard for us to see when a child is
melting down in front of us. A little understanding definitely goes a long way,
so I'll be sharing Dr. Greene's wisdom for at least a few more
days.
Rhonda
So have you noticed that challenging kids aren't always challenging? They can work and cope in certain situations, but others will set off the negative behaviours. Why is that?
The answer, according to Dr. Greene, is "The Clash of Two Forces." Sounds dramatic, doesn't it? It's not really, just a bit of common sense:
Challenging episodes occur when the cognitive demands being placed upon a person outstrip the person's capacity to respond adaptively.
That's it. I'm sure we've all had moments when the circumstances we're in lead us to think, "I can't handle this." We're recognizing that we may not have the skills to do what we need to do.
Dr. Greene calls the "when" of challenging behaviour The Unsolved Problem. He defines unsolved problems as, the specific conditions in which the demands being placed upon a person exceed the person's capacity to respond adaptively. I'm not going to swim across the Halifax Harbour because I don't have the swimming skills and stamina to do it. Why should we expect a child with no emotional regulation skills to keep it together when they're feeling disappointed?
That leads us to another mantra - Behind every compatibility episode is a lagging skill and a demand for that skill (an unsolved problem).
When we're presented with an unsolved problem, we solve it. It's no different for challenging behaviours. That's the third question Dr. Greene presents (remember the list I shared a few days ago?) - What are we going to do differently now that we know why challenging kids are challenging? We'll get to that answer over the next few days.
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Rhonda
So have you noticed that challenging kids aren't always challenging? They can work and cope in certain situations, but others will set off the negative behaviours. Why is that?
The answer, according to Dr. Greene, is "The Clash of Two Forces." Sounds dramatic, doesn't it? It's not really, just a bit of common sense:
Challenging episodes occur when the cognitive demands being placed upon a person outstrip the person's capacity to respond adaptively.
That's it. I'm sure we've all had moments when the circumstances we're in lead us to think, "I can't handle this." We're recognizing that we may not have the skills to do what we need to do.
Dr. Greene calls the "when" of challenging behaviour The Unsolved Problem. He defines unsolved problems as, the specific conditions in which the demands being placed upon a person exceed the person's capacity to respond adaptively. I'm not going to swim across the Halifax Harbour because I don't have the swimming skills and stamina to do it. Why should we expect a child with no emotional regulation skills to keep it together when they're feeling disappointed?
That leads us to another mantra - Behind every compatibility episode is a lagging skill and a demand for that skill (an unsolved problem).
When we're presented with an unsolved problem, we solve it. It's no different for challenging behaviours. That's the third question Dr. Greene presents (remember the list I shared a few days ago?) - What are we going to do differently now that we know why challenging kids are challenging? We'll get to that answer over the next few days.
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Friday 9 December 2011
Kids do well if they can
The mantra - kids do well if they can - is one that I have been repeating to
myself over the last several weeks. The idea that even challening kids have this
innate desire to do well, rather falling into behaviours because they don't want
to do well, is so refreshing. But what is getting in the way? Again, some
advice from Dr. Greene...
Rhonda
Why are challenging kids challenging? You could look to a clinical diagnosis for the explanation - oppositional definance disorder, ADHD, bipolar, etc. - but it doesn't really answer the question. If we start with Dr. Greene's statement - kids do well if they can - it can help us look at a challenging child a different way.
The first step in the process is to stop focusing on the diagnosis and start focusing on the skills the child is lacking. Maybe they are impulsive, have difficulty considering the impact of their actions, or struggle with planning and problem solving. Maybe the behaviour is not because they don't have the motivation, but because they don't have the skills to deal with certain situations.
Imagine if you were trying to succeed at work but didn't have the skills to do what you needed to do. Would you be on time for work every day if you had no sense of time? Could you take on that big project if you didn't have problem solving or planning skills? How would you feel if you tried, over and over again, to get job tasks like these like this done, but kept failing - and getting in trouble for it?
