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Emotions and Learning

On April 8, 2008   /   Learning  

Emotions drive attention.
Attention drives learning.
Emotionally blocked; learning stopped.

Spence Rogers of Peak Learning Systems is recognized for being one of the top experts in effective instruction and assessment.

He shared with me an e-mail he received from a counselor whose job it is to intervene with kids sent to the office for misbehavior. He had introduced the counselor to information from my book.

“I try and intercept as many as I can before the principal visits with them. I work with them with ideas from Dr. Marshall’s book. After coaching four students (all boys) from one first grade class, they wanted to share what they learned from Dr. Marshall’s work with their teacher. The teacher decided to … >>>

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Positive Self-Talk

On April 7, 2008   /   Effectiveness  

A friend of ours had surgery and expressed her concern about the procedure—even though it was a minor one.

My wife counseled her with the following message:

“When I was pregnant, I never worried about the baby. I simply remembered my mother’s self-talk when she was pregnant: I will only think beautiful thoughts so that I will have a beautiful baby.”

If you have trouble creating self-talk that enhances your life, here is another approach: Redirect or detour your thinking onto another subject.

Do this each time you begin to worry or are creating negative self-talk about yourself or others.

More information on this topic is available at http://marvinmarshall.com.… >>>

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Self-Esteem

On April 4, 2008   /   Responsibility  

I have never been a fan of the self-esteem movement because I have always thought that a person’s self-esteem comes from one’s own self-talk. This self-talk emanates primarily from a person’s nature and experiences, rather than from some external agent(s). I have never bought into the idea that people who bully or who do not do well academically in school have low self-esteem. I have personally known people who bully and have high self-esteem, and I have known people who have done very well academically but who have low self-esteem.

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. … >>>

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Teaching and Telling

On April 3, 2008   /   Discipline  

I recently attended your seminar in Omaha, Nebraska.

Thanks for a great day and a philosophy that will change the way that I teach and handle the difficult students that we have here.

Today I implemented the program for the first time. The students were very receptive to the idea of acting on Level C, the Cooperation level. It’s something they believe they can accomplish.

They also asked if they could hold me accountable. When I talked to them on the bossing level, they said I was “breaking” my own expectation by TELLING them what to do. We had a great conversation.

Thanks again,
Mat

Mat Daniels, wrestling coach
PACT School
Council Bluffs, Iowa

More information on this topic is … >>>

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Mailring to Promote Responsibility

On April 2, 2008   /   Discipline  

The following is from a recent post at DisciplineWithoutStress@yahoogroups.com/

“Wow! These discussions are so very informative and helpful.

“This is my first year using Dr. Marshall’s program and thirty-second year of teaching. There is so much more to all this than I had ever anticipated.

“Overall, I have less stress. I see growth in responsibility every day. As I work with my 5th grade students to empower them, I see them taking control of their behavior and choices. Is it perfect? No, far from it. But little by little it gets better and better.

“No one really wants to be on Level B. (See The Hiearchy of Social Development.) Our students deserve our guidance. I suspect the … >>>

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Motivation and An Image

On April 1, 2008   /   Learning  

Efforts to promote learning (educational reform) have been headline news for many years. If you reflect on the number of reforms attempted in the United States in the last thirty years, you would need many fingers to count them. Then if you reflected on how many of these attempts to improve education are extant, you would be hard pressed to need any fingers.

W. Edwards Deming, the man who brought the meaning of quality as “continuous improvement” to the world, often stated, “ninety-six percent of the problem lies in the SYSTEM, not in the employees.”

Following are two examples where the educational SYSTEM uses unproductive approaches.

The first: Educators talk about “motivating students” because of the apathy towards learning so … >>>

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Assessment and Assumption

On March 31, 2008   /   Relationships  

Never, never, never tell another person YOUR ASSESSMENT OF THAT PERSON. (This does not refer to a person’s behavior.)

The fact of life is that one never truly knows enough about a person to do that. Recently, overhearing a couple who have been married for many years, I heard the wife say to her husband, “I didn’t expect you to think that way.” She was pleasantly surprised by her husband’s take on a situation.

In this same vein of never completely knowing another person, a very successful teacher told me that her high school counselor told her that she was not smart enough to go to college.

(Although college does require a minimum of academic skills, perseverance is a far … >>>

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Our Thinking Controls How We Feel

On March 23, 2008   /   Effectiveness  

When travelling to South Africa with a group of school administrators, I personally experienced the power of how our thinking controls our feelings.

I was chosen as one of two among 35 delegates to make a presentation. Due to various stories of lost and poor handling of luggage in Johannesburg, the group was discouraged from checking in any suitcases. It was suggested to travel only with carry-on luggage. This meant that I could bring a minimum of handouts. The one I chose was my teaching model.

After my presentation, an administrator told me that it was unprofessional to attempt to sell my program.

My website is loaded with information, all of which is FREE—with the exception of my book, … >>>

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An Uncivilized Youth

On March 21, 2008   /   Responsibility  

A teacher posted a request at DisciplineWithoutStress@yahoogroups.com. The teacher had a very challenging youngster and requested others to share some ideas working with very difficult young students.

Following is one teacher's response. HER IDEA IS WELL WORTH YOUR READING IF YOU ARE A TEACHER OR parent WORKING WITH A VERY CHALLENGING YOUNG PERSON.

