The document outlines an agenda for a discussion on classroom management and teacher-student relationships, including breaking into groups to discuss scenarios involving confrontations with students, advising a teacher on handling a behavior problem, and a parent-teacher conference that goes poorly. The agenda also includes reading assignments and discussions on topics like effective parenting, the development of boys, and alternatives to punishment and rewards in the classroom.

1. First Five Years Discussion
Pushing Buttons
VAIS/Casenex
Hunt Lyman

2. Preparation
 Introduce Debi, Laura Joan
 Explain Liv’s absence from these discussions
 Photos
 Record session?
 Casenex site & technology challenges
 VAIS blog
 Messaging is fine
 Microphone on and off/raising hands
 Did everyone get to the Casenex site?

3. Agenda
 Scene 1 – everyone speaks
 Scene 2 – paired discussion
 Scene 3 – full group discussion
 Readings
 Introductions to authors
 quiet reading
 Discussion
 The nature of my questions

4. Scene 1
Confrontation
 Amy: What are some reasons Henry might be acting out
in class?
 Jennifer: Do you think it is OK that John downloaded his
assignment from an internet site? What are both sides?
 Myles: What does it mean to “push buttons”? How do
students push your buttons? What sort of things bother
different teachers? What bothers you?
 Michelle: How does John try to establish his authority?
Why does it backfire? How else could he have acted
 Paula: Have you seen some teachers who seem to
naturally have authority? Why does that happen?
 Debi - What is the effect of the older teacher’s entrance.
Should John respond to this? How?
 Debbie: How is the peer group functioning in this scene?
 Whitney: What else might John have done?
 Laura: How do you think the interaction between teacher
and student is going to affect Henry's classmates? How

5. Scene 2
Advice
 Groups (7 minutes)
 Amy, Myles, Debbie
 Paula, Whitney, Jennifer
 Whitney, Jennifer, Debi
 Michelle, Laura, Joan
 Questions
 What do you do in your school with a classroom management
or behavior problem?
 What is the “chain” of discipline in your school?
 What sort of advice is most helpful?
 What does Chris say that you consider good advice?
 What else should he say?

6. Scene 3
Parent Conference
 Pretty clearly, this conference goes badly.
Why?
 What are important principles to keep in mind
when talking with parents?
 What kind of language is important in
discussing student behavior?
 What could John have said that would have
helped this conference go better?
 What went well in this conference?
 What do you think Martha is going to do after
this conference ends?

7. Michael Thompson
 An authority on boys’ development, effective
parenting, and children’s social relationships
(Raising Cain; Best Friends, Worst Enemies; The
Pressured Child; It’s a Boy!), Michael
Thompson encourages parents to remember
“the gritty reality” of being in school as a first
step towards empathizing with and
effectively supporting their children, and he
emphasizes the importance of a healthy
parent-school partnership

8. Read The Fear Equation
7 minutes
Discussion
http://www.nais.org/publications/ismagazinearticle.cfm?ItemNumber=144311

9. 8 Steps to Success
http://www.michaelthompson-phd.com/assets/Parent-Teacher-Conferences.pdf

10. Alfie Kohn
Punished by Rewards
http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/pdf/Punished%20by%20Rewards.pdf

11. Don’t just survive -- Thrive!
http://www.isacs.org/resources/monographs/library.asp?action=show&category=11&id=251

12. Final Notes
 Inviting Friends
 Polling
 Practice - which is your favorite letter?
 We will use the common grading scale
 How engaging do you feel tonight’s session
was?
 How comfortable are you with the technology at
this point?

13. For Next Time
Helping Struggling Students