There will be 2 responses in this blog. Again, please number in your answer.
1. The Nelson, Lott, and Glenn model (presented today) of discipline provides a process rather than a set of techniques. What parts of the process might be workable fit for your classrooms?
2. (From the Curwin and Mendler model presented today)....Curwin argues that at-risk students are disruptive and difficult because their dignity is taken away. How can teachers help students if this is the students' own perception of their lives? Again, weigh their approach as well as your own approaches in thinking about this one.
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15 comments:
1. In the Nelson, Lott, and Glenn model of discipline, I like the idea of being caring and building personal relationships with my students. I think there is a lot to gain from developing this type of relationship especially in improving behavior. Also, I would like to fit “I” statements in my classroom discussion and use these to help with teaching responsibility. Second graders love to blame everybody else but themselves so I like the idea of teaching “I” statements when students talk about something they didn’t do or got in trouble. It is easy to remember and implement and has potential to be very effective. Asking students about their behavior instead of telling them about their behavior is something else I would try to practice because it shifts the power/control to the student and would maybe more effective in reflection instead of the student “just listening” to your lecture. I will also work on creating builders in my relationship with my students and be careful of the barriers in my communication with my students so I am encouraging and promoting respect. Jury is still out about holding class meetings. I see the value of them but I may have to come up with a shorter version that would tailor to my curriculum.
2. I believe the Curwin and Mendler’s model focuses on the teacher helping these students by first restoring their dignity and helping them regain hope. Teachers need to work hard to inspire these students to overcome barriers and provide courage to continue to try. It is working hard to adapt curriculum and activities that are tailored to have these students experience any type of success. Teachers should work on teaching good behavior, treating these students as individuals with respect, encouraging them, giving them a reason to learn, and provide opportunities for students to make decisions and increase responsibility. I think their approach presents some good ways to build up “at-risk” students especially the idea in restoring their dignity. I feel it is hard to do all of these things when you have other students in your classroom who needs you as well. Sometimes it is hard to stay cool with these students because our job is naturally stressful and their behavior can trigger negativity. In my classroom, I try hard to build them back up and have them find success in which I celebrate those accomplishments with them.
I think that having class meetings is a wonderful idea. I am going to make a valiant effort to add class meetings every day (even though my day is jam packed already!) I think that during the meetings there will be time to create a “bond” between not only the teacher and students, but also between the students. We can talk about making good choices for the future and how “I” statements can be used. There are a lot of aspects of NLG that I love, only I would add a specific set of consequences for certain behaviors, in which can be discussed and agreed upon as a class.
2. I deeply agree that a person’s (whether child or teacher’s) dignity is HUGE! I try my best not to take that away from my students. I had one incident this past year when a child had an “accident” during reading. Now, this is 3rd grade, and 3rd grade students are rather unaccepting of things that a “baby” does. Remember; think like you’re 8 years old here. In order to preserve this child’s dignity and avoid a scene, this child and I took care of it quietly and without putting him on stage. It is not difficult to take care of a problem or situation quietly, rather than yelling at the student. Although I do not think that the Discipline with Dignity approach is for me, I like the keeping one’s dignity aspect. In this approach, giving the students control over what happens in their lives in itself keeps a child’s dignity. What better way to show that you are a dignified person than by making decisions, accepting responsibility, and showing motivation. If the teacher and the student plan consequences cooperatively, dignity is also with held because the child is showing the ability to match an action with a consequence. No matter what the student thinks of him or herself, these steps should help keep dignity, or establish a sense of dignity in a child who is lacking.
1. Using the Nelson, Lott and Glenn or NLG as referred to by Nicole,promoted the method of focus. Using this method of caring, respecting, encouragement, acceptance and cooperation. I love the idea of the class meeting. It does take time away from academics but that time is so valuable to the rest of your day. I love that it gives me time to get to know students as they share or we work on problem solving together. I always try and incorporate academics into my message of the day or news and announcement section of the meeting.
