QUESTION: What is the best way to explain to children the difference between internal and external motivation––in other words, the difference between DWS Levels C and D? I am having trouble with this. RESPONSE: Initially I use very concrete examples connected directly to the classroom. I describe Level C as the level where students do the right thing––what’s expected of them by the teacher––because the teacher is clearly expecting them to do it. Some simple examples: The student will pick up toys off the floor when they are asked. The student will walk quietly in the hallway when a teacher is supervising. The student will clean up a mess he/she has made when they know an adult is near enough
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I was talking with a friend yesterday who told me the following story. Recently she had been chatting with a man who coaches soccer teams of 8 and 9 year olds. He mentioned that this year he’d had a lot of difficulty in getting his players to work together as a team. My friend, an experienced teacher, started to offer some suggestions; she knew of many activities that might encourage teamwork. But the man quickly stopped her. “Oh, you don’t understand,” he said. “It’s not the kids who are the problem––it’s the parents! The parents have all promised their children that they’ll get two dollars every time they score a goal. The kids are so intent on getting points––all on their
READ MORE >>> →This is the third part in a series of interviews about “Where We Are Going” with Michael F. Shaughnessy of Eastern New Mexico University. QUESTION: Your book “Discipline without Stress” has been out there for several years. Any idea as to how many schools use and refer to it? RESPONSE:Since the book was published in 2001, 50,000 copies have been sold so far. The next 10,000 copies will be off the press within the next few weeks. I’ve heard it said that the book is perhaps the best ever published on how to discipline and promote learning. The comments on the homepage for the book give an indication of its popularity. Here is an example I received from a high
READ MORE >>> →This is the second part in a series of interviews about “Where We Are Going” with Michael F. Shaughnessy of Eastern New Mexico University. QUESTION:I have enjoyed your Oliver Wendell Holmes story about the issue as to where we are going. With all this emphasis on Annual Yearly Progress and the re-authorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) , where indeed are we heading? Can you tell us the story to set the context for this interview? RESPONSE: As the train conductor made his way down the aisle collecting tickets, the forgetful Oliver Wendell Holmes saw him coming. The Associate Justice reached into his pocket—first into one, then into another, then into a third pocket. When the conductor arrived in
READ MORE >>> →This is the first part in a series of interviews about Where We Are Going with Michael F. Shaughnessy of Eastern New Mexico University QUESTION:Your books and teaching model are used quite extensively in schools nowadays. To what do you attribute this? RESPONSE:The Discipline Without Stress approach uses common sense. It is a total system. It is both simple and comprehensive, employing universal principles that apply to people of all ages. It promotes both responsible behavior and a desire to WANT to put forth effort to learn. Finally, it improves relationships and increases effectiveness. I also believe that teachers are realizing more and more that their most significant influence on young people shows outside of class times. Successful teachers empower
READ MORE >>> →“You are never fully dressed without a smile,” sang Little Orphan Annie in the old Broadway musical. It turns out Annie may have been giving some shrewd advice. Studies have repeatedly shown that people remember smiling faces better than neutral ones. Researchers at Duke University have found a physical explanation for the phenomenon. Robert Cabeza and his colleagues “introduced” volunteers to a number of people by showing them a picture and telling them a name. Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), the investigators found that both learning and recalling the names associated with smiling faces preferentially activated the orbitofrontal cortex, a processing area of the brain. Although the studies are preliminary, it makes evolutionary sense that a smile would engender positive
READ MORE >>> →A tag question is simply a question offered quickly and nonchalantly at the end of a statement or observation. It encourages review of the previous communication. When using tag questions, you make a statement, then leave it up to the person you are talking with to think about what you have asked. Tag questions in particular give teachers and parents a tool to help a young person review what has been said or done.The tag prompts an opportunity to have the young person reflect—without requiring an accounting to the adult. Here are some examples of tag questions: So you think that will help the situation, do you? You meant that you can go to your friend’s house when you finished
READ MORE >>> →A communication to me indicated that it would be difficult to have a substitute fully understand the system if the teacher hadn’t actually read the book. I responded that a substitute teacher did not need to know the system at all. 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 for responsible student behavior were established immediately. As a teacher, I had the following one-page at the top
