I’m  going to start using DWS in my classroom this coming year.  My grade level uses Fun Friday/Study Hall.  I’m confused on how I can incorporate DWS into Fun Friday.  Am I just overthinking this issue?

RESPONSE:

I have no personal experience with Fun Friday/Study Halls but I gather it’s a reward for those who live up to expectations during the week––or a punishment for those who do not. This doesn’t match DWS thinking simply because it is reward/punishment based.  Rewards and punishments are both forms of external motivation. DWS uses an approach focused on promoting internal motivation.  It uses procedures, expectations and The Hierarchy to raise responsibility.  The two mindsets are quite different.

However, if you are required to participate in this school program, you could perhaps set it up with more of a DWS “flavor.” You could have the students self-assess their own involvement.  Students could be asked to decide for themselves if they meet the requirements of “Fun Friday” or if their own behavior during the week would be more in line with Study Hall.

The younger the child, the greater would be the need to start with a) very clear procedures and 2) very clear criteria for involvement in Fun Friday. One suggestion I would have would be to hold quick but frequent self-assessment times through the week (and throughout each day,) by reviewing the criteria.   This would help ensure that no child is surprised on Friday when they have to indicate that their choices throughout the week have been consistent with attending “Study Hall.”   Even so, with very young children, they may not be able to connect their in-the-moment daily evaluations with the end result (Study Hall five days later,) until the moment they realize that others in the class are going to Fun Friday celebrations––while they are not.

So, no, you’re not overthinking this; it really is quite difficult to find a way to combine rewards and punishments with a philosophy that states that rewards and punishments are ineffective approaches for working with people. Sometimes, in order to try out DWS in a school with a completely different philosophy, teachers simpy have to try to make the program fit with external constraints as best they can.

Some related postings on student self-assessment that may be of interest:

I’m required to give my students a behavior grade.

I would like my students to give themselves a daily discipline mark.

What is a good response to people who argue that extrinsic rewards are okay for students because they’re just the same as an adult getting a paycheck at the end of the week?  When people say this, I cringe.  I know it’s not the same, but I don’t know how to argue the point intelligently.

DR. MARSHALL’S RESPONSE:

Here is what to say:

Employment is a social contract.  A person provides some service for remuneration. The only thing a fee for service has in common with rewards (as acknowledgments or as incentives) is that they both MAY involve legal tender.

When was the last time you looked at your paycheck and thanked your employer for the reward?

DR. MARSHALL’S RESPONSE:
A class meeting is a good start for the students.

But the problem is also an instructional one––there are some things that the teacher should not do and can do.

First, some things not to do:

DO NOT COLLECT anything within the first five minutes––this includes homework, lunch money, permission slips, etc.

DO NOT HAND ANYTHING OUT within the first five minutes.

DO NOT TAKE ATTENDANCE within the first five minutes.

DO NOT START A LESSON WITH THESE WORDS, “Take out your books.”

Today’s students live with remote controls in their heads. These controls have three switches: participate, apathy, and disrupt. Any of the above “dont’s” are more likely to prompt the second or third options.

Instead strategically plan for instruction:

Find one thing in your planned lesson that energizes or excites you. Then ask yourself what you can do to catch the students’ interest. The more unique the better! For example, assume you are teaching science and the lesson has to do with weather. Bring an egg and a bucket to class. Stand on a chair with an egg in your hand. Drop the egg. Ask the class why the egg fell. Obviously, the more outlandish or foolish your action, the more attention you will get and the less the students will want to miss your opening.

In this example, students will answer, “gravity.” Ask why didn’t the egg did not fall sideways. Legitimatize all answers, i.e., accept them all; don’t make fun of any.

If a student answers that the egg is heavy, then ask why a feather falls, and then the key question, “Why don’t clouds fall?”

The purpose of exercises like these is to create “killer questions”––those that prompt curiosity––not to pass a test or for some other external reason but one that students want to know for themselves.

I used to start my social studies classes showing a cartoon using an overhead projector. In English classes, have students do a “show and tell” the first few minutes. Then have students write on what they have seen or can learn from it.

Creating teaching ideas is what makes preparing for teaching so much fun.

The point:  Start every lesson with something that creates curiosity. Then watch how your students get to your class on time.

More is in the book under, “Sponge Activities.” In addition, “REDUCING TARDIES” has its own section with additional suggestions, starting on page 207.

