Discipline for Smart People    

The following was post by Kerry at the mailring.

I usually post the announcement questions that our school uses each day. Originally,  when we did a book study of Discipline Without Stress, we decided to change the format of our daily announcements to make them more in line with the DWS philosophy.

Instead of TELLING kids things like, “Don’t run on the pavement,” we decided we’d be more effective if we asked a question of the students in order to get them to do their own thinking. Nowadays, we might ask, “Why is it a smart idea to walk rather than to run on the pavement leading to the playground?”

We use these announcements/questions to deal with problems in the school, to review school-wide procedures, and to do some character education. We also use them for acknowledgments.

Each day we have one question and generally most teachers take a minute or two to discuss the question after the announcements are over.

Over the years we have built a bank of questions that we repeat each year, and we continue to add more.

Originally, adults did the announcements, but for a few years now our grade sixes have been taking turns at the mike. We have four questions a week, except for Mondays when we have our regular school assembly.

More of Kerry’s psost are availabie at her blog.

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Posted In: Promoting Responsibility On: July 31, 2008: 7:28 am: By Marvin Marshall

PROGRAM ATTRIBUTES have been added to benefits of the approach.
The addition follows:

Using the hierarchy separates the act from the actor, the deed from the doer—irresponsible behavior from a good person. Separation is critical so people don’t feel the natural impulse to defend themselves, their behavior, or their choices.

Using the hierarchy brings attention to the fact that people are constantly making choices.

Using the hierarchy fosters intrinsic motivation so that young people WANT to behave responsibly and WANT to put forth effort to learn.

Using the hierarchy fosters character development without mentioning values, ethics, or morals.

To understand the hierarchy and see how it is used, click on the Hierarchy of Social Development.

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Posted In: Discipline without Stress On: July 30, 2008: 9:04 am: By Marvin Marshall

I was a teacher for ten years. I am now an instructor at California State University where one of my student interns spoke very highly of your book. I have been struggling with my 5-year-old who knows his own mind. Coercion was not working!

I was at a complete loss until I read your book. I had never tried anything like it with my son or in the classroom.

I am writing to tell you that it has been a great help. My son is responding very well and the methods have improved our relationship.

Thank you for giving me a practical method for teaching responsibility.

Karen McCormick
Norco, California

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Posted In: Increasing Effectiveness On: July 29, 2008: 8:06 am: By Marvin Marshall

QUESTION: I came across your system while browsing the Internet and I really like the way it is set up. The only problem I have is determining consequences. My district wants a set list of rules and consequences.

RESPONSE: Rules are necessary in games, but rules between people automatically set up an adversarial relationship because, when a rule is broken, the person in authority (teacher) becomes a cop—an enforcer of a broken rule. This is a counterproductive position for good teaching.

QUESTION: My special education students really need the consistency of knowing what happens if they misbehave.

RESPONSE: I have a different take. These students need a different procedure when one procedure loses its effectiveness. Therefore, the superior teacher is consistent in that the teacher consistently looks for procedures to help the student help himself—without relying on an external agent, in this case the teacher.

QUESTION: How do I explain the system to my administrators and keep it structured and have consistent consequences?

RESPONSE: Use the term, “Responsibilities,” instead of “Rules.” List just a few and state them in positive terms—things students should do, not what they should not do. Examples: “Be where I belong.” “Keep my hands to myself.” Elicit others from your students, and you will have met the administration’s requirement.

Regarding consequences, as long as you IMPOSE them, the student has no ownership. IMPOSING consequences merely prompts victimhood thinking on the part of the student—the exact opposite of encouraging choice and control. Have a class meeting with the students and ELICIT ideas (procedures, not consequences) to help students help themselves when they have an irresponsible impulse. See
impulse management.

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Posted In: Discipline without Stress On: July 28, 2008: 2:05 pm: By Marvin Marshall

The following focuses on how to use novelty in instruction. It is how Kerry and her teaching partner, Darlene, continue to share how they use the Hierarchy.

