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STRESS MANAGEMENT for Living, Teaching, & Parenting

Learning

Teacher Training and Discipline

On June 26, 2013 / Discipline, Learning

A prime thrust of teacher training programs should be teaching what to do when a new teacher first enters the classroom.

Teaching is the only profession that does not train its practitioners to do what is necessary when they first enter the profession. In the case of teaching, this means entering the classroom and immediately getting the respect of their students; creating a climate of trust so they will not be harmed physically, emotionally, or psychologically; and creating an atmosphere where students want to be.

A recent report by the National Council on Teacher Quality in their recent study, “Teacher Prep Review 2103 Report,” indicated that teaching how to create … >>>

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How Discipline Without Stress Is Unique

On June 26, 2013 / Discipline, Learning

The “Discipline Without Stress” (DWS) System is the only discipline and learning system that is totally noncoercive. This does not mean it is permissive. When disruptive discipline problems occurs, authority is used—but not coercion.

Notice that the term, “system,” is used. See the Discipline Without Stress Teaching model. The approach is proactive, which is Stephen Covey’s first habit of highly effective people. A hierarchy is taught at the outset to prompt students to reach the highest level.

Desire, caring, integrity, kindness, generosity, perseverance, and responsibility cannot be mandated. These qualities can only be taken, not given by an external agent. The system creates desire so young people want to be responsible, want to put forth … >>>

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A Critical Understanding for Successful Teaching

On June 25, 2013 / Learning

Successful teaching requires an understanding of curriculum, instruction, classroom management, and discipline. For example, classroom management and discipline are distinctly different topics. When they are lumped together s if they were synonymous, this lack of understanding hinders success.

Curriculum refers to what is to be taught. The curriculum is determined by state departments of education, boards of education, the “federal agenda,” professional associations, the community—and, more recently, corporate performance accountability models for learning.

It is the teacher’s responsibility to make the curriculum relevant, interesting, meaningful, and/or enjoyable. A first step would be for the teacher to ask the question, “Why should my students be learning this?” Then inform the students.

Instruction has two components: (1) teaching and (2) learning.… >>>

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North Carolina and PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports)

On June 24, 2013 / Discipline, Learning

The North Carolina Positive Behavioral Support Initiative is part of the North Carolina State Improvement Program funded through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Although the initiative is aimed at helping individuals with disabilities, it is now mandated in many classrooms. In my last series of public seminars conducted in Phoenix, Denver, Billings, Portland, and Salt Lake City in April of 2013, almost every teacher in attendance indicated that PBIS was mandated.

The state’ mandate reads, “All schools in North Carolina will implement Positive Behavior Support as an effective and proactive process for improving social competence and academic achievement for all students.”

Here is an example from Carlette Jackson Hardin’s book, “Effective Classroom Management,” pages 142-143:

The … >>>

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The Common Core Requirements

On June 12, 2013 / Learning

The Common Core requirements are being applied across the nation. I have had serious concerns since they first came into being.

One of my main concerns is that academics are being thrust upon young boys in kindergarten and first grade before boys are cognitively mature enough to meet these academic demands. In my administrative experiences as an elementary school principal, I would often counsel parents into having very young boys repeat kindergarten or first grade. Being held back at very young ages is in young people’s best interests—in contrast to feelings of failure or failing in a higher grade.

Apparently some states are also having reservations about the “Common Core State … >>>

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Discipline Is a Wonderful Word

On June 3, 2013 / Discipline, Learning

Although discipline is often referred to as punishment, this is only one of many interpretations of the word. In fact, Dr. Lee Salk, the author of eight books on family relationships and a former popular commentator on social change, domestic strife, and changing family patterns, stated in Familyhood: Nurturing the Values that Matter (p.47), “What discipline is not is punishment.”

He continued, “Discipline isn’t a dirty word. Far from it! Discipline is the one thing that separates us from chaos and anarchy. It’s the precursor to good behavior, and it never comes from bad behavior. People who associate discipline with punishment have a shortsighted view of discipline. With … >>>

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Learning and Relationships

On May 9, 2013 / Learning, Relationships

Learning and relationships are inseparable.

