Although learning is itself self-renewing, a new school year is doubly so for classroom teachers because of greeting a fresh crop of students. Even in schools where classes “loop” (have the same teacher for more than one year), the summer break offers respite and renewal.

A summer “break” reminds me of what Stephen Covey refers to as a “paradigm” in his “7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change.” He states, “A paradigm is like a pair of glasses; it affects the way you see everything in your life.” (p. 125) Although my brother is an optometrist and periodically fits me for glasses, the paradigm shift I have made personally—with many ideas from readers—has enhanced my vision. Many of the what I have learned are included in the second edition of the book, “Discipline without Stress.”

What was created as a classroom discipline system that promotes responsible behavior and ethical character has evolved into an approach that ALSO nourishes students so they WANT to learn and increase academic achievement. Now every school in the United States can receive the book that describes the approach as well as a free staff development package. The school just needs to implement the requirements at the public charity.

"parenting Without Stress – How to Raise Responsible Kids While Keeping a Life of Your Own" will soon be published.

Those interested in receiving a discount of the book when it comes off the press later this year can do so by  linking to my homepage .  Follow the directions near the image of the parenting book at the bottom of the page.

“This is the best year I have had in the 25 years of being a principal. Behavior has not been a problem this year. Our students are learning to solve their problems in a positive way. We find that with the proper instruction, students can monitor their own behavior and make responsible choices without the use of punishment and rewards.”

Phelps Wilkins, Principal
Eisenhower Elementary School, Mesa, AZ

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A descriptive table of contents of the book describing the approach, three selected sections, and additional items of interest are posted at  the book.

Here are some additional ideas from Kerry of British Columbia. Note: More of Kerry’s and other posts have been categorized by her at Discipline Answers.

As part of your sessions you could do some role playing. Students love drama activities. You could also read and discuss stories, identifying levels the characters play. Here are a few messages from the Discipline Without Stress mailring Archives that might give you some ideas: Messages #82,  #559, #586 and #1179.

Although most of the these posts are examples from the primary grades, they might spark an idea for how to use books at other grade levels, too. Members of the Discipline Without Stress mailring who teach middle school have said that even teenagers enjoy the occasional use of carefully selected picture books.

To use the Discipline Without Stress Archives, MEMBERS should first go to the following link and sign in by clicking on the words, “Sign in to Yahoo!” located in the upper right portion of  the screen:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DisciplineWithoutStress/

TO BECOME A MEMBER of the mailring and gain access to current and archived messages, first click on the box with the words, “Join This Group” at the above link.

This takes you to a page, with a box which is again located in the upper right-hand portion of the screen. Enter your Yahoo ID and password. Click on the box that  says,”Sign in.”

This takes you to a page showing a left-hand sidebar with these options:
Home
Messages
Post
Files
Photos
Links
Database

Click on “Messages” which will take you to a page with the most recent messages posted to the mailring. Near the top, you will find a small box that says Msg # ___. In that little box, type the number of the message you are looking for. Click on “Go.”

This takes you to a page of past messages. The first message listed on the page is the number you have requested in your search of the Archives. Click on that and Voila!—he message you are looking for comes up!

Your  classes also provide a perfect opportunity to use the Discipline Without Stress (DWS) System in a very practical way that will help both the students and their classroom teachers. Guidance time could be used to discuss and improve situations identified by the teachers as problematic. No doubt the teachers would appreciate your support with issues such as handing in homework on time, walking down the hall appropriately, or dealing with teasing and bullying.

You could begin by using the hierarchy to help the kids build their own descriptors for the four levels as related to a specific issue and then move to having the students create procedures which they think would help them to improve the situation. You could do this through informal discussion or make it more formal by holding a classroom meeting.

As someone new to the DWS System, you will find that working on small issues with individuals and with a variety of classes will also help you. We all learn best by doing. Not only will you learn how to implement the DWS System yourself, but at the same time you’ll be encouraging other teachers to see the value of what you’re doing with young people.

Kerry in Briitish Columbia

Kerry of British Columbia shows how to use the the Hierarchy of Social Development.

Discussions held with individuals can also be held with entire classes of students. By referring to the hierarchy, you can help kids understand the difference between pseudo-self-esteem (an over-inflated ego!) and true self-esteem.

Often it’s the person with the over-inflated ego who causes disruptions in the classroom, and so these kinds of discussions are particularly valuable. Once youngsters can recognize their own behaviour as “show-offish” (as opposed to  clever), they can become inspired to use the hierarchy to help themselves build true feelings of confidence and competence.

