Posted by Teri Gibson, a member of the Discipline without Stress mailring. I have just begun using DWS this year with my 4 yr. old special needs preschool classes. I absolutely love it. No, my class is not perfect. No, DWS does not solve all behavior problems. What it does is this: For the first time, I am able to “reward” my kids that are being good, while helping the kids that are not! It makes me view everything as a teachable moment, rather than a child’s attempt to undermine. I love the way it stresses the positive and actually encourages me to pay more attention to the children who are doing the right thing. I still have much to
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Assume everything you say about another person can be overheard by that person.
READ MORE >>> →I have previously referred to the kaizen way. This approach is described in the book, “One Small Step Can Change Your Life – The Kaizen Way” by Robert Maurer. The book addresses two questions: –How do people succeed?–How do successful people stay successful? The answer is in continuous improvement. BUT HOW IS THIS DONE? Since a little history helps, I first briefly explain the how the approach works in organizations. Then I share how Dr. Maurer describes both how and why the approach can be used on a personal level. For those who have read Kerry Weisner’s and my featured cover article in the March 2004 PHI DELTA KAPPAN, the name of W. Edwards Deming will be familiar. (Part 1: Creating
READ MORE >>> →Adversity is a natural and ongoing part of life. You have a responsibility to transform adversities into challenges and opportunities.
READ MORE >>> →The following was written by Evelyn Marshall after the conference of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) in Orlando, Florida. I had presented the morning of the first day of the conference. This episode occurred on the second day. She wrote: A tall muscular man approached me and quietly began, “I bought the book yesterday, and last night I read 120 pages.” Suddenly, his eyes and voice took on an animation as he continued with great deliberateness, “I’m going to give these ideas to my teachers as soon as I get back. This is the best book on teaching that I have ever read. I had to come over and tell you that.”
READ MORE >>> →When I presented at the National Catholic Educators Association conference and walked by one of the booths in the exhibit hall, Dr. Patricia McCormack stopped me. We had never met, but she recognized me from the picture on my website. She told me that she knows about the RAISE RESPONSIBILITY SYSTEM from my website and saw the program at work in a California school. To quote from her book, "Student Self-Discipline in the Classroom & Beyond" (National Catholic Educational Association, 2003): "The faculty in-serviced themselves through discussion and consideration of Marshall's book. Before the program was implemented, the teachers provided an in-service for parents, staff members, and students. "It was necessary for us to keep in mind that a discipline
READ MORE >>> →QUESTION: I attended your session at the Brain Expo in San Diego. I have put your ideas into practice in my classroom and am now researching the pitfalls of behaviorism and rewards and consequences for my Master’s Degree. I am looking at the variables of an autocratic classroom that uses rewards and consequences and a democratic classroom that uses expectations, choice, and reflection in classroom management. RESPONSE: I shy away from describing a classroom as “democratic.” I use the term, “Democracy,” for level D because democracy and responsibility are inseparable—and the prime purpose of the Hierarchy is to promote responsibility. I know that some teachers use the phrase, “democratic classroom,” but I think this carries the implicit message that the
READ MORE >>> →A few years ago, the former Secretary of Education, William Bennett, was asked by a 7th grader, "How can you tell a good country from a bad one?" Dr. Bennett replied, "I apply the 'gate' test. When the gates of a country are open, watch which way the people run. Do they run into the country or out of the country?" The question was an excellent one and prompted an excellent response. I think the same question could be applied to parenting, teaching, and any organization. If the people you deal with were exposed to other possibilities or opportunities, and if all other things were equal, would they stay with you—or would they leave you? Consider taking an inventory. Are
READ MORE >>> →It seems that every year my teaching partner and I introduce the DWS Hierarchy a bit differently from the year before. As we’ve become more familiar with the bigger picture of using DWS throughout the course of an full school year, we worry less and less about the initial introduction. Over the years, we’ve experienced that the beginning lesson is not something we need to view as a “make or break” situation. Our young students in grade one need many many “introductions” to the Hierarchy in order for all of them to really understand it, so we know that the the first lesson will simply be one of many to come. This year though, our introduction of the Hierarchy came
READ MORE >>> →The church gossip and self-appointed arbiter of the church’s morals kept nosing into other people’s business. Several church members were unappreciative of her activities but feared her enough to maintain their silence. She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member, of being a drunk after she saw his pickup truck parked in front of the town’s only bar one afternoon. She commented to George and others that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing. George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and then walked away. He didn’t explain, defend, or deny; he said nothing. Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of her house .
