Martin’s award-winning book tells the story of Wilson Bentley, sometimes known as “The Snowflake Man”. You can read a brief biography of his life here:

http://www.jacquelinebriggsmartin.com/snowflak.html

By learning about the life of Wilson Bentley, the students have the opportunity to think about someone operating at a very high level of autonomy - this is always an inspiring thing to do!  As a picture book it is best suited to elementary school but certainly a study of this man’s life and work would be appropriate for an older age group, as well.

Regardless of how others thought he should spend his time, Bentley’s passion for snowflakes drove him to relentlessly study the mystery of this beautiful natural creation, through developing a unique method of photography. Over a lifetime, he added much knowledge to our understanding of the science of snowflakes and much beauty to the world by sharing his photographs of intricate, individual snowflakes. Thanks to Wilson Bentley, we know that no two snowflakes are ever identically alike!

In addition to enjoying the story, learning about snow, and studying his photography and scientific findings, students could be prompted to think about all the various attributes of Level D that Bentley displayed in his life:

• perseverance,
• persistence,
• sharing with others,
• a desire to be of service to others,
• kindness,
• patience,
• intense focus,
• self-reliance,
• determination,
• self-discipline,
• dedication,
• pursuing an interest with passion, and;
• following a dream, despite the fact that others tried to dissuade him

This website features some original Bentley photographs.

Everyone knows the whimsical fantasies of Bill Peet, but you may not be familiar with his less well-known non-fiction story of “Capyboppy.” It’s one of my all time favorite children’s books!

Capyboppy is the true story of a South American capybara that was brought into the Peet home by Bill’s oldest son, a natural science major in college. Capy–who eventually grew to be 75 pounds–lived with the four members of the Peet family as a much loved and much spoiled pet!

Capyboppy is a great two-day read-aloud for younger children. With a large black and white illustration on every one of its 62 pages, it’s also the perfect book for transitioning older students into reading longer texts independently. If you like cliff-hangers, stop reading on your first day at the end of page 30!

If you like to analyze books using the Discipline without Stress Hierarchy as a reference, the story of Capyboppy provides much food for thought. Although the perfect pet in infancy, as Capy grows to his full size, various problems arise that make the Peets question the wisdom and practicality of keeping a wild animal captive as a pet. Eventually, the family faces a crisis situation and must make a decision regarding the fate of their beloved capybara.

Capyboppy is the story of family painfully wrestling with conscience. What’s the right thing to do with a large and unruly jungle animal that has become accustomed to the finer things in life, available only in a North American suburban neighborhood? Definitely a Level D dilemma!

Although, as a primary teacher, I don’t use this book in connection to any one particular academic theme and simply share it as a good story, when I taught intermediate grades many years ago, I often chose to read Capyboppy as a companion story to a novel study of “Owls in the Family” by Farley Mowat. In both books, wild animals are kept as pets.

Because these two books are set in different decades, it’s interesting to discuss with older students, society’s changing perceptions toward wild animals. In Mowat’s fabulously entertaining novel, describing a much earlier era, the characters rarely consider the type of questions that the Peet family struggles with as they ponder the right thing to do with a pet that would have been happier had it never been taken from its native habitat in the first place.

Although the book, “Capyboppy,” ends on a positive note, I recently found a link on the Internet that explained that after Peet had completed the writing of the book, things did not go well for Capy. Teachers may or may not want to share this true information with children. Personally, I don’t think I would. The upbeat story of Capy, as presented in the book, shares an important message for young people but does so without creating unnecessary emotional upset.

In this book, the author tells the story of how the Paradoxical Commandments came to be written. They are sometimes attributed to Mother Teresa but were in fact written by an American, Kent Keith. As a 19 year old in 1968, he wrote them to inspire young people to leave their mark on the world by making it a better place.

The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001

I couldn’t help but notice how much these “commandments,” and the thinking behind them, fit Level D. I want to show you some of the introduction to this book. These few paragraphs really stood out on the page for me.  This man’s philosophy and approach to life clearly describes the motivation and thinking of Level D of the Discipline without Stress approach.

