I spoke in Cambridge, Massachusetts to college and university professors who prepare future teachers. I suggested that they have a dilemma. They wish to expose future teachers to various approaches to discipline. With this in mind, they use textbooks which share a number of discipline approaches, such as C.C..Charles’ Building Classroom Discipline. (Incidentally, the Raise Responsibility System is included in the more recent editions.) Unfortunately, when their students are asked at the end of their course whether or not they feel confident to walk into their first classroom knowing good classroom management procedures and having a discipline approach that is “user friendly” for both teacher and student, these future teachers inevitably answer in the negative. We expose future teachers to
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QUESTION: I am a psychologist who wholeheartedly supports your approach and philosophy. I am also part of a local community visioning process. Our juvenile justice system is working to introduce a “Balanced and Restorative Justice” initiative, which is a wonderful concept that aligns beautifully with your system. However, they have been approached by another project. Not surprisingly, many of those involved (probation officers, etc.) want to implement this other program as soon as possible. However, as I reviewed its manual, I found that at its core it is about controlling kids through a one-size-fits-all “consequence” (taking away everything they want) and trying to censor and control everything the kids hear, see, wear, and do—simply another behavior-mod program. Do you have,
READ MORE >>> →Promoting Responsibility & Learning – Volume 9 Number 5
#3 Keeping the brain healthy
#4 Question that changed the world
#5 The serious need for play
The opening paragraph of my book deals with mindsets. It sets the stage for the entire book because my purpose is to influence young people to have mindsets where they WANT to be responsible and WANT to learn. The objective is to create visual images that drive behaviors. The following exercise (shared with me by Jack Canfield, coauthor with Mark Victor Hansen of “The Aladdin Factor” and the “Chicken Soup” series) gives students an experience of the power of imagery for both behavior and learning. Students will need room for the exercise. Divide the class in two groups, A and B. Say the following to group A: I want you to close your eyes and imagine in your mind a
READ MORE >>> →Dr. James Sutton, a consulting psychologist and authority on oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and long-time friend, wrote me the following: Marv, I loved the story about the girl, the newcomer, who refused to make her bed (a story I had previously told). To me, this is about fear of new situations and circumstances, a feeling of being terribly vulnerable, rather than a really deep defiant stand. I’ve seen it with adults coming into drug and alcohol treatment. When they are terrified of being thrust into a new and semi-threatening situation, their response is almost always one of anger. Although this anger is generally directed at the closest authority figure, it’s not really personal, but it can sure LOOK that way.
READ MORE >>> →We all know that the best advertising is a referral. When you see an enjoyable movie or read a good book, there is a natural inclination to share what you have enjoyed. The same holds true for learning. If you have learned something, there is a desire to share it with others. Please take a moment and reflect on your successes with the teaching model of (1) understanding the differences between discipline and classroom management, (2) using the three principles to practice (positivity, choice, and reflection), (3) the three parts to the Raise Responsibility System (teaching, asking, and eliciting), and (4) using he Hierarchy of Social Development to improve academic performance. If by using these you have become more successful
READ MORE >>> →At a Texas conference, an elementary school assistant principal approached me and said, and I quote verbatim, “I’m addicted to you.” Needless to say, this captured my attention, and I asked for an explanation to this rather embarrassing compliment. She explained that after reading the Phi Delta Kappan article, she decided to try the approach described in the article. After she told me of her immediate successes using the levels of social development, I encouraged her to consider writing an article which perhaps could be published in a state or national journal. She sent the beginning few paragraphs of the article to me. The following is from her writing: “I had 20 students on behavior contracts that ranged from kindergarten
READ MORE >>> →Following are some ideas how you can you say “No!” without saying “No”: 1. Acknowledge the importance of the request. “I understand why that’s important to you.” 2. Inform the person that you have a problem with it. “But I have a problem with it.” 3. Describe the problem as you see it. “Your doing that would mean it would put a burden on everyone else.” 4. Elicit from the person something else. “Let’s think of something that would be fair to everyone.”
