Course Description

Reaching Today's Students: Building the Community Circle of Caring is an exciting synthesis of the most current theories, strategies, and practices to comprehensively address the needs of children and youth at risk within educational settings. Building upon traditional philosophy and educational commitment with current research and proven strategies, Reaching Today's Students strives to fulfill the promise that all children and teachers can succeed.

In Reaching Today's Students, teachers begin by exploring the motives and dynamics surrounding misbehavior and the desire to learn. They learn how prevailing assumptions and practices within the four worlds of socialization - school, family, work, and friends - actually reinforce misbehavior while interfering with learning.

Before launching into strategies and techniques for dealing with conflict, teachers first learn how to create a Community Circle of Caring - a healthy and positive environment that meets children's four basic needs: connection, competence, self-control, and contribution. By building this foundation, teachers can reclaim youth and prevent conflict before it occurs. For example, teachers learn:

• How to build relationships with resistant students (connection);
• How to use instructional strategies that produce positive student behavior (competence and contribution); and
• How to instill a sense of responsibility in children (self-control).

Meanwhile, teachers and administrators briefly examine their beliefs, attitudes, and skills about instruction and behavior management, considering their traditional responses to discover various new alternatives to conflict situations. They also learn how to decode student behavior in light of the four basic needs model.

The course then describes specific interventions, strategies, and techniques to avoid and to defuse potential conflict situations. The course presents these strategies along a continuum of intensity. For example: "low-key" responses can prevent power struggles from escalating; "unconventional" interventions can be effective when "low-key" responses do not work; and "interventions of last resort" help to bring a situation under control safely. This part of the course concludes with promising strategies for resolving conflict and for drawing troubled students back into the Community Circle of Caring.

In the final part of the course, the circle is intact. Using a state-of-the art change process and several hands-on activities, teachers look at ways to expand the circle and thereby strengthen the opportunities for all children to succeed. First, teachers develop a shared vision of their ideal school. They measure this vision against the current structure and culture of their schools. Then they learn how to realize this vision by building consensus, by documenting the need for change, and by initiating the change.

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Course Outcome

The participants in this class will increase their knowledge of techniques and strategies proven effective for classroom instruction and individual student behavior management. Specifically, participants in this class will enhance their current knowledge of instructional and behavioral approaches to use every day within their classrooms and schools to productively create a more supportive, accepting instructional environment. In addition, this course will describe and present researched techniques and strategies to use within a problem-solving format to address the needs of all students.

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Course Objectives

Competencies to be mastered by participants in this class include:

• Identify, discuss, and enhance current beliefs and strategies implemented to build a community circle of caring within individual classrooms and schools.
• Demonstrate enhanced professional knowledge of methodologies, materials, and theories to be used with students with academic and behavioral needs within the area of classroom and behavioral management.
• Demonstrate knowledge of classroom organizational and management skills through various planning, self-reporting, and observational procedures.
• Demonstrate applied knowledge of planning of classroom and behavioral prevention and intervention techniques for classroom and individual students through use of planning and implementation guide.
• Demonstrate knowledge of and interventions for student behaviors along the continuum of intensity, from low-key to crisis management responses.
• Demonstrate the knowledge of various techniques and methods of problem solving approaches within a team setting given an individual student academic and/or behavioral concern.
• Demonstrate applied knowledge of problem solving approaches within a team setting given an individual student academic and/or behavior concern through actual implementation of procedures.
• Demonstrate the continuation of the community circle of caring on a school-wide basis through the development of an individual implementation plan.
• Demonstrate professional communication and collaboration through participation in the class Forum, e-mail, and journal writing.

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Time Requirements

This course will be offered over a period of 13 weeks. Modules 1 through 8 will be completed one per week. Modules 9 and 10 will be completed over a five-week period so students will have time to revise and complete the final integration project.

Skill and Hardware Requirements

Students are expected to have a very basic knowledge of how to use an Internet browser such as Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, or America Online (AOL). Students should also be familiar with e-mail and have an active e-mail account and Internet access. In addition, students should possess basic word processing skills.

Students may use either a Macintosh computer or a PC with Windows 95 or higher. Teachers may use either Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, or the latest version of AOL as their browser. Teachers may download Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer at no cost.

Course Materials

The textbook for this course is Reclaiming Youth at Risk, Larry K. Brendtro, Martin Brokenleg, & Steven VanBockern, National Education Service, 1998, and the Reaching Today's Students: Building the Community Circle of Caring Participant Workbook.

