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 
When Sophie Gets Angry Really Really Angry, by Molly G. Bang

Level B Books – Bullying and Bothering

Crickwing, by Janell Cannon
Recess Queen, by Alexis O’Neill
A Weekend With Wendell, by Kevin Henkes
Chester’s Way, by Kevin Henkes
The King of the Playground, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Three Cheers for Tacky, by Helen Lester 
The Practically Perfect Pajamas, by Erik Brooks
How to Lose All Your Friends, by Nancy L. Carlson
Big Bad Bruce, by Bill Peet
Bootsie Barker Bites, by Barbara Bottner 
Hooway for Wodney Wat, by Helen Lester 
The Ant Bully, by John Nickle
Goggles!, by Ezra Jack Keats

Level C Books – Cooperation

Disappearing Ducks, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
The Little Red Hen, by Paul Galdone
The Little Red Hen: (Makes a Pizza), by Philemon Sturges
The Enormous Potato, by Aubrey Davis
It’s My Birthday, by Helen Oxenbury
Swimmy, by Leo Lionni
Whoever You Are, by Mem Fox
The Mitten Tree, by Candace Christiansen
Berenstein Bear’s Lend a Helping Hand, by Stan Berenstain
Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose, by Dr. Seuss
Farmer Duck, by Martin Waddell
Berlioz the Bear, by Jan Brett

Level D Books – Democracy

Brave Irene, by William Steig
The Runaway Rice Cake, by Ying Chang Compestine
The Quiltmaker’s Gift, by Jeff Brumbeau 
Little Toot, by Hardie Gramatky
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, by Mem Fox
The Legend of the Lady Slipper, by Lise Lunge-Larsen and Margi Preus
Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister
Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney 
Brave Irene, by William Steig
The Hole in the Dike, by Norma B. Green
Snowflake Bentley, By Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Big Bad Wolf is Good, by Simon Puttock

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 are all addressed to one of the authors, Olivia, expressing messages of encouragement to help Olivia get past the serious issues of bullying that she experienced for several years.

Olivia, now 15, suffers from epilepsy and was bullied relentlessly at school and on the Internet, to the point where she considered taking her own life.  In March of 2007, two sisters read about her story in a local newspaper and decided to help.  They began by encouraging students in their own high school in San Francisco to write letters of support to Olivia.  The idea spread and people, of all ages, across the country, began to write.  Eventually, a sampling of the letters were compiled to create this book.

Touching and honest, the letters have been organized into two categories:

• Letters from bullies (who now regret their own actions,) and,
• Letters from people who have experienced bullying themselves.

In addition to just shedding light on this subject for your students, the book could also be used when introducing/discussing the DWS Hierarchy in the intermediate and higher grades.  It’s a great book to share with young people to start some reflection and would be a good addition to any school library.

I found that the book has a “look inside” feature on Amazon that allows you to view several of the letters to Olivia.

Here’s the link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0061544620/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

Although obviously lending itself to a discussion of Level B,  this book can also promote and understanding of Level D.  The actions of the two sisters who began the letter-writing campaign can lead students to contemplate such traits as initiative, compassion and leadership.

The small actions of individuals can lead to many great things!  Very inspiring!

This year though, our introduction of the Hierarchy came about completely without prior planning. That was a surprise even for us! In the past we’ve planned a formal lesson to explain the levels and sometimes had the kids draw pictures. We’ve also read Tanis’ book over the space of several days and so concluded with a review of the four levels in pleasant storybook format.

This year however, Darlene saw an “everyday opportunity” to discuss the levels and how they related to something that had actually happened in the classroom.  She just went for it – much like we would do during all the rest of the year.  And it turned out well!  When I returned to teaching in our shared position just a few days later, the kids were easily talking about the levels. I simply carried on from there, discussing the Hierarchy in various situations throughout the day.  Tomorrow, at the start of our fifth week in school, Tanis’ book will arrive in our “classroom mailbox” and we’ll read the story over the space of two or three days.

We’re enjoying a very nice class this year but the kids are not without their individual quirks of course!  Several are quite stubborn and a few more seem to have fairly serious emotional/anxiety issues.  One morning, just over a week ago, the day started off on a very bad note.  Four kids arrived at school in various states of upset and all were crying loudly in the line-up outside the classroom.  The boisterous crying continued right into the cloakroom!  Darlene, my teaching partner, had quite a difficult time helping any of the four, simply because all were upset about something that had happened at home and over which she had no control, or even any real information to help her figure it all out.  One was mad at Grandma for some reason and the others were mad/sad/angry at Mom and Dad, each for their own reasons too, of course!  It wasn’t within Darlene’s power to help any of them with their actual “problems,” simply because they weren’t school related.

