Here in Georgia we have had pretty cold winter but you folks up north and in the Midwest who dealing with tons and tons of snow no doubt do not want to here my sad story.  I am a summer person in case you hadn’t guessed and this week the daffodils are poking their brave little heads out so I am happy.

 

This month I want to follow up on last month’s newsletter by focusing on the concept of giving students and substitute behavior when their behavior choices are not acceptable.   Again I want to say that it is important not to confuse discipline with punishment.   Most of what we call discipline in schools is really some form of punishment.  Even then, some of what we call punishment isn’t punishment at all because many difficult students enjoy being sent out of class or to in-school suspension or even out-of-school suspension.  If the consequence of negative behavior is enjoyable to the student then it does not qualify for either discipline or punishment.

 

The key factor in getting a student to change their behavior in a positive direction is to GIVE THEM A SUBSTITUTE BEHAVIOR.  Here are some simple suggestions for helping students change their negative behavior for the better.

 

Require students to write an explanation for their negative actions.   When a student’ repeatedly breaks a rule and is punished each time but does the same thing again, it is time to communicate with the student in some other modality besides orally.  Require the student to write what happened, what her understanding is of the rules about this behavior and most of all, ask the student “what will you do next time in the same circumstances that will not be against the rules?”

 

Read and write a response to the student.  This may seem time consuming but so is repeatedly correcting a student for the same unacceptable behavior.  Pay attention to whether or not the student is able to describe exactly what she will do differently next time.

 

Give the student specific directions as to exactly what you expect her to do next time.  Tell the student what exactly you want ???

 

Make your description detailed.__

 

Example #1: “Some people can draw and listen at the same time. I think you can. So please do the following: The next time you feel bored, I want you to draw pictures on your notes. Draw cars, trains, planes, models, dresses, anything of interest to you.” “Make sure your pictures are something I could show to your Mother”. “Please try and pay attention while you draw or doodle. Do this instead of talking to your neighbor or getting out of your seat”.  

 

This accomplishes 4 things:

 

1)  It teaches the student a skill (Please refer to “boring skills” in ‘Discipline That Works’, Chapter 3.

2)  It gives the student a substitute behavior.

3)  It reinforces the rules.

4)  It gives the student the attention they need on your terms instead of theirs.

 

Example #2: “The next time you get angry with me,  you can say ‘I am really, really mad at you. You are being unfair’.” “I will listen to you. It is not okay to curse or scream at me. Just say you are mad and why you are mad.”

 

Substitute behavior is the key to positive behavior change. It is the reason that AA gives members 12 things to do instead of what they have been doing and Weight Watchers programs are all about eating good foods.

 

Try this – It works.