Classroom Management Training Handbook - Seeman, Howard (SRG) PDF

Classroom Management
Training Handbook
This Classroom Management Training Handbook: Cued to Preventing
Discipline Problems, K–12 is a workbook for K–12 teachers and is
meant to be used in combination with Preventing Discipline Problems,
K–12: Cued to Classroom Management Training Handbook, Fourth
Edition. The Handbook follows the same structure as Preventing Disci-
pline Problems, K–12. Preventing Discipline Problems, K–12 includes
references to the Handbook, signaling the reader to consult information
in this Handbook.
Classroom Management
Training Handbook
Cued to Preventing
Discipline Problems, K–12
Fourth Edition
Howard Seeman
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Published by Rowman & Littlefield
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowman.com
16 Carlisle Street, London W1D 3BT, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2014 by Howard Seeman
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or
by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and
retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a
reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Seeman, Howard.
Classroom management training handbook / Howard Seeman.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-61048-387-2 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-61048-388-9
(pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-61048-389-6 (electronic) 1. Classroom
management—United States—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. School
discipline—United States. 3. Problem children—Behavior modification. I.
Title.
LB3013.S43 2014
371.102'4—dc23 2014014179
™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America

Contents
For Chapter 1: Using This Book as a Handbook 1

Training Exercises 1
Checklist 1
For Chapter 2: Why Many Attempts Have Been Inadequate 3
Teachers Share Their Growing Pains 3
Checklist 7
For Chapter 3: You’re Not Alone 9
Checklist 12
For Chapter 4: When Should You Call It a “Discipline Problem”? 13
Checklist 23
For Chapter 5: From the Horse’s Mouth 27
Checklist 30
For Chapter 6: From Outside Your Classroom 33
Checklist 40
v
vi CONTENTS
For Chapter 7: From the Environment of Your Classroom 43

Checklist 48
For Chapter 8: From the Interactions Between You and Your
Students 51
Checklist 61
For Chapter 9: From the Delivery of Your Lesson Plan 65
Checklist 78
For Chapter 10: Dealing with Those That Are somewhat
Out of Your Hands 79
Checklist 86
For Chapter 11: Repairing Your Student-Teacher Interactions 91
Checklist 105
For Chapter 12: Preventing Your Rules from Falling Apart and
Growing Healthy Students 107
Checklist 123
For Chapter 13: Specifics 125
Checklist 132
CONTENTS vii
For Chapter 14: Repairing the Delivery of Your Lesson Plan 135
Checklist 143
For Chapter 15: The Substitute Teacher 145
Checklist 149
For Chapter 16: Epilogue: “You Matter!” 151
Checklist 155
Appendices: Useful Tools 157
Appendix A: A Questionnaire for Your Staff: “Assessing the
Problems and Needs of Your Teachers Regarding Discipline
Problems” 159
Appendix B: Individual Training DVD that Demonstrates the
Ineffective and Effective Teacher, Cued to This Book 163
Appendix C: Legal Parameters 169
Appendix D: “Am I Going to Have a Lot of
Discipline Problems?” 185
Appendix E: An Indexed Inventory of the Sources of
Disruptive Behavior and Remedies 189
Appendix F: A Checklist for Student Teachers and
New Teachers: “Your First Day!” 193
Appendix G: FREE Online Help For Your Education Concerns 197
Appendix: H: Using Technology in Education. Guidelines
and Useful Resources 199
viii CONTENTS
Appendix: I: Guidelines for Successful Parent-

Teacher Conferences 217
Appendix J: Glossaries: 1) Student-Street Language; 2)
Technical Terms Used in Schools 221
About the Author 223
FOR CHAPTER 1
Using This Book as a Handbook
TRAINING EXERCISES
1. Decide what your work responsibility is by looking down all the
sections of Chapter 1 in the textbook.
2. Choose the section of the chapter of the textbook that best fits
your work responsibilities.
3. Before you read the road map of how to proceed for your job/
work in each section, list the areas and concerns that bother you
the most in your job.
4. Follow the road map in the section that fits your job of how to
read and use the textbook for your work responsibilities.
CHECKLIST
Look at the areas and concerns that you listed in number 3 above, and
check off in the Table of Contents of the textbook the areas relevant
to your work/concerns. If you do not find your concern there, see the
Index of the textbook.
1
FOR CHAPTER 2
Why Many Attempts Have Been Inadequate
TEACHERS SHARE THEIR GROWING PAINS
Below are comments from teachers after they have read this chapter in
the textbook. Some of these reactions and concerns I have paraphrased
or edited to protect confidentiality; I have also eliminated any ways
to identify the person who shared these remarks. But these are honest
reactions of teachers as they learn the concepts in the text. Thus, you
will see you are not alone with these problems. MY COMMENTS to
their comments ARE IN CAPS.
Which points in Chapter 2 seem particularly relevant to you, or are
ones that you would deem “very important”?
“That 50 strategies in 1977 ‘all would be solved with proper lesson
plans’ I find ludicrous. I agree that teachers get little help regarding the
key source of discipline problems. What I found relevant to me and
that I find intriguing is the teacher’s personality. . . . My college did not
prepare me well for being in the classroom, just philosophies that aren’t
meant to teach how to interact with students.” YES, I AGREE! SEE
MY ARTICLE: http://classroommanagementonline.com/what.html
“Highlights of what I find important: Teacher education programs

do not have courses devoted to handling/preventing discipline prob-
lems; major source of discipline problems is the complex interaction
between student and teacher; Prevention: educators spend much time
to control disruptive behavior. Instead, discover sources of discipline
problems and prevent them; Crucial factor—teacher’s personality;
Many attempts to remedy the discipline problems are in the form of
3
4 FOR CHAPTER 2
judgments (teachers and advisers may picture different things or have

different personalities, thus making the suggestions incongruent for
them); Emphasis must be on self-discipline and helping students make
responsible decisions (Keating, Barbara, “A guide to positive devel-
opment”); Effective classroom management: focus on the physical
environment of the classroom, developing and teaching rules and rou-
tines, getting students’ cooperation; Behavior modification system of
reward and punishment (according to some literature mentioned in this
chapter) show little regard for the underlying emotions (if punishments
are used, they have to be educationally appropriate and fair to child);
extinguishing bad behavior without showing the right behavior teaches
repression and anger.”
“Point 5—Area of prevention; Point 6—Teacher’s personality; Point

3—Human interaction between teacher and student—as one of the
possible sources of discipline problems. Punishment, if used, is to be
educationally appropriate, fair to child.”
“Each person is different and handles his/her situation differently.

Yes, this happens: the teacher giving advice feels like they are so in-
telligent and the other teacher feels inadequate. [YES] We each have
our way of handling things, each of us differently. If it works for you,
go for it. [YES] If it does not work, find your system. [YES] Yes,
hard to change horses mid-stream with classes of children, as stated in
Chapter 1, but one can talk with the class about these changes and why
and follow through. Yes, for me, sometimes making the rules with the
class helps. Then, everyone has ownership with the rules, not just me.”
YES, BUT SOMETIMES DOES NOT WORK WELL. SOMETIMES
KIDS ARE NOT FAIR, OR IT TAKES TOO MUCH TIME TO DO
THIS WITH THEM, AND YOU MUST FEEL CONGRUENT WITH
THESE RULES THEY MAKE. SO NOT EASY TO DO THIS.
“Yes, prevention is not always enough. Yes, it is important how the

teacher plays a role within the classroom management style that fits
best with their personality and needs. [YES]. Yes, advice and judg-
ments make the adviser often feel better, but the advisee feel dumber
reminded me of situations last year. [YES, ADVISERS LOVE TO
WHY MANY ATTEMPTS HAVE BEEN INADEQUATE 5
ADVISE FROM THEIR OWN STYLE.] I was also a little disap-

pointed about your comments about allowing students to take part in
creating the expectations and allowing them to earn rewards—can be
problematic.”
“Chpt. 2—very interesting—yes, teacher training programs do not

ready people for the real thing and that is dealing with people—I agree
that the teacher’s personality is one of the most crucial factors—at my
school we have all the same rules but may have different classroom
procedures—but all the rules and all the procedures in the world can’t
help if the kids sense the teacher is not sure of themselves, [YES] of
their subject matter, or how to connect with them—I have been a men-
tor teacher many times and this is good just in the fact the mentee has
someone to go to that is not judgmental and can let loose with con-
cerns/frustrations but as the book says what problem Mr. X is having
in his class may not be that in Mr. Y’s—teachers need more training in
dealing with human interaction than writing lesson plans [YES, YOU
GOT IT. YOU MUST BE A GOOD MENTOR]—it may be a killer of
a lesson but if the teacher can’t get it across.”
“It is certainly true that in the classroom that we, the teachers, are
the ultimate ‘arbiters’ of the classroom management situation. The
principals do not ‘run’ our classrooms; they are, at best, an ‘outside
resource.’ I think it is also true that there has not been enough help
for the teachers. We have many different types of students that are
simply ‘dumped’ into our classrooms: children with ADHD, Cystic
Fibrosis, mental retardation, several emotional and behavioral prob-
lems, genetic problems . . . it runs the gamut. The teacher is basically
left to ‘fend for himself/herself’ in new and challenging situations.
Very little help actually comes from the school district in this regard.”
I AGREE.
“Teachers evidently need more preparation and education on the

subject of disruptive behavior. Even for me personally, I have been
through schooling for my teaching licensure and this is the first course
that I have taken pertaining to classroom management and the preven-
tion of classroom disruptions.”
6 FOR CHAPTER 2
“Advice and Judgments usually leave the adviser feeling wiser and
stronger, and the advised dumber and weaker. Should this become a
power-play issue? [WE AVOID ADVICE, EXCEPT SELF-ADVICE
AFTER READING SOME GUIDELINES, IS BEST.] A teacher left in
this state has certainly not been left in a better state to handle discipline
problems (e.g., numerous yearly walk-throughs). Emphasis: The reason
why we cannot avoid the crucial factor: the teacher’s personality. The
need to be behind what we say. Inability to show vulnerability. Pages
27, 259, 260, 263, and 359.” YES, THESE ARE VERY IMPORTANT.
TRAINING EXERCISES
A. What We Need to Do and Be Careful About
1. Read Pitfalls 1–11 in Chapter 2.

2. As you read each, put a check next to the ones that you agree
with, that has been neglected in your preparation to become a
teacher.
3. Also, put another check next to the item if you feel this is a
problem in your school, with your administration, or among your
staff.
4. Circle an item that you need to pay particular attention to.
5. Now, find fellow colleagues and share your thoughts with them
about these eleven points.
B. A Summary and Critique of the Literature
1. Read each book listed in this section.

