On the Procedures Tour ,students are introduced to, or reminded of, school procedures and expectations that all teachers hold for all students in four shared areas in the school.  We have about 250 students in our school of nine divisions.

On the first Friday afternoon of the school year, all the students are divided into four groups.  With the younger students, teachers write a number (1, 2, 3, or 4) on their hands (in washable felt pen) to indicate their group number (and starting station,) so they won’t forget.  For the very youngest students (K and 1,) big buddies from grade six come to collect the kids in their groups.

Two teachers escort each group around to four stations, where four more teachers are waiting to explain or lead a discussion of procedures in that area of the school.  Every ten minutes, our school secretary rings the bell to indicate that groups should move to the next station.  Teachers at the stations lead the kids through the expectations and procedures, often by asking the kids to suggest common sense procedures or ones that they remember from years past.

Here are our four stations and the types of things that we discuss at each.

1. Neighborhood Center Areas/Office/Hallways

• Quiet activities are appropriate for this area
• Students have access to this area before school and after school only.
• Front doors of the school are for adults to enter the school, students
• enter through the Neighbourhood Centre
• Students may enter the other hallways when the bell rings
• Bathroom etiquette
• When walking in the halls, quiet respectful behaviour is important
• If you want to run in the mornings, please run around the field rather than close to the school buildings
• Ice packs should be kept at the office, please stay there (with an ice pack,) until you feel better
• In poor weather, an announcement will be made to come inside
• Phone calls are to be made by adults or with the permission of a teacher
• Gym and change rooms are used only with the supervision of a teacher

2. Library/Computer Lab

• Library is closed at recess but open at lunch
• Library side door is for fire exits only
• Behind the library desk is for adults only
• We keep food and drinks in the classrooms, rather than the computer lab or library
• We use the library rather than the alcove at lunch times
• When leaving the library, clean up tables and push in chairs
• Quiet voices in both library and lab
• We walk in these areas
• In the computer lab, volume should be kept low or use headphones
• Grade six leadership volunteers are always available at lunch times in the lab
• When leaving the computer lab, log out, line up mouse beside keyboard and push in chair
• Internet use is only available under the supervision of a teacher
• We use the printer during class times rather than during lunch times

3. Playgrounds/Swings

• We don’t “save” swings
• Safe swinging strategies!
• Playground apparatus––watch for people under the monkey bars when going across
• Respect should be shown to all adults on the playground
• Keeping hands to self is expected
• Appropriate language is expected
• We stay down from dumpsters and earthquake kiosks
• Garbage belongs in the garbage cans
• Only sports equipment such as balls should be thrown
• If a ball goes over the fence, get an adult to supervise the retrieval
• Sticks can be used for digging
• On poor weather days, we stay in the classroom
• Please take toys and jackets when you first go out for recess/lunch play

4. Parking Lot/ Bus Line-Up Area

• When on the bus, the driver is in charge.  General bus safety should be followed:  Stay in seat, speak in quiet voices, the aisle should be kept clear
• Two or three students can sit on one seat
• When getting ready to board the bus, students line up in grades, with grade sixes closest to the fence
• Use sidewalks to walk near the parking lot––but not through it
• Road safety
• Bus students should stay nearby the bus area while waiting so they don’t miss bus when it comes
• Planters are for plants––we play elsewhere

RESPONSE:

Good question!

Firstly, in any teaching situation, it’s simply good practice to employ the three PRINCIPLES of Discipline without Stress: Positivity, Choice and Reflection.

When out on playground duty, you can make it a habit to:

• Word things in a positive way––even if the situation itself is one that would be perceived as negative. (“Gee, I know you didn’t mean for this to happen. What went wrong?”)

• Elicit choices from–or give at least three choices to––a student who is misbehaving.

• Ask questions to encourage the student to think if what they are doing is actually going to pay off for them in the long run.

It is quite possible to use the steps of the Raise Responsibility System, even if you are working with a youngster who has never been taught the Hierarchy. Obviously, it’s better to have taught the Hierarchy first but when working with students who are not your own, you can make do!

Phase One: Teaching the Hierarchy
In this particular situation, this step would not be part of the process.

Phase Two: Checking for Understanding
Even when students don’t know about the four behavior levels, you can still ask them to evaluate whether their behavior is at a “high” or “low” level. For example:

• “Is pushing someone off the slide, a high level–or low level thing to do? ” I find all kids instinctively know what you mean by high and low level!

For a large majority of the children, this type of discussion is all that’s needed to guide them back on track. For some, you might need to calmly ask a few more questions. And for a very few students, you may need to asking increasingly more pointed questions––all the while keeping your own cool!

• “You said pushing someone down on the playground is a low level thing to do. Can you tell me more about that?”

• “How do you think these other kids near you feel when they see someone being pushed around like that? What do you think they are thinking?”