——
P.S. Clouds do fall.  It’s called precipitation.

One thing I always admire about this friend is her ability to take an idea and run with it in the classroom.  She  inspires, elevates and motivates her students!  Teresa often bases interesting lessons for her grade sixes on some little item she’s found in the newspaper, something she’s heard on a radio talk show or something that comes from a good book she is reading herself.  She has a knack for recognizing something small that is full of potential.  She often takes one of these small ideas and then develops it into an in-depth theme that continues to grow, over weeks in her classroom.  I’m always amazed at how she is able to do this so creatively and (yet, it seems to me!) so effortlessly.

Once, years ago––1996, I think––she heard about a boy from Ontario who had just started a social activist campaign called “Free the Children.” When she learned that Craig Kielburger was 12 years old, her ears perked up; that was the same age as the students she taught.  Very quickly she had her class researching and learning about Craig and his valiant (Level D) crusade to eradicate child labor across the world.  Eventually, when she learned that Craig was planning a fundraising trip to our province, she and the class invited him to speak and join their families for dinner, thus making learning come alive in the truest sense!

This past year she had another good spur-of-the-moment “back to school” idea that I thought I’d share, for others who teach older students and might like to kick off their school year in a meaningful and exciting way.  (It would also provide a way in which to reinforce Level D concepts––taking initiative, taking personal responsibility for happiness, character traits of perseverance, determination etc. etc.)

Teresa is an avid reader.  Last summer, when she finished reading “The Last Lecture:  Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” by Randy Pausch, she saw  great potential for using this book with her grade sixes as a way to encourage goal-setting at the beginning of the school year.  After sharing parts of the book with the class and having them watch the youtube video of Pausch’s incredible speech, she had the kids go home and interview their parents. She had them ask their parents about their childhood dreams: Which ones had they achieved?  Which ones had slipped away? Naturally, after all this discussion and thinking, the kids were really well prepared and primed to do a thoughtful job of writing their own goals––for the school year and beyond.

When Teresa and I were in university together, we had a Social Studies Ed. prof who often recommended, “Whenever you learn something interesting yourself, share it with kids.”  I think that Teresa learned that lesson well from our prof!

Today was my first time using DWS in the classroom.  I found it extremely difficult to break the habit of praising kids!  I want to encourage rather than praise, but it just seems that praising is second nature to me.

RESPONSE:

When first trying DWS in the classroom there’s much to think about––so don’t be too hard on yourself! Remember Dr. Marshall’s advice:  Implement now, perfect later!

Just do your best and as you go along keep reflecting on things you would like to improve or change. You’re already doing this!   Step by step, you’ll start to move in the direction of your goals.

Don’t worry too much about the praise issue in these early days with DWS.  If your intentions are to sincerely acknowledge your students (as opposed to intending to manipulate their behavior with praise,) then you won’t do any damage!

Years ago, when I first tried to move away from praise, the following article by Jan Hunt set my mind at ease. Perhaps it’ll do the same for you!

Praising Our Children: Manipulation or Celebration?

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 a great believer in the idea that whatever you put your focus upon will increase!

2.  We talk proactively.  In other words, before a  lesson begins we discuss what a great job would look like.  This helps the kids who really have no idea of what a good job looks like and it helps the other kids who might not care too much about neatness otherwise.  It sets everyone up for success.

3.  Sometimes we have the students build criteria for “a good job.”  Sometimes we write it on a chart paper or make it into individual checklists that students can refer to.  We bring it out prior to each new session of writing.

4.  Along the same lines, we sometimes orally build DWS Hiierarchies with the kids to pinpoint characteristics of operation on each of the levels with respect to certain activities.  See this link for some examples:  The spelling and reading hierarchies are ones we often talk about with our grade ones.  We find that kids become very motivated by these hierarchies if we refer to them often.

5.  We talk a lot about the satisfying feelings that are associated with working on Level D–In other words we talk about how it feels when you look at a piece of work and know that you have put forward your best effort in completing it.

6.  We encourage the kids to compare their current “best job” with a similar piece of work from earlier in the year.  For example, each child in our class has a math binder in which they complete calendar activities every day.  On the first day of October, I had the students look at their September calendar and pointed out to them, that after a month of number-writing practice in Grade One, they probably would be able to make their October calendar look even neater than the September page.  We talked about how this was an opportunity  to improve their work. We talked about how it would feel to do an even better job than the month before.  Every day for the first week or so of the month, we would look back to the September page and compare the number writing to the October page so everyone could feel proud of their accomplishment.  We do the same thing in their journal, in their printing book and in their drawing book.  Frequent opportunities to reflect on individual progress encourages students to want to make continual improvements.