2. Underline what you like about the approach described in each
book.
3. Jot down a list some of the approaches that you would not use,
would not be your style, that are not congruent with the way you
like to do things.
4. Now look at each approach that does not feel right for you. How-
ever, understand that any new approach is always unfamiliar and
takes work to try. So, consider: “Is this just my resistance to a
new way, or is it really not best for me?”
WHY MANY ATTEMPTS HAVE BEEN INADEQUATE 7
5. If not sure, try it for a while. Then, of course reject it if it really
does not work for you.
CHECKLIST
1. Do you have an adversarial relationship with your class? Yes,
then you will need to pay special attention to the chapters about
your interactions with you students regarding congruence, fair-
ness, appropriateness, involving them in the lesson.
2. Are you not sure when to call a behavior a “discipline problem”?
Then, you will need to pay particular attention to Chapter 4.
3. Do you know where your problems come from? What causes
them? Be careful not to just always blame these causes on the stu-
dents. You may inadvertently be causing them, or not preventing
them. You will need to pay special attention to Part II of the book.
4. Could it be your personality, how you are, that contributes to your
problems? If so, we will work on this. Try to be open to being
different, yet still being authentic. This is complicated, but the
book will help here.
5. Are you a bit resistant to trying to do things differently? Of
course, we all are. Try to stay open to new ideas, and new ways
of doing and seeing things.
6. Have you gotten advice lately on your problems? Be careful,
some advice only helps the advisor.
7. When you get advice do you suspect that they are picturing things
differently from what you are explaining to them? Careful, most
advisors come out of their own experience, picturing their style,
their kids, and they do not fully understand your situation or your
style of teaching.
8. Are you a mentor of other teachers? Then heed number 7 above.
FOR CHAPTER 3
You’re Not Alone
or edited to protect confidentiality; I have also eliminated any ways
to identify the person who shared these remarks. But these are honest
“Knowing I am not alone with many of these problems, helps, but
also makes me feel sad. [SORRY, THANKS FOR YOUR HONESTY.]
Good teachers should not have to go through all this, especially when
kids in class want to learn. We often don’t know why they act out,
we do not know the reasons. [YES, BUT THESE REASONS STILL
NEED BOUNDARIES AND CONSEQUENCES FOR BEHAVIOR.]
Administrators should not be telling teachers that they do not want to
see a difficult or troubled student one more time; they should support
us.” YES, BUT TEACHERS ALSO NEED TO LEARN HOW TO
HANDLE SITUATIONS IN THEIR CLASSROOM BETTER, SO AS
NOT TO REFER TO THE PRINCIPAL TOO OFTEN. MORE ON
THIS COMING SOON.
“I really related to your first example, the expectations a teacher has,

then the reality that comes that then caused frustration, disillusionment,
and anger.”
9
10 FOR CHAPTER 3
“Yes, teachers do not want to admit they have trouble controlling

the class because it may make them look like a ‘bad’ teacher. This was
helpful: that not all problems need to be considered as ‘discipline prob-
lems.’ Yes, sometimes if we understand what students think and feel,
this may help prevent/handle some discipline problems. Embarrassing
situations make it hard for us teachers to make the right decisions about
some problems; which then can escalate.”
“Wow! A lot of situations regarding math classes! Yes, I have had

situations where the administration did not back the teacher, or the
admin. ‘gives up’ on certain students.” YES, YOU ARE NOT ALONE
WITH THIS STUFF.
“Discipline problems do make for a bad teacher; at least that is

what will be said behind your back when some of the incidents occur
in your own classroom. These problems—laughing, joking around,
defiance, an unreasonable schedule—all these lead to making teach-
ers feel like they are not in the right profession. I have watched new
teachers in action—once a new teacher didn’t notice that one student
took scissors and cut strips of material out of another kid’s shirt—and
I say to myself, ‘I wouldn’t want to be a new teacher for anything!’” I
UNDERSTAND.
“Many times, things will be ‘smooth sailing’ in teaching—until we

get that “combination” of volatile students that ‘starts the ball rolling
downhill.’ The anecdotes shared in Chapter 3 are typical of things that
can—and do—go wrong. If you’ve seen Hillary Swank in Freedom
Writers—the first several months of class were fist fights, classroom
walk-outs, defiance, constant challenges to her authority, etc. This
might even be an accurate portrayal of some schools in very ‘urban’
centers with heavy-duty gang problems. Perhaps some teachers in
affluent school districts will never see this problematic side of the
classroom. In public education, we take 100 percent of the student pop-
ulation. So obviously not everybody is going to come in with ‘advan-
tages’—or be ‘up to speed or grade level’—and all the problems that
these children have going on in their lives are going to be reflected—in
some way, shape, or form—in your classroom.” I AGREE.
YOU’RE NOT ALONE 11
“Talking out of turn and raising the hand is one rule always broken
by at least six students in a particular grade level (6th, 7th, 8th). This
was easier to manage when teaching in the primary grades K–5. [WE
WILL WORK ON FIXING THIS.] The classroom norms are given to
the students initially (first day) for each of the four quarters. . . . Sixth
graders comply much better. [YES, I UNDERSTAND.] I just lost my
head (8th-grade English): The entire paragraph has been one I can re-
late to for several occasions. Students in two out of my five 8th-grade
art classes have exhibited my talking over them.”
“To know that other teachers are having difficult times in their class-
rooms should make me feel like I am not in the boat alone, but it just
makes me sad. There are so many good teachers who have to put up
with this kind of behavior every day. It makes me sad for the students
who want to be in class and learn. It makes me sad for the children who
are acting out, because there is a reason, we just don’t always know
why.”
“Reading it made me become a little anxious about teaching. It also

made me glad that I didn’t pick such a young age because it seemed
like their stories were a lot more difficult to handle.”
“I related to: ‘Talking out of turn. I told him to stop.’ Had no right
to prevent the other students from learning.”
“I was almost in tears reading this chapter. Some of those situations

were plucked entirely from my classroom. Like this year. It was field
day and the class was working on some quiet center activities. I have a
little office in my classroom with a window. I stepped in for a moment
to get something; all of a sudden, two girls were hitting each other. It
was a ‘right in the middle of . . .’ moment. One of the anecdotes ex-
plained how the teacher felt ‘totally incompetent’ and ‘like a failure.’
That was me this year. I even went to the union to find out if someone
could come and watch me teach and objectively give me some advice
without making me feel worse. But they don’t do that, and I didn’t
really trust the administration to ask anyone there, because they have
to do your evaluations and I felt it would prejudice their comments.”
12 FOR CHAPTER 3
I UNDERSTAND. YES, YOU ARE NOT ALONE WITH THESE

SITUATIONS.
TRAINING EXERCISES
1. Read each incident in Chapter 3 that is described by these teach-

ers.
2. For each ask yourself: “Could this happen to me? Have I had
similar experiences?”
3. Guess as to what you would do if you were in this teacher’s place.
4. Ask a colleague to read these twenty-three experiences, and ask
them to share with you any situations that they have had.
5. Ask your administration to copy these twenty-three situations
relevant to the grade levels of your school. Distribute them to
the staff and ask the staff to contribute one of their own funny-
troubling situations, anonymously, back to the administration,
who then can distribute these to the whole staff. This will help all
faculty to feel unalone with these problems.
CHECKLIST
1. Of the twenty-three experiences, jot down the number of the
experience[s] that you relate to the most.
2. Then, write down these numbers onto the last page of the reading
of this book, so you can see these when you are done, and see if
you can now “solve” them better once you have studied the book.
FOR CHAPTER 4
When Should You

Call It a “Discipline Problem”?
or edited to protect confidentiality; I have also eliminated any ways to
identify the person who shared these remarks. But, these are honest
“‘It is possible to be disrupted and it not be a discipline problem,’
said Professor Seeman. What is he talking about? I soon began to re-
alize that most of the so-called discipline problems in my classroom
were miscalls or had begun as miscalls and snowballed into discipline
problems. I have tried to discipline students for looking out the win-
dow, not being on the correct page, sitting with one leg folded under,
and doing math problems with a pen. I see now that the key to handling
any situation successfully is to respond professionally rather than take
events personally. I must ask myself, ‘Is that student bothering me or
is he interfering with my teaching and with the learning taking place
in my classroom?’ I have been, at times, the biggest problem in my
classroom.
“Before realizing the difference between a miscall and a discipline
problem, I ranted and raved over rolling eyes, raised eyebrows, yawns,
snickering, gestures, facial expressions, drawings, forgotten gym suits,
incomplete uniforms, and incomplete homework assignments. I ran
the gamut of miscalls. I said things in response to a student’s feelings.
13
14 FOR CHAPTER 4
I often acted irrationally, my behavior becoming worse than the stu-

dent’s. I was the primary problem, and I was pushing the class away
from me. The things that were irritating and distracting me were not, in
fact, disturbing the class and should not have disrupted my teaching or
the growth of the class. I have to remember that what bothers me is not
necessarily a discipline problem. I often cause the disruptive behavior
by insisting on total attention, complete quiet, clean desks when I am
teaching a lesson, etc. I get annoyed and disrupt the class.”
“I am still having difficulty in overreacting to discipline problems

that are essentially miscalls. I am aware of the differences between the
two, yet while an incident is occurring, I react first and then think about
which kind of problem I am going to have to deal with. It takes a lot of
self-control on my part to stifle my gut feeling that what is happening
is only disrupting me as a person and not the class. I have found that in
my daily teaching experiences, I have often been guilty of ‘jumping’
at a situation that was not really a discipline problem in the first place.
. . . I can really see how I fell into that trap when my ego was hurt. . . .
I will hopefully avoid making a miscall due to my damaged feelings.
Anger is another area I feel that often gets me to make a miscall. Many
times while I was steaming inside from some outside happening, I
would literally explode at some minor little action of a kid that caught
my attention. . . . During the past year, I feel I have made some progress
in avoiding the pitfall of displacing my anger onto my pupils. . . . The
theory that ‘we put our anger in the safest places’ definitely rings true
in a school.
“Before my troubles were made clear to me, I categorized nearly
every classroom mishap as a discipline problem. If a child was play-
ing with a box of crayons or leaning back in his chair, I would stop
teaching immediately and make some remark—usually sarcastic—to
the culprit. I took all these happenings as direct insults, assaults, and
affronts on my person. More of my person reacted than did the teacher
part of me—my ego suffered tremendously! . . . One that I found my-
self doing was the ‘I’ve got to win their feelings’ situation. It bothered
me when I felt that a student was disinterested, made a face, or even
yawned loudly. I would often stop and ask the student if something was
wrong or I would ask him if he had enough sleep or I might call on him
WHEN SHOULD YOU CALL IT A “DISCIPLINE PROBLEM”? 15
and put him on the spot. Each of these actions were really counterpro-
ductive in that they would interrupt the lesson, draw class attention to
the kid, and sometimes make the student feel hostile.
“Last year, when I first began to teach, I made many miscalls. I
thought that in order to be a good teacher I needed to follow every rule
in the student’s handbook. If a child was caught chewing gum, I would
immediately make him or her take it out. If a child was eating a lolli-
pop, I would get angry and start my ‘no eating’ speech. But as the year
went on, I began to realize how silly many of the rules really were. I
started to ease up on many of the harsh/silly rules I implemented. For
example, I explained to my students that I would allow them to chew
gum as long as certain conditions were met. I would see no harm in
gum chewing as long as they didn’t blow bubbles and/or crack their
gum. I also began to realize that the ‘no eating’ rule in general goes
perhaps too far. It’s true that if students eat certain foods, such as potato
chips or sunflower seeds, it can be disrupting to the teacher and class
but some foods are not. I began to realize there would be no harm if a
student sat quietly and ate a lollipop, mint, or cough drop. Sometimes
teachers carry some rules too far.
“I also used to get angry if during a matching test a child placed lines
to the correct answers instead of just corresponding letters. I learned
that I used to get angry because he was making my job harder. How-
ever, I have come to realize that maybe, for some students, drawing
lines instead of placing letters is easier.”
“I used to really get upset if a kid was not paying attention to me

