Manufacturing—building tangibles—has led and fed the economies in the 19th and 20th centuries. There were a few originators, but most people were followers. Obedience, implementation of rules, and top-down management were the orders of the day. What drives our 21st century? The creation and distribution of information. Rather than compliance, initiative is required. People rarely will work for one company all their lives. Increasingly, many people are now working as independent contractors instead of working for others. The number of individual entrepreneurs is continually growing. People in their twenties are planning their retirements forty years in advance because they no longer believe that traditional retirements will suffice in their older years. The society of the 21st century requires initiative—not merely
READ MORE >>> →Archive
“This book provides the tools to create an enriched learning environment. It provides practical applications, thoughtful suggestions, and excellent insights to improve teaching and learning in any classroom.” Al Katz, Classmeeting Program William Glasser Institute A descriptive table of contents, three selected sections, and additional items of interest are posted at: DisciplineWithoutStress.com.
READ MORE >>> →QUESTION: I am still having difficulty with a few 9th grade girls who have been recently discharging negativity during instruction. When I gave a girl a form to reflect and complete this week she complied, but held onto very hostile feelings towards me because I didn’t give anybody else the form. Despite the fact that I maintained empathy and talked to her privately about it, she would not let go of her feelings of unfairness. She is a youngster with emotional problems. Should I be dealing any differently with emotionally impaired kids? Some of these 9th grade girls are very tough street-wise, Detroit kids with a chip on their shoulders. I use tutoring to build rapport, but I can’t make
READ MORE >>> →At an International Reading Association conference, a teacher told me that her students had no motivation. The following is my rather dense “lecture” that I shared with her. (See footnote regarding the term “dense.”) I suggested that every student attending school is motivated; without motivation, one would not get out of bed. Whether the motivation is prompted by a situation, a stimulus, an impulse, or an urge, the person arising from bed is motivated. If you grant me the assumption that simply by being in school there is some degree of motivation, the question then has to do with the type of motivation we are using. W. Edwards Deming—who showed the manufacturing world how to improve quality while simultaneously lowering
READ MORE >>> →In August 1986, Lee Iacocca, the president of Chrysler, was about to address his dealers at the company's annual convention held in Atlantic City, NJ. Iacocca's message was based on telling his dealers how they could increase their business in the next year. To succeed, he said, "All you have to do is memorize four words. Here they are: Make someone like you." The truth of the matter is that you cannot MAKE someone like you—but you can certainly INFLUENCE a person. And the most effective way to influence a person is gain trust by being noncoercive. Just think of anyone you call a friend. Chances are you do not try to coerce that person and that person does not
READ MORE >>> →I received the following e-mail: I am trying to put together a way for the teachers at our school to reflect on their year and to self-evaluate. But it needs to be something that is do-able, i.e., won’t feel overwhelming in its scope or the time it would take for them to complete it and would feel meaningful and help guide our work together for next year. Do you have any suggestions for me? My response was to post the following: If I were a student, would I want me as a teacher? If yes, list the reasons. If no, list the reasons.
READ MORE >>> →Knowing the cause of a behavior may be interesting but has little to do with changing behavior to become more responsible. People know when they act inappropriately, but KNOWING the motivation does not stop behavior—nor does it lead to a change in future behavior. This realization is in direct opposition to many approaches aimed at determining the cause of a behavior—with the assumption that knowing the cause is necessary to change the behavior. As compelling as it may be to know the motivation (the “Why?”) that prompts behavior, it is the action that will be taken—not the reason(s) for the action—that determines whether or not there will be a change. Developing a procedure to direct behavior is a significantly more
READ MORE >>> →"Dr. Marshall's book addresses many concerns voiced by new and continuing teachers. This book can serve as a powerful and practical resource for educators and parents alike." —Martha Evans, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent, West Covina Unified School District and Senior Adjunct Professor, University of La Verne, La Verne, CA A descriptive table of contents, three selected sections, and additional items of interest are posted at: http://www.DisciplineWithoutStress.com.