We try to make lessons varied and interesting so that our students WANT to attend to what we are teaching. We try to make “hands-on” activities whenever possible and intersperse action times into teaching times. We look for goofy ways to interest them. For instance, on the day that we teach them that “ar” makes the sound you hear in “star,” we give them a colourful foam star attached to a sheet of “ar” words. This makes the lesson special, the “ar” sound sticks in their minds and they take the sheet home and teach their parents all about “ar”. On the day that we teach the “or” sound, we eat oranges or make popcorn. Who wants to misbehave when there’s something good to eat coming up? WE USE THE MONEY THAT MANY TEACHERS MIGHT SPEND ON BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION REWARDS AND “GOOD WORK” STICKERS TO PURCHASE THINGS TO MAKE OUR PROGRAM MORE MULTISENSORY AND INTERESTING. (Caps added)

More of Kerry’s posts are available at her blog.

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Posted In: Promoting Learning On: July 23, 2008: 8:01 am: By Marvin Marshall

The following focuses on how to establish a learning community where competition is at an absolute minimum and collaboration is optimal. It is how Kerry and her teaching partner, Darlene, continue to share how they use the Discipline Without Stress Teaching Model.

We try to focus on improvement and effort at academic times instead of on achievement. We don’t assign marks on anything and never mention specially those who have done very well. We focus on having students judge their own work (by comparing it to previous work) and make their own goals for improvement. We offer encouragement on a private basis and try to offer positive feedback rather than praise. We aim to have all students, regardless of ability, focus on doing their personal best and feeling proud of their efforts. Students who feel capable and in charge of their own learning are eager to focus at work times and be as productive as they can be. With this mindset, they aren’t focused on getting into mischief.

We focus on good intentions rather than on at-the-moment-behaviour that might not be top-notch. If something isn’t going well for students and they start to misbehave, we acknowledge what we know to be true—that inside they want to do well; they don’t want to cause problems. With such a discussion we can often get them back on track.

(MM COMMENT: This is a choice. It is a mindset. The teacher chooses to think that the student has a problem—that the behavior is an attempt to resolve a frustration. This type of positive self-talk to help the student help himself is in contrast to a teacher’s impulse and mindset to coerce the misbehaving student. NOTE: This is the key point of chapter two: “Motivating: Theories We Use” that refers to Theory X and Theory Y of the book.)

More of Kerry’s posts are available at her blog.

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Posted In: Promoting Learning On: July 22, 2008: 8:57 am: By Marvin Marshall

Kerry and her teaching partner, Darlene, continue to share how they use the three practices (Part II) of the Discipline Without Stress Teaching Model.

We try to develop excellent personal relationships with our most challenging students. In this way, we know that we have a better chance of having them WANT to cooperate with us. We often ask these students to be our helpers. We get them on OUR side right from the beginning. Although we want to have excellent relationships with all of our students, our first priority is to HAVE OUR MOST IMMATURE STUDENTS ATTACH TO US. The work of Dr. Gordon Neufeld has really helped us in this. I can’t recommend his workshops and DVD’s too highly! Here’s his website: http://www.gordonneufeld.com/

We try to be proactive with immature students. For example, on the way to the carpet for a story, we might invite a difficult student to sit up close to us by saying, “This is a great book, Henry. There are wonderful pictures in it. Come and sit up close by me so that you can see them. I know you’ll enjoy them.” With Henry up close, there’s a greater possibility that he will remain engaged and well-behaved. With him close at hand, it’s also easier to catch his attention in subtle ways that Marv refers to as “unobtrusive techniques” in the Discipline Without Stress book (p. 90-93).

More of Kerry’s posts are available at her blog.

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Posted In: Discipline without Stress On: July 21, 2008: 7:34 am: By Marvin Marshall

Kerry and her teaching partner, Darlene, continue to share how they use the Hierarchy from Discipline Without Stress.

After teaching the hierarchy, we rarely refer to the bottom two levels. Perhaps once or twice a week we may need to do this but seldom more than that. We find that the key to success with the hierarchy is to focus almost exclusively on the higher two levels by always motivating the kids to aim for Level C—or higher if they want.

We find we can help students achieve Level C motivation most of the time by being proactive in our use of the hierarchy. BEFORE DOING MOST ACTIVITIES, WE PROACTIVELY DISCUSS OR TELL STUDENTS WHAT LEVEL C LOOKS LIKE.

In other words, before we move to the door to line up for a walk down the hall, we discuss what appropriate behaviour looks like (and what it looks like are the procedures that we have previously taught). Before we move to the carpet we do the same thing. We talk about how people operating on Level C will manage as they move from their desks to the carpet, how they will seat themselves, how they will choose a good spot for themselves, etc. Then we have one or two students volunteer to demonstrate. Often we choose as volunteers those students who might not yet be successful independently. With the class watching them, they are delighted to be a positive role model for others. Before an independent work time, we review what options the students have for when they have completed their tasks. As the students become better readers, we write notes on the board to remind them of options and tasks. Always we aim to provide structure through procedures to avoid unnecessary discipline problems.