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Module 1: Building Community Circle of Caring

Objective: Identify and enhance current beliefs and strategies implemented to build a community circle of caring within individual classrooms and schools.

Content:

1. Awareness Activities
2. Norm setting for class
3. The community circle of caring: rationale
4. The community circle of caring: characteristics

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Module 2: Caring Classroom Management

Objective: Demonstrate enhanced professional knowledge of methodologies, materials, and theories to be used with students with academic and behavior needs within the area of classroom and behavioral management.

Content:

1. Vision statements
2. Why do kids misbehave?
3. Four major theories for behavior management

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Module 3: Outstanding Instruction

Objective: Demonstrate knowledge of classroom organizational and management skills through various planning, self-reporting, and observational procedures.

Content:

1. Creating caring classrooms
2. Effective/ineffective teaching procedures

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Module 4: Caring Environments

Objective: Review effective strategies and techniques to develop an effective, caring classroom environment for all students.

Content:

1. Prevent, intervene, communicate, and motivate students within the classroom
2. The principles of effective discipline
3. The strategies of effective discipline
4. Proactive action planning

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Module 5: Planning for Prevention

Objective: Demonstrate applied knowledge of planning of classroom and behavioral prevention and intervention techniques for classroom and individual students through use of planning and implementation guides.

Content:

1. Decision-making context within classrooms
2. Classroom prevention/intervention planning

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Module 6: Interventions

Objective: Demonstrate knowledge of and interventions for student behaviors along the continuum of intensity, from low-key to crisis management responses.

Content:

1. Review classroom prevention/intervention plans
2. Anecdotal records/case studies
3. "Power"
4. Intensive interventions
5. Resolving conflicts to draw students back into the community circle

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Module 7: Crisis Management

Objective: Review strategies of crisis management and diffusing power situations.

Content:

1. Teacher strategies
2. Student strategies
3. Maintaining classroom integrity

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Module 8: Team Problem-Solving

Objective: Demonstrate the knowledge of various techniques and methods of problem solving within a team setting given an individual student academic and/or behavioral concern.

Content:

1. Collecting observational data
2. Decision-making matrix
3. Problem-solving process
4. Brainstorming for positive environments

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Module 9: Applying Team Problem-Solving

Objective: Demonstrate applied knowledge of problem solving approaches within a team setting given an individual student academic and/or behavioral concern through actual implementation of procedures.

Content:

1. Individual child change projects
2. Case studies

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Module 10: Expanding the Circle

Objective: Demonstrate the continuation of the community circle of caring on a school-wide basis through the development of an individual, school-wide discipline plan.

Content:

1. School-wide vision
2. Building consensus, communicating the vision
3. Documenting the need for change
4. Assessing school organizational structure and culture
5. Planning for school-wide change

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Grading Criteria

Assignment	Points
Forum and E-mail Participation	20
Classroom Self-Evaluation Checklists	15
Implementation Log/Journal writing	15
Two Action Plans (8 Points each)	16
Two Child Change Problem-Solving Projects (8 Points each)	16
Final Exam	18

Grading Scale

93 - 100	A
85 - 92	B
77 - 84	C

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Student Requirements

Projects and Grades:

18 points	Formal Assessment of Knowledge
	18 points	One Final Exam
32 points	Application of Knowledge
	16 points	Two Action Plans (8 points each)
		(Classroom/Schoolwide)
	16 points	Two Child Change Problem-Solving Projects (8 points each)
50 points	Reflection Activities
	15 points	Classroom Self-Evaluation Checklists
		(Organization/Teaching/Schoolwide)
	15 points	Implementation Log/Journal writing
		(Including Vision Statement)
	20 points	Forum and E-mail Participation

Participants are expected to complete all Forum assignments and dialogue with their colleagues. Therefore, assignments are due as per the syllabus to receive full credit for participation. If accommodations, modifications, and/or other arrangements are necessary, all prior arrangements must be made with instructor on an individual basis, as needed.

Final Grading

The quality of the participants' products (both tests and projects), as well as Forum participation, will be evaluated by the instructor as described above in determining the final grade. In addition to the above, course instructors have the discretion to either add or substitute course requirements to address specific requests of course participants. They may opt for a final examination or paper that test both conceptual understanding and application skills.

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