in class but still staying quiet. The dialogue would go something like,
‘John, why aren’t you paying attention?’ ‘I wasn’t doin’ nothin.’ ‘John,
you’re supposed to be paying attention while I’m teaching.’ ‘I was pay-
ing attention.’ ‘No, you weren’t. You were off in your own little dream
world.’ ‘Hey, man, why don’t you leave me alone.’ ‘John, if you don’t
pay attention, I’m going to call the dean.’ ‘I don’t care who the . . . you
call.’ And so it would go. The point is, I created a discipline problem
where there was no discipline problem. If I had asked John about this
situation after class, there would not have been this confrontation.
Also, it would not have developed into this ego thing where, in front
of the class, I had no chance against John. I have found out through
16 FOR CHAPTER 4
experience, that if a kid is not being disruptive, it is not worth having a

confrontation in front of an entire class.
“I have trouble with, ‘They’re interfering with my getting the lesson
done.’ If I get too much questioning, almost immediately I think ‘time’
and this occurs more in regents classes. I am trying to disregard that
regents or curriculum ‘fever’ and evaluate questioning more carefully.
Can the question be useful? I must make a decision, ‘What’s best for
the class?’ not necessarily me and my speed, or that one student asking
the question.”
“At times, students will say, ‘I’m bored’ or ‘I hate math’ and I will feel
the need to win this student over to my side. Because I have a strong need
to be liked and approved of I have extra-sensitive feelers when it comes
to students of this type. To insult my lesson or yawn on my message is
to say that I am not worth listening to. I do like to be on the center of the
stage, and when I speak I want my students to listen. This is the of ego
talking. My inner self is saying, ‘Hey kids! I’m fabulous, listen to what I
have to say.’ Displaced anger: I have on many occasions been guilty of
this. Something in the hallways would upset me and I’d enter the class
ready to kill anyone who so much as batted an eye. Now, I let my class
know I’m upset and to be patient with me. In return, they are to let me
know how they are feeling and I’ll take it into consideration.”
“Tired of being helpful: How many times have I lost my patience

when asked the same thing time and time again. Now I first reevaluate
my explanations to make sure I’m being clear.”
“Any little thing got me pissed. It could be a student who just wasn’t
doing anything but looking out the window or someone who didn’t do
their homework. I blew everything out of proportion. At first, I did this
very often because I had personal problems and blamed the students
for them. Student teaching took up so much of my time (writing lesson
plans, making up tests, grading tests, correcting homework, etc.) that I
didn’t have much time left to spend with my husband.”
“I often try to discipline the student who is not doing my work even
though he/she is not disrupting the class. This kind of kid really bothers
me for a few different reasons. I tend to take it as a personal insult when

a kid is not paying attention. I want the kids to like me and what I’m
doing and when one of them shows by his actions that he is indifferent
or worse yet bored or disgusted with what I’m doing, I really feel put
down. When I feel rejected by my peers, I tend to withdraw—but in the
teaching situation I feel I have more power. Under the self-righteous
banner of ‘it’s for her own good’ or ‘he’s just lazy’” or ‘it’s my job to
teach them whether they like it or not’ I go after the indifferent ones
with guns blazing. I can now see more clearly what kind of situations
combined with my own lack of confidence can cause this miscall.
“My ego is at stake: I would work out drills in my gym class that
I thought were fantastic. I would get the class broken into groups, set
them up and start them working. I’d go from one group to another and
inevitably when I wasn’t looking, one group would alter my drill. I
felt they were robbing me of my authority and knew more than I did.
I would stop them and force them to do it my way. I realize now their
drill had just as much worth as mine (if not more) and I should have
made it a positive experience. If it happens again, and if the drill is
good (no, even if it’s not), I’ll have the class observe the drill and have
them do it. Then they can also remark on it and try to make it better.”
“There isn’t one day that goes by at school where I am not inter-
rupted by an announcement over the PA. I get so annoyed that I take it
out on the class. I try to control myself by telling the class I am not an-
noyed with them but with the announcement. However, it’s not always
easy and sometimes I take it out on them.”
“Michael had a habit of sitting on one foot with one arm on the back
of his chair. Throughout the school year I negatively reinforced this be-
havior by reprimanding him on a random schedule. I can see now after
taking this course that Michael’s behavior was not a discipline problem
but became one due to my efforts. Not only was I giving him attention
but I was also taking away from class time. I remember that all through
my Catholic schooling I was required to sit properly. Not adhering to
this rule would have put me in detention. Of course I accepted this rule
as a part of life but hated it just the same. I believe that imposing this
behavior on Michael was satisfying an earlier need in my life to rebel.
18 FOR CHAPTER 4
Knowing that this rule was unjust when administered to me, I found it
acceptable in my picture of the role of a teacher. A deep-rooted part of
my person took over and therefore forgot for a while what it was like
to be in the fourth grade. A soldier is what I had to be, so Michael was
also to become one.”
“As a substitute teacher, I am quite often faced with a great deal of

disruptive behavior. One reason why I perceived so much disruptive
behavior was that I termed all negative behavior disruptive. On many
occasions, I disrupted the class, as I scolded students for sitting in a
certain manner. After having taken this class, I have been led to the
realization that many of the actions which bothered me were those that
my teachers never tolerated. I am now quite amazed at myself, that I
am able to continue with a lesson without becoming upset. Recently,
I was working on “problem solving” in my math class, and I finished
showing the students how to do the work in the prescribed manner. A
girl in the class said that she had done it in an easier way.
“We got into a discussion about the ‘better’ approach. Because of
my ego, I think that I treated her self-expression as arrogance, and thus,
it really did become a discipline problem. I often find myself having
the most trouble with control and miscalls when I am not feeling well,
either because of lack of sleep, or because I have caught yet another
childhood disease from someone in my class. I try to be open with my
second grade class when I am not feeling well. Usually I try to start
the day normally, but by the end of our Morning Meeting, I will find
myself saying something like ‘Guys, I know this isn’t your fault, but I
really don’t feel well today. Just like I try to take it easy on you when
you have a headache, I would appreciate it if you would be a little extra
nice to me today.’ In general, I find that this kind of honesty pays off
since it helps to build a relationship in which the children recognize
that I am human too and we all work together when someone needs a
little extra help. I realized that they had learned my ‘signals’ even better
than I had when one day I came in with my glasses on not because I
was sick, but because I had lost a contact. (I have very bad eyes and am
a contact lens wearer. Only when my eyes are really tired or sore will I
leave the house with my glasses on.) In the middle of Morning Meeting
I heard a message being very quietly and discreetly passed around. I
started to get angry that the children dared to not listen. Then I (barely)
heard what they were saying. ‘Mrs. F has her glasses on. She must be
feeling sick. Be nice to her today!’
“My anger turned to a smile to myself. I chose not to stop the meet-
ing, since when I checked, everyone was paying attention before and
after the message passed them. After the meeting was over I explained
that I was not feeling sick, but that I had merely lost a contact lens. I
made a point, however, of thanking the class for their consideration,
and rewarded them with a marble in the marble jar. (See Chapter 12,
section H, for a fuller explanation of the marble jar reinforcement tech-
nique.) It was a situation that could have blown way out of proportion.
Instead, we all started the day in a little bit better mood than we had
when we entered the room.”
TRAINING EXERCISES
Exercise One: Definition of a Discipline Problem
Can you write out the full definition of a discipline problem without
consulting page 80 for the answer?
Exercise Two: Making up Examples
A. Can you give three examples of situations where only one student’s
education is disrupted but not the rest of the class?
1.
2.
3.
B. Can you give three examples of situations where only the teacher as
“person” is disrupted but not the teacher as teacher?
1.
2.
3.
C. What are five examples of responsibilities that do fall under the role
responsibilities of the teacher as teacher?
1.
2.
20 FOR CHAPTER 4
3.
4.
5.
Exercise Three: Identifying Discipline Problems vs. Miscalls
Below you will find several descriptions of classroom situations.

Read each carefully. If you think that the situation is definitely a dis-
cipline problem, place a D in the blank. If you think that the situation
definitely is a miscall (if treated with disciplinary action), place an M in
the blank. If you think that the situation depends on certain conditions,
place a C in the blank. For each, underline the part of the description
that most determined your answer.
_____1. A student is doodling in her notebook instead of copying your

