10 Belief Statements About Student Discipline
by Chris Wejr • • 0 Comments
CC Image from Charlie Baker https://flic.kr/p/aTHCev
As I continue my journey in the first 4 months at James Hill elementary, I wanted to share my beliefs around student discipline with the staff. Although my views continue to evolve and grow through formal and informal learning and school/home experiences, I want to be transparent about the lens I look through around student discipline. At a recent staff meeting, I took the time to share these brief belief statements with staff:
- “Kids do well if they can…. if they could do well, they would do well.”(Dr. Ross Greene) Behaviour is a skill. When a child struggles with reading, we provide interventions and differentiation to support and teach. When a student struggles with behaviour, we also need to support and teach… and then we teach some more. Many students do not do well living in a grey world so, as with all learning, students need clear models and criteria (ex. criteria) of what effective behaviour looks like. By focusing on skills, I am not saying that we do not use consequences; however, when we use consequences, they must be logical and not punitive. We must be investigators of the skills that students lack to be successful and then work to teach those skills. (See video below from Greene.) Create the conditions for student success.
- Start with strengths. We must create the conditions for students to see and feel real success. We cannot wait until a student is on a long string of setbacks before we talk about what the students strengths and interests are… include these in their learning from the start! These strengths should be embraced and never used as a carrot to be dangled or taken away. If a child’s strength is working with younger students, put it in their schedule. This will help build confidence and give them a sense of purpose and positive identity at school.
- Students need to belong. We ALL need to belong. If a student is consistently being sent out of class or moved from school to school, how can we expect a sense of belonging? I realize that there are some students whose behaviours can pose a safety concern and we must look at and balance each student’s needs… but we must maintain the goal of creating a sense of belonging in the classroom.
- Students need to know they matter. Take the time to connect with kids. Find out their strengths and interests. Find out who they are. Take the time to show the students that you do care about their life beyond the classroom. Differentiation is not just about teaching at a child’s level, it is also about including their strengths and interests.
- Focus on self-regulation and self-control skills. If a student cannot sit still, they are telling us they need to move. Yes, sitting still is a skill but it is also developed more easily for some. If a student has meltdown, there are likely many opportunities to intervene (that occur prior that point) to help teach the student the skills needed to 10 Belief Statements About Student Discipline | Connected Principals: