Discipline for Smart People    

In a few presentations to teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District, one of my charges was to include some ideas about differentiation. The following are some ideas on differentiation (both in content and process) that I shared.

ASSESSMENT (before):

Write a letter to your parents. Include interests, talents, learning preferences, long-range plans or desires, and goals in the class.

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Topics for class meetings with PRIMARY students:
–Why are we here?
–What are we trying to do?
–What does it mean to do something well?
–How will we know if we are doing it well together?

Topics for class meetings with OLDER students:
–What does it mean to do quality work?
–How will you know that a quality level has been attained?
–How will I, the teacher, know that a quality level has been attained?
–What do you need to do to attain a quality level?
–What can I, the teacher, do to help you attain the level?
–How will a third party know that a quality level was attained?

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Selected ideas to develop the criteria and evaluate against it:
–Give examples of good and bad.
–What makes an essay persuasive?
–What makes a story interesting to read?
–What makes a math solution elegant?

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Activities to obtain curiosity and interest (Japanese approach): Pose a question, explore an event, start a story, solve a problem. WHEN STUDENTS “GRAPPLE” WITH A SITUATION AT THE VERY OUTSET OF A LESSON, MOTIVATION IS ENHANCED.

APPLY a concept:
Applies, changes, computes, constructs, demonstrates, manipulates, modifies, operates, predicts, prepares, produces, relates, shows, solves, uses.

ANALYZE a situation:
Analyzes, breaks down, compares, contrasts, diagrams, deconstructs, differentiates, distinguishes, identifies, illustrates, infers, outlines, relates, selects, separates.

SYNTHESIZE by putting together parts to create something:
Categorizes, combines, compiles, composes, creates, devises, designs, explains, generates, modifies, organizes, rearranges, reconstructs, relates, reorganizes, revises, summarizes, tells.

EVALUATE ideas or situations by making judgments about them:
Evaluates, appraises, compares, concludes, contrasts, criticizes, critiques, defends, explains, interprets, justifies, relates, summarizes, supports.

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EVALUATION (after) - Evaluate quality of one’s own work and progress toward goals:
–What worked?
–What didn’t?
–What am I proud of?

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EXAMPLE: high school biology:

Teacher reflection:
1. What should students KNOW as a result of what we do?
Names of the cell parts, their functions, and how the cell actually works.

2. What should students UNDERSTAND?
The cell is not just a bunch of isolated things; it has interrelated parts where everything affects everything else.

3. What should students be able TO DO?
Analyze these interrelationships in a way that makes them clear to their PEERS—not the teacher.

Here’s how the teacher approaches the students:
“I have 150 students, and I don’t know you very well, but I know that you learn in different ways. And I also know that you know more about yourselves and how you learn better than I do. So although I don’t know how you learn best, I have a hunch that YOU know how YOU learn best.”

The assignment is explained:
“Design a graphic organizer and label the parts with directional markers to be sure someone who is clueless understands your work.”

ALTERNATIVE POSSIBILITIES:

ANALOGY: Relate the working of a cell to human interactions.
–Family - Near relatives and far relatives - Is there someone whose role it is to protect the family (cell)?
–Orchestra - Leader and people with different parts to play
–Basketball team - . . . .
Find an analogy and make it visible to an audience of peers so they’ll understand how a cell works. Emphasize both the individual parts and the relationships.

BUILD SOMETHING:
Use stuff in the room to make cells.

WRITING:
Tell a story as though the cell is the story. Who is the protagonist? Who is the antagonist? Where is the rising action? Where is the falling action? What’s trying to damage the cell?

ADDITIONAL CHOICE:
If you don’t like any of these and have a different or better idea for your learning, come and talk with me.

—————–

Students work in groups of three—two (2) times.
1st time: Share with others who used the same approach.
Result: Reinforce and refine understanding

2nd time: Share with people who did different things.
Result: Further reflection and extended understanding

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Posted In: Promoting Learning On: August 21, 2008: 8:35 am: By Marvin Marshall

Thomas Friedman is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist with the New York Times and author of the best-selling book about globalization, “The World Is Flat.” He recently introduced a new phrase to the English language: CONTINUOUS PARTIAL ATTENTION. This was explained as, “when you are on the Internet or cell phone or Blackberry while also watching TV, typing on your computer and answering a question from your child. That is, you are multitasking your way through the day, continuously devoting only partial attention to each act or person you encounter.”

The August/September, 2006, issue of “Scientific American MIND” included an article about how the brain decides on what to focus conscious attention.