• “Look at ____’s face. How does he feel about being pushed?”

• Is it easy for you, and me––the duty teacher––to get along if you are doing a low level thing out here on the playground? What is the teacher’s job if someone is pushing on the playground?

• What are our school expectations for people out on the playground? How do we expect people to handle themselves?

• If you keep hurting your friends, what will likely happen to your friendships?

• What would it be like on the playground if everyone did what you were doing?

Phase Three: Guided Choices
Of course, there’s no pat formula for this phase so depending on the child and the type/severity of misbehavior, here are some possibilities:

• Try to help the child choose an alternate activity, or another area to play, or another group with which to play.

• Try to help the student come up with a procedure that would solve the difficulty. Perhaps a procedure for sharing, taking turns etc is needed.

• If something dangerous was happening, you would just have to act to ensure safety for everyone. It wouldn’t be a time for talking at all. Ideally, in such a case, reflection and thinking would follow when things were calmer.

In a case where you need to elicit a consequence, it could be done in a DwStress style by eliciting the information and consequence from the child.

Here’s the outline of a possible conversation:

• “What should happen now?”

• “You told me that ___ probably felt scared when you pushed him down.”

• “Is there anything you might do now to improve the situation with ____?

Even if your school as a whole does not use elicited consequences, but instead has set rules and consequences, you could still employ a DWS approach in administering them:

• “In our school, if people can’t manage themselves out on the playground, what did Mrs. _____ (the principal) say should happen?”

• “In our school, if someone is hurting other people, what generally happens? Yes, that’s right, they sit on the bench by themselves. Where should you go now?”

If the situation didn’t require a consequence, however you felt that it was likely that the misbehavior might be repeated, you could elicit a consequence from the child ahead of time.

• “I think you’ve got yourself together now, but what if you start feeling mad again and you decide to push again? What should happen then?”

As a DWS teacher in a school that doesn’t use the approach, you can effectively deal with misbehavior and you can do it in a less punitive manner than someone who simply imposes school consequences. With your understanding of DwStress, you can prompt children to reflect and come up with their own appropriate consequences for their actions. By doing so, I believe you will be helping them to think carefully about the fact that all of our actions do carry consequences. To me, this is more effective in the long run than having them simply (and narrowly) focus on the consequences the school might impose.

The end outcome might be exactly the same as when a non-DWStress teacher dealt with them, but the process would be different. The student might end up sitting at the office or visiting the principal (just as they would when a non-DWS teacher dealt with the situation,) but hopefully on the way in to the office, the student would be reflecting on having made some poor choices––which would be a more valuable focus than thinking about “the old meanie” who sent them in.

QUESTION:

I have often been tempted to order the Discipline without Stress book. What has held me back is my school’s requirement that we use the same discipline plan throughout the department (in my case, 4th through 6th grades.).

The department has the same rules: (1) Be respectful (2) Be obedient (3) Be honest (4) Be responsible. After the usual warning, if any rule is violated, a tally is given to the student. The number of tallies for the week determines the child’s behavior grade. A behavior grade must be given each week.

Here is my question: Is it feasible to use both this discipline plan and the DWS method or would it be too cumbersome/confusing? The one is mandatory for grades; the other, the DwStress method, would be the philosophy I choose to use in my relationships and dealings with the students.

DR. MARSHALL’S RESPONSE:

You can do both.

Check to see if the mandatory requirements also mandate that the teacher assign the tallies or the grade. Chances are that you will not be violating the regulations if you instead, ELICIT the tallies and/or the grades from your students.

Just have the students evaluate themselves for the grade and submit it to you. (I used a 3 x 5 card.) In the vast majority of cases, the students will assign themselves the same grade you would have given them.

AND in cases where there is disagreement, share with the student your reasoning for your decision.

Following Part I of the DWS Teaching Model, we began by establishing school-wide procedures for this weekly activity.  As Dr. Marshall suggests, we also decided to be proactive. Instead of trying to hurriedly set up the gym as the classes arrived for the assembly (which had been our practice,) students were invited over the P.A. system to volunteer to help with the organization of benches, chairs and piano before school began on Monday mornings.

In a very non-confrontational way, teachers explained the procedures we would like to see all students use as they left their classrooms, entered the halls, traveled to the gym and seated themselves. We also established a signal for quiet in the gym. Over the years, as our principals have changed, we have used different signals but the students have always adapted very well to any changes. When a new principal arrives, we simply review and sometimes revise the procedures that we teach in September.

Our current principal’s procedure for quiet is very simple and extremely effective. The students seat themselves and are given an opportunity to visit with those around them until all the classes have filed into the gym. When our principal comes to the front of the gym, that is our school signal that the assembly is about to begin;  the time for quiet has arrived. Our principal doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t do anything. No teacher says or does anything. The kids take responsibility for quieting themselves these days. It happens in a matter of seconds.