7.  We give specific and individual feedback as the kids are working.  That “g” is exactly the right shape.  Now, you’ve got it! Continue making “g’s” like that!”

8.  When we do printing lessons, we always make a point of letting the students know that printing correctly and neatly isn’t just something to be concerned about during printing time only — it’s something that should carry over to their every assignment.

9.  One year, with a particularly messy class, my teaching partner, Darlene, had a special set of pencils that she brought out whenever the class was to do a writing assignment.  The pencils were only used for writing assignments — never for math etc.  The fact that she had these special pencils out sent a silent signal to the class that neat work was especially important at that time.

10.  We encourage the kids to analyze their own work and make their own judgments about what looks good and what they might like to improve upon in the future.  At the start of the next lesson, we remind them that they had already thought of some way in which they wanted to improve their work and ask them to take a minute to reflect on how they will improve today.  If they are doing a row of “s” letters, we ask them to circle the one that they feel is their best.

11.  If the child is particularly pleased with a piece of work, we quietly ask them if they would like us to xerox the page so that they can show it to family members at home.

12.  We try to create opportunities to use their work in meaningful ways so that there is a real reason to be neat and tidy.  For instance, we often do pieces of writing that will go into a memory scrapbook, on a bulletin board or will be used to accompany a piece of artwork in a display.  For example, last year for 6 weeks, all our writing projects were linked to the making of a “Dinosaur Museum” to which we invited all the people in our school and our families.   The kids made various types of “fossils”and wrote about how they were formed in nature.  They made informational dioramas about various individual dinosaurs, and wrote explanations of how the teeth of dinosaurs were related to their diet.  Because the kids were so motivated to create a Dinosaur Museum for real visitors, it was easy to get them to write as neatly and as well as they could — they had a real reason to do so.

Hope that some of these ideas will be of use to you!

RESPONSE:
In thinking about how I might respond to your question, I re-read sections of Alfie Kohn’s book that Marv was referring to in a recent post.  Although in the following excerpt, Kohn is talking about verbal praise (in a section comparing praise to “words of encouragement,”) I think his suggestions apply to situations involving tangible rewards as well.

On page 106-107 of Punished by Rewards, Kohn says:

I propose… keeping in mind two general principles that might be thought of as the standards against which all praise should be measured.  The first principle is self-determination.  With every comment we make — and specifically, every compliment we give — we need to ask whether we are helping that individual to feel a sense of control over his life.  Are we encouraging him to make his own judgments about what constitutes a good performance (or a desirable action)?  Are we contributing to, or at least preserving, his ability to choose what kind of person to be?  Or are we attempting to manipulate his behavior by getting him to think about whether he has met our criteria?

The other principle is intrinsic motivation.  Are our comments creating the conditions for the person we are praising to become more deeply involved in what she is doing?  Or are they turning the task into something she does to win our approval?

To determine the likely effect of praise with respect o these two guidelines, we need to examine, first our own motives.  Are we trying to control someone’s behavior for our own convenience, or saying nice things just to have something to say, or hoping to get that person to like us more?  Second, we need to think about how our comments sound to the individual who hears them.  Our intent, for example, may be to offer useful feedback about the quality of someone’s work, but he may interpret what we say as limiting his autonomy…. people of any age can be observed for signs of resistance, dependency, or reduced interest.

Although I do think it is important to help students develop a desire to print with neatness and work with care, personally I choose not to give out stickers in recognition of neat work — for a couple of reasons.

I find that giving out stickers to only a portion of the students goes against the spirit of creating a special feeling of community in the classroom. I have found that a portion of the class usually become quite competitive whenever rewards are used as a way to encourage certain work habits.  I find that whenever competition takes over in the class, the overall sense of community suffers and so does the quality of learning that can occur.  I often have stickers in my room but when I hand them out, everyone gets one and it’s not connected to behavior in any way.  I simply incorporate them into the lesson or give them to the students for fun, for free time art work or to to use in the decoration of a project.