Although we have 17 other kids in our class, her attention had to go that morning, entirely to the four who were out of control as they entered the room. Eventually, about 15-20 minutes later, she did manage to get each one settled down; into their indoor shoes, out of their sweaters, a drink at the water fountain and into their desks.  And then the day went on, more or less as usual!  That’s a primary classroom for you–never a dull moment!

A couple of hours later, just before lunch playtime, she got out the DWS Hierarchy chart.  She asked the class to remember back to the early morning and what had happened when the teacher was in the cloakroom helping various kids with some problems.  She asked each one to think about what they had chosen to do while the teacher was very busy.  She explained that she had noticed that all those who didn’t have a serious problem themselves, had simply done all their cloakroom chores independently and then gone to their own seats and found something to do, leaving the teacher to deal with those who really needed help.

She said that she had noticed that some students had taken out their chalkboards or doodle books from their desks and begun to draw.  Some had taken books from the carpet area and had spent their time looking at them, while others took out bags of pattern blocks and had built beautiful patterns on their desks.  She explained that what she had seen could be described as Level D on a certain special magnetic chart that we always have hanging on our front chalkboard.  She brought the chart over to hang front and center on the board in front of the children.

She told them that Level D is the level where you can look after yourself – you don’t even need a teacher to be right there to make sure that you’re doing the right thing that you should be doing. She then explained the difference between Level C and D; that Level C was lower on the chart because that was the level where you needed an adult around to make sure that you were doing the right thing.  She again described the events of the morning, but focused on all the positive aspects of the (rather horrendous!) start to the day; the fact that many people had chosen to do the right thing – the grown up and mature thing – despite the fact that the teacher really wasn’t even available to help them or supervise them right at that moment.

Then she asked them to imagine in their own minds, times when they might have been on Level D in other situations – situations in which they had done something without being asked by an adult, something that was very grown-up.  One girl, new to our school, (who is basically an only child in a family with several adult siblings and nieces and nephews older than herself!) put up her hand to say that she thought that she might have been on Level D the very night before.  At that point, a wonderful and outgoing little boy in our room, spontaneously took over the teacher’s role!  He turned around to her and in very teacher-like way asked,

“What did you do?”

She answered, “I did the dishes and then I went into my bedroom and made my bed.”

In an effort to confirm that this was truly Level D motivation–and not something lower–Jeremy questioned her, “Did you do this ALL BY YOURSELF or did someone ASK you to do it?”

Emily answered, “I did it all by myself.”

To which Jeremy, seriously replied, “Well, then that was Level D.”

With a smile, Darlene went on to briefly explain the lower two levels herself!

*******************************

(Darlene is an amazing person!  She can turn almost anything into a positive event!)

Two DWS points:

1.  Find the positive in a situation – even if it’s hard to see right at the moment.  After a cool-down period of time has elapsed, focus your teaching energy into describing that (what you’d like to see more of!)  In this situation, the kids who were stubbornly at a lower level early in the morning, did receive the help and discussion they needed at that moment to get them operating at Level C, but later in the day they received no attention for their lower-level behavior. It wasn’t discussed at all, even though everyone had witnessed it and knew it was at the root of the whole situation developing as it did.

Instead the kids at the higher level received attention later in the day (without being named,) by virtue of the fact that Darlene used their behavior as an example of Level D.  In addition, the four stubborn kids were subtly given information about what it looks like to be well behaved and mature.  Without discussing their immature behavior in front of the class, they were given a comparison model in their mind about what it means to act maturely in grade one.  With the new understandings about Level D that were given to the class as a whole, they too will start to aspire more often to be on THAT level, rather than on the immature level that they know disrupted the class in the first place that morning.  Kids WANT to think of themselves as more, rather than less, mature.  As teachers we can benefit from that natural desire!

2.  Procedures are very important.  The 17 kids already had a very good understanding of what choices they have in free choice times and they all chose to fill their unexpected “free time” with an appropriate choice.  When their teacher was busy with the (stubborn and immature) criers in the cloakroom, they simply read the situation as free time for themselves and already knew what they could do with that sort of pleasant time.

“What to do when you find yourself with a bit of free time” is something we review quite a bit in the first weeks of school.  We certainly can’t take all the credit ourselves either!  Most of these kids came from a Kindergarten teacher who is the best “procedures teacher” I have ever seen, so these particular students are very used to following procedures at Level C.  We are benefitting greatly from her diligence last year, which is a wonderful thing about having colleagues who try very hard to be on the same page with each other!

