Discipline

Questions About Rewards

On November 19, 2015   /   Discipline, Responsibility  

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

Question 1: “I am aware of your stance on giving students rewards. However, when students do their work and get good grades, isn’t the grade a reward?”

My reply:
Yes, the good grade is a reward, and there is nothing wrong with this reward. Neither is anything wrong with rewards as acknowledgments.

What I object to is giving rewards for expected, appropriate behavior. Grades are an incentive and they work to motivate only if the person is interested in a good grade. Many students are. But some could care less about the grade given them by a teacher.… >>>

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The Good Behavior Game

On November 11, 2015   /   Discipline  

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is purported to be an evidence-based behavioral classroom management strategy that helps children learn how to work together to create a positive learning environment. It  is supposed to promote each child’s positive behavior by rewarding student teams for complying with criteria set for appropriate behavior, such as working quietly, following directions, or being polite to each other. The team-based approach uses peer encouragement to help children follow rules and learn how to be good students. It is supposed to enable teachers to build strong academic skills and positive behaviors among students. It is built around four core elements: integrating classroom rules, team membership, monitoring of behavior, and positive reinforcement to both individuals and the group.… >>>

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Defiant Student at Spring Valley High School

On November 4, 2015   /   Discipline  

In the U.S. news: Coercion used on defiant student at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina results in police officer being fired.

The video showing the defiant student being flipped over while sitting at her desk has gone viral. One side says that force was too extreme. The other side says that the defiant student should have followed the police officer’s request and that the force used was justified.

I was asked what I would have done in this situation.  I would have used a third option. I would have used authority without coercion. First, the power struggle should have been avoided. When adults argue with a young person, it is like arguing with a pig. Both … >>>

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Thoughts Affect Discipline

On September 15, 2015   /   Discipline  

An understanding of mind-body connection is essential for reducing stress and influencing others. Thoughts have direct and powerful connections to all sorts of physiological functions. Think hard enough about jumping out of an airplane, and your heart will start to race and your palms to sweat.

Perhaps the most dramatic and best-known case was described by Norman Cousins in his “Anatomy of an Illness As Perceived by the Patient.” While I was recently re-organizing my library, I came across his description of his experience in the May 28, 1977 issue of The Saturday Review (pp. 4-6, 48-51).

Cousins came down with a serious collagen illness, a disease of the body’s connective tissues. One result of the disease is the reduction … >>>

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Guided Choices in the Classroom

On September 1, 2015   /   Classroom Management, Discipline  

In the Discipline Without Stress methodology, Guided Choices are used when a student has already acknowledged level B behavior and disrupts the lesson again.

The most effective approach is to ELICIT a consequence or procedure to help the student help himself to avoid future unacceptable behavior. This should be done in private by stating, “What you have done is not on an acceptable level.”

Then ask, “What do you suggest we do about it?” Be ready to ask, “What else?” “What else?” “What else?” until what the student says is acceptable and will assist the student in not repeating the behavior.

The advantages of ELICITING the consequence are multiple:
1. An adversarial relationship is avoided.
2. The student has ownership … >>>

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Discipline and Emotions

On August 27, 2015   /   Discipline  

Why do you think young people misbehave? When I ask people this question, most say that it’s because the youth don’t know any better, have had poor role models in life, or just because—no reason at all.

The fact is that young people misbehave because it makes them feel good; otherwise, they would not misbehave. People (including youth) don’t voluntarily do things that feel bad.

This is why it’s important to remember that in discipline, persuasion, and influence, emotion takes precedence over cognition. Connect to the youth’s emotion to make discipline effective.

Punishment prompts bad feelings and, therefore, is counterproductive to changing irresponsible behavior in any lasting way.

A more effective approach is to help the young person find a … >>>

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Teacher Training Programs Fail

On August 5, 2015   /   Discipline, Learning  

 A study by the prestigious TNTP http://tntp.org/ reported that teacher training doesn’t make the grade.