READ MORE >>> →Reject rejection. Rejection does not prevent success; fear of rejection does. You should keep in mind that there is no rational reason to fear rejection. Reject the rejector, and go about your affairs. The high school student applied to a prestigious university but was not accepted. The student was not accepted before the application was submitted and was not accepted after the application was submitted. In reality, the student is no worse off than if the application had not been submitted at all. A few years ago when I was presenting for university extension programs around the country, one university where I had a desire to present did not hire me. My mentor in this endeavor was a psychologist, Dr.
READ MORE >>> →Although fear is usually self-talk, there are times when it is most difficult to think that it is not real. So rather than attempting to eradicate it, warm up to it. We can learn from our children. Children don’t say, “I can’t because I’m afraid.” For example, a youngster will get on a high diving board and dive off even though she has never done it before. She’ll run to the parent with a great smile, and the parent will ask, “Weren’t you afraid?” She’ll respond, “Yes, I was afraid; I was really scared.” But a grown-up won’t do the same thing. If you say to a grown-up, “Are you going to dive off the board?” the adult will say,
READ MORE >>> →I gave a keynote In Alberta, Canada, entitled, “Four Practices of Superior Teachers,” followed by a “Discipline without Stress, Punishments, or Rewards” workshop to the Calgary Teachers Association. I think I also had the most humbling experience of my life. I have been honored to speak in various locations around the world. Certainly presenting in Kuala Lumpur at the behest of the Minister of Education of Malaysia was an honor and a very gratifying experience. And I truly enjoyed speaking in Beijing where I presentied with a Chinese translation of the book. But what I witnessed in Alberta was overwhelming. Fifty members of the Calgary Teachers Association had formed a Marvin Marshall Book Club, and I was the invited speaker
READ MORE >>> →Here is a marvelously successful idea to have students understand the motivation of those students who operate on Level B—in this case bullies who pick on others. I used it well in Seoul, Korea to demonstrate how older students take advantage of young students and thereby lose harmony in the Confucian-based society of honoring others. Use a ruler to demonstrate a teeter-totter (see-saw). Hold it flat and describe that this is how it looks when it is balanced. People who are getting along and making responsible choices keep the teeter-totter in balance. However, when one person starts to pick on another, the teeter-totter gets out of balance. The person who is picked on starts to feel as if he/she is
READ MORE >>> →The Levels of Development is a highly effective approach to promote learning. Establishing expectations by prompts from the teacher, and/or eliciting descriptors from students, BEFORE an activity and then REFLECTING AFTER the activity increase both motivation and achievement. Following are two samples of the posts: A) PERSEVERANCE LEVEL D (INTERNAL motivation) • Perseveres in spite of a challenge • Retains an optimistic attitude toward obstacles • Doesn’t require constant adult direction or supervision to stay on task • Independently asks for help when necessary, rather than unnecessarily worrying LEVEL C (EXTERNAL motivation) • Does all of the above but ONLY when an adult is nearby or when there is a desire to impress someone who is watching LEVEL B/A
READ MORE >>> →I had an experience with one of my students that I call, “Level D at the Beach!” While on a field trip, I had an opportunity to use the Levels of Development with a child who had shown a high level of integrity. I was able to help him recognize the fact because of the Raise Responsibility System. I had another situation in which I was able to use the Levels of Development to help a child feel a bit better about her dealings with a difficult desk partner. I thought I’d share it because I think it’s helpful to hear stories of classroom experiences and because I want to encourage people to remember to use the hierarchy to help
READ MORE >>> →If you want to increase your effectiveness with anyone—employee, spouse, child, or student—start by stating something positive. The famous folk hero, Will Rogers, said, “In all your life, you will never find a method more effective in getting through to another person than to make that person feel important.” Find something that is deserving of recognition or some behavior or result that you like. Then let the person know that you appreciate it. In simple terms, acknowledge successes of a person. When you build on what prompts a person to feel good, you will soon see how much more effective you become.
READ MORE >>> →If you reflect on your self-talk, you will conclude that your thoughts often involve past experiences or future visions. However, what you actually do is often done habitually and/or nonconsciously. Taking action is a current activity—not a past or future one. In addition, action requires more than thought. For example, if there are three frogs on a lily pond and one decides to jump, you may conclude—in error—that there would be two frogs left. However, deciding to jump is not the same as jumping. In this situation, three frogs would still be left. More than thinking about the past or the future, it is thinking about the present and taking action in the present that leads to responsible behavior.
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