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Discipline

10 Discipline Approaches to Avoid

On April 26, 2016 / Discipline

If you’re looking for some discipline help so you can increase motivation, responsibility, and learning in young people, then stay away from the following 10 counterproductive discipline approaches.

BEING REACTIVE

Teachers too often become stressed by reacting to inappropriate behavior. It is far more effective to employ a proactive approach at the outset to inspire students to want to behave responsibly and then use a non-adversarial response whenever they do not.

RELIANCE ON RULES

Rules are meant to control, not inspire. Rules are necessary in games but when used between people, enforcement of rules automatically creates adversarial relationships. A more effective approach is to teach procedures and inspire responsible behavior through expectations and reflection.

AIMING AT OBEDIENCE

Obedience does not … >>>

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Can Substitute Teachers Use Discipline Help?

On April 21, 2016 / Discipline

When you’re using the Discipline Without Stress methodology in your classroom, can a substitute teacher step in and lead your class if he or she is not familiar with the discipline help in the book, Discipline without Stress, Punishments or Rewards?

Yes! A substitute teacher does not need to know the discipline system at all for discipline help. Also, I use the term “guest teacher” because of the influence it has on students. When I was an elementary school principal, as soon as the day started I was in the “substitute teacher’s” classroom and introduced the substitute by announcing that we had a guest teacher that day and that I knew the students would treat the teacher accordingly. Expectations … >>>

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How to Move Away from Rewards in Discipline

On April 19, 2016 / Discipline

Here is a communication I received from a teacher that is definitely worth sharing about discipline and rewards.

“I am a fourth grade teacher who desperately wants to move away from students only working for rewards that is the nature of the discipline ‘behavior plans’ at my school. After implementing a few of your strategies in my classroom, I am pleased with the way my students have responded. Because I, and all their previous teachers, have used rewards, I am unsure how they will react if I do away with all tangible rewards.”

———

MY RESPONSE:

Use principle two, CHOICE, of the three principles to practice.

Rather than stopping the use of rewards, give your students the CHOICE. It sounds … >>>

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Having a Teaching System is Better than Having a Talent for Teaching

On April 14, 2016 / Classroom Management, Discipline, Learning, Responsibility

Working in Harlem under contract for three years with the New York City Board of Education taught me an invaluable lesson: Having a teaching SYSTEM is far superior to talent when a teacher faces challenging behaviors in the classroom.

The assistant superintendent and I were very impressed while observing a teacher one year. We agreed that the teacher was a “natural.” However, when I visited the teacher the following year, she told me that three boys were such challenges that she could use some assistance.

Even teachers with a “natural talent” are challenged by student behaviors that teachers in former generations did not have to deal with. To retain the joy that the teaching profession offers and to reduce one’s … >>>

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Creativity and Procedures

On April 7, 2016 / Discipline

Although procedures are the foundational step to efficient instruction and reducing discipline problems, sometimes we forget to be creative in their establishment.

In some cases, the teacher might create a new classroom procedure to proactively deal with misbehavior from certain students. In other words, rather than reacting to the same type of misbehavior day after day, the teacher might restructure the environment more carefully in a way that would allow immature students to be more successful.

For example, in an elementary classroom, there may be a few students who find it difficult to maintain appropriate behavior in the cramped quarters of the cloakroom at dismissal time. To deal with this, the teacher can change the procedure for the cloakroom.

Rather … >>>

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Discipline Questions Answered

On March 29, 2016 / An Overview of The RRSystem, Discipline, Impulse Control, The Raise Responsibilty System

More and more people who want to discipline without coercion are learning about the Discipline Without Stress methodology and the Raise Responsibility System every day.

Step 1: TEACHING – (Students learn four levels of development) Being proactive by TEACHING AT THE OUTSET is in contrast to the usual approach of just responding to inappropriate behavior.

Step 2: ASKING – (Checking for Understanding) When a disruption occurs, have the student identify the unacceptable level chosen. Note: A major reason for the success of the system is that by identifying something OUTSIDE of oneself, the deed is separated from the doer. The person is not prompted to self-defend, which is one’s natural and usual approach.

Step 3: ELICITING – (Guided … >>>

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Class DoJo

On March 10, 2016 / Discipline, Effectiveness, Learning

The following request was sent me:

I would love to have your opinion on Class Dojo. It appears to be another carrot and stick approach that does NOT promote responsibility. As a resource teacher in my school board, I don’t feel comfortable telling other teachers what to do and how to teach; yet for the sake of the students, I know Class Dojo isn’t the answer. Could you please give me some advice on what to tell teachers?

MY RESPONSE:
Class Dojo is a classroom behavior management system where every student has his or her own avatar. All the avatars are public so that all students can see other students’ avatars. Teachers assign dojos (icons) to student avatars throughout a … >>>

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Implementing Procedures

On March 8, 2016 / Discipline

QUESTION: I’m finally starting to implement DWS in my classroom and I’m really loving it. I made some great posters to help the kids and it’s going well. However I’m having a hard time helping the kids come up with strategies to avoid misbehaving. The biggest problem we have is talking when they’re not supposed to. We go through the questions about what level that behavior is and whether it’s appropriate, which they are able to answer just fine. But when I ask them what can they do next time (or when they need to list strategies on their reflection sheets), all they ever say is “don’t talk”, or “ignore others.” What can I suggest to these kids to help … >>>

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Implement Discipline Without Stress Today

On February 16, 2016 / Discipline

One of the points I continued to emphasize in my presentations is that the Discipline Without Stress methodology CAN BE IMPLEMENTED IMMEDIATELY. The only requirement is to teach the four vocabulary concepts and then have students create examples of them in their own classroom and/or for various activities. Anyone can teach the four concepts at anytime—even during the last few weeks of the school year.