The study announced on August 5, 2015 reported that investments in ongoing training for teachers usually did not improve their performance and schools should rethink how they bolster teachers’ skills.

The Brooklyn-based organization, formerly known as the New Teacher Project, which trains educators and promotes stringent evaluations, analyzed several years of data from three school districts. The study found the district spent an average of $18,000 per teacher yearly on professional development, including coaching in the classroom, formal feedback, vendor contracts for training and staff time.

The analysis found performance improved substantially for only three out of 10 teachers in those districts during two – … >>>

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Control versus Influence

On July 28, 2015   /   Discipline, Effectiveness  

Are you focused on controlling youth or influencing them? If you experience much stress when interacting with children, chances are that you are trying to control them. Because controllees have low motivation to carry out decisions IMPOSED on them, as scores of research have documented, enforcement is both difficult and time-consuming. This is very evident in schools where teachers spend so much classroom time “playing police”—enforcing their rules or the administration’s rules.

Aiming at controlling people is really focusing on controlling the body and hoping the brain follows. In contrast, influencing people, whereby you aim at the brain and have the body follow. is less stressful and far more effective.

Controlling people aims at obedience. Except where the relationship is … >>>

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Discipline in Schools by Using Influence

On July 27, 2015   /   Discipline, Effectiveness  

“Listen up!” is an effective phrase to getting attention. Obtaining attention is the first step in influencing others for any reason—including changing behavior and improving self-discipline.

We tend to think of smooth talkers as having the most influence on others. Although the gift of gab is a nice characteristic, being a good listener provides even more of an advantage. 

In a study from the Journal of Research in Personality former work colleagues rated participants on measures of influence, verbal expression and listening behavior. Results indicate that good listening skills had a stronger effect on the ratings of influence than talking. The authors suggested that listening helps people obtain information and build trust, both of which can increase influence. 

Being a … >>>

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Bullying in Schools

On July 24, 2015   /   Discipline  

A Pennsylvania teenager was convicted of disorderly conduct after using his iPad to film his alleged tormentors harassing him at school.

According to a transcript of the court hearing obtained by the The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the teen said he made the seven-minute recording “because I always felt like it wasn’t me being heard.” He said classmates bullied him daily over a period of several months.

The bullied teen’s mother called the situation a “horrible nightmare,” questioning why officials at the high school went after her son for making the recording—but did not punish the bullies. At one point, the school authorities even considered pursuing a felony wiretapping charge against the student who was continually bullied.

It is … >>>

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Teaching Visualization for Classroom management

On July 17, 2015   /   Discipline, Learning  

Visualizing procedures enhances classroom management. The foundation of effective classroom management is modeling, practicing, and reinforcing procedures. Right-hemisphere oriented students tend to act spontaneously and process randomly. These folks need structure, and helping them visualize procedures may be the best approach to help these students help themselves and enhance their success.

Here is an example how I used visualization to help a student arrive in my classroom on tine. 

Mary was consistently late to my second period class. Assigning her detention had little positive affect on having her change her behavior. So I had a conversation with Mary and asked what she customarily did before coming to my class. She told me that she would go to her locker to … >>>

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Stop Trying to Control Youth

On July 16, 2015   /   Discipline, Responsibility  

When parents and teachers first learn about the Discipline Without Stress methodology, they often ask me, “What sort of consequence would a child with level ‘A’ (Anarchy) behavior receive?”

The answer to this is in a prime difference between Discipline Without Stress and other approaches. Whether the consequence is referred to as logical or natural, as long as it is IMPOSED it will prompt a negative feeling and, therefore, one of resistance.