"This is my second year using DWS (Discipline without Stress). I have a first grader this year who has exhibited many of the behaviors that you listed. I have used behavior sheets, given out laps, writing sentences, separated him from the group even using a science fair display board and then ultimately had to suspend him for a short time. NOTHING was working with him. He … >>>

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Self-Reflection

On March 12, 2008   /   Relationships  

The following is from a post at DisciplineWithoutStress@yahoogroups.com.

What a difference this year! By taking this approach my relationship with the students is incredibly wonderful. I have always had a good connection with MOST of my students, but there were always a few who just hated me. Those were the kids who were disruptive. This year, it’s different. The kids know I am about helping them, not about who’s right or wrong, not about who said so, etc. Being new to this, I may not do it right all the time, but the kids get my sincerity.

I had to take a medical leave and was only able to tell the kids on my last day (due to school … >>>

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Two Universal Student Questions

On March 10, 2008   /   Learning  

All students have two questions when they first enter any classroom:
(1) Will I fit in?
(2) Will I succeed?

Following are two simple ways to empower students so that their SELF-TALK will be in the affirmative:

For the first, (Will I fit in?) REDUCE ANONYMITY.

Start the class by having students share the name they would like to be called AND have them share one personal fact about themselves. This can be a hobby, a special interest, how they enjoy spending their time, a favorite movie, a special song—anything that others in the class can relate to and remember about the student.

For the second, (Will I succeed?)

USE SOME EMPOWERING APPROACH.

Start an … >>>

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How to Win Friends and Influence People

On February 25, 2008   /   Effectiveness  

After presenting in Adelaide, Australia (a lovely and very enjoyable city), I went shopping with my wife. Fortunately, as you will read, I forgot to bring a book.

While waiting for my wife, I spotted a bookstore and purchased a copy of Dale Carnegie’s “HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE.” Originally published in 1936, the book went on to become one of the best-selling books of all time and made Carnegie an international celebrity.

His book was used as the text in my first college speech course, and because it had been years since I first read it, I decided to re-read it.

Carnegie had a gift for expressing profound truths in simple but profound ways. A perfect example … >>>

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Communicating Silently

On February 21, 2008   /   Effectiveness  

VERBAL messages are only one means of communicating.

MOVEMENT is another. For example, choose one place in your classroom where you will stand when you plan to admonish the class. (The same procedure works in the home, too.)

Before saying anything, wait until you move to that one specific location. Young people are very perceptive. When you start walking to that pre-selected location, the class will immediately settle down. Reason: They antipcate what’s coming.

GESTURES are another means of communication. An example was posted at
DisciplineWithoutStress@yahoogroups.com:

I introduce the Hierarchy of Social Development using charts I made downloaded from the web:
Primary Poster and posters.

I demonstrate the “picking up trash” example from the book. My students seem … >>>

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Learning and Growing

On February 19, 2008   /   Learning  

The book, "Discipline without Stress® Punishments or Rewards – How Teachers and parents Promote Responsibility and Learning," has three sections online. One of them has to do with reducing perfectionism. A major point of this section is that a person can not learn and be perfect at the same time. Failure only arrives when a person no longer tries. Failed attempts are learning experiences.

The following is illustrative of this point. It is from one of the support groups (mailring/forum) at DisciplineWithoutStress@yahoogroups:

I used the Raise Responsibility System (RRS) from the teaching model in kindergarten and first grade. There is just no better time to teach responsibility and control. There will be lots of mistakes … >>>

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Guessing Motivation

On February 18, 2008   /   Discipline  

We can never judge another person’s motivation with complete accuracy. Within a classroom where all the students look as if they are doing the same thing—perhaps quietly and cooperatively completing their assignments—some will be operating to receive a good grade or please the teacher and some will be putting forth effort to learn because they understand that success comes with effort. The teacher may have guesses about the motivation of each student but they are only guesses.

A person’s motivation can be accurately determined ONLY by the person him/herself. That is why it is important that teachers ask questions to promote self-reflection in students. With this approach, we are not TELLING the student what WE think of their actions and … >>>

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Impulse Control and School Success

On February 13, 2008   /   Learning  

Kids who can control their impulses do better in school.

Most people believe that intelligence plays the key role in children's academic achievement. A recent study by Pennsylvania State University researchers, however, found that the ability to self-regulate—to pay attention to a task and inhibit impulsive behavior—was more important than intelligence for early academic success.

The study focused on three-to-five-year-olds and showed that preschoolers' capacity for self-control was the best predictor of their performance in math and reading in kindergarten. Scores on intelligence tests were not as closely correlated with academic achievement.

A child's ability to monitor his or her thinking and behavior develops rapidly during preschool. The data gives concrete support to preschool programs that focus more directly on … >>>

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Acknowledging High Levels

On February 12, 2008   /   Discipline  

Kerry Weisner has cataloged many questions and answers about discipline on her Discipline Answers blog. Her comments below answer a pressing question from many adults who would like to acknowledge appropriate and acceptable behaviors—Level C and D of the hierarchy from the Raise Responsibility System.

Reflection and self-evaluation are key attributes of the system. By referring to the hierarchy, adults can encourage reflection on the higher, desirable levels. After explaining/teaching the hierarchy, the procedure is for the adult to ask the young person to identify the chosen level.

It is unnecessary and even counterproductive to attempt to evaluate the motivation levels of C (external) or D (internal). However, it can be very empowering for young people themselves to assess … >>>

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