If I put myself into the shoes of the children, I can imagine several different reactions when stickers are offered as an incentive:

• Some kids might care very little for stickers and think that there’s no need to write neatly simply because they don’t want a sticker.
• Some of the more sensitive kids might be hurt or discouraged.  Does discouragement lead to better work in the future?
• Some may feel that they have already done the best job of which they are capable and so feel that it is impossible for them to ever get a sticker– why bother trying?
• Some may feel that they are “superior” to others in the class–because of being awarded a sticker.  To me, this is fostering a sense of pseudo self-esteem which makes me feel very uncomfortable.
• Some may feel motivated to do a better job next time because they are wanting a sticker rather than the focus the teacher was hoping to create — a sense of pride in their work.

As many researchers have pointed out, rewards change motivation.  With the DWS Hierarchy it is very easy to understand why this happens:

When students are focused on improving their work in order to feel a sense of pride in their accomplishments, then they are operating on Level D — the highest level of personal development.  When students are focused on improving their work in order to get a sticker from the teacher, their operation is at Level C.   If I hope to influence my students to aim for the highest level of operation, would it be productive to offer them an external incentive?  For me, the answer is very clear–offering stickers can actually limit many of my students, by encouraging them to aim for Level C.

Although rewards can motivate people to do what you want them to do, they motivate only in the short term — in other words they motivate only as long as the reward is forthcoming.  I’m sure that all teachers want to help their students gain lasting positive work habits.  In my experience such goals can’t be accomplished by taking shortcuts–it takes diligence, patience and persistence on the part of the teacher.  I want my students to write neatly and work carefully––whether or not I am handing out stickers.

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 one end of the week, and on our other days we share two literacy positions, working with individual students at an alternate high school and a regular middle school. It’s hectic but we love it!  At our high school and middle school jobs, we work with a great range of students, some struggling with courses like English 10, but most with much lower skill levels. At both the middle and high school, a number of our students are currently reading (independently and accurately, that is) at a mid-grade 1 level.

Usually when we start with a new student, we initially have them work at conquering the alphabet. Recognizing/saying/writing the sounds of the letters is of course necessary for both accurate decoding and spelling. We always begin each 15 minute daily session with a quick “say/write the alphabet sounds” until the student is able to record all the sounds, automatically, as we dictate. Whenever we take on a new student, we also offer them a chance to learn to print each letter shape correctly at the same time. (DWS Principle of Choice!) Many are interested in improving their penmanship by doing that.

Early this week, one little grade 7 boy mentioned to Darlene that he was trying to remember to print every letter properly–not only when he was working with us, but all day long–whenever he had to write something in one of his classes. As a DWS teacher (always on the lookout for any flicker of internal motivation that can be fanned into a stronger flame!) Darlene explained how significant it was that he was CONSCIOUSLY CHOOSING to do this for himself. Naturally, she happily passed this information along to me so I could continue to build on it.

When I met with Mark on Thursday, I started our standard “say and write the sounds,” by telling him that Darlene had mentioned to me that he was starting to take charge of his own learning by choosing to improve his printing all day long. I said, “Wow! That’s the highest level of human behavior there is–to take charge of your own learning like that.” He nodded and on we went with all the various parts of his literacy lesson.

As it happened, we finished up everything I’d planned for that day a minute before his 15 minute time slot was up. Rather than fill in with some other impromptu literacy activity, I decided I had just enough time to explain in more detail what I had meant earlier in his session, when I referred to “the highest level of behavior.” I started to draw a quick DWS Hierarchy on our little white board, D, C, B, A and explained while writing, that human behavior could be described in four levels.

Beside A, I quickly scribbled, “Anarchy” and gave him the briefest of descriptions. Then as I was about to write another quick word next to B, he said, “that’s Bullying and Bothering.” Well–you could have picked me up off the floor, I was so stunned! This is the first time I’ve ever encountered a student (who didn’t attend my own elementary school,) who was already familiar with the DWS Hierarchy! Then I remembered that there was one teacher in this middle school who had told me a month or so ago that she had ordered Marv’s posters and was planning to teach her grade seven classes about the Hierarchy. Of course that explained it; Mark was one of her students.