blackboard notes.
_____2. A student comes in late and places his late pass on your desk
while you are writing on the blackboard. He then begins to explain why
he was late.
_____3. A student in the back of your room waves to another student
as she passes by your classroom.
_____4. You call on a student who has raised her hand. She responds,
“I find this stuff boring.”
_____5. You point to a sentence on the blackboard. Instead, a student
shakes his head to show his irritation and looks out the window.
_____6. A student in a front seat suddenly says, “Damn!” and looks at
his pen and shakes it.
_____7. A student’s wrist alarm goes off. The student laughs and shuts
it off.
_____8. You ask a question that requires careful thought. Just as you
finish the question, a student shoots up his hand and says, “I know, I
know, I know.”
_____9. A student laughs when, for the third time, your chalk breaks.
_____10. While you and the class wait until everyone has finished
copying the notes on the blackboard, one student mouths something to
another student who lip reads it, and nods in agreement back.
_____11. A student is rearranging his entire loose leaf notebook in-
stead of opening his book to the page you asked the class to turn to.
_____12. A student gives you a doctor’s note that says she has to suck
on cough drops. You say, “OK.” She sits down and proceeds to spend
about five minutes opening the cellophane package, and then sucks
loudly on the cough drop.
_____13. A student in the last seat of row five takes out a comb, combs
her bangs to one side, and puts the comb away.
_____14. A student in the first row, first seat, takes out a comb, combs
her pony tail a few times, and puts the comb away.
_____15. A student in a front seat falls asleep while you are showing
a film.
_____16. During your lesson, you notice that a student has written on
the corner of his notes, “This class sucks!”
_____17. A student in the back of the room sneaks a note to his neigh-
bor while you are explaining something. They notice you saw them and
make believe that they weren’t doing anything.
_____18. For the third day in a row, when you ask the class to open
their books, you notice the same student has forgotten to bring her book
to class again.
_____19. A child in the third row, third seat, starts to suck her thumb
while she copies notes from the blackboard.
_____20. A student who is answering your question begins to slouch
in his chair as he answers.
_____21. You put the homework on the blackboard at the beginning
of the period. You notice that two students begin to do their homework
while the rest of the class listens to today’s lesson.
_____22. A student puts his elbow on the desk of the student behind
him.
_____23. You notice that a student is cheating during one of your tests.
_____24. You reprimand a student for calling out. He stops calling out,
withdraws from listening to your lesson, but continues to murmur, “Big
deal. So, I won’t do anything. If that’s the way she wants it. The hell
with her! I try to do the work.”
_____25. A student puts on sunglasses in your class.
_____26. To illustrate a point, you tell the class an amusing story. At
the end of it, a student raises his hand, and says, “Ah, that’s not so
funny!”
_____27. A child says to another child (in Kindergarten), “This story is
silly; I know a better story,” while you are reading to the class.
22 FOR CHAPTER 4
_____28. A child (in 1st grade) throws a ball of paper at the garbage
can while you are explaining vowels and consonants.
_____29. Children sitting around a table (Kindergarten) all coloring
start to tickle each other.
_____30. You are telling people to wait their turn, and John goes ahead
of Tom who is before him (in Kindergarten).
_____31. John does the above again.
_____32. The class is working in their writing journals (grades 1–3).
The same student gets up three times in fifteen minutes to sharpen her
pencil.
_____33. Your school has a buddy system for trips to the bathroom
in grades K–2. The same two boys ask to go to the bathroom together
twice in a row.
_____34. A student in your class (grades K–3) is particularly clumsy.
She stumbles in the hall and pushes another student into the wall.
_____35. A student in your class (grades K–3) knocks her lunchbox
against the closed doors of other classrooms as your class walks down
the hall.
_____36. The class is working on a math page (grade 2) illustrating the
lesson you have just taught. You catch two students whispering to each
other about how to tackle a certain problem.
_____37. The class is taking a math test (grade 3). You catch two stu-
dents whispering to each other about how to solve a certain problem.
_____38. The class is broken up into groups working on culminating
projects for your social studies theme unit (grades 2–6). Three students
from the same group are off in the corner pretending to look at books
for their research but are really discussing why they are having trouble
working together.
_____39. The class is broken up into groups working on culminating
projects for your social studies theme unit (grades 2–6). Three students
from different groups are off in the corner pretending to look at books for
their research but are really discussing a fight two of them had at lunch.
Exercise Four: Being Careful of the Mirror Effect
A. List the names of three students who really bug you a lot.
B. For each student, list the characteristics of that student that really
annoy you.
Student
1.
2.
3.
Characteristics
1.
2.
3.
C. Place a check next to any characteristic that describes (or described)
you or describes someone else significant in your life. Do any of
these checks explain the intensity of your annoyance?
Exercise Five: Being Careful about Cursing vs. Venting
Make a list of those “dirty” words a student might say that would
cause you to reprimand and punish him or her in front of the class,
even though the student might say the word accidentally and out of
frustration.
Exercise Six: From Miscall to Education Problem
A. Write three descriptions of classroom situations where one stu-

dent’s learning has stopped, but that student’s behavior is neither
disrupting the teaming of the rest of the class nor you as teacher.
1.
2.
3.
B. For each situation, write out how you might handle and help this
student by either referring him to a counselor, or applying some
kind of motivation technique, or by depriving him or her of credit.
CHECKLIST
Listed below are the fifteen typical miscalls most teachers make. For
each, write the letter in the blank beside the miscall that best describes
you. Write N if it is never a pitfall for you. Write S if this is one you
fall into only seldom. Write O if you often fall into that miscall.
24 FOR CHAPTER 4
1. The withdrawn student____

2. The overreacted to rule____
3. The “I’ve got to win their feelings” need____
4. The “I need their attention” syndrome____
5. The “my ego is hurt” reaction____
6. “They’re interfering with my getting my lesson done” reac-
tion____
7. Displaced anger____
8. “I’m tired of trying to understand all the time” reaction____
9. The mirror effect____
10. The “I need to control” reaction____
11. The “steam” for “smoke” mistake____
12. The venting for cursing mistake____
13. The prejudicial mistake____
14. Holding a grudge____
15. The “punishing the education problem” mistake____
A. Have you mistakenly reprimanded a withdrawn student who
was not interfering with the learning of the rest of the class?
B. What encouraging, non-angry ways do you use to handle
withdrawn students?
C. Do any of your rules go too far? Do any of these rules have
over-generalized limits that are unreasonable or unenforce-
able?
D. Have you recently reprimanded a student merely because he
or she felt a certain way?
E. Are you requiring students to look at you, though you really
don’t need that kind of attention in order to teach them?
F. Have you pressured students to get the notes down and to
stop asking questions in order to “catch up”? Have you
missed the opportunity to use some student comments and
questions to teach the curriculum?
G. Have you taken out your irritation on a student when, in ac-
tuality, your annoyance is from another source?
H. Have you reprimanded a student inappropriately just because
you’re tired?
I. Have you found yourself irritated with a student while there

seems to be no rational reason for this irritation? Does the
student remind you of you or anyone you know?
J. Are you trying to control certain routines or students more
than is really necessary in order to be a good teacher?
K. Have you accidentally reprimanded the class’s enthusiasm?
L. Have you mistaken venting for cursing?
M. Have you reprimanded a student because of your prejudices?
N. Have you reprimanded a student simply based on his past be-
havior rather than on any behavior that he is currently doing?
O. Have you treated an individual education problem (that was
not disrupting the learning of the class) with disciplinary
action?
P. Have you reprimanded a child who violates a routine you
just explained when the child simply didn’t understand the
routine (K–6)? Have you reprimanded a child (K–2) who
talks to his neighbor when what you were teaching really
didn’t require concentrated listening?
Q.Have you yelled at your class (K–3) for behaving wildly
when you gave too many directions for them to handle at
once?
R. Have you thought about the outside factors that may be con-
tributing to a child’s behavior, especially when that child is
suddenly behaving in a way that is not typical for that child?
FOR CHAPTER 5
From the Horse’s Mouth
These are examples in this chapter of the text that teachers found
“rang a bell” for them:
“12. had a student with this situation—was so hard on everyone

14. this is pretty common in my area
30. peer relationships are so important at this age
32. again, peer pressure
47. we need to make sure our explanations are clear to all students—
we should “see” understanding in our students eyes
79. have a faculty member with this problem—have been wondering
how to help her
88. a student once told me that I made him feel what he said was
important—no adult made him feel that way before
106. I always apologize to the injured party—let them know that
adults can make mistakes too!
119. lessons must be effective—need that “hook” to get them inter-
ested
27
28 FOR CHAPTER 5
127. lessons should be as interactive as possible—lecturing and note

taking are the least effective strategies
139. making the connection to what is being learned and how it is
relevant or might be to our student’s lives.”
“Even though I was typically a very quiet student and seldom

called attention to myself, I can remember pretending to chew on my
tongue in one class because the teacher flew off the handle anytime
a student had any kind of food or candy in class—even unseen. It
was my little rebellion because she was so hypersensitive. [YUP] I
got somewhat frustrated reading about the students who complained
about the teacher not helping them. Math is not an easy subject for
a lot of people, and innumeracy is something most of my students
think is OK. I had students that would say that I wouldn’t help them,
even when I extended offers for them to come in during study hall or
homeroom for extra help. [I AM SURE YOU WERE VERY THERE
FOR THEM. STUDENTS SAY UNFAIR THINGS. YOU MUST
DECIDE ABOUT WHETHER YOU ARE GOOD, FAIR—NOT
THEM.] Also, math is a topic where sometimes there simply is a
right and a wrong way, so there isn’t always a ‘work around’ or easier
way.” I AGREE.
“I often yell and make punishments I don’t follow through with.

One student said he disrupts my lessons just to see how far he could
go since I was inconsistent in my warnings and punishments. Very
enlightening.”
“Statements most significant to me: how the teacher’s class was set
up; teacher picked on particular student when they weren’t the only
one; teacher put student down, made them look stupid, feel inferior, or
do insulting things; teacher didn’t have passion, the rules were unfair;
monotonous, boring lesson.”
“Sections C and section D were chock full of interesting and signifi-

cant quotes. These got my attention because I felt like I had the highest
amount of control over these complaints. In particular, ‘The teacher has
no gut feeling for what he teaches.’ This comment struck a chord with
FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH 29
me because I feel like I sometimes lose that loving feeling for certain
areas of my subject. [MANY DO. THANKS FOR YOUR HONESTY.]
Also the comment, ‘She wanted us to like her, but way inside her we
felt she wasn’t authentic.’ I worry that I may focus too much on being
liked that I might come across as fake.” WE WILL WORK ON NOT
TRYING TO BE THE TEACHER, BUT, INSTEAD, BEING YOUR-
SELF WHILE TEACHING. MANY NEED THIS HELP. THANKS
FOR MENTIONING THIS.
“From home and peers: #14 ‘my father likes to drink,’ because any-
thing that happened at home for sure will affect the student behavior.
From the interactions between you and your students: because I don’t
have to be mad or show them my anger because of something bad hap-
pened with me outside the school. From not being supportive enough
or explained well: because the teacher needs to be clear while he/she is
teaching and they have to use different techniques in teaching and they
need to stop sometimes and ask if it is clear or not.”
“The most important statements from the students were about them
fooling around because they didn’t understand the lesson or they felt
lost throughout the lesson. This maybe happens when I teach the stu-
dents and they end up fooling around in class because they probably
don’t understand what I’m teaching.”
“62. Maybe didn’t laugh because he was instructed not to; I was
always taught not to laugh at the class clown.
“63. That is me. I get so stressed out about trying to teach everything
the students may need to know for the test, may not have understood
or read in the textbook and anticipate questions they may ask. I still get
nervous, especially when dealing with high school since I’m so close
to their age that I can’t laugh or think of an anecdote. I panic when
students don’t understand or ask questions I don’t know the answer to,
since I struggle in utilizing incidental learning opportunities, teaching
material in a different way or “dumbing it down” to the lower-func-
tioning students’ level so I tend to be stiff and monotonous. One can
only have drilled in her head so much that she has no business around
students and is a lousy teacher for where she’s at.
30 FOR CHAPTER 5
64. That was how I was told to teach. 66. I struggle with this as well
since I’m so close to their age, where is the middle ground between
‘teacherface’ and being inappropriate? 141. Not everything can be
made relatable. 155. I loathed not being able to go over homework dur-
ing my second internship. It was only being used for a grade and not
as a teaching/learning tool. 175. An unfortunately frequent occurrence
in today’s schools.”
TRAINING EXERCISES
Exercise One
Might any of your students be saying/thinking any of these? Read

through the comments in this chapter from students who were perhaps
incited to disruption by their teacher. If the comment “could be at or
about you,” put a check next to it.
Exercise Two
Indentifying where you need to work on your teaching and the way
you come off to your students: Which categories are the ones that you
checked off in Exercise One? Notice which chapters will be particu-
larly relevant to you. Make a short list of these chapters you might
concentrate on.
CHECKLIST
1. Are some of your classroom problems coming from outside your
classroom?
2. Do I tend to blame ALL my problems on problems coming from
outside my classroom?
3. Can it be that some of my problems are coming from the way the
environment of my classroom is set up?
4. Is my class environment orderly?
5. Is my seating arrangements best for preventing disruptive behav-
ior?
6. Are my procedures clear and conducive to cooperation?
FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH 31
7. Do I have adequate supplies of equipment, tools, etc.?