2. Students and Teachers are faced with many hurdles. A teacher needs to know their student both in the classroom and outside. Only then will they be able to understand certain behaviors. When you can look inside the student "personal backpack" and see what happens to them when they leave school or what they must deal with on a personal level I think this helps the teacher understand the best way to help a student be successful. Not each student is the same. Dignity plays a huge role in a child's self-esteem. Giving a child a sense of hope to succeed can only produce positive results. It is important to plan lessons/activities that will provide students who may have behavior issue to be a leader or master the skill in front of peers. This will create a bridge of trust and willingness to continue to try.
1. Personally, class meetings for me aren't necessary. I only see my students for 30 min. a day minus a few min. due to travel time to and from my room. These students see me daily based on their need to improve reading skills. My "role" is to provide these "intensive" students the specific instruction outlined in my job description. I honestly don't feel the need to take away the limited time from other students when a problem exists among 1 or 2 students. I also don't feel it's appropriate to ignore the situation too often; again due to the limited time and also the need for the student to be within the regular classroom rather than with me.
The remaining parts of the process, talking respectfully and a win-win solution, could apply to my classroom. I usually try to talk respectfully to my students, especially since they need to feel a sense of belonging within the area of reading since they are often ridiculed by peers within the regular classroom. Within my room, they all have the similiarity of this weakness and are not usually embarrassed. At times, I do have to find a win-win solution since motivation lacks with certain students since reading is a difficult task for them. As an example, I may encourage the student to read a story and once that story is finished, they can do an alternate activity involving reading such as a word search.
2. I believe the majority of my students lack diginity due to their difficulty with reading. Whether they've been told they can't read, laughed at, or have compared themselves with proficient readers, these students are not proud of their weakness nor due they appreciate leaving the regular classroom instruction/activities to do something they're not good at. To improve their self worth, I promote positive reinforcement for when they do well whether it comes from me, regular classroom teacher, peer, or a parent. These students love to hear compliments or be rewarded for their efforts! I try to avoid negative feedback as much as possible which requires a lot of patience like Curwim and Mendler recommend.
The Nelson, Lott, and Glenn model of discipline has some great components in it. I think that developing personal relationships with students not only benefits the students but also the teacher. I feel that my daily "listening time" lends itself well to getting to know each other. Also, I have found that when I am working with a small number of students during Writer's Workshop that I can get to know the students on a more personal level just by talking to them about what they are going to write. The class meetings have some pros, but I'm not sure that the time element involved would make it something that I would actually implement in my classroom.
I think that they would establish a sense of belonging and community within the classroom, so maybe every Friday I could attempt to have one to evaluate the week as a whole.
#2. The Curwin and Mendler model of discipline is for at-risk students which probably means that other discipline approaches have not worked. I think that students who perceive that their dignity has been taken away have many underlying problems and that changing those perceptions will be a long process. I think that establishing a trusting relationship with the student would be key to the succuess of the program. More than likely, the student has been let down by adults throughout various stages of his/her life and trust probably will be difficult to establish. Using active listening and "I" messages will also be beneficial in restoring the students' dignity.
P.S.- Kathy, you are probably cringing at my use of apostrophes!
1. The NLG approach to classroom discipline involves holding whole class meetings on a regular basis, allowing students to feel a sense of community and develop rules together. I suppose this might work in a high school classroom if I took the time to share activities with my students early on in the semester that would afford me the chance to get to know them better. That way when misbehaviors arise, they would have more ownership of the consequences. The problem is that this takes large chunks of time out of our already busy schedule, and time is too precious a resource to be spent on things not directly related to our science curriculum. I do like the suggestion of talking with the student respectfully about the situation and looking for a win-win solution; after all, teachers should try to be peacemakers whenever possible. However, I am not convinced that such a solution exists for every incident.
2. I think that the way a teacher treats his students in general has a lot to do with their dignity and sense of self worth in the classroom, starting from day one. If the teacher models respect, appropriate behavior, and a caring attitude then the student should realize that he is with someone who cares about his dignity. Greeting students at the beginning of class, asking them about their lives outside of class, showing humor where appropriate, and praising them for a job done well all provide evidence of a caring teacher. That way if a situation does arise (and it will), the student already knows the character of the teacher when he speaks to him about it, hopefully disarming him enough to search for a workable solution. Curwin and Mendler would want this to be done privately and away from all other students, and I agree. If a student is to be responsive to this technique at all, he must be assured that confidentiality is maintained. Personally one of my biggest challenges in using this technique would be to refrain from responding harshly because of the offense, even though sometimes I still believe that this is the appropriate approach when dealing with a disruptive high school student. If I can get past that, then the CM approach may have a chance of working.
