Lost at School by Ross W. Greene Page A

was simply giving his words some thought.
    Mr. Middleton broke the silence. “You’re saying that Joey didn’t mean to blow up?”
    “That’s right,” said Dr. Bridgman.
    “Then why’d he do it?” asked Mr. Middleton.
    “My bet is that he couldn’t think of anything better to do,” said Dr. Bridgman.
    More silence, this time broken by Mrs. Galvin. “We don’t have much time left. I’m wondering if maybe we should get on with our reentry plan.”
    “Hard to come up with a plan unless we know what we’re trying to accomplish,” said Dr. Bridgman.
    “We are trying to accomplish Joey’s coming back to school and not blowing up again,” said Mrs. Galvin. “I think it’s really quite simple.”
    Dr. Bridgman shifted in his chair. “I don’t think it’s going to be so simple. Helping Joey not blow up again is going to take a lot of work. If we don’t put the work in, I predict he’ll just blow up again.”
    Mr. Middleton rubbed his sore jaw. “Seems to me we’ve been working hard on Joey for a while now. We don’t have anything against hard work. But it sure would be nice to have something to show for it. What kind of work are you talking about, Dr. Bridgman?”
    “Well, from what I can gather, the work that’s been done up until now has been for the purpose of giving Joey the incentive to do the right thing, mostly by punishing him when he does the wrong thing,” said Dr. Bridgman. “But if Joey doesn’t have the skills to do the right thing, well, all the incentives in the world won’t teach him the skills he lacks.”
    “What skills?” asked Mr. Middleton.
    “In Joey’s case, I’m not sure yet,” said Dr. Bridgman. “That’s why I want to meet with Mrs. Woods and”—he looked at Mrs. Woods—“I’m sorry, I forgot the name of the teacher you’re teamed with.”
    “Mrs. Franco,” helped Mrs. Woods.
    “Yes, Mrs. Franco … I’d like to meet with you both to get a better sense of the skills Joey’s lacking and the situations in which Joey is likely to run into trouble. Then we’ll have a much better sense of the work that needs to be done.”
    “So we’re not having Joey sign a contract agreeing not to run outof the school or threaten his classmates again?” asked Mrs. Galvin.
    “Joey can’t agree to that right now,” said Dr. Bridgman. “It’s wishful thinking.”
    “So what’s our reentry plan?” asked Mrs. Galvin.
    “Well, once we have a handle on the skills Joey is lacking, we’ll understand why he responds to certain problems so poorly. And then we can start solving the problems and teaching the skills. After that, Joey should be in pretty good shape … and we won’t have to worry so much about him running out of school and threatening his classmates.”
    Mrs. Galvin was undeterred. “And then we’ll have a reentry plan?”
    “Oh, then we’ll have something much better than a reentry plan,” Dr. Bridgman reassured. “Then we’ll have a staying in school plan.”
    Mrs. Woods usually looked forward to lunch with her colleagues. On most days, it was a chance to decompress and gather her thoughts, however briefly. She sat down next to Mrs. Franco and across from a seventh-grade teacher, Jerry Armstrong. Mr. Armstrong taught Joey’s brother, and was known for his definite views about the way schools should be run and discipline administered.
    “Big meeting today?” asked Mr. Armstrong.
    “Well, it certainly was an interesting meeting,” said Mrs. Woods, sitting down to eat.
    “Joey’s mother behave herself?” asked Mr. Armstrong.
    Mrs. Woods began unpacking her lunch. “She did fine.”
    “Poor kid … can you imagine going home to that every day?” asked Mr. Armstrong. “And we’re supposed to pick up the pieces when the kid comes to school. Unbelievable.”
    Mrs. Woods wasn’t in the mood to go toe-to-toe with Mr. Armstrong. The man had his point of view and she’d never seen anyone make a dent in it. Still, she was feeling some empathy for