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Welcome to Solutions for Working with Angry Students
Greetings!
Helping students to de-escalate angry, aggressive behavior is an ongoing process. There is no magic formula or potion that we can give students to help improve behavior (wouldn't that be nice!), however, there are some things we can do to reduce the likelihood of a crisis and to lessen the effects of one when it happens. Today, I'm going to share a research article with you that suggests using "Reflection" to improve your crisis management skills. The reflection strategy can be used with any age group of student.
The Tips & Strategies Section below will go into more details about this particular strategy. Click here to go to my website to download the full article and a Process Sheet for Educators that will help you use the skill of Reflection as noted in the article.
I know that most of you are preparing for the upcoming testing season. I hope this article will help you to manage the angry, aggressive students in your life!
Remember, we are all in this together!
Cordially
Dacia
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UPCOMING CONFERENCES
I will be presenting my favorite workshop "Youth At Risk: Working with the Angry, Aggressive Student" at the conferences listed below. If you plan on attending either conference please stop by and say hello!
Kansas School Counselors Association - March 10-12, 2010
American Counseling Association National Conference - March 20-22, 2010
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Practical Tips & Strategies
Using Reflection to Mange Crisis
 Did you know that in many crisis situations the adult is the one who escalates the conflict?
That is true in about 60% of the cases studied by Dr. Long, et al in the article "Using Reflection to Manage Youth in Crisis".
What researches suggest is that the adults should reflect on their participation in the crisis event and try to reduce their participation as much as possible. How? By taking the time to reflect on the crisis from varying points of view and then intentionally decide to behave differently the next time a crisis occurs.
This week I am facilitating a professional development workshop using this behavioral strategy. We are selecting a particularly difficult real life student case, taking the most recent crisis and peeling back the layers of what happened. The anticipated outcome is to gain is a deeper understanding of the adult contribution to the crisis event in order to reduce that contribution and manage the crisis more successfully the next time it occurs.
Admittedly, students will continue to be angry and aggressive. I will share other instructional strategies that specifically address this issue in future newsletters.
However, this behavioral intervention speaks to the area we have the most control over which is OURSELVES! It points to the first rule of managing a crisis which us to STAY CALM!
If you are able to remain calm in the face of an angry, aggressive student, then you will be able to recover from the crisis more quickly and thereby enable your classroom to recover from the crisis faster so you can get back to the business of teaching.
Sounds simple? Sure, but much harder to practice as most of our behavior is automatic. We have to visually rehearse new ways of responding in a crisis to enable the new habit to become ingrained in our psyche. It is much like learning to drive; at first it was difficult, and you had so many thing to remember, now you manage all of those complex tasks with ease. It took practice - it's the same thing in crisis management.
Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York and acting mayor during the 9/11 crisis, captures this notion eloquently:
"My father used to say to me "whenever you get into a jam, whenever you get into a crisis or emergency and everybody around you is getting very excited, you become the calmest person in the room and you will be able to figure your way out of it. Force yourself to be calmer than you feel"
Now that's great advice!
To download the article and the Educator Process Sheet that I use to help educators reflect on the most recent crisis, go to my website www.secondwindcc.com. Also, if you have questions about the article, how to implement the strategy of reflection or if you are interested in having me lead a professional development workshop on this or other related topics, call me at 816-767-9460 and let's talk!
Warmest Regards,
Dacia
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That's all for now!
Pass this on to a friend or colleague! They will thank you for it!!!
Contact me at www.secondwindcc.com - 816-767-9460 if you want me to come to YOUR school and facilitate a professional development workshop!.
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STOP SCHOOL VIOLENCE!
I get many calls from teachers and administrators who are looking for help on how to handle angry, aggressive students (including bullies). Watch for my weekly newsletters that will be full of the most current best practice research as well as hands on strategies that you can immediately use! Pass this newsletter on to your friends and colleagues!
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