Last year at Cherokee Heights Elementary School in St. Paul, Minnesota, an idea for social conferencing emerged that would help strengthen teacher-student relationships. Instead of sending a student to the behavior-support room, teachers had the option of having a behavior specialist take over teaching the class while the teacher held a short conference with the student to make a plan for changing his or her behavior. Teachers would use the problem-solving social conference format as practiced in the second level of Responsive Classroom training.

Knowing the importance of good student-teacher relationships, Kelly Lang, a first grade teacher, and Melissa Ehlers, the school behavior specialist, were excited about this idea. They volunteered to try it and report the results to the rest of the school. They discovered that the process benefited everyone involved - behavior specialist, classroom teacher, and students.

Behavior specialist also a generalist
A major benefit for Melissa was broadening her interactions with students. They saw that she was a teacher who cares about them and not only can help them when they are struggling to follow the rules but also can help them with their reading and math. If a student disrupted enough for Kelly to call her, Melissa kept the learning moving for five or ten minutes while Kelly and the student had their conference.

Empowered classroom teacher
Kelly was able to handle a serious behavior issue almost immediately, avoiding sending the student to the support room. Kelly and the student got to the root of the problem quickly, made a plan, and returned to the classroom. The fact that Kelly was now able to give a misbehaving student her focused attention instead of sending him or her to another adult was powerful for her relation-ship with the student and the whole class. "They see that you care," she said. "Amazing things can happen when you are able to give them one-on-one time on the spot."

Melissa also commented on the impact on the student/teacher relationship: "Allowing Kelly to give the student her full attention instead of handing the problem off to me really strengthened her relationship with that student and empowered both of them."

Student benefits
This model for conferencing also benefits students, because it avoids removing them from the classroom and provides them with immediate feedback regarding their behavior. When students are able to work through a problem with someone who experienced it, they become more aware of how their behavior was interrupting everyone's learning.

Kelly and Melissa agreed that their confidence in each other was key to the success of this process. "A teacher needs to trust me to come in and take over quickly," says Melissa. Consistent school-wide routines and language facilitate the transition from classroom teacher to behavior specialist. When students see that the signal for silence, teacher language, and other essential classroom routines remain constant, they understand that behavior expectations remain constant as well.

Kelly and Melissa continue to use this process for social conferencing. They reported their success to the staff, and the collaborative approach to conferencing is now an option available to all teachers at Cherokee Heights.

Erin Klug is a professional-development specialist for Origins.

This article first appeared in Origins: A Newsletter for Elementary Educators, Winter 2011