More of Kerry’s posts are available at her blog.

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Posted In: Discipline without Stress On: July 15, 2008: 7:28 am: By Marvin Marshall

Whenever something new is introduced, plan to thoroughly teach carefully the procedures—not just once or twice but at least a few times. Every detail is demonstrated and includes, for example, what to do in the cafeteria with dirty spoons, plastic containers, juice boxes, straws and garbage after snack or lunch time. Kerry has her students practice each procedure at least at least eight times. She actually moves the kids around the room after snack time eight times and has them sit on the floor at the back sink and near the cloakroom where the garbage and juice box containers are located in order to have students experience the procedures that she wants them to follow.

She does the same for academic procedures as well. For example, for eight days in a row she sets up procedures for calendar time, for walking in the classroom to put assignments in the correct place, for completing daily independent math assignments, for quiet reading time, for poetry time, for phonics lesson times, for using tools such as pencils, scissors, glue, etc. The list goes on and on and gets longer each year because she sees how valuable it is to teach procedures.

Teaching procedures in such a concrete, patient and steady fashion takes a lot of time and teaching energy initially, but Kerry finds it allows to bypass almost all discipline problems. With all this step-by-step teaching and reviewing of procedures in the early days of the year, she doesn’t get to as much academic content as she would like but knows that time is not being wasted. In the long run the teaching of procedures pays off in increased time for learning.

Teaching procedures also creates a different mindset and atmosphere in the classroom than does being focused on “getting kids to behave.” She finds that focusing on teaching procedures gives the classroom a positive atmosphere in which all students are learning what they need to do. Nothing is left to guesswork. The natural result is students are well behaved simply because they have been explicitly taught to be—without ever mentioning the terms, “well behaved.”

More of Kerry’s posts are available at her blog.

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Posted In: Increasing Effectiveness On: July 14, 2008: 7:49 am: By Marvin Marshall

The following is from a post at the mailring.

QUESTION:
I’m being encouraged by my principal and special education department to use behavior charts and rewards to get students to behave more responsibly. Their argument is that these kids are still on the “concrete” level and must be treated like preschoolers. I’m supposed to be on them all the time until their behavior is automatic.

RESPONSE:
I can see why you are uncomfortable with carrying out the suggestions of your principal and special education experts. They’re asking you to control your students through manipulation—and in effect, be responsible for their behaviour. This is a very stressful way to approach classroom discipline because it is actually impossible to make someone else BE responsible. You can only be responsible for yourself.

With an attractive treat in hand, it IS possible to create the illusion that these students are becoming responsible (by having them demonstrate obedience in order to receive stickers and ultimately a prize), but as you noted, this feels uncomfortable for a teacher who doesn’t like treating human beings as if they were dogs in a training program. Besides, you likely would want your students to be well behaved whether someone was offering them a sticker or not.

Below are some things that you may find helpful in moving kids from the lower levels up to Level C, one of the two levels of acceptable behaviour. By the way, we never make it our goal to have the kids operate on Level D. Level D is a personal choice open to every human being and it would be too stressful to make it a goal to try and insist or aim for Level D for someone other than ourselves.

Students operating on Level C is the immediate goal for the teacher. We want our students to be well behaved in order that everyone in the classroom can learn, feel safe, and enjoy being at school—so that we can effectively do our job of teaching. Paradoxically, the less you try to make someone else operate at Level D and the more you point out that it is a personal CHOICE available to everyone, the more students want to aim for this level within themselves.

We carefully think through our classroom procedures so that there are no grey areas for those students who tend to have extra difficulties because they are immature. Have you read Harry Wong’s book, “The First Days Of School: How To Be An Effective Teacher” about the importance of procedures? As the years go by, we lean more and more to be proactive in dealing with discipline—in other words directly teaching the kids what Level C behaviour looks like in every situation so that even the youngest and most challenging students know exactly what to do to be successful. Take a look at the teaching model. The number one step is establishing good classroom management through teaching procedures.

More of Kerry’s posts are at Discipline Answers.

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Posted In: Promoting Learning On: July 11, 2008: 8:27 am: By Marvin Marshall