Motivating Students

Without rewards, how can I encourage neat work habits?

 

QUESTION:

I don’t want to use stickers to motivate my primary students to print more neatly.  Any suggestions to encourage them to take more care with their school work?

RESPONSE:

Here are some things that my teaching partner and I do in order to help build neat work habits over time:

1.  We talk a lot about neatness.  I’m a great believer in the idea that whatever you put your focus upon will increase!

2.  We talk proactively.  In other words, before a  lesson begins we discuss what a great job would look like.  This helps the kids who really have no idea of what a good job looks like and it helps the other kids who might not … >>>

READ MORE >>>

Some “evidence” that Discipline without Stress really gets kids thinking!

This week I had a neat experience while teaching a grade 7 student at my newest job at the middle school. I just thought I’d share.

For those who don’t know me, I have three teaching positions, all of which are shared with the same partner. Darlene and I share a grade 1 classroom, each working one end of the week, and on our other days we share two literacy positions, working with individual students at an alternate high school and a regular middle school. It’s hectic but we love it!  At our high school and middle school jobs, we work with a great range of students, some struggling with courses like English 10, but most with much lower skill … >>>

READ MORE >>>

Using DWS to deal with younger siblings visiting in the classroom

Throughout this summer, I’ve been emailing back and forth with one teacher in my province who wants to learn how the reading program my partner and I have developed, works in our grade one classroom. She is also quite interested in a program our K-6 school has instituted called “The Whole School Read,” in which every class reads for the first 30 minutes of the day and parents are encouraged to join us as helpers.

She recently asked me the question posted below and I share my response here because it includes an explanation of how this discipline approach can be used to help children take responsibility for their own behavior by understanding the concept of Choice-Response Thinking. In … >>>

READ MORE >>>

Is giving grades discouraged in this discipline system?

QUESTION:

I am very new to the Discipline without Stress mailring. I’ll be a 2nd year teacher this coming school year and will be implementing this system in my classroom. I did have a concern about grades. Would you please review Dr. Marshall’s views on grades and how they are related to competition? If he discourages grades, how would a teacher handle that in his/her classroom, given the requirements for grades and report cards, etc. from the school administration and parents?

RESPONSE:

Dr. Marshall has never suggested that academic grades not be given. Grading is a mandatory part of our teaching job.

He does point out that competition is counterproductive when it comes to learning.

For further information, here … >>>

READ MORE >>>

How do I teach students to ignore a misbehaving classmate?

QUESTION:

I have a 3rd grade student who is demonstrating increasingly 
disruptive behaviors. I have all kinds 
of support with him – my principal, school counselor, 
behavioral specialist – we’re all involved, every day. This boy can work elsewhere when he can’t manage in the classroom. My question is this: How do I 
teach the other students that it’s better for them to 
ignore this student’s behavior than to be an audience or worse yet, play along? I need some “choice 
words” to really explain it and underscore the importance of this.

They did a great job today and I complimented 
them on doing so after the student had been removed from the room. A couple of them asked me >>>

READ MORE >>>

How can I make the Discipline without Stress levels meaningful to students?

QUESTION:

I am still waiting for my Discipline without Stress book to arrive, but this morning I introduced the system to my class anyway. Even though it’s almost the end of the year, I have such big behavior problems that I decided I had nothing to lose and everything to gain! However, I must have done something wrong because the very students who need this system most, were the ones who didn’t pay attention to the discussion and mocked the levels right from the very start. Any suggestions for making this system real to kids who don’t pay much attention to things like this?

RESPONSE:

Here is an example of just one small discussion I have had with my own >>>

READ MORE >>>

Using the Discipline without Stress Principle of Reflection to improve spelling.

Through our use of the Discipline without Stress approach, my teaching partner and I have come to understand that positive changes in behavior are more likely to occur when we prompt students to think about how they choose to operate in their lives. More and more often, we now practice the Discipline without Stress Principle of Reflection–not only in behavior and discipline situations, but in academics too.