Rather than imposing a consequence, ELICIT it. The conversation goes something like, “This behavior is on a level that is simply inappropriate in our classroom (or home), and it is unacceptable. What do you suggest we do so that you will not continue to be a victim of … >>>

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Discipline in Schools for Students Who Are Irresponsible

On July 14, 2015   /   Discipline  

A teacher wrote me that she has a few students who don’t want to acknowledge their irresponsible behaviors.  She said that it usually results in their being late for their next class due to the personal conversation she has with them before they leave her class. She asked, “What do I do with these stuents who don’t want to cooperate?”

Here is my response to Teresa:

Have a quick individual conversation with each student and ask, “If you had the possibility of choosing a leader for the class, whom would you choose? Name a second person.”

I would then compile the names from these students. Then, I would have a conversation with the person who was chosen the most number … >>>

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Charter Schools and Discipline

On July 13, 2015   /   Discipline, Learning  

Charter schools were conceived as an alternative to underperforming public schools. These schools allowed educators and entrepreneurs to ignore bureaucratic systems that are so prevalent in public schools. Charter schools were allowed to develop experimental teaching models so long as they were accountable for the results.

Today more than 2.3 million K-12 students are enrolled in over 6000 charters schools operated in the United States.

One major advantage of charter schools was its potential for creativity by, in large part, eliminating the amount of paper work that public schools required for innovation or doing anything not approved by the bureaucracy.

This allowability for creativity appears to be in n danger. For instance, of the eight schools that applied  for charters … >>>

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An Online Explanation of Discipline Without Stress

On July 8, 2015   /   Discipline  

Dr. Marshall recently brought teacher attention to a youtube lecture highlighting the third part of his Discipline without Stress Teaching Model, The Raise Responsibility System.

As many university instructors do these days, Joe Jerles posted this classroom management lecture online so that his students could access his teaching easily and repeatedly for study purposes.

He is teaching from the textbook, Effective Classroom Management by Carlette Jackson Hardin.  Chapter 9 of the book deals specifically with Dr. Marshall’s Discipline without Stress approach.

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Joe Jerles’ youtube presentation may also be of interest to those of you interested in learning more about the Discipline without Stress approach.

Dr. Marshall points out a few things to notice while viewing the video:

  • Even
… >>> READ MORE >>> →
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Lord of the Flies and Levels of Development

On July 8, 2015   /   Discipline, Levels of Development  

My blog of June 2, 2015 was on “Restorative Justice,” a discipline program being used by many urban schools because of the federal mandate to reduce the number of minority students being disciplined and suspended. I quote from an article about Restorative Justice: “The administration welcomes this ‘Lord of the Flies’ scenario.”

Here is little background about the “Lord of the Flies,” the title of a book that the article refers to along with information about the author.

William Golding was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1983 for his novels that “illuminate the human condition in the world of today.” He will probably be remembered primarily for his first novel, “Lord of the Flies,” a dark and disturbing

… >>> READ MORE >>> →
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Disciplining Children by Asking Rather than Telling

On July 6, 2015   /   Discipline, Parenting  

No one likes to be told what to do. Think of a time when someone told you what to do or told you that you had to do something. Notice how it conjures up a negative emotion. I grew up with a friend who, when told what to do by a parent, would find an excuse not to do it. Even if it was something he wanted to do, such as going outside to play, he would find an excuse to stay indoors just because he was told.

Depending upon the other person’s mental frame at the time, when we tell a person what to do—regardless of how admirable our intentions —the message is often perceived either as an attempt … >>>

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School Discipline Testimonial about Stress and Coercion

On July 3, 2015   /   Discipline  

I’m a 9th grade high school teacher in Long Beach, California. Most of us grew up with the old “rules and consequences” model, so I naturally followed it when I became a teacher 21 years ago. I don’t know whether our culture changed, or the kids changed, or I changed. But apparently no one ever told my students that bad behavior should be punished.

It’s like many of them are totally foreign to the concept. Why? I don’t know. But I was very tired of the stress that comes from running a coercive classroom. It was draining and depressing. Yet whenever the old “rewards and punishment” model seemed to be ineffective, I would double down on it. All I got … >>>

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