COVER STORY
Corks are popping! January is awards month in the world of children's literature. Esme Codell writes about contenders for the Caldecott award for best illustration in American children's literature, the Newbery for best writing, the Coretta Scott King award, and others...
About Marvin Marshall...
Marvin Marshall is a professional speaker and seminar leader who presents his program, "Discipline without Stress, Punishments, or Rewards - Raise Responsibility and Promote Learning," to schools across the world.
His program was developed upon his returning to full-time teaching after 24 years of counseling, supervision, and administration. He has taught primary and upper elementary grades and has been an elementary school principal. He has taught all middle grades and has been a middle school counselor and assistant principal. He has taught all high school grades and has been a high school counselor, assistant principal of supervision and control, assistant principal of curriculum and instruction, and high school principal. He has also served as a district director of education.
Dr. Marshall, who is certified by the William Glasser Institute, presents for Phi Delta Kappa International, for several leading seminar companies, and for schools and school districts. His presentation schedule is on the calendar of his website.
In his book Discipline without Stress, Punishments, or Rewards - How Teachers and Parents Promote Responsibility & Learning, he clearly and concisely demonstrates how the external approaches of relying on rules, imposing consequences, rewarding students for appropriate behavior, and punishing students to make them obey are all counterproductive.
The book can be purchased from the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National School Boards Association, Phi Delta Kappa, at local bookstores, or from his website www.MarvinMarshall.com.
Chapter 1, REDUCING STRESS
Chapter 2, MOTIVATING
Chapter 3, RAISING RESPONSIBILITY, describes The Raise Responsibility System. The simple-to-implement program raises responsibility and can be used in any pre-kindergarten to 12th grade classroom and is currently used in rural schools in Texas to urban schools in New York City and in small child care centers to large high schools. The strategy also can be used in any home or youth setting. The approach is noncoercive and neither rewards nor punishments are used. The approach employs internal motivation so that young people develop a desire to want to behave responsibly. A skill is taught which improves relationships between any two people - parent and child, teacher and student, employer and employee, husband and wife. If the use of authority becomes necessary, it is used without being punitive. Imposed consequences are not used because they engender avoidance, resistance, victimhood thinking, and alienated feelings - sometimes on the part of both the adult and young person. However, if a consequence is appropriate, it is elicited, thereby ensuring ownership and responsibility by the young person, where it belongs.
Chapter 4, PROMOTING LEARNING
Chapter 5, TEACHING
Chapter 6, PARENTING
The Epilogue argues that business is a poor model for learning. Using a performance model of accountability for young people's learning is a false equation. It is one of those practices which has been described by the comic strip character Dagwood Bumpstead, who said, "You know, that makes a lot of sense if you don't think about it."
The article concludes by describing the fundamental principle he uses: trust.
Trust is really the foundation of any relationship. It assumes that you will be safe, that you will not be harmed.
With people, trust also carries with it an implicit message that the other person has your own best interests in mind. That is why we can accept criticism and even anger from those whom we trust. We know, deep down, that they really mean to help us.
Trust is an interesting quality because, once it is lost, it is hard to recapture. Many a relationship gasped its last breath on the words, "I just do not trust you any more."
To have optimum relationships, all parties must feel a sense of trust, a sense safety. The feeling must be that harm will not be forthcoming--physically, emotionally, or psychologically.
Trust also has a direct influence on behavior and learning.
In a recent class visitation, I observed the teacher having great difficulty getting students to behave responsibly. The teacher continually raised her voice commanding the students.
In private, I interviewed a number of students who gave the teacher trouble and asked them the reasons for their irresponsible behavior. All gave me the same response: they felt that the teacher did not like them. The relationship became reciprocal--and resulted in the students' trying to sabotage what the teacher wanted them to do.
Students do not need to like a teacher, but when students' feelings are so negative about a teacher, they rebel against what the teacher wants them to do. And this is exactly what the students were doing each time they were given an order.
I do not recommend a goal of having the students like you--respect you, yes. (Respect is earned; it is a result of your actions.)