8. Might I be making “miscalls” sometimes?
9. Am I always congruent regarding my subject matter delivery?
10. Am I always congruent regarding my rules?
11. Am I always congruent regarding the way I interact with my
students?
12. Do I follow through with what I said, or warned, or promised?
13. Am I “appropriate” all the time with my students?
14. Am I fair to all of them, regardless of any biases I may have?
15. Is the delivery of my lesson plan congruent?
16. Is the delivery of my lesson plan affective enough?
17. Is the delivery of my lesson plan actionable enough?
18. Is the delivery of my lesson plan inductive enough?
19. Is the delivery of my lesson plan supportive enough?
20. Does the delivery of my lesson plan have rewards in it?
21. Does the delivery of my lesson plan have a sense of order to it?
22. Does the delivery of my lesson plan have momentum?
23. Does the delivery of my lesson plan give a distribution of atten-
tion, each student to each other?
FOR CHAPTER 6
From Outside Your Classroom
will see: you are not alone with these problems. MY COMMENTS to
“I really need to understand today’s children! I wasn’t disrespectful
to my teachers. But I didn’t have the same frustrations or exposures:
cell phones, iPods, TV or computer in my room . . . exposed to sex on
my computer, violence on the TV, movies or in the news, etc.”
“I start to take my students problems personally. I need to change

that. They need to be structured, not like 1984, God forbid, but given a
taste of what is acceptable behavior. ‘Our job is to protect the learning
of the other students from these real discipline problems, even if these
problems are not your doing and come from outside your classroom.’ I
need to revise some of my ways and tendencies in my teaching.”
“I do my best to be sensitive of specific insecurities for certain stu-

dents. I did have a question about the students Daryl and Tony from the
scenarios. It seems that while I can clearly see how the students were
discipline problems, the teacher making a comment loud enough for
33
34 FOR CHAPTER 6
the whole class to hear caused the impetus behind those two specific
disruptions. If I were the teacher, I would make my way to Daryl’s or
Tony’s desk and privately discuss the tardiness so as to give them less
of a chance to make a scene of their late arrival. [YES, THAT IS BET-
TER, OR AFTER CLASS. . . . MORE ON LATENESS AND HOW
TO BEST HANDLE THIS LATER.] Am I off base with that observa-
tion?” NO, GOOD POINT.
“There are many outside forces working against our students and
ourselves every day of our lives. The teachers who hopefully are adult
enough to turn them off when they walk into their classrooms and must
teach their students need to get out of the way of their students. I mean,
they must be ready to handle the students and not get themselves all
tied up in knots about their own lives while teaching. Kids have so
much to deal with now. Maybe the same as we did when we were their
age just different times in history and social acceptance.”
“I think the most important thing that I took from the chapter is that
things just aren’t as simple as they seem on the surface. When the situa-
tions were introduced with each ‘problem child’ I immediately became
angry at the kid and felt bad for the teacher. After reading on about
all of the issues that adolescents were dealing with at home, I still felt
upset for the teachers, but I understood where the children were coming
from. Being an adolescent is hard.” YES.
“This was an interesting chapter because it described many of the

students in our school. Their home lives are challenging—homeless,
parents working all the time, parents separated. I had a student this year
whose parents were going through a divorce and his mom had a new
boyfriend, so by misbehaving and by me calling his mom, he was able
to get attention from her. Another student’s mom was a teacher, but
stayed late at school every day, so she didn’t mind when I contacted
her mom, even though she got punished at home, because she was get-
ting attention. Eventually, I referred both students for counseling which
improved the situation tremendously.” GOOD WORK AND SMART
UNDERSTANDING HERE.
FROM OUTSIDE YOUR CLASSROOM 35
TRAINING EXERCISES
Exercise One: Noticing Sources of Discipline Problems That Are

Coming from Outside Your Classroom
To become more sensitized to the fact that many times anger and
frustration have nothing to do with you and they’re not your fault,
plan one day to arrive at your classroom before the students. Then, just
carefully observe each student’s bodily and facial expressions as he or
she arrives. Mentally give each student an 11 if s/he looks content, or
a 12 if s/he looks in a very good mood. A student who looks kind of
neutral, give a 0. A student who appears somewhat depressed, give a
21. And a student who looks frustrated or angry, give a 22. Try to do
this for at least the first ten arriving students. You can often tell how
someone is generally feeling just by looking at them carefully. You will
probably notice that many of your students are already either depressed
or withdrawn (usually a sign of repressed anger or loss) or outwardly
frustrated and angry upon arrival. About what percentage arrives al-
ready upset?
Exercise Two: Noticing the Problems Associated with Puberty
Immediately after one of your classes (perhaps the last class of your
day), sit down and make a list of students who in that class seem to be
physically awkward or who seem self-conscious about their body and
appearance. Which ones seem to move or present themselves as if they
are trying to hide parts of their body or the way they look? Are any of
them wearing a hat to conceal acne or clothes that intentionally hide
their breasts? These students may be struggling with the changes in
their body we discussed above. Write these students’ names down. To
re-sensitize you to these problems, look at this list and try to feel what
these students might be feeling from this observational standpoint.
Exercise Three: Noticing the Problems Associated with Sexuality
When you have some time, walk through the halls during a change
of class and notice how much is going on with your students that has to
36 FOR CHAPTER 6
do with just dealing with sexual attraction. Do the girls cluster in a gos-
sip session watching a particular boy? Do some of the girls just call out
remarks in the halls to get another student to notice them? Do either the
girls or the boys walk by each other with a kind of walk that hopefully
will make them look good? Do some of the boys seem nervous when they
pass a cluster of girls, or certain girls when they pass a cluster of boys?
How many students, after they walk by each other, turn to sneak a
glance at how the other looks from behind? Of course, the more you
are noticed by the students, the more these reactions will be hidden.
However, if you see some of these reactions, their intensity is prob-
ably much greater. These probable sexual attractions and reactions are
also present in your classroom. The only thing is that there they are
repressed underneath the lesson you are trying to teach. Try to remem-
ber the power and upset of sexuality (especially for adolescents) so that
when it sometimes bursts through the surface of your lesson you can
remember this is often beyond your control.
Exercise Four: Noticing the Problems Associated with Self-Concept
During a class discussion try to observe how many students’ answers

seem to be motivated by just trying to look good to their peers or how
many seem reticent simply because they are afraid to look bad to their
peers. How many students seem to answer questions by including their
own reactions often mixed up into the factual answer? Or how many
tend to talk in a distancing way, e.g., “You know, when you go to
school, you sometimes feel nervous; like when one tends to . . .”? Such
speaking in the third person often is a way of speaking about oneself,
but in a hiding, distant way. All of the above students are likely to be
experiencing worries and awkwardness with their sense of self. Try to
remember that these reactions may be the effects of their struggling in-
trospective attempt to form an identity that is acceptable to themselves,
their peers, and only sometimes acceptable to you.
Exercise Five: Noticing the Problems Associated with Anxiety
Start a discussion in your class that either has to do with the future,
or endings, or mortality. For instance, in a history class, draw a time
line and have the students locate past events on the line, their own birth,
and then have them project events for about the next seventy years on
the line (past their probable life span).
Or, in an English class, have them write about their future, their
hoped-for career, or goals. Or have them write about endings: the loss
of friends when they moved or the death of a pet. Or, in a science class,
discuss the inability to understand, predict, or control things. Or discuss
the vastness of the universe or the infinite complexity of the human
body. Then, ask them to relate to these discussions personally. Many
may only be able to share their reactions by talking in the third person:
e.g., “you tend to feel” or “that reminds one of.” Some students may
just joke off their reactions to these subjects. Others may just seem to
withdraw. These reactions may be the awareness of finitude that has
newly entered their adolescent worlds. Often this awareness produces
feelings of anxiety or powerlessness. If these feelings are not handled,
they often can turn into anger and frustration over the inability to con-
trol such realities.
How many of your students seem to fly into a rage just because
things are not controllable? Who in your classes goes into a rage when
his pencil breaks or his pen won’t write? Or who gets very upset if
his or her sense of order or answer is disturbed or not perfect? These
reactions are not your fault, nor can you prevent these uncomfortable
reactions to the brute facts of human finitude now first intruding on
their vulnerable worlds. It’s understandable that the anxieties associ-
ated with these new knowledges sometimes will appear in the form of
disruptive behavior.
Exercise Six: Noticing the Problems That

Stem from Home or Peer Relations
At an appropriate time, have your students draw their own sociogram

(a social map of their life) either as a homework assignment or in class.
This is easily done by asking them to draw a little square in the center
of a blank page that they label “me.” Then ask them to place the males
(indicated by triangles) and females (indicated by circles) on the page
around their “me,” either close to them, or distant from them, according
to the way these people feel in their lives. Close friends will be drawn
38 FOR CHAPTER 6
close to them, or touching their “me,” distant ones far away. Have them
fill in the person’s name (or initial) in each circle or triangle. Then ask
them to darken the circles or triangles that are the most important to
them. A sociogram of their peer life might look like this:
Then, ask them to do a sociogram of their family. It might look like

this:
You may notice that in their peer relations, e.g., Sue is closest and
most important, whereas Tom is very important but, maybe, too far
away for needs to be fulfilled, or that Mike is too close and maybe
bothersome, since he’s not so important. Or notice the sex of the
people. Are sexual tensions present?
Or, in their family, their mother is closest and most important. And
the father is very important, even needed badly, but too absent. Or their
less important grandmother is around too much for comfort. Or they
don’t like their sister and feel fine that she is not close. You might even
ask them to draw arrows at their “me” that indicate pressures on them:
You should collect these sociograms and study them after school.
Notice the problems each student has from the pressures in their peer
and family network. You may wish to discuss these maps in a general
way in class by asking, e.g., “Do you notice power struggles in teenage
lives?” Keep your questions general and only allow personal discussion
of these if the class can handle it. Protect students from the ridicule of
others. Or share your own sociogram to help them feel unalone. Or
incorporate these maps into a discussion of examples of other power
or social maps, e.g., political power in the United States, or Congress,
or during the Civil War. Or have them draw the sociogram of the
40 FOR CHAPTER 6
characters in a piece of literature, e.g., Hamlet or Animal Farm. (If you

choose to discuss these personal sociograms to make curricula material
relate more to your students, follow the points for teaching emotional
education I give in Chapter 12, section D, and Chapter 14, section B.)
Exercise Seven: Noticing the Problems That Come from Right

Outside Your Classroom
Is this area a major source of disruption for you? Place an x next to

each item below that seems to happen too often.
___ A. Students hang out in the halls outside your classroom.