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 his book, Discipline without Stress, Punishments or Rewards, Dr. Marshall describes an effective process that involves the students in drawing and then explaining their own illustrations for each of the four levels.

• The four levels can be introduced with a specific scenario. One popular one can be found at this link called “The Trash Scenario.”

• Each level can simply be discussed orally. Students could then do some roleplay to demonstrate their understanding of the concepts.

• Picture books can be used to highlight the various levels. Some examples can be found in Dr. Marshall’s book and more can be found at this link, Connections to Literature. You probably have many favorite children’s books. It’s quite possible that some of your favorites might be used to illustrate the DWS levels.

• There’s a wonderful little book, The Children of Rainbow School, written by Tanis Carter, a primary teacher who uses DWS in her own classroom. It has four chapters, each one explaining the concepts of a particular Hierarchy level through one continuing story.

• For older primary students, the suggestion at this link, A Butterfly Analogy, may be a suitable way to introduce the RRSystem.

As my teaching partner and I become more comfortable in using the DWS approach and as we work with more and more classes of children, we worry less and less about the initial presentation of the system. We’ve found that the understandings that we want our students to gain are best built in little steps, in real-life classroom situations, over the course of an entire school year. We no longer worry if we don’t introduce the Hierarchy “perfectly” in the very first lesson. We know that we’ll have lots of opportunities throughout the year to “get it right!”

My own philosophy (when teaching or doing other things in life,) is to remember that the most important thing to do in any situation where I want to implement something new is simply to get started! I always find that once I do get started–even if my start wasn’t absolutely “perfect,”–I can clearly see what I need to do next; one step just naturally tends to lead to the next. I think you’ll find that it’s the same for you too! By keeping the pressure off yourself in the early stages of introducing the system, you’ll feel free to find creative ways to revisit the Hierarchy throughout the school year.

In his book, Dr. Marshall suggests: “Implement now, perfect later.” That’s the mindset I personally like to adopt too. No matter how you choose to introduce the Hierarchy, you certainly won’t do any “damage” to your class and you’ll make your own life a lot less stressful if you don’t demand perfection of yourself as a beginner to this approach.

RESPONSE:
Yes, there is such a book! It’s called, “Children of Rainbow School.” The author is Tanis Carter, a primary teacher from British Columbia, Canada and a member of the DWS mailring.

“Children of Rainbow School” was written with input from Dr. Marshall, expressly for introducing the RRSystem to young children. It’s a little book of four short chapters, each one focusing on a level of the Hierarchy. The story takes place at “Rainbow School” where, in the beginning, the children are acting on Level A. As time goes by, they raise their level of behavior to Level D.

For information about ordering this book at the best price, you can email the author directly: tccarter@shaw.ca

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 can in effect, choose the type of relationship they wish to have with other people, including the authority figures in their life.

Good relationships are created by operating on Level C. For those who choose to operate on Level D–the highest level–relationships will be even better and more satisfying. Students are also introduced to the understanding that frequent operation on Level B (and certainly Level A,) very naturally leads to poor relationships with others.

As obvious as it might seem to teachers, this is a new concept for many students (and for some adults too!) Many students go through their school years feeling that teachers don’t like them, or pick on them and that their peers have it in for them too. In other words they go through their lives feeling victimized, not realizing that it is their OWN BEHAVIOR over time which determines, to a great extent, how others treat them and how others feel about them.

In this system of discipline, students are directly taught that through their own choice of the four behaviour levels (A,B,C, or D,) they are actually CHOOSING the types of relationships they want to have with other people, including their teacher.

Students are proactively taught then when someone continues to operate on Level B–one of the two lower and unacceptable levels–the teacher is required to step in and exert their authority. In other words, since the student is not being self-disciplined and is not in charge of him/herself, the teacher is forced to step in and take charge. At Level B, a student can EXPECT that a teacher will become their “boss.” It can’t be a surprise.

Therefore, when a student misbehaves (Level B,) the teacher might simply BRING AWARENESS to what is happening in the situation. After a student has assessed himself at Level B, a teacher might calmly ask, “Do you want me to become a Level B teacher?” (Of course, tone of voice and body language is important here so that the question doesn’t come across as a threat.)

Because students have been taught that continued Level B behaviour is unacceptable and results in a “Level B teacher” (that is, a teacher who must assume the position of boss and therefore use their authority to ensure that the child cooperates and conforms to acceptable standards,) in the majority of cases, students often decide that they would rather take charge of their own behaviour by voluntarily moving their operation up to Level C.