When students harbor a visceral dislike, then teaching and learning suffer. Here are a few tips to engender feelings that are conducive to learning:
Plan procedures before content. For example, be sure you have an efficient attention-getting technique to obtain all your students' attention within five (5) seconds. IF THE PROCEDURE TAKES ANY LONGER, let your students know you are confident that they can give you their attention in less time. (This is a challenge; students love challenges.) Reinforce the attention-getting technique by practicing it again--and sometimes again and again.
(My favorite is, "Give me five"--raising my hand with five fingers apart representing two ears listening, two eyes watching, and one mouth closed.)
Rather than raise your voice, lower it. The most effective teachers I have seen, Kindergarten through twelfth grade, never used loud volume to talk to students. More often than not, a quieter than usual voice was used. Using these first two approaches will greatly increase the effectiveness and pleasantness of a classroom.
Use the pause. Just wait. Speaking when you do not have the attention of the class is fruitless. Dare not count how often you do it. On the other hand, when you become conscious of how often you speak without the class's full attention, you will quickly stop the practice.
Influence by persuasion--rather than by coercion. No one likes to be told what to do. Just think of your own experiences of how you felt when someone TOLD you to do something. Telling conjures up negative feelings. Instead, think of SHARING. When your mindset is to share information, you will notice an immediate release of stress and a much more joyful approach to teaching--which, in turn, will have a significant effect on students' learning.
Encourage. Encouragement is often the spark that ignites motivation. It is a significant motivational approach to stimulate a striving to do well. "The teacher believed in me," is a comment that researchers have heard time and time again by students. Remember that A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT AFTER A FAILURE IS WORTH MORE THAN A WHOLE BOOK OF PRAISE AFTER A SUCCESS. A comment such as, "I have seen how capable you are; I know you can do it," is a good starter.
Empower. Empowerment is a close cousin of encouragement. Encouragement is usually vocal--something you say to someone. Empowerment may be vocal, but it need not be. For example, giving the student a responsibility can be very empowering. In my own case, my eighth grade social studies teacher gave me the assignment of being the class secretary. That responsibility empowered me in such a way that I began to participate in school government. My co-curricular activities gave me experiences and values that played a significant role in my development.
Find an interest and build on it. Everyone has something that he or she likes to do. An easy way to determine this is to find out what students do during their leisure time when alone. A good way to start is to have students share their interests in small groups. Then have students complete a 3 x 5 or 4 x 6 card with their names and one or two favorite activities. Make a list of possible interests--art, writing, reading, volunteering, mechanical things, etc. Then classify the students in one of the categories. Refer to it when planning differentiated lessons.
Ask for help. For a student who is particularly bothersome, let the student know that YOU have a problem and the only person who can help you is that student. (Of course, the problem is the student.) Machiavelli knew the effectiveness of this approach when he told the "Prince" that he would gain as much loyalty BY HAVING HIS SUBJECTS DO SOMETHING FOR HIM as when the prince would do something for them. There is something almost genetic in young people that, when given the opportunity to help someone else, they rise to the occasion.
Use positivity. Before saying anything, ask yourself, "Will this communication be perceived negatively or positively?" If it will be interpreted in a negative way, change it so the statement will be interpreted in a positive way. "Don't do that!" vs. "Can you find a more appropriate or better way?" "You are not standing in line as you should!" vs. "Show me how you should stand in line." "Put that down!" vs. "How should that be handled?"
Develop procedures to help students help themselves. For example, if a student is hyperactive, elicit--perhaps with a suggestion or two from you--some procedure(s) that would redirect his energy. The student may tap his thigh; stretch; take a long, deep breath; hold his sternum high for better body alignment and more efficient, breathing (and thereby learning); or some other technique in which the student can engage that is not bothersome to you or disruptive to other students.
How we feel effects and even directs how we behave and learn. As you have heard time and time again--with a great deal of truth--students don't care how much you know until they know that you care.
Superior teachers avoid stimulating students to have negative feelings toward them. This is not to be confused with having high expectations and giving quality assignments
You can be rigorous and a "demanding" teacher. Just don't do it in a demanding way.
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Questions submitted to Kathleen Carpenter at kathleen@teachers.net will be considered by Marv Marshall for responses in future monthly columns in the Teachers.Net Gazette.
Promoting Learning...