A professor asked his class to watch a short video of two basketball teams and to count how many times the players in white T-shirts passed the ball. The students found that it wasn’t easy to keep their eyes on the moving ball, but most of them believed they counted correctly.

After the show, students were asked, “What did you think about the gorilla?” There was a shocked silence. He restarted the video, and after a few seconds a collective groan rippled through the room as the audience now realized that a person in an ape costume had walked right across the court, pausing in the middle to pound on his chest.

Psychologists Daniel J. Simons and Christopher F. Chabris showed this film at Harvard University for the first time in 1999. They were surprised by the results: Half of the observers missed the furry primate the first time they watched. How was that possible?

The answer was noted long before the experiment was conducted. William James, the father of American Psychology, wrote in his 1890 classic, “The Principles of Psychology,” that the capacity of consciousness is limited, which is the reason that we cannot pay attention to everything at once. Attention is selective. It impels consciousness to concentrate on certain stimuli to process them effectively.

So, when a person is watching TV or listening to the radio while studying, the multitasking splits the brain’s focus and lowers efficiency.

Perhaps you work with someone or know someone—such as a student—who could benefit by this awareness.

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Posted In: Promoting Learning On: August 12, 2008: 8:24 am: 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

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

Among many questions asked during my school presentations around the world, one in particular prompted me to really reflect. The question was, “What is it that makes your approach so successful?” My response was that I think of how the brain and body are so interrelated that one affects the other. Therefore, I think of how the brain and body react whenever I communicate.

For example, if I compliment you, a good feeling is prompted. In contrast, if I tell you to do something, or criticize you, or blame you for something, then a negative feeling ensues. The mind first processes information (external stimuli); then emotion kicks in. But we oftentimes do not act on cognition; it’s emotion that prompts us to act. Think of any purchase you have recently made. Did you purchase it because you just found out about it, or did you purchase it because you found out about it AND LIKED IT?

In learning,
Emotion drives attention.
Attention drives learning.
Emotionally blocked,
Learning stops.

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Posted In: Promoting Learning On: July 4, 2008: 11:39 am: By Marvin Marshall

SUGGESTION: If you deal with young people at all, make time to read the following in its entirety. It is only slightly edited from the original post at the mailring.
———–
ORIGINAL POST QUESTION: You work with older alternative students as well as with young children. Can you explain the difference between working with them?
———–
RESPONSE:
I’d love to tell you a bit about the new job that Darlene and I took on. Although in this particular job we make great use of the three principles of positivity, choice, reflection, we aren’t using the program to handle discipline problems in the same way as we do with our primary students. I’ll have to describe the job, the students, and the school to make sense of that for you.

I teach almost full time, sharing two jobs with a partner teacher. We take turns teaching K/1 for half the week, and for most of the other half of the week we teach 16-19 year olds who either couldn’t read at all when we first met them or couldn’t read much past a primary level. Many people think that we have two quite opposite jobs, but we find that in many ways they are very similar.

In both schools we teach exactly the same reading skills in almost exactly the same way. Although many of our older students have beards and in some cases children of their own, their maturity level is often not much more than that of our little kids. Definitely, our older students are much more emotionally fragile than any of the smaller kids whom we have in our primary job. We must always keep this in mind or we couldn’t work with them at all. They are extremely sensitive and very rigid in their thinking.

Almost all of them have “hardened hearts,” as Dr. Gordon Neufeld would say, and it took a lot of time before they began to “soften” even the slightest bit. In the beginning, it was rough. Many of them didn’t accept us easily, and it wasn’t until nearer to the end of the year that some of them would even call us by our names. Many of them never did this year, but I suspect that in our second year at the school they’ll find it easier to be “personal” with us.

Often I found my eyes welling up with tears on the way home from this school thinking about the harsh lives that these young people have lived. One of our favourite students, a 16 year old who is due to have a baby in August, had her mom die of multiple sclerosis in the last week of school. She has been nursing her mother almost single-handedly since she was about 12 years old. She had only been to school about 60 days total in the last two years. Another boy from a very violent family lost his dad to an alcoholic suicide. His father threw himself in front of a train when this boy was eight. Each one has their own story to tell. Every story is full of pain, frustration, anger, and disappointment. When I go
home, I often spend time to think of how unbelievably fortunate my own children are simply for the “boring” normality of their lives.

The school has about 150 students “on the books” but with attendance a huge problem, on a typical day there might only be about 30-40 students in attendance. Almost every one of the students attend this school because they have been expelled for behaviour reasons from two of the five regular high schools in our district. There are also a few “genius” type kids who have been picked on in regular schools and so have found this school to be a refuge.