I think that if you’re interested in promoting responsibility and influencing young people to “do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do,” then a discussion of these Paradoxical Commandments would make a great lesson. See if you don’t agree with me! I wish someone had introduced and discussed them with me while I was in high school.

Taken from the Introduction of the book:

I was nineteen, a sophomore at Harvard, when I wrote the Paradoxical Commandments of Leadership.” They were part of a booklet I wrote for high school student leaders titled The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council…..

During the turbulent sixties, I was actively speaking at high schools, student leadership workshops, and student council conventions in eight states. I encouraged students to work through the system to achieve change. I didn’t tell them that working through the system was easy. I told them that it took sustained effort, and that the sustained effort need to be motivated by a genuine concern for others. I stressed that point because I had seen too many students start out with high hopes and high ideals, and then give up because they got negative feedback or suffered failure. If they really cared about others, they would have the strength to keep trying, even if things were tough.

I laid down the Paradoxical Commandments as a challenge. The challenge is to always do what is right and good and true, even if others don’t appreciate it. Making the world a better place can’t depend on applause. You have to keep striving, no matter what, because if you don’t, many of the things that need to be done in our world will never get done.

I had heard lots of excuses, and I wasn’t buying them. OK - maybe people are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. So what? You have to love them anyway. And maybe the good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. So what? You have to do good anyway.

The specific Commandments grew out of my own experience and observations of life. Several incidents that shaped the Commandments are described in the text. However, if there was a single experience behind the Commandments,it was the insight that I had as I walked into the stadium for the student awards ceremony at the end of my senior year at my high school.  It occurred to me at that moment that I was so happy about what I had done that year, and I felt so good about what I had learned and whom I had helped, that I didn’t need any awards. I had already been rewarded. I already had the sense of meaning and satisfaction that came from doing a good job. The meaning and satisfaction were mine, whether or not anybody gave me an award.

That realization was a major breakthrough for me. I felt completely liberated and completely at peace. I knew that if I did what was right and good and true, my actions would have their own intrinsic value. I would always find meaning. I didn’t need to have glory.

Then another few paragraphs further on:

Yes, the world is crazy. If it doesn’t make sense to you, you’re right. It really doesn’t make sense. The point is not to complain about it. The point is not to give up hope. The point is this: The world doesn’t make sense, but you can make sense. You can find personal meaning. That’s what this book is about. It’s about finding personal meaning in a crazy world.

Because the world is crazy and you’re not, you will find personal meaning in paradox. A “paradox” is an idea that is contrary to popular opinion, something that seems to contradict common sense and yet is true. This book is about ten Paradoxical Commandments.

If you can accept the Paradoxical Commandments, then you are free. You are free from the craziness of this world. The Paradoxical Commandments can be your personal declaration on independence. Put them up on your wall as a reminder of your freedom. For the rest of your life, you can do what you believe is right and good and true because it makes sense to you.

The Paradoxical Commandments are not morbid or pessimistic. If you do what is right and good and true, you will often be appreciated for your contributions. But if you can find personal meaning without the world’s applause, you are free. You are free to do what makes sense to you whether or not others appreciate it. You are free to be who you were meant to be. You are free to find the meaning that others miss. And when you find that meaning, you will find a happiness deeper than any you have ever known.

Kent Keith has a website, if you are interested: http://www.paradoxicalcommandments.com/

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.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN FIVE SHORT CHAPTERS

by Portia Nelson

I

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in.
I am lost … I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes me forever to find a way out.

II

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place
but, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

III

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in … it’s a habit.
my eyes are open
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

IV

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

V

I walk down another street.  

Discipline without Stress allows me to help kids understand that there is always “another street” in life — so why not take it?  We don’t have to keep falling in that same hole in the sidewalk day after day, year after year.  There’s a CHOICE!  If we want to, we can choose a different path. 

While Portia seems to have suffered more than half of her lifetime before learning about choice-response thinking, we don’t have to! Every day, we can choose to become more conscious about the things we say, the decisions we make, and the actions we take. In so doing, we can end up with very different results–ones that we really want and ones that don’t include unnecessary suffering! 

