A response by Claudia Payne, a member of the DWS Mailring:
My school has spent a great deal of money training us on L&L. Buy DWS. It includes Jim Fay’s philosophy and is much easier to use since it is a “system” and can be used “publicly” without any demeaning of the student.
When I need to remind students about talking I say (over my microphone) gently, playfully, “Do you need authority?” They always say, “No.” I then say lovingly, “Why not?” They always say, “Because I’m going to stop.”
I have found it tremendously useful to incorporate social time into my lessons by having kids discuss with each other briefly before responding individually for the whole class.
The questioning becomes second nature over just a couple of months and after you build the relationship with your class you will need to use the questions less and less.
I used L & L somewhat successfully for a year and then discovered DWS; it changed my life.