READ MORE >>> →A photographer was taking the graduation picture in a large middle school. The girls positioned themselves in the front rows as directed—with the boys in the rear rows. To ensure that the boys acted on their best behavior, one of the teachers approached a group of boys who were just standing there and said, “Now boys, don’t push the girls down the risers.” The boys hadn’t even thought of it! Remember that the brain thinks in visuals, in pictures—not in text or words. With this in mind, with what message were the boys left? The next time you don’t want someone to do something, consider whether your message will tempt in a way which is counterproductive. The easiest way to
READ MORE >>> →QUESTION: This has been my most challenging year of teaching ever. I have been at the end of my rope many times. I have looked all year for something new to help me and my students. I was very excited to learn about your ideas at the IRA (International Reading Association) convention. I know good classroom management begins on day one, but do you have any survival tips for the end of year? I really want to end the year positively so that we all feel good on the last day. It seems impossible as the problems have been worsening all year—everything from no supplies and tardiness to flat refusal to follow even simple directions like, "Please come here." I
READ MORE >>> →Have a discussion and elicit examples validating the following statement: “Effort becomes a reward, not just a way to a reward.” Have students draw from their personal experiences where exerting effort became as much if not more satisfying than being given a compliment or some tangible item. (Note: the purpose is not to lessen the importance of external acknowledgments but rather to demonstrate that external receivings are not nearly so satisfying as exerting effort to achieve a goal or to do that which is right.)
READ MORE >>> →Promoting Responsibility & Learning – Volume 9 Number 4
#3 Working with challenging students
#4 Clarity vs. influencing
#5 Outstanding book for teachers
You don’t necessarily like someone because who the person is. You like the person because of the person’s effect on you. Bennett Cerf, the well-known wit and much invited guest, once said that if you desire to be invited back, rather than saying, “What a wonderful party,” instead comment, “You were a most gracious host.”
READ MORE >>> →Discipline, truancy, and school dropouts are an increasing problem for schools and school districts. When I gave a keynote in Baltimore to personnel involved in this arena, I opened with a story from an experience Dr. William Glasser once told me he had encountered while working with incarcerated girls. INCIDENT: It was the girl’s first day at the youth facility. She was called for breakfast. The teenager would not make her bed. It was a rule that beds were to be made before breakfast. The housemother reminded the girl of the rule. The girl called the adult every name in the book and refused to make her bed. QUESTION: At this presentation, I asked the 300 counselors, psychologists, social workers,
READ MORE >>> →I’d like to share a new book I recently signed out from my public library. It’s called Letters to a Bullied Girl; Messages of Healing and Hope by Olivia Gardner with Emily and Sarah Buder. Just as the title suggests, the book is filled almost entirely with personal letters––presented in an easy-to-read format. The letters are all addressed to one of the authors, Olivia, expressing messages of encouragement to help Olivia get past the serious issues of bullying that she experienced for several years. Olivia, now 15, suffers from epilepsy and was bullied relentlessly at school and on the Internet, to the point where she considered taking her own life. In March of 2007, two sisters read about her story
READ MORE >>> →QUESTION: I don’t want to use stickers to motivate my primary students to print more neatly. Any suggestions to encourage them to take more care with their school work? RESPONSE: Here are some things that my teaching partner and I do in order to help build neat work habits over time: 1. We talk a lot about neatness. I’m a great believer in the idea that whatever you put your focus upon will increase! 2. We talk proactively. In other words, before a lesson begins we discuss what a great job would look like. This helps the kids who really have no idea of what a good job looks like and it helps the other kids who might not
READ MORE >>> →First posted on the Teachers.net site. Permission was granted from the author to re-post here: 6th and 7th graders are very impulsive creatures — they have been taught to be impulsive by adults. Don’t believe it? Just go to a teacher training session and observe how the teachers behave while the speakers are presenting! As a society we have become more impulsive, less respectful and less willing to listen to others. Just watch the adults, who come, presumably, to watch a student performance at school; they often talk right through it! So, I guess my point is that until students are taught and learn self control, are disciplinary consequences really the answer? Is giving them Detention Hall going to make them
READ MORE >>> →A Junior High School Newsletter Article (Emphasis added) By Joel Hollingsworth, Principal Selah Junior High School Selah, Washington Junior High School is a time for adolescents to make choices—but also to rely on the guidance and counsel of adults who are important in their lives. At Selah Junior High School, we use FOUR LEVELS OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT to help us DISCIPLINE, or TEACH, our students how to SUCCEED AT SCHOOL AND IN LIFE. The first two levels are not acceptable at school. ANARCHY is the absence of order and is characterized by chaos. Next is BULLYING or BOSSING which is characterized by bothering or bossing others and breaks our standards at school. The top two levels are both acceptable at
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