Half of the students have “labels” such as “Extreme Mental Illness,” “Extreme Behaviour,” “Learning Disabled,” etc. The other half would meet the requirement of a label but don’t have one simply because many of their previous schools wouldn’t have had them tested—either because they were such poor attenders or because their families wouldn’t have known to insist on testing. Probably at least 95% of them come from very dysfunctional homes and as a result many live on their own, are in foster care, or move from relative to relative or friend to friend. Drugs, alcohol, smoking, run-ins with the law are all part of daily life for almost all of these students.

Many of them are hungry, too. Although the school runs a breakfast program for the cost of $1.00 and a student can receive a great meal every morning, the students we see are so poor and come from such unbelievable homes that they can’t usually afford to eat—even at this great price. Darlene and I started bringing baking and sandwiches from the beginning in September and this has been a very much appreciated part of our program all year long. Each student has their favourite snack and we try to accommodate them all at some point. The food has allowed us to get to know many of the “regular” students in the other part of the school as well—the ones who can’t resist coming in to see what’s for snack today!

Originally, when we first got this job, it looked as if it might be a classroom job—in other words teaching a literacy course. Before a couple of days into the school year, it had evolved into a one-on-one job. Each of our students is at a very different place in their reading ability—all the way from total non-reader right up to someone who can read the driver’s manual well but has only one strategy for learning new words, namely, straight memorization of the word as a whole. He has an incredible memory, but boy, what a stressful, ineffective way to read!

Basically all of the students we see have exactly the same problems; they have poor reading habits, i.e., reading past punctuation, not looking inside the words to look at all the letters, not looking to the end of a word to see if it ends in “ing,” “ed,” “s”—no self-correcting, no re-reading when they make a mistake, etc., and they have absolutely NO understanding of how to decode.

In other words, although most of them have memorized a certain number of primary sight words and can “read” a bit, none of them knows how to tackle a word that is new to them. This means that when they come to a word they have never seen before, they are totally stumped; they simply make their best guess. Because they over-rely so heavily on figuring out words from context, they cannot read names of any type (street names, names of people, businesses, cities, etc.). Even simple words are an impossible challenge for them.

To give you an idea, they could read the word “jump” or “bump”—perhaps because they would have memorized these words at some point during their school lives, but if you gave them the nonsense word that follows the same pattern as bump and jump, such as “zump,” they would have no idea of how to read it. Needless to say, it is impossible for them to read much past primary books because of the need to read vocabulary other than the Dolch words. Because they can’t sound out words at all, they cannot spell at all either.

With such individual needs, the only way we could truly help them in any meaningful way was one-on-one. So, depending on how many of our students show up in a day, they receive an individual lesson of 20 - 40 minutes. Most days, lessons are about 20 minutes long, but we do have some students who are so keen to have longer lessons that they will give up their lunch hour or break time to read.

Darlene and I work in a portable with another teacher who runs the classroom. This allows us to take kids aside (in the cloakroom if you can believe it!) for their reading lessons. Next year, they’ve moved us into the main building to the anteroom of the furnace room. We haven’t decided yet if this is a step up-or down from the cloakroom!

Despite the fact that basically all of the students have been sent to this school as a result of “behaviour problems,” for the most part, poor behaviour isn’t really as much of an issue as you would think. I know that sounds ridiculous, but these students are all really very nice. They are fairly well-behaved kids who learned to mask academic difficulties by becoming behaviour problems. These kids often introduce themselves to any new adult in the building, are polite, hold doors, get along well with their teachers, and are usually willing to help if asked. Despite the fact that sometimes there are behaviour incidents at this school—someone angry at his girlfriend smashed his hand through a window; another stabbed a knife into a wall in a fit of anger at another student and was taken away by the police, DVD players and video cameras that aren’t locked up are quickly stolen. THERE IS ALMOST NO NEGATIVITY OR COERCION AT THIS SCHOOL AT ALL BECAUSE THE STAFF ALL REALIZE THAT IT WON’T GET THEM ANYWHERE (caps added). The students find this refreshing that they can be the nice people they really are instead of engaging in counterwill as they always did previously.

