Using the Principle of Reflection to improve spelling
Through our use of the DISCIPLINE without STRESS approach, my teaching partner and I have come to understand that positive changes in behavior are more likely to occur when we prompt students to think about how they choose to operate in their lives. More and more often, we now practice the DISICPLINE without STRESS Principle [...]
Would a school pledge fit into the DWS approach?
QUESTION: At our school, we have a program intended to create peace in our community. I am being told that I must teach the pledge that goes with this program. Although I do like the idea of encouraging kids to be peaceful, I wonder how a pledge would fit into a Discipline without Stress approach. [...]
Please tell me about the THREE PRINCIPLES of this approach.
RESPONSE: Dr. Marshall suggests practicing THREE PRINCIPLES when teaching and when dealing with situations that require the use of discipline: POSITIVITY, CHOICE and REFLECTION. These THREE PRINCIPLES are the second step of the DWS Teaching Model. POSITIVITY Dr. Marshall encourages adults to verbalize all they say in a positive way, even when the situation itself [...]
DEVELOPING POSITIVE HABITS IN DISCIPLINE SITUATIONS
Recently I was glancing through a book from the public library: THE BOOK OF NURTURING–Nine Natural Laws for Enriching Your Family Life by Linda and Richard Eyre. In the chapter on discipline, a little story caught my eye because it contained a very PROACTIVE and POSITIVE suggestion that could be used by anyone who wanted [...]
A DWS Mindset: Misbehavior as an Opportunity to Learn
Recently, I attended a community workshop. Over the lunch hour I happened to sit with a very interesting lady. After a few minutes, our conversation turned to what we did for a living and I explained that I was a teacher. She told me that she worked for the Ministry of Social Services, a government [...]
Improving the quality of homework
The following post was originally shared on the DWS mailring. It highlights an important DWS teaching attitude––that of choosing to view a negative situation (students doing a poor job of completing and returning homework) as an opportunity to help students take responsibility. In addition to demonstrating the Principle of Positivity, this post also illustrates the [...]
QUESTION: I’m having a hard time with the first principle of DISCIPLINE without STRESS–the Principle of POSITIVITY. I’m not sure how I can say something positive in a discipline situation–when a student is doing something that he/she shouldn’t be doing! I need some examples. RESPONSE: Dr. Marshall encourages teachers to think, speak and act with [...]
I’m required to assign a behavior grade.
QUESTION: I am required to give each of my students a grade for behavior–either a 1, 2 or 3. This doesn’t seem to mesh well with DWS, since this approach has a focus of internalizing responsibility. I would prefer that my students give themselves a behavior grade. How can I use this situation as a [...]
A couple of years ago one my students made a little gift for every child in the class. It was a tiny figure made from little plastic beads. She was keen to give them out and so as the class started to eat their morning snack, I agreed with her that this would be a [...]
My teaching partner and I have always provided a home reading program for our grade one students. We give each one a ziplock bag in which to store their home reading books and every morning they make an exchange, taking two new books home. Well, that’s the theory of it anyway! In reality, we have [...]