The teacher also expresses another important point—that their personal preference is to NOT have to take over and exert authority—since they have no interest in bossing people around. They would prefer that the student take care of their own behaviour and become self-disciplined, but… if the student can’t manage that, they are prepared to take over.

In this light, most students prefer to take charge of themselves.  In other words, they get their act together! Of course, if they can’t get their act together, then the teacher moves on to the next phase of the system, which entails using authority.

I find that in my classroom, because we so often talk about Level C and D as being more powerful than the two lower levels (in the sense of being “powerfully in control of yourself,”) almost all students prefer to think of themselves as powerful and capable—capable of managing at Level C or D. This is the secret to encouraging internal motivation in students.  It gives them a powerful image for which to strive.

Having to admit to yourself that you are on Level B is akin to admitting that you aren’t powerful enough to be in charge of yourself. No one likes to think of themselves in this way. With smaller children, I might phrase this as “Do you think you can raise the level of your behaviour or do you need me to become a babysitter for you–and stay right with you in order for you to manage? Once again, tone of voice is very important. A teacher would be conversational in this dialogue and certainly not threatening or sarcastic.

As I said, it’s usually a matter of simply bringing awareness to the situation at hand. Basically the teacher is asking: Can you control YOURSELF or do you need me to take control of you?

Some examples:

• Can you walk down the hall in an appropriate manner all by yourself or do you need me to walk right beside you?

• Are you prepared to work quietly at your desk or do we need to find another seating arrangement that will allow others to have the quiet they need to finish their assignment?

• Are you willing to play safely with the PE equipment or do I need to take it away from you?

Given the choice, “Do you want me to become a Level B teacher?” most young people decide that they would prefer to raise the level of their own operation to something more acceptable. It just seems like the sensible thing to do!

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 to deal with many so called “discipline problems” simply by teaching, re-teaching and practicing procedures. Maintain the mindset that most students will require at least 8 teachings of a procedure in order for it to become habit.

In the case of a true discipline problem that arises on the first days of school, you can employ the Three Principles of DWS:

• keep your focus in the situation positive–look for solutions,

• ensure that the misbehaving student has some choice in finding a solution;

• ask questions to encourage a student to think about whether or not what they are doing is actually going to pay off for them or not.

Although not ideal, you can also implement the two last phases of the RRSystem–even before you have taught the Hierarchy.

Here’s how:

Phase Two – Checking For Understanding
Even though students wouldn’t know about the levels on the first day of school, you can still ask a child to evaluate whether he/she is operating on a high or low level. I find that even young children instinctively know what you mean by “behavior at a high or low level”.

For example:

“Is grabbing a toy from someone, a high level thing to do… or is it a low level thing to do?”

Once a student has acknowledged that grabbing a toy is at a low level, that may be the end of it. Often, this type of discussion is all that’s needed. For others, you might need to ask them a few more questions. For a very few children, you may need to ask several increasingly more pointed questions:

• “You said that grabbing a toy is a low level thing to do. Can you explain to me why you think that?”

• “How do you think these other kids near you feel when they see you grabbing toys? Will they want to play with someone who might grab their toys?”

• Look at Andrew’s face…. How does he feel about having his toy grabbed away?

• What is a teacher’s job if someone is grabbing toys at play time?

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

• You can help the child to come up with a procedure that will allow them better deal with a similar situation in the future. In this case, procedures for sharing would probably help.

• You can still go through a process of eliciting choices (or suggesting choices, if necessary.) Remember that this phase is used ONLY with those who continue to act inappropriately, after they have acknowledged a low level.

• You can ask questions that put the responsibility on the child: “What do you think should happen IF you should do this same kind of thing again?”

It’s certainly possible and worthwhile to build Hierarchy understandings for children, even before you’ve had an opportunity to formally introduce the actual levels. Now that we are more experienced with DWS, my teaching partner and I try to word all our everyday classroom talk in a DWS way. For example, right off the bat, we use the language of the Hierarchy even though we don’t actually refer to the four levels. In this way, we can build some understanding of the levels, even before we have time to teach the Hierarchy itself.

For example:

• On the first day when we introduce procedures for sharing and playing appropriately at centers (Level C,) we sometimes contrast them with examples of “unacceptable behavior” such as hoarding toys, running in in the classroom, or talking with outdoor voices (Level B.)

• We talk about what an “acceptable level of behavior” would look like at lunch time (using eating manners, following lunchtime procedures such as sitting while eating, and remaining in desks until the bell rings etc.) This is Level C.

