Lost at School: Why Our Kids with Behavioral Challenges are Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them Author: Ross W. Greene Ph.D. | Language: English | ISBN:
1416572260 | Format: PDF
Lost at School: Why Our Kids with Behavioral Challenges are Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them Description
From Publishers Weekly
Psychiatrist and Harvard professor Greene follows up The Explosive Child with an in-depth approach to aid parents and teachers to work together with behaviorally challenging students. Greene's philosophy is driven by the recognition that "kids who haven't responded to natural consequences don't need more consequences, they need adults who are knowledgeable about how challenging kids come to be challenging." Greene's "Plan B" system, which is fully and clearly explained in the course of the book, emphasizes identifying challenging behaviors-acting out, hitting, swearing, poor performance in class-and then working with students to find actual, practical ways to avoid them. Helpfully, Greene uses a fictional school for examples, devoting several pages to illustrative anecdotes in each chapter, greatly increasing the material's accessibility. Greene's technique is not fail-proof, principally because it requires the good will and hard work of all participants; a section on implementing Plan B in the face of real disagreement or apathy would have been helpful. However, Plan B has all the qualities of accessibility, logic and compassion to make it a solid strategy for parents and educators.
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From Booklist
Zero-tolerance policies in school that take swift and harsh action against children for misbehavior are in danger of attaching labels and stigma to children with behavior problems, according to Greene, psychiatrist and author of The Explosive Child (1998). Greene explores the causes behind the behavior of children who are considered hard to control. He maintains that such children are not acting out of defiance but because they lack the skills to adapt their behavior to school norms. When adults take the time to teach children adaptive skills in increments, they see remarkable improvements in the behavior of these children. Drawing on his experience as a psychiatrist, Greene recounts vignettes of challenging behavior—from crying and whining to avoid tasks to manipulation to disruptive shouting or truculence. These children often have difficulty changing routine during the school day, reflecting on many thoughts at the same time, or managing emotions. Green advises making a checklist of unsolved problems and lagging skills and devising specific plans for addressing them. Accessible advice for parents and teachers concerned about children with behavior problems. --Vanessa Bush
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- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Scribner; 1 edition (October 21, 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1416572260
- ISBN-13: 978-1416572268
- Product Dimensions: 1.3 x 6 x 9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
If you are a real teacher (or principal or dean) in a real school, this humane and engaging book will surprise you with its combination of practicality and idealism. It will inspire you to change things and to believe in the possibility of change.
After teaching for eight years, I have spent the last three as "the discipline guy", Dean of Students, in a small, rural middle school. As both teacher and now as dean I have developed a deep suspicion of a certain sort of books. You know the ones: written by theoreticians or one-on-one therapists who have never had to juggle a roomful of 25 actual young human beings with not enough time, not enough resources and far too much of paperwork, testing, and ringing bells; and more and more deeply-troubled youngsters. These are the books that anxious or angry and frustrated parents bring to meetings that tell them how you should be meeting the needs of their unsuccessful or disruptive child. These books make things far worse for everyone involved.
"Lost at School" is different; and that's clear from the beginning. After a brief introduction which pulls no punches in saying "school discipline is broken" the book launches into a story! Every teacher I know likes a good story - and this one feels so much like real (school)-life from the beginning that it sets the hook for the rest of the book. The different thing about this story is not the characterization of the troubled and challenging kids, but of its inclusion of the realistic range of adult personalities that combine to make education what it is - and sometimes isn't.
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