Initially, when we taught this signal for quiet, we explained to the students that when they noticed that the principal had come to the front of the gym, it was their responsibility to turn forward and end their conversations. In some classrooms, roleplay was used to practice. We talked about what students could do when they noticed that the signal had occurred–but those near them did not. We discussed how they could gently tap someone on the shoulder and point to the front of the gym or they could put a finger to their lips to indicate that the principal was ready to begin.

We also made use of our “Question of the Day” program to reinforce our procedures. Each morning we prompt our students to think about an issue in the school by asking a reflective question or by acknowledging high-level behavior.

Here are some sample announcements that deal with behavior at Monday Assemblies:

• Every Monday morning, just after we arrive at school, all classes are asked to walk quietly through the halls to the gym and seat themselves in rows. We seem to have that part down pat. Once we are seated, there are a few minutes to pass because it takes time for everyone to enter the gym and get settled. Quite often we enjoy this little opportunity to talk to people near us and find out about their weekend. Soon there is a signal that means that talking time is over. Do you know what signals us to face forward and give our attention to Mr. ___?

• In a few moments, we will be meeting in the gym for our regular Monday Morning Assembly. We all know that when Mr. ____ comes to the front of the room, that is the signal that our assembly is about to begin. But what about after that? Quite often, other adults also have a message to present at Assembly. Sometimes there is a little pause while each new person makes their way to the front of the gym to speak. PAUSE Play this “waiting time” scene out in your own head: At the lower levels are the people who have little self-control. They depend on a teacher to say “Shh” to them, in order to remain quiet. At the higher end of the scale, are the people who are in control of themselves. These students know that it is polite to sit quietly while the speaker is getting ready. They display patience while they are waiting.  They use their own SELF-discipline to stop themselves from talking. As always, your behavior is a personal choice. Who will you choose to be today? Will you depend on others to tell you what is appropriate—or will you be in charge of yourself?

• Today we would like to thank everyone for remembering our school signal in the gym at the beginning of yesterday’s assembly. When Mr. ___ came to the front of the gym, everyone quickly turned to give him their full attention. Within just a few seconds the gym was entirely silent. Being able to quiet yourself in such a prompt manner—without adults telling you what to do—shows that students in our school are becoming self-disciplined. PAUSE Thank you, everyone.

• Every Monday morning we all meet in the gym for a school assembly. Just like many others schools across Canada, we begin our assembly by standing to sing our national anthem. But what about after we finish singing? PAUSE What procedure does Mr. ____ expect that we follow once O Canada is finished? PAUSE Thanks for answering this question in your classroom!

It took several weeks of teaching, practicing, and reviewing our procedures before we achieved consistent results, but it is amazing now. Still seven years later, our principal simply walks to the front of the gym, says nothing, yet in a second or two, the entire assembly of 250 students is silent and we begin. It’s a very calm and cooperative feeling. These are the types of things that are possible when the DWS approach is used school-wide.

RESPONSE:
In any teaching situation, good classroom management lays the foundation for effective discipline. Leave nothing to chance. Carefully create procedures and then proactively teach your students how to behave at Level C in the library. Teach students procedures for every single thing they will need to do while in the library. (See Part I of the DWS Teaching Model.)

For example, you might teach procedures for:

• entering and exiting the library
• signing out and returning books
• voice levels in the library
• movement within the library
• selecting appropriate books
• the use of the library computer
• the use of special books/magazines/reference materials etc.
• locating scrap paper for making notes
• the use of tables and chairs (tables tidied, chairs pushed in when leaving etc.)

In addition to establishing clear library procedures, look at the “Levels of Development Poster” and the “Primary Poster.”

Using these as a reference, make a DWS Hierarchy poster for your own library. (You may need two versions to suit the varying ages of your pupils.) Choose descriptors for each level that will reflect your particular teaching situation, school and needs.

For example, if you want to focus on independence in the library, then you might include some or all of the following descriptors in your Hierarchy:

Level D: Motivation is internal
Asks for assistance from librarian, only after having tried to think through a problem independently.

Level C: Motivation is external
As a first step, asks the librarian for assistance.

Level B:
Wanders around needing help, but not seeking it.

Level A:
Makes no attempt to seek help, and instead deliberately causes disturbances.

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To give you another example, the next set of descriptors might be included to help build the expectation that libraries are rooms for quiet reading and study.

Level D: Motivation is internal
Reads and studies quietly – no adult supervision is necessary.

Level C: Motivation is external
Reads and studies quietly when directly supervised.

Level B:
Reads and studies little–instead distracts or bothers others nearby.

Level A:
Doesn’t read or study at all – instead disturbs everyone by talking loudly.

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Each time a class comes in for their library session, quickly review (no more than a minute or two) the acceptable levels (C and D) thus communicating your high expectations to students. By being proactive in this way, you will be off to a good start with disicpline.