1) The NLG approach has components that I can definitely appreciate. One is the idea of establishing personal, caring relationships with your students. The key words in the focus: involvement, respect, cooperation, acceptance, encouragement, and support would seem to be necessary for any teacher's classroom, but especially in a learning support environment. Establishing a classroom atmosphere where academic risks may be taken without fear of failure is another key component in my eyes; it is probably easier to create that in a smaller classroom, but I'm sure many teachers in a regular ed. environment would agree as well.
2) Curwin and Mendler had some important points that I think all teachers could benefit from using, especially those who work with teens and preteens. I've always felt that dignity and saving face are crucial for most kids in these age groups. While preserving dignity may not ward off all misbehaviors, it can definitely help keep the situation from escalating when the teacher is dealing with the aftermath. For us to help students who already feel as if their dignity has been stripped...and this includes many students I've worked with...is not always an easy, and never a quick process. Most of the students who feel this way have many layers of defense mechanisms they've set up from years of struggling in school (academically and sometimes socially as well). Starting with the first day of school I try to establish a feeling of mutual respect (the key to my code of conduct)within our classroom. As Marla said, trust is a key component. My assitant and I consistently try to maintain a caring attitude with our kids (sometimes they accidentally call us "mom"...we don't mind when it happens, although they sometimes act embarassed...I feel like it is a positive reflection on our relationship with them!) They know we are there to help them succeed, and I look for ways to help them experience some measure of academic success. When they see what they really can do, we've seen some remarkable turnarounds!
(P.S. Hey Marla, you're fine. No worries! :)
1. I no longer teach, but I can report on a classroom in Vermont which I observed for a year as a wrap-around. The sixth grade classroom was a two person team teaching situation with about 50 students. They began each day with a modified version of a NLG classmeeting which included compliments and appreciation, two or three students told something that was happening in their lives and a "fun" activity like playing a game, or singing a song to build a sense of community. Twice a week for 15 mins. or so they used a standard NLG standard format for an additional classmeeting. Here agenda items were read, suggestions were made and a plan decided on. All well and good, but as the weeks went on there were too many items on the agenda to get to, the teachers didn't want to give up instructional time so the meetings were scheduled farther and farther apart and it became a failed experiment.
2. There is no quick fix for students who have been so damaged by the system that they believe they're losers with no hope of success. Teachers need to help them regain a sense of hope." Hope is the belief that things will get better for the future. It inspires and helps us to live meaningfully. It provides courage and incentive to overcome barriers." Curwin Teachers can help students regain hope by making learning "much more interesting and worthwhile". Curwin They need to design lessons that are based on the at risk student's interests and ability. Once the student is engaged and has success learning something that is important to them, they slowly begin to rebuild hope that they can succeed and are willing to try.
1. The NLG approach sounds good and all but I really don't think it would work well in the high school setting. Having daily class meetings would be impossible with the curriculum we have to cover in a short period of time. I would love to have the student's take responsibility for their own actions but I don't think that will happen without proding from the teacher. I do try to have a democratic classroom, to talk through problems with students and ask their input on how I should handle certain problems and I'am constantly encouraging the students to strive for success in and out of the classroom.
2. How teachers can help students gain their dignity back or give it a boost, is a tough question. I think you need to give the student a feeling of sence worth; through encouragement, support and active listening. I know my kids sometimes will give up and say "I can't do this!". I try to assure them they can and help them work through the problem.
1. The NLG has this wonderful idea of class meetings. Although I did them a few years ago and had to abandon them due to newly introduced academics, I plan on "reinstating" them this year. They are a phenominal thing that take care of so many discipline things I actually think I had the same amount of instructional time due to not as many discipline problems. The students learn to give each other compliments and those "warm fuzzies" go a long way who hear nothing of the sort at home. It really does provide a better sense of community.