READ MORE >>> →QUESTION: I currently teach at the last stop for kids with behavioral problems along with drug abuse. Classroom management and discipline has to be consistent and talked about on a regular basis or the students that just arrived will not buy into the program. Your plan on discipline appears to be working. There are a few problems that I have noticed, such as: 1. It is hard to break old habits such as yelling and screaming. 2. Some students expect the yelling. 3. Some teachers won’t buy in on this style of discipline. 4. Some students don’t understand the mechanics of this style, especially when it works. 5. Teachers using different discipline plans tend to confuse the students. I would
READ MORE >>> →Promoting Responsibility & Learning – Volume 9 Number 3
#1 Stress and Control
#2 Obedience vs. desire / Level C vs. Level D
#6 The effectiveness of eliciting
All attendees at a conference of The National Association of Secondary Principals (NASSP) received the update of “Breaking Ranks (with the status quo) II: Strategies for Leading High School Reform”—the association’s landmark publication. In addition, thanks to a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the publication has been sent to every high school principal in the U.S.A. The original publication of “Breaking Ranks: Changing An American Institution” included “reducing anonymity” as one of six essential requirements to improve American high schools. Breaking Ranks II reduces essential categories to three touchstones but continues to list the importance of relationships and their importance to learning under “Personalization.” Here is an easy way to implement personalization—to reduce anonymity—in any grade level
READ MORE >>> →I was brought up on the principle my mother instilled in me, “If you can’t say anything nice about a person, then don’t say anything at all.” This counsel grew into the first principle of my life’s practices: positivity—described in my book as the first principle to reduce stress. In building relationships, negativism is the biggest enemy. You don’t want it in your mind. You don’t want it in your house. You don’t want it in your environment. You don’t want negativism for those who may work for you, your friends, or your associates. You don’t want anything to do with it. When you see it, either turn around and run the other way, or ask the person how the
READ MORE >>> →If you want to appear more confident and self-assured, then stop worrying about failure. Very few conditions and decisions represent fatal outcomes or desperate setbacks. If you stop focusing on failure, you begin supporting success. Come from abundance—never from lack.
READ MORE >>> →When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,* And the world makes you king for a day, Then go to the mirror and look at yourself, And see what that guy has to say. For it isn’t your father, or mother, or wife, Whose judgment upon you must pass, The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life Is the guy staring back from the glass. He’s the fellow to please, never mind all the rest For he’s with you clear up to the end, And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test If the guy in the glass is your friend. You may be like Jack Horner and “chisel” a plum, And think you’re a wonderful
READ MORE >>> →The following was a question and response at the support group. QUESTION: I am considering a “rough draft” to modify the description of the levels. My “rough draft” follows: Level D – Democracy – Shows caring, kindness, respect, responsibility, and honesty because of INTERNAL motivation. Level C – Compliance – Shows caring, kindness, respect, responsibility, and honesty because of EXTERNAL motivation. Level B – Bothering – Bothers others which is neither appropriate nor acceptable. Level A – Anarchy- Absence of order; aimless; procedures are not followed. Neither appropriate nor acceptable. The above is my understanding and modification of the system. Additionally, I am somewhat bewildered why there is a defined difference between anarchy and “bothering others” because, to me, both
READ MORE >>> →Relationships can come with disappointments. Suppose for example that as a subscriber you are inspired to write me prompted by something I wrote. Suppose also that I did not respond when you expected a response. Your natural reaction to my non-response is a “turn-off” towards me. Cognition and emotion are so integrated in the functioning of the brain that they cannot be separated. Cognition prompts emotion, and here is a simple example. My lack of a response prompts a negative emotion that generates negative thoughts about the “total me.” I am “written off.” It is possible that I never received the e-mail—that it is out in the Ethernet someplace, that my filters considered it spam because of the title the
READ MORE >>> →There’s an old story of a young lady who was taken to dinner one evening by William Gladstone and then the following evening by Benjamin Disraeli, both eminent British statesmen in the late nineteenth century. “When I left the dining room after sitting next to Mr. Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England,” she said. “But after sitting next to Mr. Disraeli, I thought I was the cleverest woman in England.” Disraeli obviously had a knack for making the other person the center of his universe, if only for the evening. If you practice attentiveness to others, you’ll find it does wonders. They will enjoy it, and so will you. You will accomplish much more. Make a
READ MORE >>> →When a person subscribes to my monthly newsletter, "Promoting Responsibility & Learning" at MarvinMarshall.com, the automated system prompts an inquiry as to how the person found out about it . Responses ranges from parents seeking ways to reduce their stress and promote responsible behavior to the following: "I am an online student that does research from the net and just came across your site. I found it to be very enlightening and have decided to use it for personal development." I responded: Thanks for taking the time to respond. You are very perceptive. When you use the approaches, you are engaging in a paradigm shift. To quote Stephen Covey (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, 1989, p. 125), "A
READ MORE >>> →