FIVE DAY SUMMER INTENSIVE TRAINING WORKSHOP HOW TO DEAL WITH DIFFICULT DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS Valentine's Approach Works!! Teach for success -- not failure! Are you tired of time-out screens, successive approximations and shaping behaviors to get students to do what you want? Are you tired of trying to find appropriate "logical and natural" consequences for student's behavior? Are you tired of stars, trinkets, marbles in a jar, names and check marks on the board? Are you tired of figuring out if a student is attention seeking, power hungry, revengeful or assuming helplessness? Are you tired of everyone using excuses like hyperactivity and attentional problems for student's poor behavior and performance? Then this approach which empowers parents and teachers to solve discipline problems is for you!! PARTICIPANTS WILL LEARN HOW TO: analyze teacher and parent belief systems that become excuses for allowing the child to continue to act inappropriately; analyze both effective and ineffective communication patterns for stopping inappropriate behavior; use simple, but effective techniques for stopping most inappropriate behavior immediately; develop plans and techniques to avoid student manipulations; consult with teachers and parents not familiar with this model to help them resolve discipline problems; increase appropriate behaviors, while decreasing inappropriate behaviors (truancy, failing grades, lying, stealing, fighting, etc.); develop home, classroom and school-wide strategies and non-punishing back-up techniques to stop inappropriate behavior and help insure student success; run a 10 minute teacher-based, structured teacher/ parent/student conference designed to elicit parental help in resolving the school-related discipline problem. Psychologists, counselors, and social workers will also learn how to run a seven-step family systems counseling session designed to resolve school related problems and work more effectively with students who are labeled "at risk". FORMAT 8:30 am - 4:30 pm daily. Theory and techniques will be presented and demonstrated and feedback given. On-site coaching, video analysis and supervision will be provided. FOCUS OF THIS TRAINING This will be an intensive skills training workshop on how to use the concepts of this direct straight forward common sense approach to stop inappropriate student behavior and improve academic achievement. This unique, effective and easily applied approach is based on communication systems theory rather than behavior modification or any psychodynamically oriented approach. It can be used by teachers in the classroom, by parents in the home, and by administrators, guidance counselors, psychologists, and others who consult with parents and teachers about children. The approach will focus on giving teachers, school personnel and parents specific skills in stopping inappropriate behavior. It will equip them with individual lesson plans and effective non-punishing back-up techniques for very difficult "at risk" students to get them back on track being successful. There will be an emphasis on a collaborative team approach including teachers, special educators, social workers, counselors, psychologists, administrators and parents. Most teachers have not been taught and are somewhat reluctant to have parent conferences. This approach will teach you how to run an extremely effective parent meeting. It will teach you how to: call the parents and get off the phone within 2 minutes; deal with most parental objections and have planned responses to each one; run a highly structured solution-oriented 10-15 minute parent conference; effectively close the conference with solutions and back ups planned out. GRADUATE CREDITS AVAILABLE Three graduate credits (Ed. Psych.) are available for the five day training program only. For those interested, an additional payment of $195 will be required payable by check directly to the University at the time of the workshop. Additional information about graduate credits will be presented at the first day of class. For those participants wishing college credit a few additional hours and assignments will be required. * (If you wish to have this course accepted as part of your graduate program, click on Course Proposal for the course description and daily format. Submit to your graduate advisor for approval.)