2. I think the best we can hope for in restoring dignity is to keep reinforcing how much we truly care about them and their future. I had a student like this this year. It was REALLY hard to deal with him and his "everybody hates me" attitude. He did it soley for pity and attention. Once I explained to his that he was not worthless and that people liked him but not his behavior, we had a little progress. I'm not one to enable students "woe is me" attitude and I told him upfront he had to show respect to me in order for me to keep mine of him. I also told him he would get no attention from me, good or bad, for unacceptable behavior. I did cave several times and explode, but he always apologized for upsetting me and we were able to move past it.
1. The NLG model aspect that would work best in my classroom would be using the method of caring, respecting, encouragement, acceptance and cooperation. Because of the age group & tight schedule, class meetings are few and far between. Using "I" messages also help to nurture a positive environment because they are non-threatening.
2. Dignity is something that all humans like to possess. IT would be huge to remove this from a student whom is so impressionable. While I agree that the teacher needs to know their students and what they have brought to school and/or left at home is critical, treating them with dignity doesn't have to be as extreme as the Curwin & Mendler Discipline with Dignity model. This is not a particular model that I see using too often in my school.
1. I understand that class meetings can improve discipline problems and understand how Nelson, Lott, and Glenn Model of Positive Discipline in the Classroom revolve around this idea, but this is not my cup of tea. I can use the idea of Barriers versus Builders to better develop relationships with my students. For example, “Directing Versus Inviting/ Encouraging” is something I can work on in my classroom. I do tend to walk around and ask/tell kids to do things and could change my approach to have kids clean up the lab area when done or put things away the way they need to be at the end of class. Another example is “Expecting versus Celebrating” and draw attention to what they did get correct instead of what they get wrong. I can see how pointing out what is wrong could lead some kids to quite trying
2. It will take a lot of work and time to gain the trust of a students who is disruptive because they perceive their dignity has been taken away. I always do what I can to work with the difficult students and guidance councilors to help the student achieve in my class. Sometimes it is a social contract where I work with the parents, student, and guidance councilor. Other times I pull the student aside and ask how we can work it out that they can do their work and pass my class. There was a case that the student was such a behavior problem it became unsafe to keep the student in class and he was moved to another section of Chemistry. I think Curwin and Mendler have good ideas which can work for a student now and then in a class, but it would be hard day after day, class after class to do all of the steps needed to fully implement this plan.
1. I liked many of the ideas that were presented by Nelson, Lott, & Glenn on this process, but I think I would have difficulty with other ideas since I teach in high school using block schedule.
I like the students having a say in the overall way my class is run, especially when it comes to creating procedures and rules. I don’t like the idea that the students have no consequences for their actions, because I believe you can use positive discipline by focusing on the present not the past in many cases but not all. I would like to implement the idea of a class meeting, but I would definitely have to modify how often we would meet. I like the idea of devoting part of Friday’s class to a meeting and having a notebook for students to write down their concerns to be discussed.
I will try to use builders and not barriers, and I will ask students what they think they did wrong. I realized through our discussions that I make assumptions about what the students think they did wrong and don’t actually ask them to make sure that we are thinking the same things.
I will also try to use “I” statements during many aspects of my class. I realize that when I refer to a problem in the textbook, I say “this is what they (the writers of the text) want you to do in this problem.” I was not clearly expressing what I wanted the kids to do, and therefore was not showing the kids how to take ownership of their questions and own learning.
2. Curwin and Mendler have many methods for helping at-risk students regain a sense of hope that school can help them in school, with all methods stressing that dignity must be maintained. One of these methods that we had a discussion about today, was trying to incorporate lessons that appeal to at-risk (and all) students’ interests. There are many ways to learn what they are interested in through a personal writing piece, ask students questions about their hobbies or after school activities, or pay attention when the kids are talking to each other (especially at the beginning and end of class or the school day). If you can develop a caring relationship with students early where they feel comfortable talking to you, then you will open a dialogue that can lead to regaining trust and hope. The problem often comes that you have a class full of other students that need your attention, and you have to try to incorporate as many different student interests in lessons throughout the course or the school year. I do try to point out connections that I can make to student interested in the problems that we are solving, but it is difficult to do when your curriculum and method of teaching are dictated to you.
