***This is the fifth blog post in a continuing series detailing the launch of a new district EBD center housed inside a traditional high school.

I know you may find this difficult to believe, but my colleagues are feeling some trepidation about the 17 children with severe behavior problems coming to their school in August. I know. Shocking.

In a perfect world, you’d open a new district center in the middle of a high school and be received with a parade, balloons, and cupcakes. But that doesn’t seem particularly likely. Based on my experiences launching the program at my last school, we can expect to be greeted with nervous smiles, sideways glances, and (most commonly) a total lack of eye contact and increased walking speeds when we are encountered in the hallway.

What you are about to read is likely going to sound like some sort of satire. It is not satire. This is what I ACTUALLY DO when I’m meeting with new colleagues. Seriously. Not a joke.

You’re going to have to butter them up with tangible reinforcers. Your colleagues are going to need to associate you with lovely, pleasant interactions and delicious baked goods…rather than visits from the school resource officer and stacks of teacher questionnaires (which, incidentally, I’m not a fan of for this population).

Here’s what I do when I need to meet with a teachers (regular special education teachers or general education teachers).

First of all, I beg my administrators to let me pull teachers out of the much-detested professional development workshops on staff workdays. That way, I’m not infringing on their free work time.

When I meet with my colleagues, I usually have a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies (yes, really) or (when I’m time-crunched) a box of Snickers bars from Costco. I also get a big package of really nice clicky pens (you’ll see why in a minute).

So…I grab the colleague. I tell them I need to talk about a behavior intervention plan for a student. I tell them I will only keep them for SIX MINUTES, then they can leave. I then set a nice, big timer on my laptop. I very briefly tell them about the kid, then go through my nice, clearly-written BIP. I let them vent their fears and frustrations, attempting to make them feel like things will be fine.

Then, I give them the cookie/candy. Some people will say “No thanks! I’m on a diet!” in an attempt to avoid being beholden to the Behavior Lady. That’s why I have the pens. It’s important that the colleague leave your meeting thinking two things: 1. “Hey! That was quick!”, and 2. “That nice lady gave me a pen/cookie/candy bar!”

That, my friends, is how you build relationships.