About a month into the year, I was still trying to connect with Tyler. I can usually getstudents involved in class discussions or at the least motivate them to sit qu y andsattentively. By contrast, Tyler was Just loud and offHe had been in so much trouble through the years. He expected his teachers to knowabout his referrals(# 4) where he was sent to the office, and suspensions, where he wasgiven compulsory days to stay out of school. I had rarely found referrals to be effectivebecause students would return from the office behaving worse than before.