This year I will be basing our classroom expectations on a modified Responsive Discipline Plan. Students will work with me to create the classroom rules. In general, these rules will ask that all of us consider the following: respect each other, take care of our classmates and our supplies, and be responsible for our actions. Guidelines for creating these rules will be supplied, as well as non-negotiable rules to ensure student health and safety.
The Responsive Discipline Plan does not use a treasure box or other individual extrinsic rewards. Students will thrive and grow on verbal praise, and communication between teacher and families. Students will also work on communicating their growth to teachers and families, both in times of triumph and times of growth.We will have a class reward system so that students can work on cooperation. When students are working together, they will receive "warm fuzzies" in their jar. When the jar is full, we will vote on a class reward. Typical choices I offer students are a movie, extra recess, or games.
The following is an explanation of the Responsive Discipline Plan:
Responsive Discipline
Cited and derived from Rules in School: Teaching Discipline in the Responsive Classroom Kathryn Brady, Mary Beth Forton, and Deborah Porter , 2nd Edition, Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc.
Responsive Classroom Approach:
The approach to discipline is neither autocratic nor permissive. Often referred to as an efficacious, positive, or judicious approach, it aims to help children develop self-control, begin to understand what socially responsible behavior is, and come to value such behavior.
This approach to discipline does not rely on punishment or rewards to get students to behave. Neither does it ignore behavior that is detrimental to the child or to the group. Rather, this approach offers clear expectations for behavior and actively teaches children how to live up to those expectations.
Teachers using this approach help children become aware of how their actions can bring positive and negative consequences to themselves and others. When children misbehave, teachers use respectful strategies to stop the misbehavior and restore positive behavior as quickly as possible so that children can continue to learn and the teacher can continue to teach.
Teachers strive to be firm, kind, and consistent. Their aim is to create calm, safe, and orderly classrooms while preserving the dignity of each child. This requires a constant balancing of the needs of the group with the needs of the individual, the need for order with the need for movement with the need for students to be in control of their own lives and learning. It requires taking the time to teach children how to be contributing members of a caring learning community.
School provides an ideal setting for social learning. There are endless opportunities for children to learn to control their impulses and to think about the needs and feelings of others.
Rules in the Classroom:
1. Take care of yourself.
2. Take care of others.
3. Take care of the classroom.
How Rules are Created and Supported:
Structured Discussion: to help children apply general guidelines to specific situations
Interactive Modeling: to teach and rehearse appropriate behaviors in situations where there is more than one way to do something
Role Playing: to help students prepare for situations where there is more than one way to do something
Teacher Language: to reinforce, remind, and redirect students as they apply the rules to their daily lives.
The Three R’s of Logical Consequences:
Relevant: The consequence is directly related to the child’s action.
Realistic: The consequence must be something that is realistic for the child to do and for the teacher to follow through on.
Respectful: A logical consequence is communicated with respect for the child. The teacher is firm but caring and focuses on the specific behavior rather than making general judgments about the child’s character.