The school librarian sent out overdue library notices on three different colors of paper in an attempt to retrieve books. The first color was a notice that the book was overdue. The second colored notice announced that a book was really late and that the next notice would be a detention. The third was a notice that the book was three weeks overdue and that the student had to serve a detention. The librarian was sending out more than 200 notices each week. The process had turned into a bit of a joke with students who realized that the first two notices really didn’t count. Using the Discipline Without Stress approach, the librarian sent the following notice the next day
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“Discipline Without Stress” has two fundamental characteristics. The first is that stress—oftentimes associated with discipline—is significantly reduced. The second is that external manipulators, such as rewards for appropriate behavior, are not used because they are counterproductive to promoting responsibility. Punishments—be they referred to as logical or natural—are based on the theory that the person needs to be harmed to be taught, to be hurt in order to learn. Therefore, imposed punishments are not used. Instead, procedures or consequences are elicited because they are much more effective in changing behaviors. The site shows how to promote responsible behavior by using 21st century approaches espoused by such authorities as Stephen Covey, W. Edwards Deming, and William Glasser. They are based on the simple fact that no one
READ MORE >>> →Here’s yet another example of why rewarding children for doing something that’s expected of them is counterproductive. I was talking with a 7-year-old girl who is about to enter the second grade about her experience in the previous grade. She explained to me that every night the first grade students had a short book to read for homework. The procedure was that they had to bring the book home, read it, complete a short worksheet about what they read, and return both the book and the completed worksheet to class the next day. She, however, often forgot to take her book home, forgot to read it, forgot to fill out the worksheet, or forgot to bring both items back to
READ MORE >>> →The Levels of Development uses just four (4) concepts, or vocabulary terms, to describe two unacceptable behaviors (Level A and Level B) and two other terms to describe the concepts of external motivation (Level C) and internal motivation (Level D). The use of these terms leads to improved self-discipline. Some primary teachers feel uncomfortable using the terms associated with unacceptable behaviors—anarchy and bullying. Rather than ignoring these negative concepts, young people are empowered when they can identify, articulate, and resist them. The way to learn a concept is to have a way to describe it. This is the reason that one of the most fundamental approaches to success in school is vocabulary development. Vocabulary words are taught as soon as youngsters enter school. When negative
READ MORE >>> →As much as we wish learning were the major attraction for students in attending school, during the adolescent years we find that relationships are often the major motivational factor. Kids want to be with other kids. When a student lacks a sense of belonging, when the student feels anonymous or isolated, motivation for school attendance is diminished. In fact, one main reason why students drop out of school is lack of friendship. Teachers can address this issue by planning activities where students spend some time interacting and getting to know each other. This can be accomplished in any classroom in just a few minutes. Students share their interests, hobbies, experiences, and things they are proud of with a partner. Some
READ MORE >>> →Teachers have a responsibility to teach in a way that students learn. If students do not learn what has been taught, then the teaching is simply entertainment. I often read the term “democratic classroom.” Democracy, by definition, means that the authority rests with the people. But this is not the situation in a classroom. Authority always rests with the person responsible for the teaching and learning—the teacher. Successful teachers engage students in activities and involve them in the process, but the teacher always retains responsibility. Democracy does not mean running a class in a democratic fashion. A teacher does not run a democracy. A teacher runs a classroom.
READ MORE >>> →QUESTION: I am an art teacher at an elementary school. I have three 4th grade classes that are usually difficult to manage. I have recently asked a guest artist to come and do a Jackson Pollock lesson with them. She is supplying all the paint and canvases for this lesson, except one. I also have one very large (6 X 8) canvas that only one class will get to paint. The other two classes will have to work on smaller individual canvases. This lesson requires the students to be on their best behavior and be good listeners as we will be “splatter” painting. I told the classes they could “earn” the big canvas. I said that the class with the
READ MORE >>> →Our thoughts automatically become attuned to that which is presented to us. For example, the mother asks her son whether he would prefer peas or carrots. The youngster likes neither choice. However, there is a natural tendency to choose from these restricted options. Other options exist, and they will be discovered if the simple question is asked, “Are there any other choices?”