• We discuss the importance of learning to “work on your own without waiting for a teacher to direct you” and we talk about how great it feels “to count on yourself to be able to listen well and so know what you need to do next in the lesson”. This is language describing Level D.

After a week or two in school, we hook these understandings to the four levels of the Hierarchy.

RESPONSE:
The activity to which you are referring is a description of just one way in which the Discipline without Stress Hierarchy can be introduced to students. Many people like this “trash scenario” because it provides a simple way to initially present the four levels of behavior.

You can find what you’re looking for in Part Two of the Phi Delta Kappan article, Using a Discipline System to Promote Learning.  Scroll down to page 505. The TRASH SCENARIO explanation begins right beneath the Hierarchy on that page.

In addition, you can find photographs of four very simple “trash visuals” that go with this activity.  They are posted at the Discipline without Stress Mailring. Click on the sidebar link titled, “Photos.” (Credit for the creation of these clever visuals goes to teacher, Cindy Nadon, of Canada.)

Another way to introduce the Hierarchy: The Butterfly Analogy

Does anyone know if DWS is ever implemented in high school? I teach high school Leadership classes and I think high schoolers need these things even more immediately than little ones. The real world is going to require self-discipline of them, real soon! Raising their responsibility is exactly what high school kids need. Most of the discussions I hear about the system seemed aimed at younger children, though presumably they should be applicable to older students as well. I would like any tips, or even encouragement for using this in high school.

RESPONSE:

The DWS approach was developed when the author, Dr. Marvin Marshall, was teaching in a high school setting. It’s been adapted for primary , not the other way around. Often primary teachers initially have the opposite question. Knowing that this system has been originally developed for use in high schools, they wonder if it can be used with younger students!

Part One of the article, USING A DISCIPLINE SYSTEM TO PROMOTE LEARNING discusses how Dr. Marshall came to develop his approach.

The truth is that the approach can be implemented across the grade levels in almost an identical way. Many times, a high school teacher can benefit from discussions among primary teachers and vice versa too! A leadership class in particular is very much suited to ongoing discussions of the DWS Hierarchy.

You’re absolutely right in thinking that it’s very important for young adults to have information about self-discipline, simply because they’re soon to be entering the world at large. DWS ideas can be of immediate and very real use to them. Look at this “alarm clock hierarchy” created by high school teacher, Jim Mann.

I use the levels to teach the importance of establishing a procedure each morning to get to school on time. I use an alarm clock analogy:

Level D - You set your alarm clock, wake up, and get to school on time.

Level C - You depend on your parents to wake you up so you get to school on time.

Level B - You ignore the alarm clock and come to school late.

Level A – You don’t even set your alarm clock because you are only interested in what you want and do not consider how your actions affect others.

I tell my high school students that to succeed in college, they must have motivation on Level D. Their motivation must come from within.

This is the type of down-to-earth, very practical discussions that can take place in high school. All students can benefit from understandings like this one–simple in one way, yet leading to a much larger message of something that separates successful college students from others. To be successful in life/college, one needs to be motivated from within.

You’re on the right track!  If you see the value of internal motivation for your students and understand that the difference between Levels C and D is one of the key points in the DWS approach, then you can show your students how it relates to their everyday lives.

If you’ve experienced the power of internal motivation in your own life, share your stories with students. Look for opportunities to discuss how internal motivation helps people lead more satisfying lives, regardless of their age. Speak with passion so that the kids see that there’s a reason to take DWS ideas to heart!

When introducing the Hierarchy, I assume that I should focus on one level at a time. Do I start with Level A or Level D?

Response:

To me, it makes sense to begin with Level A and end with D; I want to end on a positive and inspiring note!

Second Question:

Would it be best to introduce one new level a week, or one new level a day, while revisiting the previous levels?

Response:

There are many ways to introduce the Hierarchy. The number of lessons used for introducing the four levels would depend on your own preference and might vary with the age of your students. High school teachers typically introduce all the levels in one session, while primary teachers often find that younger children learn best when introduced to the levels on four separate days.

Personally, I wouldn’t choose to wait a week before introducing each new level. Since both Level A and B are unacceptable, I wouldn’t want to spend two weeks focusing on inappropriate behavior!

In my own teaching, I spend a minimum of time discussing the lower two levels and then move to introducing the higher two levels, C and D, in more detail on subsequent days. In particular, I focus my teaching energy on introducing the students to Level D motivation and highlighting the difference between Levels C and D.

DwSTRESS is unique. The Hierarchy offers students of any age a chance to learn the difference between EXternal and INternal motivation. I find that when students understand that BOTH levels are acceptable but one is a voluntary higher level choice, they are motivated to act more often from Level D.