These audio programs were recorded live during Dr. Greene's weekly web-based radio program for educators. But they're filled with great information about various aspects of the Collaborative Problem Solving approach, and you can listen to them at your convenience...just click on the program that interests you.

The Empathy Step: Why Didn't the Student Talk?
(program aired live on February 22, 2010)
The planned topic for this program was the seldom-talked-about Invitation step of Plan B. But -- and this is always a welcome development -- a caller shifted the agenda. So instead the discussion centered on helping a teacher who is very devoted to using Plan B (but is just beginning to learn how) sort through the possibilities for why a student didn't provide much information in the Empathy step of Plan B. So maybe we'll focus on the Invitation step in the next program. In the meantime, this one is definitely worth a listen! (CLICK HERE)

Getting Specific on Unsolved Problems/Using Plan B in Groups
(program aired live on February 8, 2010)
In this program, Dr. Greene initially spent some time reviewing several ALSUPs that were completed by teachers of actual students so as to examine whether the items listed in the Unsolved Problem section were too vague (and to provide suggestions for information that would be more specific). Then he spent some time with a classroom teacher who called in to inquire about doing full-class Plan B with her group of students. A very informative program! (CLICK HERE)

Interview with Alfie Kohn
(program aired live on February 1, 2010)
In this program, Dr. Greene had the pleasure of talking with Alfie Kohn, author of Punished by Rewards, Beyond Discipline, and many other critical books. This was a fun and enlightening discussion about a variety of school-related topics, including school discipline, socially healthy classrooms, high-stakes testing...the whole gamut. (CLICK HERE)

Troubleshooting Plan B
(program aired live on January 25, 2010)
In this program, Dr. Greene helps a group of educators -- who are trying to re-engage a student academically so he doesn't drop out of school -- figure out why they've been "going around in circles" in their efforts to resolve the student's concerns using Plan B. A few of the common ways in which Plan B can go awry -- difficulty "drilling" for information in the Empathy step, and proposing solutions before the concerns and solutions of both parties are well-understood -- were the focal point of this discussion. A great, real-life example of how Plan B can veer off...and how to get it back on track.
(CLICK HERE)

The Who, When, and What of Plan B
(program aired live on January 11, 2010)
Who's supposed to do Plan B with a behaviorally challenging student? Should it be a person -- like the assistant principal -- who is totally removed from the unsolved problem that set a student's challenging behavior in motion? Or should it be someone with whom the student has a good relationship and/or the adult who's part of the unsolved problem? Should Plan B take place in the heat of the moment or should it be proactive? What do we need to do in our schools to ensure that Plan B takes place at the right time and with the right people? These questions...and more...are answered during this program. (CLICK HERE)

Getting Buy-In
(program aired live on January 4, 2010)
In this program, Dr. Greene discusses how to help school staff who are having trouble "buying into" Collaborative Problem Solving. He describes some of the misconceptions and concerns people may have about both the conceptualization of challenging behavior as a developmental delay and the idea of solving problems collaboratively with students. Dr. Greene notes that concerns about CPS are actually a good thing: they show that people are thinking about and digesting the different facets of CPS and imagining what it would look like to implement the model. (CLICK HERE)

Collaboration Between Parents and Teachers
(program aired live on December 14, 2009)
This program focused on why interactions between teachers and parents have a high potential for going awry and what it takes to help things go better. It turns out that collaboration between parents and educators involves the same ingredients as collaboration between adults and kids: making sure that the concerns of both parties are well-clarified and understood (before generating solutions) and working toward solutions that are realistic and mutually satisfactory. (CLICK HERE)

The Empathy Step
(program aired live on December 7, 2009)
This program focused extensively -- and almost exclusively -- on the Empathy step of Plan B, and on "drilling" in particular. For the unfamiliar, drilling involves probing for additional information about a particular unsolved problem so that the concern or perspective of the student is well-understood. Drilling can be quite challenging, and especially so if the adult is more focused on potential solutions than on what to ask to clarify the student's concern or perspective. Dr. Greene described what drilling looked like with one of the students with whom he did Plan B in the past week. Thanks to a caller, an example of "tough drilling" was also discussed. Don't forget: you have a better chance of getting the Empathy step rolling if you're as specific as possible about the unsolved problem you're trying to discuss. (CLICK HERE)

CPS Goes to School: The Real Deal
(program aired live on November 30, 2009)
In this program, Dr. Greene interviews Dr. Craig Murphy, school psychologist in the Newton, Massachusetts Public School system. As part of a 3-year, federally-funded project overseen by Dr. Murphy, many of the elementary schools in Newton have been implementing the Collaborative Problem Solving approach. Dr. Murphy describes the challenges and successes in helping classroom teachers understand challenging behavior as a form of developmental delay and embrace Plan B as a viable option for helping students with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. (CLICK HERE)

A Vision for School Discipline
(program aired live on November 23, 2009)
In this program, Dr. Greene talks about the importance of having a "vision" for what discipline should look like in a school building. Having a vision starts with understanding that challenging behavior is a form of developmental delay...continues with using the Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems (ALSUP) in a school's assessment procedures...and continues with creating mechanisms for school staff to become skilled at using Plan B. Along the way, it's also necessary to create mechanisms for school staff to communicate well about at-risk students. (CLICK HERE)

Key Ingredients for Getting the CPS Ball Rolling
(program aired live on November 16, 2009)
How do you get the ball rolling on implementing Collaborative Problem Solving in your school? That depends on where your school is at in terms of recognizing that the students with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges -- and their teachers and classmates -- aren't being well-served by disciplinary programs that rely heavily on rewarding and punishing. In this program, Dr. Greene describes some of the key ingredients for achieving a more accurate, compassionate, productive understanding of these students' difficulties and responding to those difficulties in ways that are more effective. (CLICK HERE)

All Beginnings Are Hard
(program aired live on November 9, 2009)
This is Dr. Greene's first program, so be prepared for some pauses as he adjusts to new technology! But this program provides a nice overview of the Collaborative Problem Solving approach -- first articulated in Dr. Greene's book The Explosive Child and more recently in his book Lost at School -- and what it takes to implement Collaborative Problem Solving in a school. (CLICK HERE)