In other words, you can teach children that their level of behaviour is a CHOICE they continually make and that there is a “pay off” to operating on the highest level of social development—improved self-esteem, better relationships with others, and a greater sense of self-satisfaction.

Consider leaving a large copy of the hierarchy, such as a poster,  in the classrooms where you work. Plant the seed in the minds of your students that the chart or poster is there to help them make choices and decisions at ALL times. It’s not just something to talk about once a week. You can encourage your pupils to use the hierarchy independently if they want to become more responsible, self-reliant, kindhearted, etc.

Give your students a small version to take home or to keep in a personal notebook. Stress the value of this little reference. Help them to understand that the hierarchy is a powerful tool which they can decide to use and that by doing so they will be CHOOSING to be in control of their own lives.

QUESTION:

I am very interested in using this system in counseling students individually and in classroom guidance. My question is: Will the system work, even though I only see the students for 30 minutes every other week, and even if the classroom teacher is not using the system? From your experience are there any hints or suggestions to make the system work in this situation?

RESPONSE (by Kerry):

You’re in a great position to teach and use the RRSystem! It can certainly be used effectively in both situations you mention:
–with the students you see on an individual basis and
–as part of your classroom guidance lessons.

With students you see individually, begin by teaching the hierarchy in the book, “Discipline without Stress, Punishments or Rewards,” and then add additional descriptors tailored to their particular needs.

For example, if a child is having difficulty with social relationships, you can build a hierarchy with him/her using descriptors regarding “being friendly/unfriendly.” You can role play situations to encourage more positive ways of relating to others.

If a student is having emotional problems, such as one little fellow in my class last year who would “shut down” shortly after we started almost any assignment or project, you could add descriptors at each level encouraging him/her to handle little frustrations in a more effective way.

You could discuss that
At the lower levels, students
-give up,
-put their heads down,
-refuse to accept help, and
-won’t try.

At the higher levels, students
-put up a hand to ask for help,
-don’t let little setbacks hold them back for long, and
-focus on one step at a time instead of fixating on an end result that seems impossible to achieve.

My previous principal used the RRSystem with individual kids—the ones who were the “frequent visitors” to her office. She introduced them to the hierarchy and sometimes had them draw pictures of the levels, just as suggested in
the book. (pp. 70-72)

She engaged one grade six boy in a conversation about the difference between the two sides of his paper. The youngster could see that the side illustrating Levels A/B looked chaotic, busy, and upsetting, while the C/D side of the page looked calm and orderly. She asked him to identify which side looked like a more “pleasant lifestyle” and he said the C/D side.

She continued by asking him to identify the side which best depicted his own life. He admitted that his life was most like the A/B side, which led to further discussions about whether or not his current choices were bringing him what he really wanted. She felt that RRSystem discussions definitely helped children move forward in their thinking.

Kerry in BC

Jim wrote me the following regarding his teaching:

I am a returning math teacher who has worked in business most of my life. Had a tough time teaching last year. Thought I could just teach the subject and didn’t give any thought to managing the classroom. Got a rude awakening.

I figure if I can guide the students into being courteous to one another, we can then have meaningful conversations  about math. One of the best ways to learn math is to express it in English.

The suggestion I gave Jim is the one I gave to high school teachers in Georgia using math as an example.

I suggested they start each lesson by giving students a problem. Grappling with a problem creates interest and curiosity, both great motivators. Students can then share how they solved or attempted to solve the problem. After  this discussion, use direct instruction followed by guided practice.

The approach follows the Japanese model of teaching. Our usual approach is to give direct instruction followed by guided practice. This approach does not consider motivation; it assumes students are motivated by a responsibility to learn what is taught. Of course, what is lacking here is the teacher’s responsibility to create an environment where students WANT to learn.
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Incidentally, I started my staff development at Coffee High School in Douglas, Georgia by informing the staff that if they were ever in Southern California and drove by Westminster High School in the Huntington Beach Union High School District they might take notice of four bungalows in the front south side of that campus.

These bungalows were built at my behest when I was assistant principal of curriculum and instruction. I had presented to the board of education a plan to establish a small learning community that combined math, science, language arts, and social studies with teachers having a common planning period and with the same group of 9th grade students. Coffee High School was initiating the same format—also starting with ninth graders—to raise their graduation rate, a challenge that affects most high schools in the U.S.A.