On the down side, most of them are very immature, quite rambunctious, have little self-control, little ambition, are quite loud, have extremely short attention spans, and the swearing is enough to turn your ears blue. They aren’t swearing AT teachers; it’s more or less just the way they talk. Some of them want to curb their swearing. In our classroom, for those who want to quit swearing, a thing started where all the adults make a clucking sound with their tongue if an individual who wants to stop swearing, swears unconsciously. It sounds a bit crazy, but it seems to be helping. (NOTE: A PROCEDURE WAS ESTABLISHED FOR AWARENESS AND REDIRECTION.)

Working one-on-one, Darlene and I have almost no discipline problems to deal with. However, we constantly use the three principles. Positivity is the biggest one! We very quickly learned that we had to word everything we said in positive terms. If we make ANY negative comments or make a joke that a student “can’t take,” we immediately see our students shut down or get angry and defensive. Some of them are so fragile/sensitive that we can’t even speak in a regular speaking voice with them because it will scare them away. With one particular boy, we almost have to whisper during his actual lesson times.

We can NEVER tell any of them they have made a reading mistake. Within a day or two we quickly learned to be proactive—a way of thinking that we picked up from Discipline Without Stress. For example, before they begin to read their passage for the day, we ask them (principle of reflection) what types of things will make them a good reader, but we NEVER correct them if they make an error as they are reading as we sometimes might with our smaller, but more resilient beginning readers who haven’t experienced years of reading/school failure. These older ones simply CAN’T TAKE even the smallest dose of failure.

It’s been a great thing for us to see that this focus on being proactive has really worked academically, too. Despite the fact that we never mentioned ANY errors they were making in their reading, they’ve all become increasingly more accurate as time went by. With a focus entirely on what they SHOULD be doing to become a better reader BEFORE they begin reading, they have all become VERY accurate readers at their own developmental level. It’s been so exciting to see this growth in each of them. Seeing this happen has made us use the same tactics more often with our little kids, too:

—Be proactive in our teaching by telling them what they SHOULD do,
—Point out any specific examples of good things that they are doing, and
—End with a comment such as, “Continue doing THAT.”

We’ve found that this is not only a positive way to teach but it’s effective, too. Although we knew this in theory before, as a result of this job—where the ONLY possibility for working pleasantly with a student is to be 100% positive (not 99%!)—we have now experienced it in a very real way.

Because of our crash course in the need for extreme positivity, we are finding that it’s becoming easier for us to be positive in both of our jobs. We have a lot more patience with our smaller kids now because of our experience with the damaged older kids that we work with. For the older kids, school has been such a negative experience with so many bad memories and resentments that WE SEE FIRST HAND HOW MUCH DAMAGE CAN BE DONE TO A CHILD WHO IS NOT TREATED RESPECTFULLY AND POSITIVELY BY THEIR TEACHERS (caps added).

All of these kids relate stories of their bad memories of trying to learn or get along in elementary school. One boy, who is actually very bright but has some incredible learning disability that makes reading VERY difficult for him, described painfully how he was through the years—often put behind cardboard dividers so he “could concentrate better.” Because he could speak so intelligently and articulately, most of his teachers found it impossible to believe that he COULD NOT read. They thought that he was simply misbehaving and putting on an act. Although I am sure his teachers felt they were trying to do something positive and helpful for him by using a cardboard screen in front of his desk to help him maintain focus, he felt as if he was being singled out for punishment and put in prison. Heartfelt stories like this really hit home and make us think about how we treat each and every one of our little students—especially the ones who are the most challenging and annoying in their behaviour.

So in a nutshell, that gives you a bit of a picture of our job. As I said, we don’t use the hierarchy in a regular classroom discipline sense, but we do use the thinking behind it to motivate the kids. For example, when they choose do something that shows initiative such as telling us that when they write their grocery list they think about some things from our reading lessons that will help them spell more accurately, we have the words and concepts (from the hierarchy) to be able to explain to them that this small thing that they have done is a sign of the highest possible level of human behaviour. CHOOSING to try and improve their literacy skills is concrete proof that they are taking some initiative in their lives. As the kids come to accept and trust us more and more, we are finding ways to offer them valuable Discipline Without Stress understandings. It’s definitely a learning experience that we find challenging but are enjoying.

Kerry

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COMMENT: Darlene and Kerry have established a relationship of trust and noncoercion. These two factors are the foundation of any successful relationship for influencing others in a positive way. For a moment, just think of a friend. Chances are that if that person continually attempted to coerce you or if you did not trust that person, the friendship would not last.

In my own classroom, students would admit to and redirect their inappropriate behaviors based on these two factors. Students knew that my only interest was for them to become more responsible—that I had absolutely no interest in punishing them. I also had positive expectations for them by continually referring to the Hierarchy of Social Development and prompting them to reflect when they behaved inappropriately.