___ B. Students bring coats and hats or other things into your room
that should have been put in their proper place before arriving to
your class.
___ C. Students communicate to your class through the front door or
front door window.
___ D. Intruders (deans, mothers, other teachers) come into your
class in the middle of your lesson.
___ E. Noise from another part of the school is bothering you or
your class.
___ F. Unenforced school rules are intruding on your ability to teach.
CHECKLIST
1. Have you wrongly assumed that all the disturbances at the begin-
ning of your class are at you, because of you?
2. Are you getting overly angry at a student who may be feeling
self-conscious or physically awkward?
3. Are you reprimanding a student in such a way that it makes him
or her very uncomfortable in front of peers, especially the oppo-
site sex, or a girlfriend or boyfriend?
4. Have you gotten overly annoyed with students’ answers that
seem to be too much about themselves?
5. Have you yelled too much at a student who has flared up over a
worry or anxiety about the next period or the future?
6. You have just punished this student. Do you know where he or

she stands with their peers or what the home life is like? It may
still have been best to do what you needed to do. However, this
sociogram observation may make you smarter at handling his or
her next disruptive behavior.
7. Are you being interrupted by things going on in the halls, by
intruders to your classroom, loose or bad school rules?
8. Are there students in your class who act out because they are
anxious and distrustful?
9. Are there students who get angry and balk at activities because
they have a low frustration tolerance?
10. Are there students who annoy you because they need you to play
their “parent” too much?
FOR CHAPTER 7
From the Environment of Your Classroom
“A. Disorder Breeds Disorder—I tend to take care of this usually. B.
From the Physical Environment—I tend to take care of this usually. C.
From Seating Arrangement—I need to pay more attention to this one.
D. From Your Procedures—I need to pay more attention to this one.
E. From Being Poorly Equipped—I tend to take care of this usually.”
“B. the Physical Environment: My room is unfortunately small, my

desk is huge, and the desks are in a circle. I feel bad when a larger
student comes into the double horse shoe and can’t get past without
shifting the desks. C. From Seating Arrangement: Because my room
is small, my students can’t easily work together on projects, etc. The
students are too close that innocent moves cause disruptions. There is
too much interaction because the desks are so close. [SORRY ABOUT
THIS.] D. From Your Procedures: I need to work on this. I am guilty
of not planning a lesson with enough sense of order. I tend to “wing”
things, not good. I wish I could get a Smart Board. [HELP COMING
43
44 FOR CHAPTER 7
IN CHAPTER. 14.] E. From Being Poorly Equipped: I have had to buy

things myself!” SORRY.
“B. From the Physical Environment: My classroom is in a good

location on campus in many aspects. However, there are pitfalls to its
location also: next to the dumpsters and the trash truck is noisy for five
minutes during seventh period; students can look to the amphitheater
when the band students practice there from time to time. [SORRY,
NOT SO GOOD THERE.] C. From Seating Arrangement: With the
budget cut in CA, my classroom is definitely too small for some pe-
riods because the number of students could go up to the high thirties.
I manage to have seating arrangement that is pleasant and easy for
grouping students. However, sometimes I got more students than seats
available, and it could be a problem. [SORRY ABOUT THAT.] D.
From Your Procedures: My procedure of each class is communicated
to students on the first day of school. I have class rules posted on
student tables and on the walls. Then I follow up with that procedure
by following the procedure myself in the delivery of the lesson each
day so students know what to expect from them.” SOUNDS FINE.
I GUESS YOU HAVE RULES AND CONSEQUENCES IN STEP
FASHION? CHAPTER 12, SECTION A WE WILL DISCUSS THIS.
“F. Esp. Grades K–6: I do have sixth-graders in my class. I have to

think about their mental development stage when I give instructions.
Directions are given three times: First and second is to convey the
instruction, the third is to seek their understanding of the instruction.”
SOUNDS FINE.
“I review my procedures and expectations the first week of school, or

after long vacations. Students are assigned to new students who come
in after the initial training to assist with getting to know the procedures
and expectations. Other teachers find my classroom a model for them,
however, what works for me may not necessarily work for them. Stu-
dents like the organization of my room; they take pride in their jobs.”
YOU SOUND LIKE YOU DO VERY WELL HERE. GREAT.
“A. Disorder breeds disorder: I maintain an orderly classroom envi-

ronment. I teach 3rd grade generally. I do think it is true that an orderly
FROM THE ENVIRONMENT OF YOUR CLASSROOM 45
environment makes you more ‘mores bound’—and that there are more
rules, and you are more bound by them. This is an excellent point.
[YUP.] B. From the physical Environment: One problem that I haven’t
been able to effectively manage in the classroom—and it is a source of
continuing frustration—is the temperature in the classroom. [SORRY
ABOUT THAT.] When our school had “remodeling” done—the air
conditioning situation was not addressed. We have an excellent heat-
ing system. But in the months of April, May, and June it gets hot in
the classroom and there is no way to cool it down. I keep an ‘atomic’
clock in the classrooms.”
“B. From the Physical Environment: Since I am unsure of where I

will be teaching, I definitely need to take all of these physical environ-
mental factors into account. Often, there are many factors that I will be
unable to have much power over—for example, I cannot really control
if the room is located far away or it if is near noisy areas. I am also
unable to control if the lighting is bad in the classroom or if the room
only has one entrance (I can buy new light bulbs or submit a work order
for lighting). These I will need to pay more attention to. What I can do
is make modifications in order to make these setbacks less noticeable.
I can create an environment that compliments the way the room is de-
signed (size, etc.). [YES] Also, and luckily, there are items in this list
that I can control and therefore don’t need to pay as much attention to.
For instance, I can control if there are papers everywhere, the tempera-
ture is not right, or if there is no chalkboard eraser etc. I fully intend to
do so!” GOOD AWARENESS NOW.
“C. From Seating Arrangement: Seating arrangements are tricky.

If the seats are nailed to the floor and there is nothing I can do about
it, then this is something I definitely need to pay more attention to.
[YUP, HOPE NOT NAILED.] Personally, I have the most trouble in
prearranging a seating chart that is effective. As an elementary teacher,
I intend on having an assigned seating chart and fully anticipate stu-
dents who sit next to certain students will get along better/worse and
therefore I will be changing up the seating arrangement frequently.”
OK, AND THEY CAN LOSE THEIR PREFERRED SEAT AS A
PUNISHMENT, OR REWARD THEM THEIR PREFERRED SEAT
AS A REWARD.
46 FOR CHAPTER 7
“D. From Your Procedures: I tend to take care of the following: I

am pretty good with having a clear grading system, homework policy,
bathroom policy, and am well planned and orderly. I need to pay more
attention to giving out handouts that have unclear directions, or im-
mediately request too much work or seem too difficult. This tends to
require a strong sense and understanding of the students and having the
differentiation technique mastered. I still need some coaching with this
and it is something that I plan to build and work on.” YES, YOU NEED
TO REVERSE ROLES WITH THEIR LEVEL, READ IT FROM
THEIR POINT OF VIEW.
“F. Esp. Grades K–6: I tend to take care of the following: the physi-
cal environment is organized, the outline of the day is visible, and it
is easy to find materials in the classroom (labels and organized to pro-
mote student independence. [GOOD.] I need to pay more attention to
making procedures and routines for each activity clear. I also need to
work on making sure that students understand what will happen if they
are ‘bad’ and consequently, “how to be good.” [YES] I am also some-
what nervous about not having enough art supplies, paper, and pencils
etc to ‘borrow.’ My first year teaching I will probably not even have
funds to be able to provide this for the students! I know a lot of times
teachers have told me that they need to pay for supplies out of their
pocket and this is awfully concerning!” YUP, TERRIBLE.
TRAINING EXERCISES
Exercise One: Does Your Room Look Disorderly?
One day get to school about fifteen minutes earlier than you usually get
there. After you’ve checked in, go to your classroom(s) before anyone
has arrived. Go with paper and pencil in hand to take a few notes. Be-
fore you enter your classroom(s), try to make believe you’re a student
and a student who is arriving at this room for the first time.
Now enter and look at the room from this point of view. Does the
room look, overall, orderly? What looks disorderly? The walls? The
chalkboard? The floor? The seats? Is the room in a noisy place? Does
it smell funny? How’s the lighting? Does it look like a room that has
some procedures and routines? Answer these questions to yourself and

note any areas that need improvement. Then, place a checkmark next to
the ones you can do something about fairly soon. Decide when you’ll
do these. Then place an “X” next to those that seem out of your hands.
Then, place a “?” next to those you’re not sure what you should do
about. If you feel there’s a lot of sources of disruption from just this
environment, and you feel this area needs help now, skip to Chapter
10, section D now.
Exercise Two: Diagnosing Specific Environmental

Sources of Disruptive Behavior
Another way to assess these environmental factors is to go back to

the beginning of this chapter to section B where the list of specific
sources starts from #1 and ends at source #58 (or #70, if you teach
K–6). Go down the list with a pencil marking the following alongside
each in the left column:
0—if it’s never for you, or not the case; 1—seldom; 2—often; 3—always.
Take a look at your overall score. Is it high? (If you marked more
than about ten items with at least a “2,” that’s high.) Is this a major area
you need to work on? What areas did you score the highest: the physi-
cal environment, the seating arrangement, your procedures, equip-
ment? Begin to work on those areas with the highest score, or all those
items you gave yourself a “3” on—as soon as you can. If you feel this is
an immediate first-aid area for you, skip to Chapter 10, section D now.
Exercise Three: Assessing Whether Changing Any of

These Is within Your Power
It may be the case that even after reading some of our suggestions in
Chapter 10, section D: “Working on the Environment and Procedures
of Your Classroom,” you find that you are still frustrated in this area.
You feel that many of these items are out of your hands completely.
Sometimes, that may be true. But, sometimes it just initially feels that
way. Let’s assess the situation before we tackle the problem.
48 FOR CHAPTER 7
With pencil in hand, go down the list 1–58 (1–70, if you teach K–6)
and place a checkmark next to the item you feel you can do something
about if you put in the time and the effort. Place two checkmarks next
to the ones that seem easy to fix fairly quickly. Place a “?” next to ones
you’re not sure you can remedy. Place an “X” next to those that feel
unchangeable, seemingly beyond your power. How many checkmarks,
or double checkmarks, or ?s, or Xs do you have on your list? Make a
contract with yourself to work on the double checkmarks now, and later
the checkmarks. After we discuss Chapter 10, section D, I think you
will find more double checkmarks, more “can fix.” (Why have you not
fixed the double checkmarks until now? Answer yourself.)
Exercise Four: Seeing the Room as a Student
Especially if you are an elementary school teacher, make sure that

you know the impact of your room from your students’ perspective. Sit
down on the floor (yes, really!) and look at the room from the height of
your students. Are things posted at an adult’s eye level or a student’s?
Are there things that are distracting from this perspective that you don’t
see as an adult? Are there important posters or work hung up so high
that they are difficult for a child to focus on? Can your students see
the parts of the room you want them to see, e.g., the bulletin board,
wherever you stand to teach most of the time? Are materials clearly
labeled and are the labels visible from this height? Often, we set up
great classrooms that look wonderful to adults who walk in, but we
forget that the room is really there for the students, and that it is their
perspective that counts.
CHECKLIST
In the first column on the next page, list all the numbers of the items
you gave only a #3 to in Exercise Two (as “always” a problem for
you) and those you also gave double checkmarks in Exercise Three
(as “easy to fix fairly quickly”). For example, if #36 (no “do-now” on
chalkboard) you gave a #3 and a double checkmark put #36 in the first
column. Next, write exactly your plan of action for that item in the next
column: “plan of action.” Then, decide when and about what time you
will put this plan into action. Finally, if “done,” check it off. Do this for
as many items as you can that you gave: #3 double checkmarks. Then
do it for items: #3 checkmark, #2 double checkmarks, #2 checkmark,
etc. We will discuss in Chapter 10, section D how to tackle the #3s and
#2s to which you gave a “?” or “X.”
FOR CHAPTER 8
From the Interactions