The one aspect that I 100% agree with is that you have to learn how to control your own emotions when dealing with students and their misbehaviors, to allow for the best course of action without being confrontational and allowing the student & yourself to save face. I need to work on this, but I think knowing the processes that work will help preserve everyone’s dignity. If students feel the environment is safe from ridicule, badgering, and embarrassment from mistakes, then they may feel comfortable enough to open up to you or make some effort in this class. Once they do that then they have a chance at a little success that can hopefully grow to restoring their sense of hope in the school.
1. One idea of the Nelson, Lott and Glenn model that I could use in my classroom is the idea of making personal relationships with the students. Again, it is validating to discover from the research that students will demonstrate appropriate behaviors if they feel loved and valued....which I have always try to show my students.
As far as outside of the classroom, I do not live in the school district in which I teach, and lately I find it very difficult to attend as many student functions as I did prior to the birth of my three children. However, I know that attending these events has such a positive impact on my students and validates how important they are to me as a yong person outside of the classroom. Therefore, I am going to work harder this year, now that my yongest child is 16 months old, to attend at least 4 school/community events and bring my family along. My hope is to develop a relationship between my family and my student's family. I want to communicate to my students and their families that I care about them and support them as I play a short term role in their child's life.
The second strategy I plan to use in my classroom this year is class meetings. I have used class meetings in past years and experienced their value to my classroom management system. However, they are time consuming and my district is very stringent on "misused" instructional time. Administrators continue to demand more content to be coverd in the same amount of hours in our school day. I teach second grade and I don't even have time in the morning to have a morning meeting. The student's enter our classrooms at 8:25 and by 8:35 all opening procedures, such as, stowing bookbags, lunch count, attendance, pledge, turning in homework and filling in student agendas must be completed. Because at 8:35 all teachers are to be involved in formal instruction and if you look at our schedules we need every minute in the day to cover all we need to teach in a day.
However, this year I am going to push the envelope and make room in our schedule for both morning meetings and class meetings. And if or when I am confronted by my administrator, I am going to share the research on the effectiveness of these meetings their importance to my classroom discipline.
2. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I feel that it is extremely important to clearly state that the students's behavior in inapproriate and unacceptable not the student. Additionally, all students must be taught that their behavior is a choice they own. Nevertheless, many of these students need to have appropriate behaviors modeled for them. They need to be taught to value themselves as well as others.
Many times an "at risk" student's perception of himself derives from a label someone places on him. If this student is constantly berated with negitivsm due to poor behavior choices from parents/caregivers and teachers, he will fall into a self-fufilling proficy, and will not attempt to change his behavior choices becase he is not empowered to do so.
Therfore, even when a teacher is comfronted with a challenging student and feels unsuccessful in guiding him to think about his behavior choices, and make attractive choices, the teacher must forget about past experiences and focus on the current "problem." This is very difficult for me to do.
When I deal with these students I often feel failure. I wasn't able to teach them how to self-monitor "stop and think" about their behavior or I haven't created an effective value system for these students. Then I become angry because of the how this one student's behaviors are affecting our classroom climate and the learning of his peers. Lastly, I experience guilt because I blame myself for not being successful in providing a "safe" learning environment for all my students. effects. I know working with "at risk" students is an area in which I can use additional professional development. So, yes- I do believe that dealing with misbehaviors is an important part of teaching...as important as curriculum.
1. The part of Nelson, Lott and Glenn that seem a most likely fit with our responsive classroom format is class meetings. There is a 30 minute block of time built into our morning schedule where we incorporate the social curriculum.
2. When you make the paradigm shift from telling your students about misbehaviors to asking them about behaviors you will be a more effective teacher. Establishing your social curriculum early on and posting you teacher/student plan including consequences takes away the blame, removes guesswork and establishes ownership of the behavior.
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