Dr. Marshall’s Hierarchy of Social Development is a wonderful tool for encouraging students to look honestly at choices in all areas of their lives. With an understanding of choice-response thinking, young people become aware that a conscious choice to operate at the higher levels is always an option—an option that results in powerful … >>>

READ MORE >>>

What can be done so students know that the intrinsic is always most important?

QUESTION:
I will start teaching next year and would like to get some ideas on behavior management and the use of rewards. I’m looking at a variety of discipline approaches, including Discipline without Stress.

I have a question: If a teacher does choose to provide extrinsic rewards, what should he or she do to make sure that students know that the intrinsic is always most important?

RESPONSE:
Would you agree that actions speak louder than words?

If a teacher chooses to reward a student extrinsically––but at the same time tells the student that the intrinsic reward is always more important––what message does the student actually receive?

If this is done routinely, sometimes both at home and … >>>

READ MORE >>>

Some thoughts on rewarding from a Discipline without Stress teacher

Shared by Robin Tzucker
on the Discipline without Stress Mailring:

One of the reasons I like this system so much is that it feels much nicer to be in a place where everyone is treated equally. Kids don’t always need the same things, so there will always be plenty of times when we need to give certain kids more of our attention, more time, more help, etc.—but that’s not the kind of equal I’m talking about.

What bothers me is that it often seems that the more behavior problems a child has, the more “rewards” they ultimately end up with. This may sound odd, because they certainly also end up with a larger share of negative consequences too—but in … >>>

READ MORE >>>

At my school, students receive “Duck Bucks” for behaving. How can I distribute these bucks without using them as rewards?

QUESTION:
Next year, I’m going to be the first teacher in my school to implement Discipline without Stress. My concern is that our school has a store and students can receive “Duck Bucks” for behaving, doing good deeds, etc.–our mascot is a duck. At the end of the quarter, the kids can buy things. I know that this goes directly against the philosophy behind Discipline without Stress, but my students will be expected to participate in the store. Do you have any thoughts on how I can distribute my share of school bucks without linking them to reward and punishment in my classroom?

RESPONSE:
As you mentioned, this type of a “behavior store” would not be in line with the … >>>

READ MORE >>>

How do I turn off the urge to praise?

QUESTION:
I have just read the book and plan to implement Discipline without Stress in this coming school year. I anticipate that I might have a problem with giving into the urge to praise individuals or the class as a whole. I can see myself saying, “Look at these students who have been on Level C and D all week! I’m so proud of you guys for following directions!” How do I turn off these urges to praise? How can I turn praise into productive comments that encourage and acknowledge all who are choosing to do the right thing? Please share any insights!

RESPONSE FROM TANIS CARTER:
(Shared on the Discipline without Stress Mailring)

Take heart! You are well … >>>

READ MORE >>>

What if my students are used to receiving discipline rewards?

QUESTION:
As a Learning Assistance teacher, I work with small groups of students for 30-45 minutes every day. All of the teachers at my school use the “colored card, stickers and treasure chest” method of classroom discipline. I don’t think they’ve ever seen an extrinsic reward they didn’t like! Do you think I could still implement the Discipline without Stress system effectively when the kids are used to being rewarded so much?

RESPONSE:
You can certainly use DISCIPLINE without STRESS in your small-group teaching situation. You can implement it effectively even if the other staff members at your school don’t follow a similar philosophy.

There’s no need to announce to your students that you don’t give rewards for expected behavior … >>>

READ MORE >>>

Are “sticker plans” compatible with the Discipline without Stress approach?

QUESTION:
At our last behavior team meeting, it was decided that a “sticker behavior plan” should be implemented for one of my students who doesn’t accomplish much in class. I’m new to Discipline without Stress and I’m wondering if this kind of individual behavior plan would work in conjunction with this approach? It seems contradictory. Any thoughts would be welcome.

RESPONSE:
Your feeling is correct. A sticker plan is contradictory to a system of discipline based on internal motivation. Discipline without Stress employs the power of inner satisfaction to influence students to achieve, while a behaviour modification approach focuses on offering an external incentive (in this case, stickers), in order to influence student behavior.

The fundamental characteristic of an … >>>

READ MORE >>>