Dear Kid Whisperer,

I teach eighth-grade math. I have a student who sleeps (pretends to sleep?) through my class most days. Talking about it with him is not working. What do I do?

Answer: Ahh, the middle-school sleeper: Long has he or she been a thorn in the side of many a teacher.

What is to be done?

First, we must determine whether or not the sleeping is authentic, actual sleeping due to a medical or social issue, or if it is sleeping (or pretend sleeping) aimed at winning a power struggle. This is, by far, the most difficult part of this procedure.

To do part one, you must use Behavioral Leadership procedures and strategies that that are necessary but cannot be fully described here.

First, Real-World Workshop must be used so that students can feel that they can be done with work.

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