between You and Your Students
“Howard, I love that you used the words, ‘The teacher is full of bull.’
I agree that if a teacher doesn’t really feel what they are saying then
they need to stop talking and get a ‘grip’ before going on. I agree that
yelling, I am not angry with you when you are talking to a student isn’t
going to make a good impression on the student or others that may be
listening. Teaching is caring. They go hand in hand. [BUT, IF YOU
ARE ANGRY, YOU CAN EXPRESS IT. YOU MUST BE CONGRU-
ENTLY ANGRY IF YOU ARE ANGRY. DO NOT SUPPRESS THE
ANGER. YOU WILL LEARN TO SAY IT AND HAVE A SYSTEM
OF WARNING STEPS AND CONSEQUENCES.] If we don’t care
about our subject or the students that we teach we should either find
another subject that we do care about, or find another job.” YES.
“It’s very simple; kids know when you’re giving them ‘BS.’ They
know when you’re not really there for their benefit. If I’m using a
visual aid and just reading what’s on the board without any feeling or
51
52 FOR CHAPTER 8
motivation they tune out and may become disruptive, I’m then an in-
congruent teacher. I like the concept of ‘be yourself while you teach.’
When I’m passionate about what I am lecturing or demonstrating, most
of the times the students seem to ‘get it.’ I have fallen in the ‘my feel-
ings, tone, expressions, tempo, etc.’ don’t match the content or I don’t
seem interested in what I’m saying the students know I don’t care.”
“Here again, can relate to the topic of the section. I sometimes am

guilty of being inconsistent or not following through on a threat. Usu-
ally when I’m angry and try to give a punishment that matches my
anger and is usually over the top. For example ‘You’re going to the
principal’s office if you call out one more time.’ He calls out one more
time and I just reprimand him. A few months ago I was told I send too
many students down to the office, so I became gun shy and even though
I said to go to the office, I backed off. Not good, I need to give punish-
ment when needed in a softer tone and think about the consequences
more carefully to be more consistent.”
“When the class shows me respect or wants to learn I’m more a

congruent teacher; the opposite also holds true. When they don’t want
to learn, I fall into the trap of ‘I don’t want to teach.’ And it shows.”
“Don’t say what you don’t mean and mean what you say. Don’t use
sarcastic remarks with students. I have been known, and not know-
ingly, been sarcastic. [NO GOOD.] I had to step back, talk with a good
friend and coworker about it and try to change this about myself. It was
difficult, because I didn’t realize that I was doing it. But, it is just one
of the ways to keep fresh in my teaching approach, changing my deliv-
ery and staying focused on the students and the lessons at hand.” YOU
TEND TO HAVE SUPPRESSED ANGER? YOU ARE TRYING TO
BE “NICE” ALL THE TIME? BUT, YOU NEED TO EXPRESS IR-
RITATION. IF YOU SUPPRESS ANGER LONG, IT WILL COME
OUT SARCASTIC, EVENTUALLY.
“Oh my, number 4 is a tough one [Do not punish the whole class.]
My own children would complain about this from their teachers. I un-
derstand how this can come about, because sometimes peer pressure is
FROM THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS 53
a wonderful teaching tool. However, it is not fair to constantly subject

the children who follow the rules daily to punishment that they do not
deserve. This can cause so many more problems than it will ever solve.
It is like the above-mentioned party that no one gets because of John-
ny’s calling out. Take the party away from Johnny not from everyone
else. [YES] He goes to another room or the office while the rest of the
class enjoys their reward for hard work. Fairness is such an important
part of teaching.” YES, YOU WILL NEED WARNING STEPS FOR
JOHNNY IN CHAPTER 12, SECTION C.
“What are you most prone to? The incongruent message because
I continue to play the role of the teacher with the 8th-grade class.
Perhaps because I have been given the ‘heads-up’ regarding the chal-
lenge of their behavior. I do need to be myself more. [YES.] Regard-
ing Chapter 8, section D: From Being Inappropriate: A good teacher
continuously reminds his/herself that ‘By my doing this whose needs
are being served?’ I am always circulating the tables and addressing
the needs as I see them. I will respond when a joke is made. Perhaps I
may joke without recognizing it to be a put-down. [YES, CAREFUL
NO PUT-DOWNS, OR SARCASM ONTO THESE FRAGILE EGOS.
THEY ARE FRAGILE, THOUGH THEY SEEM DISRESPECTFUL
AT TIMES.] I sometimes catch myself trying to improve the relation-
ship with them. Again referring to specific class I have been told by
others that I use sarcasm. NO GOOD! BUT, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
MANY TEACHERS FALL INTO THIS.
“Regarding Chapter 8, section E: From Being Unfair: Applying the
rules and warnings unjustly with bias, or otherwise is being unfair. I have
mentioned calling out by students to see me after class. I do know that I
have in the past enforced with some and allowed the student with the bet-
ter behavior to slide by for the first offense. This has not happened often,
but I realize that one time is far too many. This is inconsistency with the
initial norms. [Also] I have punished the entire class for one student’s
behavior. I was being prejudicial by giving one student a pass with call-
ing out, because she had never been given a behavioral contract. I need
to recognize the bias as extreme in consistency and an unfair miscall.”
ALL GOOD HONEST AWARENESSES ABOVE. YOU ARE NOT
ALONE WITH THESE MISTAKES. MANY FALL INTO THESE.
54 FOR CHAPTER 8
“Which are you most prone to regarding miscalls? I am mostly prone

to miscalling the withdrawn student, the mirror effect, and holding a
grudge. Being controlling by nature, I would have to agree that I surely
fall under the ‘I need control’ reaction as well.” GOOD AWARENESS.
“I have also found that I am personally prone to telling a student that

he/she did a good job even though their work wasn’t as good as I know
they could potentially make it. If he/she scribbled instead of took their
time to color, I need to be clear with my directions so that every student
understands that they need to take their time out to do a complete and
thorough job. It is not fair to have one student work for 20 minutes on
a paper or coloring that another student spent only 5 minutes on.” OK.
“Regarding Chapter 8, section E. If I am feeling overwhelmed, I

need to take the advice that I tell children every day. Breathe and count
to ten. [YES AND FIND RELAXING VENTING ACTIVITIES, LIS-
TENING FRIENDS, ETC.] I should never take out my anger or outside
frustrations on the students [CORRECT] and everything outside of the
classroom I intend on keeping there.” OK
“Exercise One: name some of the miscalls you might fall into. I am
prone to making the following miscalls: withdrawn student, ‘they’re
interfering with my lesson getting done,’ the mirror effect, the ‘I need
control’ reaction, and holding a grudge. GOOD AWARENESS!
“I notice that many of these feelings stem from being angry or un-
able to control what is happening. If my personal feelings are hurt or
insulted I may overlook what I need and instead focus on my feelings
at the time.”
“Exercise Three: Recognizing Your Incongruent Interactions. Out-

side of school, I would probably be dressed a lot less professionally.
Perhaps in jeans and a T-shirt or sweater. [FINE.] Honestly, I don’t re-
ally know how much different I would act outside of school since I try
to maintain a positive image outside of my professional employment
as well. I’ve actually run into a student in the grocery store and that
was fine! [GLAD, GOOD.] I was on the phone so I wouldn’t be on the
phone in class!” FINE.
“Exercise Four, F. What does this drawing say about you? As a

teacher, I’m very patient, kind and organized. When it is appropriate,
I enjoy having fun with students and making learning an entertaining
experience. [FINE.] This text doesn’t really say much about me. . . . I
have a hard time in general drawing ‘self-portraits.’ [NO PROBLEM]
I don’t really like to talk about myself or ‘portray’ myself. However,
I do like to be organized and fun. I like sneaking funny jokes into my
lessons so that students laugh and have a sense of ‘home’ when they are
in the classroom. If I can make it so that the students don’t even know
that they are learning, I think that I have succeeded. I made the font
pink because I’m pretty girly and enjoy feminine things like fashion
and vintage clothing.” FINE, BUT TRY TO BE YOUR REAL YOU
AS MUCH AS YOU CAN IN FRONT OF THEM. MORE ON THIS
COMING LATER.
TRAINING EXERCISES
Exercise One: Recognizing Your Feelings and Needs That May

Cause You to Make Miscalls
(a) Below you will find the list of typical miscalls explained in Chapter
4, section B. Go down the list and place a check only next to those
kinds of miscalls you are prone to make.
1. The withdrawn student

2. The overreacted-to rule
3. The “I’ve got to win their feelings” need
4. The “I need their attention” syndrome
5. The “my ego is hurt” reaction
6. “They’re interfering with my getting my lesson done” reaction
7. Displaced anger
8. “I’m tired of trying to be understanding all the time” reaction
9. The mirror effect
10. The “I need to control” reaction
11. The “steam” for “smoke” mistake
12. The venting for cursing mistake
13. The prejudicial mistake
56 FOR CHAPTER 8
14. Holding a grudge

15. The punishing the education problem mistake
(b) Now, for each one you are prone to make look up the feelings and
needs that are associated with each one you checked. (These feelings
and needs are described in section A, beginning on page 175; there you
can locate each miscall by its number.)
My Feelings and Needs—that may lead me to make miscalls
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
(c) What do you notice? Write a short paragraph here that describes
what you notice about your personality regarding this tendency.
Exercise Two: Recognizing Your Incongruent Messages
(a) Below, make a list of the rules you try to enforce in your classroom.
Rules
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
(b) Now make a list of the usual reprimands or punishments you apply
when these rules are broken.
Reprimands or Punishments
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
(c) Now, list about ten specific subject matter topics you will be teach-
ing, or have taught, in your class.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
(d) Are you congruent with regard to all these rules, warnings, or repri-
mands, and topics you teach? Do you really believe in all of these? Are
these really you? Is your “heart” in them? Are you “behind” them? Do
you truthfully feel what you are saying to your class?
(e) Place an A next to the ones you feel a definite “yes” to. Place a B
next to those you feel “I somewhat believe in this.” Place a C next to
ones you have mixed feelings about. Place a D next to those which
you feel like you are just mouthing what “teachers are supposed to
say.” Place an F next to the ones you don’t really feel or care about or
believe in.
(f) How did you do? Where are you most incongruent? Write out what
you noticed in a small paragraph here.
58 FOR CHAPTER 8
Exercise Three: Recognizing Your Incongruent Interactions
If your students were to watch you outside of school, e.g., in a pizza

parlor, what would they notice is different about the way you are com-
pared with how you are in school?
Is your language, the words you use, very different?

Do you have very different gestures?
Would you feel exposed if they saw how you act and dress “in your
natural habitat”?
Are you somewhat phony in front of your students?
Have you ever said to yourself, “What would my students think if
they could see me right now?” What were you doing at that mo-
ment and why would it have surprised your students?
Exercise Four: Recognizing How Much Your

Person Is Behind Your Teacher
1. Which diagram is most like how you are?

