Behavior is not a problem to be solved. It's a message to be decoded.
Jaye tells the story of Elliot — an eighth grader placed in reading intervention who, after one direct conversation about where he stood, refused to enter the room. He sat on the floor in the hallway. He roamed. He made Jaye's life miserable for a year.
In his regular classroom, Elliot was fine. It was only during intervention time that he became unreachable.
What Elliot was saying: only stupid kids go to intervention, and I am not going to be seen as a stupid kid. Jaye gave him the truth before he had the safety to receive it.
Also in this episode: the quiet employee who nods through the meeting and then has the real conversation in the parking lot. Same message, different room.
Jaye considers Elliot my greatest failure as a teacher. And he taught him more than almost anyone else.
