A Cat in the Doghouse

Michael’s classic educational work is ENVoY. It is designed for every teacher because it is the science of classroom management. A Healthy Classroom is the art of classroom management. A Cat in the Doghouse: Making Your Classroom a Humane Society is how to use nonverbal communication to establish relationships with your students. Combine the three and you have the Classroom Management Trilogy!

While ENVoY is a collection of 31 strategies that the teacher applies either when interacting with an individual student or the class as a whole, A Healthy Classroom is designed to help us understand when the teacher has to grapple with both the individual and the class at the same time. A Cat in the Doghouse Making Your Classroom a Humane Society (Classroom Management Trilogy) tackles how to use nonverbal communication to establish relationships with your students. Learn how to create a happier, safer classroom. This overview will give you a basic understanding of behavioral styles from high accommodators (i.e., dogs) to low accommodators (i.e., cats). Anyone who has ever owned a cat and a dog instinctively know the differences between their personalities.

In A Cat in the Doghouse, this animal analogy is applied to people so we understand why “cats” (low accommodators) are so difficult to work with – and yet their loyalty, once gained, is often greater than a dog’s loyalty would be. This overview centers on how a leader forms relationships to operate with influence instead of power.

Expected outcomes

• How to build relationships
• How to get the cats to respect you.
• When to use influence and power.
• How to feel sane during difficult times.
• How to be proactive and reduce big surprises.
• How to use CATNIP to draw cat students to you.

For people unfamiliar with ENVoY, please look at, “Michael Grinder School House of Relationships.” It includes Robert Marzano’s research that indicates – the single variable in successful classrooms is the relationship between teacher and student.

Our speakers:

Michael Grinder taught 17 years in Watts & Compton, California, Oregon, and Washington. He was runner-up for Washington’s Teacher of the Year. Nonverbals make up 80% of our communication. Michael has coached in over 6,000 classrooms pioneering research on how our body language

affects learning. His 14 books have been translated into 7 languages. He has taught educators on five continents. @Michael_Grinder

Krista Grinder-Dettloff has over 30 years of experience working in the education sector from being a paraeducator to supporting all levels of education from preschool through the college level as a specialist. Experience being a classroom teacher was at both the elementary and middle school levels. The biggest expert who has personally trained Krista for over 50 years in the field of communication, non-verbals and relationship building was and continues to be her father Michael Grinder.

Audience?

Preference is given to districts that are members of the Greater Rochester Teacher Center Network

Cost?

No cost to NYS Educators, registration required. Earn 2 CTLE hours. Greece Central teachers earn 2 CTLE and 2 PL hours.

Participants will receive a free copy of the book A Cat in the Doghouse By Michael Grinder

When?

Monday, October 19, 2026 (4PM- 6PM) Registration begins at 3:30. Please arrive early as we will start promptly at 4 PM.

Where?

In person

Greece Transportation and Support Service Facility

1790 Latta Road

Rochester, NY 14612

This program is sponsored by the Greece Professional Learning Center and the Greater Rochester Teacher Center Network. For registration questions, please email marguerite.dimgba@greececsd.org or call 585.966.2130.