Before we can get to the bottom of what is making any child so challenging, Dr. Greene suggests we must answer the following questions:
Challenging kids are challenging because they're lacking the skills not to be challenging...they are delayed in the development of crucial cognitive skills - often including flexibility/adaptability, frustration tolerance, and problem solving. Challenging behaviour communicates that the kid doesn't have the skills to respond to problems more adaptively.
So you can see why discipline and punishment doesn't work - it's not addressing the root of the problem. In fact, it's probably making it worse.
How can we help? We don't know that until we can get through the rest of the questions Dr. Greene has laid out. Tomorrow's blog - when are challenging kids challenging?
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Rhonda
Why are challenging kids challenging? You could look to a clinical diagnosis for the explanation - oppositional definance disorder, ADHD, bipolar, etc. - but it doesn't really answer the question. If we start with Dr. Greene's statement - kids do well if they can - it can help us look at a challenging child a different way.
The first step in the process is to stop focusing on the diagnosis and start focusing on the skills the child is lacking. Maybe they are impulsive, have difficulty considering the impact of their actions, or struggle with planning and problem solving. Maybe the behaviour is not because they don't have the motivation, but because they don't have the skills to deal with certain situations.
Imagine if you were trying to succeed at work but didn't have the skills to do what you needed to do. Would you be on time for work every day if you had no sense of time? Could you take on that big project if you didn't have problem solving or planning skills? How would you feel if you tried, over and over again, to get job tasks like these like this done, but kept failing - and getting in trouble for it?
Before we can get to the bottom of what is making any child so challenging, Dr. Greene suggests we must answer the following questions:
- Why are challenging kids so challenging?
- When are challenging kids challenging?
- What are we going to do differently now that we know why challenging kids are challenging?
- What do challenging kids do when they're challenging?
Challenging kids are challenging because they're lacking the skills not to be challenging...they are delayed in the development of crucial cognitive skills - often including flexibility/adaptability, frustration tolerance, and problem solving. Challenging behaviour communicates that the kid doesn't have the skills to respond to problems more adaptively.
So you can see why discipline and punishment doesn't work - it's not addressing the root of the problem. In fact, it's probably making it worse.
How can we help? We don't know that until we can get through the rest of the questions Dr. Greene has laid out. Tomorrow's blog - when are challenging kids challenging?
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Thursday 8 December 2011
Dealing with Challenging kids - Thank you Dr. Greene
For the next few days, we'll be featuring a guest blog by Rhonda Brown, Director of Communications at our sister organization, Bridgeway Academy. She attended a full-day presentation last month in Halifax by Dr. Ross Green, child psychologist and author of "The Explosive Child" and "Lost at School." She'll share her thoughts on what she learned here in the blog. You can also read about his philosophies on his website - www.livesinthebalance.org.
Enjoy!
By Rhonda Brown
I have always believed that kids who misbehave, disengage, drop out, or otherwise resist being successful in school are dealing with something more than a lack of interest, laziness or a failure to try. They actually lack the skills they need to be successful. It's a philosophy that Bridgeway shares, and that's why we focus on skill development (academic, social and behavioural) with our students. Dr. Greene shares this point of view - and has the neuroscience to back it up!
But don't take it from me. I'll have Dr. Greene explain in his own words, which are from the very first paragraph of his book, "Lost at School".
The wasted human potential is tragic. In so many schools, kids with social, emotional, and behavioural challenges are still poorly understood and treated in a way that is completely at odds with what is now known about how they came to be challenging in the first place. The frustration and desperation felt by teachers and parents is palpable. Many teachers continue to experience enormous stress related to classroom behaviour problems and from dealing with parents, and do not receive the support they need to help their challenging students. Half of teachers leave the profession within their first four years, and kids with behavioural challenges and their parents are cited as one of the major reasons. Parents know there's trouble at school, know they're being blamed, feel their kids are misunderstood and mistreated, but feel powerless to make things better and are discouraged and put off by their interactions with school personnel.
