Course | Hugging Porcupines: Build Positive Relationships With Kids Who Have Challenging Behaviors

Meet Your Instructor

Mike Anderson
Mike Anderson has been an educator for more than 25 years. A public school teacher for 15 years, he has also taught preschool, coached swim teams, and taught university graduate level classes. He now works as a consultant providing professional learning for teachers throughout the US and beyond. In 2004, Mike was awarded a national Milken Educator Award, and in 2005 he was a finalist for NH Teacher of the Year. In 2020, he was awarded the Outstanding Educational Leader Award by NHASCD for his work as a consultant. A best-selling author, Mike has written eight books about great teaching and learning. When not working, Mike can be found hanging with his family, tending his perennial gardens, and searching for new running routes around his home in Durham, NH.

Included in This Course

You’ll explore key ideas, learn practical strategies, and gain helpful resources to help you build relationships and support positive behavior with students who struggle with self-regulation and social connection.

• Learn to better understand (and have empathy for) children who struggle in school
• Gain practical strategies for building relationships with students who often struggle with trust and relationship-building
• Learn practical strategies for how to teach and support positive behaviors
• Explore effective teacher language tips to help you support positive behaviors and reduce power struggles
• Understand some of the downsides to incentives--and understand what to do instead
• Consider how consequences can play a role in supporting students (but shouldn't be counted on as a solution)
• Hear words of wisdom from guest education experts and authors Margaret Berry Wilson (elementary) and Jeffrey Benson (secondary)
• When you finish the course, you can print a certificate showing 6 hours of professional learning.
• You will have access to this course for a year, so you can go back in over and over again.

How Are Some Schools and Districts Using This Course?

District/School PD Day
Some districts use this course (and others) for a dedicated PD day. Staff are given time to work through the course individually or in small groups. Several times during the day, staff gather in small groups to share important ideas, questions, and take-aways,

Paraeducator Support
Hugging Porcupines has been a really popular course to offer to paraeducators--to support their work with students who have challenging behaviors.

Small Group Study
Many schools and districts are offering this course (and others) to groups of educators who want to dig into this content together. They're structuring the work similarly as they would a book study.

Individual Professional Development
This course also works really well as an option for an individual who wants support in working with a challenging student.

Course Curriculum

1. Introduction
Hugging Porcupines Overview
Meet Mike
Why Hugging Porcupines?
Explore the LiveBinder
Suggestions for Organizing Course Materials

2. Knowing and Understanding Our Students
The Power of Relationships
How Well Do You Know Your Students?
Every Kid Needs a Champion
Find Students' Positive Qualities
Consider Students’ Primary Emotions
Build Relationships Slowly: Small Moments Are Key
Building Relationships Through Remote Learning
Bonus: Jeffrey Benson Encourages Us to Find Delight in Students' Ideas
Bonus: Margaret Berry Wilson Encourages Us to Know Ourselves

3. Don't Incentivize. Teach Skills
Incentives Do More Harm Than Good
Kids Do Well If They Can
The Dangers of Incentive Systems
Lagging Skills
Elicit Ideas from Students
Effective Modeling
Respectful Consequences
Discipline is About Trust

4. Adjusting Expectations
Why We Should Adjust Expectations
Why Adjusting Expectations Isn't Being "Soft"
Examples of Adjusting Expectations
Problem-Solving Conferences: What Are They?
Planning a Problem-Solving Conference
How to Get Better at Running Problem-Solving Conferences

5. What We Say and How We Say It Matter
What We Say and How We Say It Matter
Rethinking Praise
Rethinking Praise: Application
Focus on Behaviors, Not Character
Focus on Behavior, Not Character: Application
Reduce Power Struggles: Use Language of the Rules
Reduce Power Struggles: Use Language of the Rules: Application
No One is Perfect: Be Ready to Apologize
The Power of Names
To Learn More About Effective Teacher Talk…

6. Wrap Up and Conclusions
What Have You Learned? What Will You Try?
Be the Teacher Who Requests Challenging Kids
Some More Resources
Before You Go, Help Me Improve this Course