So, on we went quickly to review the higher levels, with him, explaining to me, what each was about, and we also talked about how these levels connected to his decision to print carefully all the time. By then it really was time for him to go, so I stood up to usher him out to his next class but he remained seated. He asked, “Have you ever taught anyone at this level?” I sat back down and explained that yes, I had sometimes worked with those on Level A before. (In my mind, I thought of a student, who came to our high school with a knife a week ago, and two of our grade 1 students who (unbelievably!) bit two older students on their arms, one after the other, on the playground!)

Then I stood up again–by then we were really cutting into the next student’s time slot–but being a rather easy-going guy, Mark was in no hurry to leave! For the second time, I sat back down, to hear what he wanted to tell me.

He said, “I once knew two kids on Level B. Remember I told you about the teacher who taught me in a little group in grade 5 and then was my tutor in the summer? She was the teacher who taught me about vowels and consonants.”

(When I first met Mark a few weeks ago, I was impressed because he was the only student I had encountered at the high school level who had a pretty accurate understanding of what vowels and consonants are.)

He continued, “These two kids were on Level B with that teacher. They wouldn’t do any work at all and they said they didn’t want to learn anything, and they said mean things to her. But…I just sat back and thought to myself: I don’t want to be like that. I won’t be like them. I’ll try to learn something here–and I did.”

And as he stood up to go, now a few minutes late, I asked, “And what level were you on then?”

“D,” he said, as he went out the door.

To me, this is a bit of “scientific” evidence that even a brief introduction to the Hierarchy can have an impact on a child. Mark’s teacher has only been talking about the levels for a month at the very most–I’ll have to check in with her–and already she’s had an impact on this child. He’s aware that he’s making decisions to be internally motivated and he’s making use of the Hierarchy to make sense of things he’s experienced in his life.

It was exciting for me to witness how one DWS teacher’s efforts are paying off for this child! It was what some people refer to as a “Marshall Moment!”

She recently asked me the question posted below and I share my response here because it includes an explanation of how this discipline approach can be used to help children take responsibility for their own behavior by understanding the concept of CHOICE-RESPONSE THINKING. In other words, as humans, we have the ability to consciously choose our behavior, so therefore, we also always have a choice in how we respond to any situation or stimulus or impulse.

Whereas most conventional discipline approaches–typically based on external motivation–rely on OVERPOWERING or DISEMPOWERING students who choose to misbehave, an approach based on internal motivation has a different goal; to EMPOWER a child to take charge of their own behavior. This makes discipline far more positive. As well, over time, DWS offers many valuable understandings to the students–understandings that are totally bypassed when a teacher is focused primarily on just stopping misbehavior immediately, with either the quick promise of a reward or the threat of a slight punishment.

Here’s that question I was asked …

QUESTION:
Do your parent volunteers bring babies, toddlers and preschoolers with them when they volunteer during your Whole School Read? If so, how do you deal with these little children in the room when your class is trying to read?

MY RESPONSE:
Sometimes we do have younger siblings join us when their parents come in to volunteer for the half hour of reading. When we do, we make toys available but it’s the parent’s job to get them out etc. Sometimes, it’s actually a bonus if we have a preschooler or toddler who loves stories and will sit still and listen. It provides an audience for the grade ones — then it works out really well! Sometimes an older baby is content to sit in a stroller with their own toys, near their mom who is helping.

Sometimes though, a younger child CAN BE a bit of a problem but then we use our discipline system to deal with it. Just to be clear, we use our discipline approach to deal with our grade ones–not the disruptive toddlers who are simply doing what toddlers naturally and joyfully do!

Such a situation gives us the perfect opportunity to talk about self-discipline. That’s one of the first suggestions of this approach: view problems as opportunities to teach and learn! We use Marvin Marshall’s Discipline without Stress, Punishments or Rewards which is all about fostering SELF-discipline. We really focus on this; it’s quietly woven into every subject and activity. We think of this program as a gift really. What better gift could you give a child than starting them down the path towards becoming self-disciplined in their lives?

DWS is based on teaching a Hierarchy of four levels that can be used to discuss personal and social responsibility. It’s too much to explain it all here but the article, Using a Discipline System to Promote Learning would give you an overview.

To deal with the situation you asked about, we have a discussion with our grade ones using the four levels of Marshall’s Hierarchy. We focus on the two highest levels, both of which are acceptable levels of behavior in the classroom.

We talk about the need for SELF-control when someone younger can’t manage (or appears to be having a great time playing with toys during our lesson time!)