What’s the correct way to introduce the Discipline without Stress 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

We’ve just started a series of swimming lessons at our local Community Center for all the primary students in our school. This year I decided to be more proactive than in previous years. Instead of just talking for a couple of minutes–just prior to getting on the bus on the first day–about what behavior is expected at the swimming pool, I decided to plan for a time to discuss it the day before.

As soon as I really started thinking to myself in an organized way about what procedures we would need at the swimming pool, I realized that there were actually 4 SETS of procedures to talk about! Going swimming with 21 little kids is no mean feat!

In preparation, on chart paper I wrote:

What’s expected…

1. On the bus?

2. At the pool?

3. In the change room?

4. In the Water Safety lesson?

As part of our K/1 calendar time on Monday, I started by having the class look at our DWS Hierarchy. We talked about how the ultimate goal for a person is to be self-disciplined by operating on Level D. In other words, the goal is looking after yourself.

We talked about how we could benefit from this type of operation on our swimming trips. In addition to feeling good about our abilities to act capably and independently, we would also naturally be building positive relationships with many people–the swimming instructors, the parent helpers, the bus driver, members of the public also using the swimming pool etc. These people would certainly enjoy being with us if we were operating on the highest level. (For more information, see this related post.)

Then I asked the kids to give me suggestions for each of the above categories on our chart and I wrote a few pertinent words in each. (I worked in spelling lessons too as I recorded their ideas!) After we finished, I went back to each category and put large stars beside the most critical ideas.

What’s expected…

On the bus?

• fairly quiet
• stay in seat
• sit back
• don’t forget swim gear

At the pool?

• WALK
• listen to swimming teacher
• be polite
• try to learn

In the change rooms?

• change quickly
• keep belongings in one place
• walk
• be respectful (of senior citizens in change room)
• remember all your gear
• come out and line up quietly

In the Water Safety lesson?

• learn
• listen to safety teacher
• hand up to speak

Although my teaching partner and I have quite a challenging class this year, on Tuesday when we went swimming, the students were all extremely well behaved. Several parents at different times laughingly mentioned that their kids came home on Monday and seriously told them all about what’s expected during each part of a swimming trip–so I know that our 15 minute discussion and chart made an impression on them!

It was a pretty positive start, to what in the past has sometimes been a stressful afternoon activity.

Such diligence pays off! Not only does Marybeth ensure that every child in the class has the opportunity to be successful in learning how to work independently with the various art materials and tools available in the classroom, but by being proactive, she avoids many unnecessary problems for herself, as teacher.

Marybeth explains:

“I find that many “problems” with kids are actually the result of them not knowing or understanding the right way to do things. I am all by myself with usually between 20-24 children, so it’s all on me. Because I don’t like having to go back and reteach something I neglected to do properly in the first place, I make a point of explicitly teaching procedures to my Kindergarten students in the first weeks of school.”

QUESTION:
Could you explain how you teach your students to use markers, watercolors and tempera paint in Kindergarten?

MARYBETH’S RESPONSE:

Many of my Kindergarten students have had little or no experience with crayons, markers, pencils, etc. Most have not been to preschool, so they don’t even know how to grip. I usually begin with crayons the first day, showing the whole group how to hold the crayons and how to place the paper so they won’t mark up the tables. I prefer to use crayons in the flat boxes, with the lid placed under the box for safe keeping. I find that by teaching them to take out only one crayon at a time and always return it before getting another, few, if any, crayons are ever lost. As well, crayons are never broken through misuse; the only time they get broken is when a child does not have well developed motor control.

On the first day I tell the students to get out their red crayon and then I glance quickly to see who went for the red. I repeat for all colors. This allows me to make some initial assessments of their color knowledge. I give them the option of coloring in simple outlines or coloring on blank paper. Almost all children choose the coloring sheets rather than blank paper. I use the coloring sheets only for the first or second day because I want the kids to learn to color on their own. I give them VERY basic suggestions about coloring within the lines, but never expect this or say a word if they don’t.

I think it’s important to explain to the children that they should only comment on their own coloring work. I use this as a lesson in “attending to your own affairs.” Nearly every year, there is at least one “sophisticated” child who feels the need to be judgmental about the paper of someone who has clearly never colored before. I remind them gently that it is my job to comment–and their job to color. This sets a positive tone for the remainder of the year. I try to find something wonderful to casually mention about everyone’s coloring throughout the day.