Dr. Greene goes on to talk about how our school discipline models are broken, and getting tougher with kids isn't working. He cites some amazing statistics - zero tolerance polices designed to make schools safer or offer a more effective way of dealing with behaviour have actually increased behaviour and dropout rates. But schools continue to hand out expulsions and suspensions - 110,000 and 3 million respectively each year in the US.
But what Dr. Greene made clear is that it doesn't have to be this way. Here again are his words:
"I interact with hundreds of challenging kids every year. These kids would like nothing better than to be able to handle the social, emotional, and behavioural challenges being placed on them at school and in life, but they can't seem to pull it off. Many have been getting into trouble for so long that they've lost faith that any adult will ever know how to help them.
Dr. Greene gave us a few key mantras during his presentation on Thursday. Here's the first: Kids do well if they can. It's up to us as adults to figure out why so we can help.
Tomorrow, I'll share some of Dr. Greene's advice on what each of us dealing with a challenging child needs to figure out before we can help.
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Enjoy!
By Rhonda Brown
I have always believed that kids who misbehave, disengage, drop out, or otherwise resist being successful in school are dealing with something more than a lack of interest, laziness or a failure to try. They actually lack the skills they need to be successful. It's a philosophy that Bridgeway shares, and that's why we focus on skill development (academic, social and behavioural) with our students. Dr. Greene shares this point of view - and has the neuroscience to back it up!
But don't take it from me. I'll have Dr. Greene explain in his own words, which are from the very first paragraph of his book, "Lost at School".
The wasted human potential is tragic. In so many schools, kids with social, emotional, and behavioural challenges are still poorly understood and treated in a way that is completely at odds with what is now known about how they came to be challenging in the first place. The frustration and desperation felt by teachers and parents is palpable. Many teachers continue to experience enormous stress related to classroom behaviour problems and from dealing with parents, and do not receive the support they need to help their challenging students. Half of teachers leave the profession within their first four years, and kids with behavioural challenges and their parents are cited as one of the major reasons. Parents know there's trouble at school, know they're being blamed, feel their kids are misunderstood and mistreated, but feel powerless to make things better and are discouraged and put off by their interactions with school personnel.
Dr. Greene goes on to talk about how our school discipline models are broken, and getting tougher with kids isn't working. He cites some amazing statistics - zero tolerance polices designed to make schools safer or offer a more effective way of dealing with behaviour have actually increased behaviour and dropout rates. But schools continue to hand out expulsions and suspensions - 110,000 and 3 million respectively each year in the US.
But what Dr. Greene made clear is that it doesn't have to be this way. Here again are his words:
"I interact with hundreds of challenging kids every year. These kids would like nothing better than to be able to handle the social, emotional, and behavioural challenges being placed on them at school and in life, but they can't seem to pull it off. Many have been getting into trouble for so long that they've lost faith that any adult will ever know how to help them.
Dr. Greene gave us a few key mantras during his presentation on Thursday. Here's the first: Kids do well if they can. It's up to us as adults to figure out why so we can help.
Tomorrow, I'll share some of Dr. Greene's advice on what each of us dealing with a challenging child needs to figure out before we can help.
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Wednesday 7 December 2011
Bill Strickland - Hope & Possibility
Bill Strickland believes in hope and possibility. He believes that the impossible can be made possible. Officially, he is a "nationally recognized as a visionary leader who authentically delivers educational and cultural opportunities to students and adults within an organizational culture that fosters innovation, creativity, responsibility and integrity." He has created an arts, education and job-training program in Pittsburg, which he hopes to replicate around the world.
Bill Strickland will bring his vision to Halifax this spring as one of the keynote speakers at Emergent Learning: Turning Tides in 21st Century Education. Before he gets here, we'll explore his ideas, his books and his success stories on our blog. Here's a terrific introduction as Bill speaks about his story and the story of Manchester Bidwell Corporation. Enjoy!
Bill Strickland will bring his vision to Halifax this spring as one of the keynote speakers at Emergent Learning: Turning Tides in 21st Century Education. Before he gets here, we'll explore his ideas, his books and his success stories on our blog. Here's a terrific introduction as Bill speaks about his story and the story of Manchester Bidwell Corporation. Enjoy!
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