In other words, regardless of the fact that there is:

• someone having a playtime while WE’re reading,

• baby “babble” in the room,

• a younger child moving around a bit too quickly, or;

• a toddler eating a snack that looks quite good! etc.,

WE can still be in control of ourselves and make good use of our reading practice time ANYWAY. Our Whole School Read is one of the most important learning times of our day and so it’s important to stay focused and use our time wisely. In fact, it’s our job to use our school time to learn. Our playtimes, snack times and free times come later in the day–not first thing in the morning!

Referring to the four levels of the Hierarchy, we help our students to understand that a person who lowers their own behavior when young children and babies are in the room, is in effect deciding to choose a very young level of maturity themselves.

Viewed in this light, misbehavior doesn’t look very attractive! Students are keen to display a high level of maturity because all of us (at any age,) want to feel capable and in control of ourselves. Even someone as young as grade one would like to consider themselves grown-up–certainly grown up enough to manage better than a cranky baby or slightly out-of-control two year old.

We finish the conversation by reviewing that all behaviour is a CHOICE. We can CHOOSE to act with self-discipline–even in situations that aren’t perfect. We can CHOOSE not to be distracted by small things. We can CHOOSE to “do the right thing, simply because it’s the right thing to do” which, in a nutshell, sums up the focus of Marvin Marshall’s discipline program.

QUESTION:

I am a high school Social Studies teacher. As a teacher of a content area, I don’t penalize my students for spelling errors on their assignments as an English teacher would, but at the same time, I don’t want to give them the impression that spelling isn’t important. I’m not having much success. Once the students know that no marks will be taken off for errors, they seem to get even sloppier with their spelling! Do you have any suggestions for how I might use this DwStress to motivate students in this academic situation?

RESPONSE:

One reason that I enjoy using the Discipline without Stress approach in my own teaching is that I find that the Hierarchy makes it easy for me to motivate students to WANT to operate on the higher levels–not only in terms of their behavior, but also academically.

Whenever I introduce an assignment, project or activity, I not only explain the basic expectations (in other words, the Level C expectations/standards), but I also routinely leave the class with an understanding that there is always an option to CHOOSE to operate on a higher level–if they would like to feel more satisfied with themselves. By being proactive and spending the time to concretely give them a vision of what Level D–the level of internal motivation–might look like in a specific situation, I find that the majority of students become more interested in striving for that highly satisfying level.

(By the way, since genuine internal motivation can never be mandated, the teacher bears no responsibility for students who choose to remain at the more ordinary Level C. Remember Level C describes acceptable behavior. Anything lower is unacceptable–but anything higher is voluntary.)

Here’s a rough outline of how the conversation might go in the situation you described:

Social Studies is a content subject, so while spelling is not as much of a priority as it would be in English, and I won’t be basing your mark on spelling, spelling IS important to the overall presentation of your work. Spelling will be important to you in life, for example at times when you are applying for a job or writing a letter to City Hall, or going to college or university.

Even though spelling doesn’t indicate any certain level of intelligence, sloppy spelling certainly doesn’t look very good on paper. Here’s an example of a paper poorly spelled, from a very bright (but anonymous) student from years ago. How does the spelling affect your impression of this paper and of this person and their abilities? Now… here’s that same paper, with correct spelling. And a third version, correctly spelled and typed. What do you think?

Of course, the amount of care you put into your work is a personal choice, however, I find that many students decide by the time they come to high school, that they really want their work to start looking more mature. They decide for themselves that they want to do their best work in order to feel proud of themselves. If you want your work to look like that of a much older or more capable student, one thing you can do is to take care with spelling.

If spelling doesn’t come naturally to you, what can you do to help yourself? Right, you can use the spellchecker on the computer, you can use a dictionary, you can look back at your textbook to find the correct spelling of a term or a historical figure, or you can ask someone for help–all good ideas!

I’m just throwing this out as an option for those who don’t feel satisfied with handing in work that might give the impression you’re not as intelligent as you really are or that you’re a much younger student than you are.

In my own teaching, I find that more often than not, this type of a discussion leads to a high level of motivation in almost every student. Who wouldn’t rather think of themselves as MORE mature and MORE capable, if there’s a choice? It’s a satisfying feeling to know that you are CHOOSING to operate on a level that’s above the ordinary. Students of any age find this an attractive thought.

The Hierarchy from Discipline without Stress, is a powerful teaching tool. It provides teachers with a way to inspire their students!