The big thing I do is to tell them to use more than one color. I tell them that “excellent colorers” try to use at least five colors on each page. This helps eliminates “scribble-scrabble” and draws their consciousness towards their work - making drawing time about care and concentration, rather than just “getting the job done quickly.”

Typically, I introduce markers on the following day or two - again, whole group. I follow the same format as with the crayons. I tell them to “listen for the snap” each time they put away a marker. I exaggerate this by putting it up to my ear and nodding when I hear the snap. I have them keep markers in ziplock bags with the tips going up which helps prevent the markers from leaking. All of this is modeled several times. “I see Jason listening for the snap. I see Aleysha using only one color and returning it to the bag before getting out another. I see Ferrin keeping her tips up, going all the same way. Ferrin, please show us how you put up your markers.” I know all of this may seem goofy, but I have little or no trouble with kids using art things without my help later in the year.

Somewhere on the second or third day I teach them how to use scissors; few children will have had any experience. I use scissors with a slight point; if children are to learn to be successful with cutting, they need to have good scissors. I have them cut straight edges where they can simply snip the edge off to be successful. Afterwards, I move onto zigzag and then finally, curved lines, beginning with bold
lines and moving to lighter lines. Early in the year, I find it best not to plan projects where they must concentrate on both cutting and simultaneously moving the paper. Scooting out from the table, allows the child more elbow room, so I encourage them to move out from the edge of the table so they can comfortably put their elbows at their sides (making it easier for them to turn the paper.) I teach kids to put their fingers in the right holes, with their thumbs on top. I demonstrate that they should also put their pointer finger on bottom–in front of the hole, not in it.

After three or four days, I show them how to use playdough in groups of 4-6 children. I use special mats for this so messy tables are never a problem afterwards. In the beginning, I give them only 2-3 molds and a rolling pin. Too many things make it difficult for them to concentrate. I teach them how to pick up small playdough pieces with a larger piece–like a special magnet–and how to return every little bit to the can. In the beginning, I use the same color for everyone at the table and after a couple of times, I have a separate color for each child. In this way, I can tell who has mastered the procedures.

After a week, I introduce gluing. I also do this in a group of 4-6 children. Many children do not understand that it is the bottom that must be glued. I teach them “a little dab will do it.” (Some of us oldies will remember the Brylcreem hair jingle!) I teach them how to pinch the bottle so only a dab comes out. Some will be quite pleased that they have just a dab, but wonder why it won’t stick when the glue is on the top! I use foam pieces, bottle caps, pom-poms and other stiffer, larger collage materials. I have them glue this onto cardboard pieces because it is often difficult when the child has to glue to thinner paper. Using a stiff sheet provides more control for the young child.

After a couple of weeks, I teach them how to use the easel and paints, with only two children painting, at a time and only three colors of paint at first. I bought cups that have paint brushes with matching colored handles. This makes it easy for kids to know in which paint cup the brush should rest. I model only the correct way to use the brushes and explain why 1) I am brushing off excess paint, 2) why I am working carefully not to drip paint and 3) why I put the red brush only in the red paint cup. I stop frequently to go over every detail and ask review questions.

I do watercolors last because I find they’re the hardest; students must contend with not only the paintbox, but the paint brush AND water cup too. The paint brushes can so easily become damaged with young students if I don’t teach them to follow certain procedures. I make sure the water cup is filled only half way and is of sufficient weight not to tip over easily when the child rinses and brushes the excess water off the edge. I also remove the black and the brown pans from the paintbox; this allows for more color.  The absence of black and brown help the children see more color when their paintings dry. After they become proficient at using the water colors, I add back the black and brown. As well, after I have taught them various mediums on various backgrounds, I begin with mixing mediums. I keep it simple at first and then build up.

After the kids learn these basics, I let them loose in the art center–two kids at a time– where they can create on their own. An important thing to do at that point is teach procedures for clean up so that the center will always be “ready for the next person.”

Have fun!
Marybeth

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!