Talk Ticket

Teachers seldom have the time to drop everything and talk at length with a student who is upset about an incident that occurred within , or outside of, school. The "Talk Ticket" assures the student that he or she will have a chance to talk through the situation while allowing the teacher to schedule the meeting with the student for a time that does not disrupt classroom instruction. The Talk Ticket intervention is flexible to implement and offers the option of taking the student through a simple, structured problem-solving format.

Materials:

• Copy of the appropriate "Talk Ticket" form (see attachments at the bottom of this page)

Preparation:

If you choose to use the Intermediate or Long Form of the Talk Ticket, which lists several trusted adults that the student might choose to meet with, you will need to check in with these professionals prior to starting the intervention to describe the intervention to them and obtain their permission to be listed as contacts.

Steps in Implementing This Intervention

Step 1: From the sample forms that accompany this intervention description, choose a version of the Talk Ticket form that best suits your needs.

Step 2: Meet with the student privately to introduce the Talk Ticket intervention. Tell the student that, when an upsetting incident occurs that the teacher cannot immediately meet with the student to discuss, the student will be given a "Talk Ticket." This ticket will guarantee that the student will be able to meet with a trusted adult to debrief about the incident -but at a time that will not interfere with instruction.

Step 3: Whenever you note that the student is upset about an event or issue but you not have time to meet immediately with the student to discuss the situation, write out a Talk Ticket that notes a time and location for the student to meet with a trusted person (e.g., you, school counselor, administrator, teacher) to problem-solve about the issue.

Step 4: Be sure that the student is allowed to 'redeem' his or her Talk Ticket at the time noted! If you have listed several adult contacts in the school whom the student might choose to meet with, you may decide to let the student work down the list, checking in with each of the adults listed until the student finds one who has time to meet with him or her.

Step 5 (Optional): After the student meets with an adult to talk about the upsetting situation, you might choose to have the student complete the "Talk Ticket Reflective Planner" form. Or the student and adult can complete this form together as part of their conference.