How we feel affects and even directs how we behave and learn. As you have heard time and time again—with a great deal of truth—students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Trust is the foundation of any relationship. With people, trust also carries with it an implicit message that the other person has your own best interests in mind. That is why we can accept criticism and even anger from those whom we trust. We know, deep down, that they really mean to help us.

Trust is an interesting quality because, once it is lost, it is hard to recapture. Many a relationship gasped its last breath on … >>>

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PBIS and DWS

On April 30, 2013 / Discipline, Effectiveness, Learning, Responsibility

When I presented seminars last week in Phoenix, Arizona; Denver, Colorado; Billings, Montana; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Portland, Oregon, many teachers told me that they were mandated to implement Positive Intervention Behavior and Supports (PBIS).

The question then is, “How can you use Discipline without Stress while at the same time implementing PBIS?”

The answer is as follows. First, there is nothing in PBIS that mandates the teacher must give the rewards. Have the students perform the task of handing out rewards. When the task is delegated to students, they soon realize how unfair it is to reward some students who do what the teacher desires but not reward … >>>

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Using Discipline in a Positive Way

On April 25, 2013 / Discipline, Learning

I met a gentleman, Eric, on an airplane. As we exchanged pleasantries, and he found out that I was a professional speaker in the field of education, he related the following experience to me.

He described himself as having been a rather loquacious youngster, and his teacher had moved his seat away from his friend. Eric wanted to send a message to his friend. So after writing it, he carefully folded the page into a very successful flying object. When he was sure the teacher was not looking, he jettisoned the plane toward his friend, and just then Mrs. Christenson looked up to see the missile grace the air.

She called Eric to her desk and said that since his … >>>

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Learning and Cheating on Standardized Tests

On April 23, 2013 / Learning

I have written before about the use of standardized tests for evaluating educational progress and teacher effectiveness.

Commercial standardized tests were never developed to give feedback for educational improvement. They were designed to rank students based upon the theory that all students receive the same instruction in specified areas. They don’t.

The use of such tests promotes cheating because the teachers’ jobs often depend upon how well their students do on these tests. It almost hurts anyone who is knowledgeable about testing to see the educational establishment employing such measures.

The most recent case that came to light is an indictment against Michelle Rhee, the former chancellor of the Washington, D.C. school system. The chancellor failed to pursue evidence of … >>>

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Learning in a Montessori Environment

On April 22, 2013 / Learning

A friend of mine has two children (ages 5 and 7) enrolled in a Montessori School. As with most Montessori schools, this one does not issue grades. While my friend does receive a progress report for each child four times a year, it is devoid of the standard A, B, C, D, F grading system. Instead, it reveals which specific skills her children are being introduced to, which they are developing, and in which they have achieved mastery.

My friend revealed that while she is pleased with this progress report system, the rest of her family doesn’t understand it. They ask her questions like, “How do you know how they rate compared to the rest of the class?” and “What’s … >>>

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Deming’s Principles in Schools

On April 12, 2013 / Learning

As a long-term follower and advocate of W. Edwards Deming, I recently reviewed “Total Quality Education: Profiles of Schools that Demonstrate the Power of Deming’s Management Principles” by Michael Schmoker and Richard Wilson, published by the Phi Delta Kappa of Bloomington, Indiana.

Here are the approaches that these successful schools have in common based on Deming’s’ ideas.

Purpose: They have a clear, well-defined purpose that centers on academic and intellectual accomplishment. This purpose is vigilantly reiterated and reinforced.
Measurement: They plan carefully and then regularly and relentlessly measure progress for every significant goal. And they use these measurements not to punish but to continually improve the quality of teacher and student performance.
Morale: They maintain high morale by creating

… >>> READ MORE >>> →

Cheating in Public Schools

On April 4, 2013 / Learning

Thirty-five Atlanta public school educators and administrators were recently indicted in connection with alleged cheating on standardized tests.

