Discipline Answers

I’d like to share a new book I recently signed out from my public library.  
It’s called “Letters to a Bullied Girl; Messages of Healing and Hope” by Olivia Gardner with Emily and Sarah Buder.
Just as the title promises, the book is filled almost entirely with letters — presented in an easy-to-read format.  The letters [...]

QUESTION:
I don’t want to use stickers to motivate my primary students to print more neatly.  Any suggestions to encourage them to take more care with their school work?
RESPONSE:
Here are some things that my teaching partner and I do in order to help build neat work habits over time:
1.  We talk a lot about neatness.  I’m [...]

QUESTION:
I’ve been really working with my students to take pride in their work and do do their best at things.  Many are really messy and sloppy and I know they can do better.  Would putting a sticker or stamp that says “Well done,” “Neat work” or “Your best work!” be an acknowledgment as opposed [...]

First posted on the Teachers.net Discipline Chatboard.  Permission granted from the author to re-post here:
6th and 7th graders are very impulsive creatures — they have been taught to be impulsive by adults. Don’t believe it? Just go to a teacher training session and observe how the teachers behave while the speakers are presenting!  As a [...]

This week I had a neat experience while teaching a grade 7 student at my newest job at the middle school. I just thought I’d share.
For those who don’t know me, I have three teaching positions, all of which are shared with the same partner. Darlene and I share a grade 1 classroom, each working [...]

Posted by J.E., a member of the Discipline without Stress mailring.
Here is my latest success:
Last Friday, three third graders left their homeroom in route to my class (science) and on the way, chose to yell and scream and play an impromptu game of tag. (At my school, we don’t walk the kids from class [...]

Posted by Teri Gibson, a member of the Discipline without Stress mailring.
I have just begun using DWS this year with my 4 yr. old special needs preschool classes.  I absolutely love it.  No, my class is not perfect. No, DWS does not solve all behavior problems.  What it does is this: For the first time, [...]

It seems that every year my teaching partner and I introduce the DWS Hierarchy a bit differently from the year before.  As we’ve become more familiar with the bigger picture of using DWS throughout the course of an full school year, we worry less and less about the initial introduction.  Over the years, we’ve experienced [...]

I’d like to share a picture book by Jacqueline Briggs Martin that connects wonderfully to many different types of lessons.  SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY won the Caldecott Medal in 1999.  It could be integrated into science, literature, a snow and winter theme, a study of biographies, symmetry, art and beauty, and in addition could be used to [...]

Everyone knows the whimsical fantasies of Bill Peet, but you may not be familiar with his less well-known non-fiction story of “Capyboppy.” It’s one of my all time favorite children’s books!
Capyboppy is the true story of a South American capybara that was brought into the Peet home by Bill’s oldest son, a natural science [...]