Discipline Answers

QUESTION: I remember reading about a teacher using some trash to introduce the DWS Hierarchy.  Can you explain what this is? RESPONSE: The activity you’re thinking of is just one way in which the DWS Hierarchy of Social Development can be introduced to students.  My teaching partner, Darlene Collinson, came up with this idea after reading Dr. [...]

QUESTION: What is the best way to explain the difference between internal and external motivation––in other words, the difference between DWS Levels C and D?  I am having trouble with this. RESPONSE: Initially I use very concrete examples connected directly to the classroom. I describe Level C as the level where students do the right [...]

After my teaching partner and I initially introduce the DWS Hierarchy to our primary students, we also introduce a smaller, portable version.   On this simpler version there are no descriptors, only the names of the four levels.  It’s made from a piece of black poster board (roughly 12″ by  24″) with a strip of [...]

Here is a list of picture books compiled by one teacher on the DWS mailring. Level A Books – Anarchy Mean Soup, by Betsy Everitt Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink, by Diane deGroat Miss Nelson is Missing, by Harry Allard We Share Everything, by Robert Munsch Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, by Kevin Henkes [...]

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 suggests, the book is filled almost entirely with personal letters––presented in an easy-to-read format.  The letters [...]

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 [...]

QUESTION: What’s the correct way to introduce the DWS Hierarchy to primary students? I want to do this right! RESPONSE: There isn’t any one correct or best way to introduce the DWS Hierarchy to students but I can share a few starting points that seem to work well for many people. On pages 70-72, of [...]

QUESTION: I’ve heard there is a book written by a primary teacher that can be used to teach the DWS Hierarchy to young students. Do you know this book? Where can I find it? RESPONSE: Yes, there is such a book! It’s called, Children of Rainbow School. The author is Tanis Carter, a primary teacher [...]

QUESTION: I understand what a Level B student is but sometimes I hear teachers asking, “Do you want me to become a Level B teacher?” Can you explain what this is all about? RESPONSE: One important understanding students receive when the teacher introduces the DWS Hierarchy in the beginning of the year is that people [...]

QUESTION: What do you do if you have a problem with a child on the second day of school, before you’ve introduced the Hierarchy levels? RESPONSE: Don’t forget that Step One of the Teaching Model is Classroom Management. By proactively teaching specific procedures for everything you want your students to do, you will be able [...]