Discipline During the Middle Level Years

What do we really want?March 2, 2008

EDCI 315

We want the following end result…

• Intellectually reflective individuals• A person who will commit to a

lifetime of meaningful work• Good citizen• Caring ethical individual• Healthy person

Stevenson,2002,p.220

Concerns of American Schools• Ensure democratic socialization• Discipline- but there is concern

about an apparent lack of discipline in our schools

• The American Dream- through diligent work in honest labor, everyone can be successful

Stevenson,2002,p.220

Authority

Can be shared.. How do you feel about that?

Developing rulesPlanning team or school events

Choosing topics of study like service projectsNegotiating due dates

Classroom organizationStudent led conferencesLeading class discussions

Authority

What are some ways that you think you could honestly share authority

with your students?

What problems do you anticipate with shared authority?

Discipline

• Behavior Modification• Assertive Discipline• Logical Consequences• Control Theory

Essential Rules that may Keep Order• Interpersonal Climate – climate

responsive to the needs of young adolescents

• Worth and dignity answered – to belittle or embarrass is not good

• Approximating Democracy- students cannot participate the way adults can

• Redemption Is Always Close, Not Closed- believe in new beginnings

Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

• Always plan ahead of time• Create activities to keep students involved and

active• Whole group instruction is not bad if you break

up the monotony• Use collaborative or cooperative groups• Make sure the physical environment is

comfortable• Have resources available (ex. Dictionary,

thesaurus, encyclopedia-this dinosaur still roams the earth, telephone, computer, filing system)

Behavior and Discipline

• You now have a little more background on discipline. Now, you guess it…

It’s Your Turn

It’s your first year of teaching and you are so excited you can hardly contain yourself. You are sitting in your bright new classroom and you sit down to come up with a discipline plan for you classroom. How will this look? You cannot have help from anyone for three minutes. Once three minutes has passed you will have two minutes to get help. By seven minutes I expect to see a comprehensive discipline plan.