I received the following e-mail that shows this concept in action.

“I suspended a defiant student earlier in the week and was dreading having him return to my classroom on Friday. After hearing your inspiring talk, I was able to put my arm around him and walk with him while I asked him what we … >>>

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Asking “Why” Questions Does Not Improve Behavior

On February 2, 2016 / Discipline

Many teachers and parents fall into the trap of asking children “why” they did something. “Why did you hit your brother?” “Why did you throw your book on the floor?” “Why are you not listening to the instructions?” They mistakenly think that it is necessary to understand the “why” of a behavioral problem in order to fix it.

By focusing on the “why,” they are treating social-behavioral skills the same way as academic skills. However, academic skills deal with the cognitive domain, whereas behavior has to do with the affective domain—those factors that pertain to feelings and emotions. This is why knowing “why a building collapsed” is important to fixing the problem, but knowing “why you hit your brother” is … >>>

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Aim for Responsibility, Not Obedience

On January 5, 2016 / Discipline

The mindset of current educational approaches regarding student behavior focuses unfortunately on obedience, the source too often of reluctance, resistance, resentment, and even rebellion. Simply stated, OBEDIENCE DOES NOT CREATE DESIRE. However, when the focus is on promoting responsibility, obedience follows as a natural by-product.

The reason is that motivation to be responsible requires a DESIRE to do so. The motivation must be INTERNAL. Many schools use EXTERNAL motivation in the form of rewards, threats, and punishments. However, these approaches (a) foster compliance rather than commitment, (b) require an adult presence for monitoring, (c) set up students to be dependent upon external agents, and (d) do not foster long-term motivation for responsibility.

In addition, when students start collecting rewards—as in … >>>

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Responsibility and Behavior

On December 17, 2015 / Discipline, Responsibility

Today I’d like to share with you a post from Discipline Answers. I think you’ll agree that while humorous, this post reveals a lot about what’s wrong with so many behavior modification approaches in use today.

“One of the oddest conversations I ever had with a child was with a very bright, very disruptive 7-year-old. He had a history of misbehavior at school with lots of office time and suspensions. At the beginning of the year I sat with him after a minor infraction and during our conversation I casually said something about, ‘Well, you know I can’t MAKE you behave; that’s something you have to want to do for yourself. And you get to think about your behavior … >>>

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Strong Relationships Curb Discipline Problems

On December 10, 2015 / Discipline, Relationships

The brain and body are an integrated system. Feelings and cognition are interrelated and have a significant effect upon learning. If you are a parent, you know this. When your child returns home after the FIRST day of school, you may ask “How was school?” You also may ask, “What did you learn?” And you most certainly ask, “Do you like your teacher?”

We know from our personal experiences and through research on the workings of the brain that how we feel has a significant effect upon what and how we think and behave. Therefore, IMPROVING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TEACHERS AND STUDENTS IS ONE OF THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL REFORMS THAT SCHOOLS CAN INITIATE. In fact, if you want to decrease discipline … >>>

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Problems with Behaviorism

On December 8, 2015 / Discipline

People sometimes ask me if I’m a behaviorist. I’m not.

Behaviorism usually refers to approaches of Pavlov (classical conditioning of stimulus/response) and Skinner (behavior modification by reinforcing behavior AFTER an act occurs).

Behavior modification is popular in schools, especially with special education specialists. Unfortunately, MANY RESEARCH STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THE APPROACH TO BE INEFFECTIVE. However, its staying power is attested to by an increasing number of states mandating that schools use “positive behavior support” that is based on a behavior modification model.

The essence of behavior modification is to REWARD DESIRED BEHAVIOR AND IGNORE UNDESIRED BEHAVIOR. The fact that inappropriate behavior is ignored can send the message that nothing is wrong with the behavior, and so there may be little … >>>

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Restorative Justice in the Los Angeles Unified School District

On December 2, 2015 / Discipline

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has adopted Restorative Justice as the district’s discipline policy. This program focuses on community building, repairing harm, and reintegrating students who have been suspended, truant, or expelled.

Restorative Justice was developed years ago and, as the name implies, was originally developed to help incarcerated people make amends for their misdeeds.

Although the intent of Restorative Justice has many good qualities, the program is a process—considering that LAUSD has planned to implement the program over a three-year period.

I should make my position clear regarding my association with the Los Angeles district. To begin, I have great admiration for large urban school districts. I consulted with the New York Board of Education working with … >>>

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Questions About Work Ethic

On December 1, 2015 / Discipline, Responsibility

Here are a few of the most common questions I receive from teachers regarding students’ work ethic. Some of them may resonate with you.

Question 1: Is your system of promoting responsibility connected to work ethic or just behaviors of following the rules?

My reply:
First, I always say, “Rules are meant to control, not inspire.” I became a teacher for the latter, not the former. Second, I refer to character education on seven pages in my book. The foundational principle of any character education or work ethic is responsibility. Without it, nothing else stands.

Question 2: Does your system work well with secondary students?

My reply:
The teaching model works with anyone, of any age, in any learning situation.… >>>

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Questions About Behavior and Discipline

On November 24, 2015 / Discipline

Here are a few of the most common questions I receive from teachers regarding behavior and discipline. Some of them may resonate with you.

Question 1: I generally have few major behavior problems because I set high expectations and I keep students busy, but I do have problems with talking. Is talking a Level B behavior problem?

My reply:
Talking is a Level B issue only if your students are talking when they shouldn’t be. In such cases, I would teach a psychological lesson and develop a procedure such as illustrated at http://marvinmarshall.com/the-raise-responsibility-system/impulse-management/

UNLESS THE STUDENT HAS A PROCEDURE TO REDIRECT THE IMPULSE, the student will remain a victim of the talking impulse.

Question 2: How about doing their homework? … >>>

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