Sometimes children are stressed about seemingly small events that escalate into problem behavior. In this article, an insightful teacher discusses restoration of emotional balance by mobilizing positive support from both school and family using A Response Ability Pathways (RAP) intervention. The RAP techniques and how they can be used are…

Believing in students is not simply telling them that teachers believe in them. These words matter only if they are true and if teachers demonstrate them by their actions. In this article the author offers the following five ways that teachers can reach out to students: (1) Stop using rewards; (2) Encourage effort more than achievement; (3) Give…

Understanding the Passive Aggressive Conflict Cycle (PACC) helps observers to be able to look beyond behavior and better understand what is occurring beneath the surface. This article presents a real-life example of a seemingly minor conflict between a teacher and child that elicited an apparent major overreaction by the adult. Also provided is a…

The Teaching-Family Model was one of the earliest approaches to be supported by an extensive research base. As it has evolved over four decades, it retains the focus on teaching and learning but incorporates a strength- and relationship-based orientation. The model is also unique in gathering ongoing practice-based evidence to insure quality.

Adults often feel the pressures of today's fast-paced world and think back longingly to a time when their daily lives were a lot less hectic. One third of the respondents in one study report that they are living with "extreme stress" and almost half feel that the level of stress in their lives has increased over the past five years. Children are…

Sunnyside High School in rural Washington faces many tough issues common to urban schools but has shown a remarkable ability to help students at risk for academic failure. The Sunnyside Intervention Program was developed for students with a history of poor academic performance, many of whom were involved in dangerous activities, including gangs.…

Unresolved issues from home often spill over into behavior problems at school. This article discusses the five-minute RAP techniques: (1) connect; (2) clarify; and (3) restore. The authors present a case study wherein this brief restorative intervention had been a successful alternative to punishment and exclusion.

Being an educator is not a job. It is a calling. Educators cannot teach children if they cannot reach children. In this reflection, the author, a RAP trainer, describes the transformation that occurs as youth professionals discover the power of connecting with challenging students. (Contains 1 photo.)

A series of books by a classroom teacher offer an alternative to the curriculum of control with challenging students. Torey Hayden, a former teacher of children with emotional and behavioral disorders, has authored eight books chronicling her day-to-day work in special education and child psychology. Hayden's stories are remarkable for their…

This article introduces a unique team approach to planning and positive behavior support. The young person becomes a key participant in solving problems and setting goals for growth. The CLEAR Team Problem Solving model shifts the focus from deficits to strengths and solutions. The goal is to identify how a child's private logic and interpersonal…

Whenever educators are asked to identify the major problems they face, behavior management is near the top of the list. Research shows that effective teachers are able to build relationships with students and implement well-developed classroom procedures (Holt, Hargrove, & Harris, 2011, p. 18). Yet schools give scant attention to developing the…

How do otherwise competent helpers "lose it" in work with certain troubled children and youth? Drawing on extensive research and practice expertise, this article identifies four causes of these predictable professional "meltdowns"--(1) Caught in the Conflict Cycle; (2) Violation of cherished values and beliefs; (3) Tap-in issues; and (4) Carry-in…

Despite the numerous, disparate, and often unfair demands placed upon educators to be all things to all students, they need to be prepared to teach better behavior every day. Perhaps of even greater importance is finding ways of becoming tougher in not giving up on them when they say and do things that are annoying, obnoxious, and inappropriate so…

Television, advertising, the Internet, music, and the proliferation of chain stores have had a homogenizing effect on children. Regardless of what type of environment they live in, the style of youth's dress, the way they talk, and how they respond to a wide range of stimuli are surprisingly similar. In spite of these similarities, the challenges…

Over a half century ago, William C. Morse of the University of Michigan keynoted the first research symposium on the Education of Emotionally Disturbed Children. He shared this powerful story from a talented teacher who balanced science with the inspired zeal to do what she thought was needed to help troubled students.