READ MORE >>> →Work and learning both require effort. However, they are so different that I devoted the epilogue in my book to the differences between “work” in employment and “work” in learning. The differences are so apparent to me that the only time I use the word “work”—as in “homework”—is in the index. With this in mind, enjoy the following e-mail I received. Have you heard about the next planned “Survivor” show? Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped in an elementary school classroom for 6 weeks. Each business person will be provided with a copy of his/her school district’s curriculum and a class of 28 students. Each class will have five learning-disabled children, three with A.D.D., one gifted child, and
READ MORE >>> →Promoting Responsibility & Learning – Volume 11 Number 9
#4 Questions for improving relationships
#5 Learning by false assumptions
#7 Discipline using rewards as a disaster
QUESTION: I had the pleasure of hearing you speak in New Orleans. Thank you for your encouraging words. I am a fourth grade teacher who desperately wants to move away from students only working for rewards, which is the nature of “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 the students will react if I do away with all tangible rewards. ——— MY RESPONSE: Use principle two, CHOICE, of the THREE PRINCIPLES TO PRACTICE of the Discipline Without Stress Teaching Model. Rather than stopping the use of rewards, give
READ MORE >>> →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 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 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 confront. To retain the joy that the teaching profession offers and to reduce one’s stress, a SYSTEM to rely
READ MORE >>> →The following is from a communication I received: Dr Marshall: I really enjoyed your presentation in Margate, New Jersey. I am a strong believer in positive thinking and you verified many aspects that have been helpful to me. You specifically spoke about a Japanese classroom during your talk. Unfortunately, I did not hear what you said because I was taking notes. Would you mind telling me the benefits of a Japanese classroom? I also enjoy your newsletters. Even though I have been teaching for over 30 years, there is still so much to learn especially from experts like you. Thank you, Kathy Revelle ========I responded as follows: Dear Kathy, The JAPANESE teaching model starts by tapping into student motivation. Teachers
READ MORE >>> →The following was posted at the DisciplineWithoutStres mailring hosted by yahoo groups.com: I just wanted to quickly relay a rewards-based disaster. One of our seventh-graders, in fact, the daughter of a teacher, recently wanted to go to the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) reward dance. She is an A honor roll student, never a discipline problem, and a wonderful kid. In the haste of “bribing” misbehaving students to be good, we neglected to “reward” her for doing what she had motivated herself to do. Long story short, she did not have enough PBIS tickets to go to the dance. How horrible!! Looks like rewards systems don’t quite cover the good kids as well as they should. Good thing that they
READ MORE >>> →An issue of USA Today concluded an editorial entitled “Dealing with Dropouts” as follows: “In this global economy, where post-high school study is often required even for blue-collar jobs, dropping out of high school usually amounts to an economic death sentence. “It is imperative to get the size of the dropout problem out in the open and throw a lifeline to the young people at risk.” Obviously, students who drop out of school are more likely to lack literacy skills or become responsible citizens. This is not only a school challenge, IT IS AN INCREASING HEALTH AND SAFETY CHALLENGE FOR SOCIETY. In an attempt to develop more socially responsible young citizens and have youth find more success and satisfaction in
READ MORE >>> →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 careful. Here is an example posted on the Yahoo group Discipline Without Stress: This year in our primary classroom, we have a number of students who find it difficult to maintain appropriate behaviour in the cramped quarters of the cloakroom at dismissal time. To deal
READ MORE >>> →Promoting Responsibility & Learning – Volume 11 Number 8
#5 Learning and cheating in schools
#6 Parenting troubled youngsters
#7 Discipline and counterproductive approaches
Procedures are critical for motivation and for success in the classroom. If there is a procedure for doing something, and not all students are doing it, practice the procedure. When a student asks about something, or isn’t doing something for which you have a procedure, simply ask, “What is our procedure?” Put the responsibility on the student to think of the procedure or to practice it after a reminder. When the class doesn’t do something by the procedure, simply stop and practice. Part I of the Discipline Without Stress Teaching Model is critical to successful teaching, learning, and discipline Without taking care of classroom management (developing, teaching and practicing procedures,) it’s very difficult to have success in helping kids to become self-disciplined. Once
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