The alleged cheating is believed to date back to early 2001, according to the indictment, when standardized testing scores began to turn around in the 50,000-student school district.

According to the indictment, the superintendent placed unreasonable goals on educators and protected and rewarded those who achieved targets by cheating. It also alleges she fired principals who failed to achieve goals and ignored suspicious test score gains throughout the school system.

A state review determined that some cheating had occurred in more than half of the district’s elementary and middle schools. About 180 teachers were initially implicated in the scandal of what was … >>>

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Questions to Ask about Using Rewards

On March 19, 2013 / Discipline, Learning

Bob Sullivan of Woodbury Connecticut poses some interesting questions for teachers who plan on giving rewards as bribes to influence behavior.

1. When you use reward, who does all the work? (The teacher or the student?)

2. What rewards will appeal to my students?

3. Can I assume every one of my students will be satisfied with my choice of rewards?

4. Where would I buy them and how much will they cost ?

5. Since rewards are more effective if they are given immediately, how will I handle presenting the rewards?

6. If the target (incentive) is too difficult for some students and they just give up, how will I handle this?

7. If some don’t achieve the objectives … >>>

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Young People and the Japanese Carp

On March 12, 2013 / Learning, Parenting

The Japanese carp fish, also known as koi, has seemingly unlimited growth potential. If you put a koi in a small fish bowl, it will grow to only two or three inches long. In an average aquarium it will reach six to ten inches. In a pond, it can grow to be a foot and a half. And if the koi is placed in a lake, where it can really stretch out, it can grow up to three feet long. The size of the fish is proportional to the size of its home.

It works this way with young people, too. They grow according to how we treat them—not physically, of course, but intellectually, psychologically, and emotionally. Traditional discipline approaches … >>>

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Teachers Matter Learning Articles to Share

On March 5, 2013 / Learning

A collection of my articles on LEARNING has recently been published in TEACHERS MATTER by Karen Boyes of New Zealand.

Feel free to download, print, and share the publication.

Articles include:

Counterproductive Approaches
Elicit, Rather than Impose
Five Practices of Superior Teachers
The Brain, Sleep, and Learning
The Brain and Exercise
Explaining Internal vs. External Motivation
Competition and Learning
Joy in Learning
Defining Success
Understanding Counterwill
Reducing Stress
Classroom Management and Visualization
A Better Approach than Relying on Rules
Language, the Brain, and Behavior
Discipline Is a Liberating Word
Immaculate Perception
See It and Learn It

… >>> READ MORE >>> →

Striving for Perfection Hinders Learning

On February 27, 2013 / Learning

Striving for perfection, rather than for continual improvement, leaves children and students reluctant to admit mistakes or apologize when in the wrong.

Believe it or not, but a common manifestation of perfectionism is that students stop learning; they simply give up. Perfectionism becomes so tyrannical that students develop anxiety attacks. This leads to the thinking pattern that they cannot perform or engage in the activity because they will not be good enough. The next stage is total paralysis.

Adults should foster failure as feedback. Failing is a natural outcome of trying, and it is a great teacher. That is, it can be if the choice is to learn from it rather than be crushed by it. The adult’s message … >>>

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The Hype of Self-Esteem

On February 26, 2013 / Learning

I am not a fan of the self-esteem movement because I have always thought that a person’s self-esteem comes from his or her own self-talk. This self-talk emanates primarily from a person’s nature and experiences, rather than from some external agent(s).

The “Scientific American Mind”—volume 16, number 4—contains an interesting article entitled, “Exploding the Self-Esteem Myth,” with the subtitle: “Boosting People’s Sense of Self-Worth Has Become a National Preoccupation. Yet Surprisingly, Research Shows that Such Efforts Do Little to Improve Academic Performance or Prevent Troublesome Behavior.”

One study cited eludes to responsibility as a prime factor in self-esteem: “…students who take responsibility for their grades not only get better grades but they also learn that they, personally, can control … >>>

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