Abstract Michael is a 14-year-old boy in the eighth grade from an intact, professional family. He has a 16-year-old brother and a 10-year-old sister who do very well in school and demonstrate no problems. Michael is considered to be very bright, as shown by past grades and achievement test scores. Over the past few months, however, teachers have reported that Michael will not complete his homework or may complete it and not turn it in. He has a history of inconsistent performance over the past 2–3 years, which seems to have worsened these past few months. In the classroom he sits in the back, does not participate, doodles on his papers, and shows little interest in the activities. He is not disruptive or attention-seeking and seems to want to avoid interacting with others. When asked why he is not doing his work, he says that, “I don’t know,” “I don’t care,” “It’s not important,” or “No one cares, anyway.” Other students view him as “odd” and a “geek,” and report that they do not want to be around him. Over time, he becomes more socially isolated. Now, he has only one or two friends who are not part of the social mainstream. He does show occasional irritability or anger when pushed, but he is not aggressive or overtly noncompliant. Most of the teachers describe him as “lazy” and “unmotivated” and show little interest in trying to help him. Background Michael’s story is based on a real student and reflects characteristics of some children who are depressed. These behaviors are not unique to depression, and some students with depression may have some different characteristics. Teachers often have depressed students in their classrooms, and they have difflculty recognizing them or knowing what to do to increase performance. These students often are seen as lazy and they do not respond to typical methods of discipline, including suspensions, penalties, or encouragements. Most depressed children are not being deliberately deflant and uncooperative, but cannot muster the personal resources to perform as well as they are able. They may think in non-productive ways, such as, “I did poorly on a test because I am a stupid person,” rather than, “I did poorly because I did not study hard enough” or in all-or-none, “I am terrible at everything,” rather than, “I am good at some things and not as good at other things.” Working with depressed children and adolescents requires that educators know about depression, its characteristics and effects on school performance, and what can be done to help these students in the classroom. Depression in the classroom Depression is a term we are hearing more often regarding children and adolescents. For many years, it was believed that young people could not experience depression, but we now know that they can and do become depressed, sometimes to a serious level. With sufflcient information, teachers can detect depression and are in a good position to identify it and seek help for the student. In the classroom, depressed students may appear unmotivated and uncaring about their work when, in fact, they are unable to function to their level of ability. Often, they have difflculty with sustaining attention, effort, performance, and social relationships. Coaxing, cajoling, punishm