Students Who Drive You Crazy

Jeffrey A. Kottler is one of the most prolific authors in the fields of counseling, psychotherapy, and education, having written more than 90 books about a wide range of subjects. He has authored a dozen texts for counselors and therapists that are used in universities around the world and a dozen books each for practicing therapists and educators. Some of his most highly regarded works include Creative Breakthroughs in Therapy, The Mummy at the Dining Room Table: Eminent Therapists Reveal Their Most Unusual Cases and What They Teach Us About Human Behavior, Bad Therapy, The Client Who Changed Me, Divine Madness, Change: What Leads to Personal Transformation, Stories We’ve Heard, Stories We’ve Told: Life-Changing Narratives in Therapy and Everyday Life, and Therapy Over 50. He has been an educator for 40 years, having worked as a teacher, counselor, and therapist in preschool, middle school, mental health center, crisis center, nongovernmental organization, university, community college, private practice, and disaster relief settings. He has served as a Fulbright scholar and senior lecturer in Peru and Iceland, as well as worked as a visiting professor in New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Nepal. He is professor of counseling at California State University, Fullerton.Ellen Kottler, Ed.S., has been a teacher for over 30 years in public and private schools, alternative schools, adult education programs, and universities. She has worked in inner-city schools as well as in suburban and rural set­tings. She was a curriculum specialist in charge of secondary social studies and law-related education for one of the country’s largest school districts. Ellen is the author or coauthor of several books for educators, including Secrets for Secondary School Teachers: How to Succeed in Your First Year, On Being a Teacher, Secrets for Beginning Elementary School Teachers, Counseling Skills for Teachers, English Language Learners in Your Classroom: Strategies That Work, Secrets to Success for Science Teachers, and Students Who Drive You Crazy: Succeeding with Resistant, Unmotivated, and Otherwise Difficult Young People.She teaches secondary education and supervises intern teachers at California State University, Fullerton.

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbout the Authors1. Why Do Some Students Drive You Crazy?At a Loss About What to DoEye of the BeholderSo, Who Gets to You?2. Which Students Challenge You Most?Students From HellProfiles of Students Who Are DifficultPlacing Actions in Context3. Understanding Students′ Challenging BehaviorThey Are Doing the Best They CanAdditional Functions of ConflictWhen Biology Has Its SayCreating Difficult StudentsMultiple Viewpoints4. What Students Do to Make You CrazySeparating Students and BehaviorProtecting YourselfPushing Our ButtonsHow Failure HelpsEngaging the Challenging StudentRecognizing Your LimitationsDon′t Take the Conflict PersonallyIt Comes With the Territory5. Changing Your Own BehaviorDetachment Without WithdrawalTalking to YourselfProcessing Disappointments InternallyStop ComplainingKeeping Your Sense of HumorRecognizing Accomplishments and StrengthsReframing ProblemsBeing FlexibleSeeking SupportHelp Yourself First6. Strategies for Changing Students′ BehaviorSome Rules of EngagementDevelop a Sense of CommunityUse Counseling SkillsCollaborate With OthersBrief InterventionsDevelop Alternate Perspectives7. Parents and Colleagues Who Drive You CrazyThe Least of Our ProblemsTeachers Who Don′t UnderstandAdministrators Who Handcuff UsParents Who Fight UsWhat About You?Those Who Abuse You8. Preventing Future ProblemsProactive Versus Reactive StrategiesPaying Attention to FeedbackTeacher Strategies That Maintain MomentumConflict ResolutionIn SummaryReferences and Suggested ReadingsIndex

"An absolutely necessary read for educators. The commonsense model assesses and outlines how to respond to challenging students, parents, and colleagues. This work is making a difference in my school."