READ MORE >>> →Ray Kroc sold malted milk machines in Southern California. Two brothers owned a drive-in restaurant, and they were his best customers. Kroc believed that the brothers’ business model was a good one. Their place was well-lit and clean, had a wholesome family atmosphere, offered uniform quality at a fair price, and sustained a volume that outstripped all of Kroc’s other customers. Kroc was able to have the brothers sell their drive-in restaurant to him, but he retained the company’s name: McDonald’s. The new owner found a Calvin Coolidge quote that expressed his business philosophy and posted it on the wall of every McDonald’s. It read: “Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not;
READ MORE >>> →Always encourage youngsters to look to themselves to solve problems, rather than relying on others. This is of critical importance because parents, desiring to help their children, too often do things for them that they could and should be doing themselves. In these situations, parents not only create more work and more stress for themselves, but, more important, they deprive young people of opportunities for growth and developing responsibility. As it has been aptly said, “If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders.” If your children are to learn how to become responsible, they must experience responsibility. When children have a problem, rather than solve it for them, ask, “What do
READ MORE >>> →As a professional speaker, I treat my vocal chords as athletes and musicians treat their key assets. So one of my procedures is to sing in order to enhance my vocal variations and tone of my voice. I do this by singing a few mornings each week. One of the songs I often sing with is a recording of Frank Sinatra’s “On the Sunny Side of the Street.“ I especially enjoy the lyrics since they bring to mind my “positivity” principle to practice. Here are the lyrics: Grab your coat and snatch your hat, leave your worries on the doorstep.Just direct your feet to the sunny side of the street. Can’t you hear that pitter pat and that happy tune is
READ MORE >>> →A new study from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that teens who went through a four-week program where they learned about yoga-based breathing techniques had better impulse control than teens who didn’t go through the program. The program, called “YES! for Schools,” was developed by the nonprofit International Association for Human Values. Researchers had 524 Los Angeles area high school students go through the four-week program. They also recruited 264 teens to be in a control group that didn’t go through the program. After the four weeks, the students who went through the program reported feeling less impulsive than those who didn’t. The researchers noted that the findings are important because lack of impulse control is linked with
READ MORE >>> →The Los Angles Times today (June 15, 2013) carried an extensive article indicating that California is resisting the federal government’s insistence that standardized test results be used for evaluating teachers. Such resistance should not only be applauded but should also be followed by other states. Using standardized tests to evaluate teacher performance is a political, not an educational, decision. No research justifies the use of such tests for this purpose. In fact, using any standardized test for this purpose is invalid and unreliable. There are just too many extraneous factors. If we really want to improve teaching, we should look to develop models of effective evaluation rather than pursuing problematic schemes that measure teachers, create disincentives for teaching hi-need students,
READ MORE >>> →Promoting Responsibility & Learning – Volume 13 Number 7
# 2 Establishing procedures
# 3 More on a Theatre of the Mind
# 7 DWS and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling made the Broken Window Theory famous in their 1982 ATLANTIC MONTHLY article: “The unchecked panhandler is, in effect, the first broken window. Muggers and robbers, whether opportunistic or professional, believe they reduce their chances of being caught or even identified if they operate on streets where potential victims are already intimidated by prevailing conditions. If the neighborhood cannot keep a bothersome panhandler from annoying a passerby, the thief may reason, it is even less likely to call the police to identify a potential mugger or to interfere if the mugging actually takes place.” By the same reasoning, when a discipline problem is demonstrated in a classroom and if the teacher does not attend
READ MORE >>> →Some scientists say that about every 11 seconds our minds talk to us. When we’re listening to someone else speak to us about 250 words a minute, our minds, which are capable of dealing with thousands of words per minute, go wandering off, as in, “Did I turn off the coffee maker this morning?” “Do I remember where I parked the car in the parking structure?” “What shall I wear for the event tonight?” One way to tie up our self-talk or to continually focus on the speaker is to use the rapid repeat technique. Like anything new, it takes some practice. Here’s how it works: As you’re listening to someone, you talk along with the speaker in your mind as
READ MORE >>> →Practicing the principle of positivity improves relationships, increases effectiveness in influencing others to change their behaviors, and makes discipline much easier. Negative comments engender negative attitudes. Consequences (the usual discipline technique) are usually perceived negatively, and they do not change the way a youngster wants to behave. Additionally, announcing consequences ahead of time is often counterproductive with young people because it focuses on the consequences, rather than on the desired behaviors. Plus, such information encourages certain types of students to push until the limit is reached. If a consequence is necessary, a more effective approach is to elicit the consequence—which should be reasonable, respectable, and related to the situation. Positive comments, on the other hand, engender positive attitudes. People who
READ MORE >>> →One day a salesman driving on a two-lane country road got stuck in the ditch. He asked a farmer for help. The farmer hitched up Elmo, the blind mule, to the salesman’s car. The farmer grabbed a switch, snapped it in the air, and yelled, “Go, Sam, go!” Nothing happened. He snapped it again. “Go, Jackson, go!” Still nothing. Then he flicked Elmo. “Go, Elmo, go!” And Elmo pulled the car out of the ditch. “Hey, what’s with the ‘Sam’ and the ‘Jackson’?” asked the driver. “Look, if he didn’t think he had any help, he wouldn’t even try!” We all need help, and this is one reason that collaboration is far more effective in promoting learning than competition. Competition
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