More of Kerry’s posts can be read at Discipline Answers.

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Posted In: Promoting Learning On: June 30, 2008: 7:47 am: By Marvin Marshall

When turtles are born, they know everything they need to know to live for 50 or so years. Since learning is one of the joys of living, I don’t think turtles have very much fun.

Learning brings growth, and both the process and result of learning can be enjoyable. Watch anyone at any age who is involved in any mental activity for any length of time and ask the person the reason for the involvement. The response will inevitably include the fun factor.

A characteristic of successful leaders, teachers, and parents is that they make learning enjoyable; they make it fun.

On the other hand, think of someone who has given up learning because, like the turtle, the person already knows everything.

As you think of such a person—someone who knows everything, someone who doesn’t listen to you because that person knows better—don’t you find that the person isn’t any fun to be around?

More information on this and similar topics are available at the articles link.

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Posted In: Promoting Learning On: June 18, 2008: 8:10 am: By Marvin Marshall

Responsible people are happy people.
Happy people are responsible people.

Responsibility and happiness feed on each other.

More ideas on this topic are available at the newsletter index.

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Posted In: Promoting Learning On: June 10, 2008: 5:33 pm: By Marvin Marshall

The following is a summary of advice given to teachers who were about to take on an additional teaching role. They started to work with reluctant, apathetic, and disengaged adolescents in an alternative school.

Patience is critical with these students, and building relationships is the ONLY way you will have success. These students trust no one, and it will take time for them to truly understand that you are concerned about them and their own best interests.

Since success is built on success and not failure, compliment them on their successes. This will give them hope—the most essential ingredient for success and something they have had very little of.

Be wary of using any of the seven “deadlies”: criticizing, blaming, complaining, nagging, threatening, punishing, or rewarding/bribing to control.

Use caring techniques of listening, supporting, encouraging, respecting, trusting, accepting, and negotiating.

If a youngster is angry, do not take it personally. Ask, “Are you angry with me or the situation?” The anger will always come from a frustration in which you are rarely the cause.

Use the three principles on a regular basis:
(1) positivity
(2) empowering students with choices
(3) asking reflective questions to promote thinking.

Teach choice-response thinking regularly. Regardless of the situation, the stimulation, or the urge, you always have the choice as to the response. Choose reflectively, rather than reflexively.

Teach impulse management.

When referring to the hierarchy, do not ask these alternative school students to identify a level. They will think you are being coercive. Instead, just drop a comment, e.g., “Lee, please take a moment and reflect on the level you have chosen.”

When giving an option or choice always offer THREE. Giving only two options may seem coercive to these young adults. THEY WILL NOT TOLERATE COERCION IN ANY FORM. Reacting negatively to coercion is their way of staying in control and exercising power.

Teach a procedure for everything you want the students to do. Assume they know nothing. Even with home assignments, have them practice in class before giving them any assignment to do on their own. When they have practiced and visualized exactly how to attack the assignment so they feel confident in completing it, chances of their doing it significantly increase.

Use the hierarchy for motivating both responsible behavior and learning. See Hierarchies.

Always EMPATHIZE with them and then ask, “How are we going to handle the situation?” This approach elicits a procedure which will help them to help themselves.

Have students write in a journal the very first thing upon entering the class. Assure students that you will never read what they have written—unless they ask you to and give you permission. Writing how they feel is a clarifying and cathartic exercise for these students who constantly undergo a perception of alienation and stress.

Along these lines, periodically drop in a word (but don’t teach a formal lesson unless asked) about the importance of a good night’s sleep; exercise; and the problem of too much sugar and lack of fruits, vegetables, and calcium in their growing bodies.

Finally, regarding reading: Most of these students do not. You may find that some of them get headaches when they read or that reading is physiologically painful to them. A simple change in WHERE they read may have an effect on them—such as moving out from a standard classroom with florescent lights to outdoors or incandescent lighting. Some may have visual perception challenges such as scotopic sensitivity. Ask each student privately if he/she finds it painful to read or gets headaches from reading. The following is an excellent sources on this topic: http://www.dyslexiacure.com

Don’t overlook an optometric examination. It may be such a simple thing as needing glasses that the family does not provide. The Lions Club will help in this area.

Finally, you may be their last chance in their formal schooling for them to develop positive mindsets leading to responsible and successful lives.

More information is available at support.

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Posted In: Promoting Learning On: June 5, 2008: 7:42 am: By Marvin Marshall