2. Now, draw your own diagram that best represents you here. (If
you are different for different classes, draw one for each class and
write a quick note that explains why you think you act differently
for that class.)
Exercise Five: Recognizing Your Inconsistency
Look back at your list of reprimands or punishments you listed for

Exercise Two above. These are probably preceded by warnings you
give the class, e.g., “If you . . . , then . . . .” Do you follow through on
these? For each reprimand or punishment you listed, give a 4 to those
you always follow through on; a 3 if the answer is usually; a 2 if some-
times; a 1 if seldom; a 0 if you never follow through on what you said
you’d do. Which ones received 4s, which 3s, 2s, 1s, 0s? Do you believe
in these warnings and their punishments? Do you just lack the nerve?
Do you just need support? Are you sometimes lazy? Add up your score
and figure out your average.
A. An average of 4 means you’re excellent regarding consistency.

B. An average of 3 is good regarding your follow-through.
C. An average of 2 means your rules will probably fall apart.
D. An average of 1 means your class is probably a “zoo.”
E. If you averaged a 0 you’re probably on sick leave or gave up teach-
ing.
Exercise Six: Recognizing Your Inappropriateness
(a) Below, make a list of your evaluative or judgmental remarks, e.g.,

“That’s good!” “You’re not right,” “That’s not true,” or “That’s il-
logical.” There’s nothing wrong with being evaluative or judging. Part
of your job is to judge things such as: statements of fact, appropriate
grammar, and writing and computation ability. But some of your re-
marks may be both evaluative and sarcastic put-downs. List some of
60 FOR CHAPTER 8
your typical evaluative remarks that you tend to make, as honestly as

you can.
Evaluative Remarks
1.
2.
3.
4.
Which of these remarks do serve to nurture and help educate your stu-
dents? Give these a checkmark. Which ones are just your vocabulary and
you’re not sure if they help the students? Give these a “?” Which ones
may be expressions of your frustration and actually may be a disservice,
a put-down to the students, one that lowers their sense of self-esteem?
Give these an “X.” These latter ones may actually sap your students’
motivation to learn, and be damaging your relationship with them.
(b) Below make a list of your typical classroom procedures.

Procedures
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Which of these procedures help to educate or manage your class?

Give them a checkmark. Which ones mostly serve you and only some-
what serve the class? Give these a “?” Which only serve you? Give
these an “X.”
(c) Again, look at your list of reprimands and punishments you listed
in Exercise Two. Which ones have educational value? Give them a
checkmark. Which ones are not educational but do teach socially ap-
propriate behavior? Give these a “?” Which are neither educational nor
instructive for socially appropriate behavior? These latter may only be
“pure punishments.” Give these an “X.” They may only be generating
vengeful anger at you.
Exercise Seven: Recognizing Your Unfairness
Do students often say, “You’re unfair!” or “That’s not fair!”? Well,

this may mean that you should look at this area. But, it may only mean
that they perceive you as unfair, or are trying to con you. If it’s the
former, you may need to take some time in class and explain your ra-
tionale for what seems unfair, but is actually as fair as possible. If it’s
the latter, trust your sense of fairness and don’t be duped!
(a) Let’s look back at your rules, Exercise Two above. Can you orally
recite a rationale for each rule that justifies it as a fair rule? You can?
Well, stop now and make a little speech, as if to the class, about the
rationale of each one.
(b) How’d you do? Are you convinced? Would they be convinced? Do
you need to practice your speech? Or is it that your rationale is hazy
because you are not totally convinced the rule is fair either? Now, try
the same questions on yourself with your marking system, e.g., when
you give zeros, credit, penalize, etc. How fair are your evaluative pro-
cedures?
CHECKLIST
Listed below are a series of statements that hopefully you can mark
with a check as meaning “I don’t do that,” or “that’s not me.” If the
statement may sometimes describe you, place a “?” next to it. If you
do fall into the description being admonished, place an “X” next to it.
Hopefully you have many checkmarks and very few Xs. Each check-
mark indicates you’re probably OK with regard to accidentally initiat-
ing sources of disruption from the way you interact with your students.
Miscalls
1. I don’t need attention so much that if a student is not looking at

me, I get insulted.
2. I don’t feel upset at my powerlessness when I can’t seem to
“save” all these students.
62 FOR CHAPTER 8
3. I don’t feel constantly anxious and thus always need control.
4. I don’t mind being disliked by the students sometimes, as long
as they learn and follow rules for the sake of others.
5. I don’t feel that the meaning I get from teaching is the crucial
and only meaning in my life.
6. I don’t find that I worry about my ego so much in front of the
class.
7. I don’t feel competitive with the other instructors.
8. I don’t believe that if they just get the notes quickly that
“they’ve learned.”
9. I don’t take my anger out on the wrong people.
10. I don’t often run out of patience about having to explain things
a lot.
11. I don’t find that I get angry at students because they remind me
of me or someone else.
12. I don’t cut off class excitement, mistakenly worried that it is a
growing disruption.
13. I don’t get insulted if a student accidentally says a four-letter
word just out of frustration.
14. I don’t think I have psychological biases around race, creed,
color, gender, sexual orientation, body type, etc.
15. I don’t hold grudges. When it’s over, it’s over.
16. I don’t tend to get angry at a student who is just having an “edu-
cation problem” and not bothering anyone else.
Incongruent
17. I don’t act phony in front of my class.

18. I don’t think: “some of my rules are a little ridiculous.”
19. I don’t think: “some of my reprimands are a little overboard.”
20. I don’t usually say to myself: “this subject matter is generally
boring and not very important.”
Inconsistent
21. I don’t get lazy and not follow through on my warnings.

22. I don’t feel nervous about following through.
23. I don’t say: “Why bother! It won’t help anyway.”
Inappropriate
24. I don’t have rules only for my sake.

25. I don’t have classroom procedures only for my sake.
26. I don’t tell jokes or stories I like that have little to do with their
education.
27. I don’t give pure punishment assignments; my assignments are
educational.
Unfair
28. I don’t come down harder on some students than others.

29. I don’t apply my rules differently for different students without
a clear rationale.
30. I don’t believe in: “Just because I said so!” I have rationales for
what I do, that they understand.
31. I don’t overreact; my punishments usually fit the “crime.”
32. I don’t believe it’s a good idea to punish the whole class to get
one student.
For Grades K–6
33. I don’t get angry at the general, harmless din of noise in the
room.
34. I’m not unfair and try not to choose “favorites.”
35. I don’t mind giving a lot of attention or expressing supportive
emotions.
36. I don’t forget when I promised a student (or the class) a punish-
ment or a reward.
37. I don’t give too many warnings so that I never get to the punish-
ment.
38. I don’t apply the rules to some students and not to others (with-
out a very rational, fair reason).
39. I don’t feel that my students are strangers to me. I’m not afraid
of getting close enough to them to be able to know them and to
nurture them.
FOR CHAPTER 9
From the Delivery of Your Lesson Plan
“D. From Not Being Inductive Enough: Although I do some of this I
would like to work more on this strategy. CHAPTER 14 WILL HELP
HERE.
“E. From Not Being Interactive Enough: There has been a push from
my district to get the students more active—this has not always easy with
middle graders but as the program is now in the elementary school the
students will be used to being taught in this mode, which should help us
in the middle school. Personally, I’ve always had mine up and about and,
yeah, it gets noisy but if they are learning it’s OK with me! CORRECT.
STEAM VS. SMOKE. MORE ON THIS IN CHAPTER 14.
“G. From Mismanaged Distribution of Attention: I need to work
on this—I know I can’t give everyone the attention 100 percent of the
time—I try to buddy up my strong learners with my weaker ones but
would like to do better at it. [MORE HELP HERE IN CHAPTER 14]
“H. From Not Being Supportive Enough: I try to keep eye contact
with all my students during a directed lesson and when I see a per-
plexed look I ask if I’m speaking ‘Greek.’” CAREFUL, SARCASM?
65
66 FOR CHAPTER 9
“A. From Incongruent Content: I think that I do fine in this aspect.

I teach the concepts with my excitement and I act as though I am the
students wanting to know what I have to show. GOOD.
“B. From Not Being Affective Enough: Some students are not mo-
tivated to learn. These are the difficult to get affectively. Many other
students come to school wanting to learn, paying attention to the even
little details told. ARE YOU AFFECTIVE ENOUGH, NOT EFFEC-
TIVE? SEE BOOK HERE.
“C. From Not Being Actional-Experiential Enough: Group work,
students interact with each other, teacher and students’ interaction, and
hands-on learning are my teaching style. Sometimes I group students
in pairs, sometimes in groups of four, and for fun games that actually
are review of concepts learned, I divide the class in halves to compete
for points. USE MANIPULATIVES?
“D. From Not Being Inductive Enough: I am very careful about this
pitfall. My teaching style is usually inductive because I want students
to have the basic then the next concept built with the previous concepts/
basic. FINE.
“E. From Not Being Interactive Enough: At times my students are
not interactive enough because they need to take notes. However, I try
to get students involve in notes generation: I start with the concept of
the lesson and ask them to use prior knowledge to tell something about
the lesson of the day. OK, MORE HELP HERE IN CHAPTER 14.
“F. From a Lack of a Felt Sense of Order, Rewards and Momentum:
This is an issue from time to time. The same lesson on the same day is
delivered differently in different periods, usually getting better in later
periods. Perhaps the students, maybe the teacher, is the culprit. YOU?
MORE IN CHAPTER 14.
“G. From Mismanaged Distribution of Attention: Students’ craving
for attention could be an element that teachers can harvest in class—
that is, motivating their learning habit by giving them the attention
they need. However, I try to call on students that raise their hand and
students that do not raise their hand as well as the ones that would not
say a word in class. YOU NEED CHAPTER 14 HERE.
“H. From Not Being Supportive Enough: With the issue in G above,
I praise student for answering the question first, then I lead student
to the correct answer if his/hers is not. I also help the student to find
the correct answer if it appears that the student could not. [OK, BUT
FROM THE DELIVERY OF YOUR LESSON PLAN 67
MORE IN CHAPTER 14.] I. Especially grades K–6: Sixth graders are

the ones that love attention, especially when I ask them questions and
they could answer correctly. They feel proud because I praise them in
front of the class and call them the intelligent ones.” FINE.
“C. From Not Being Actional-Experiential Enough—would like to do

better;
D. From Not Being Inductive Enough—would like to do better;
E. From Not Being Interactive Enough—well;
F. From a Lack of a Felt Sense of Order, Rewards and Momentum—
would like to do better.”
“B. This I could definitely use some help with. Sometimes I feel as
though my lessons lack those handles that the kids can grab and I don’t
find out until I do give a test and their scores aren’t what I expected.
I guess I need to understand that it is the students’ learning that is im-
portant, not my lesson or what I want them to know. I feel I definitely
have to have my lessons student driven, but I have no idea how to do
that. In English you think this would be fun—reading literature about
problems kids have that the students’ can relate to . . . but I find it dif-
ficult. HELP COMING HERE IN CHAPTER 14.
“C. Yeah . . . this is that control thing getting in the way. No way do I
want my students out of their seats. This stems from my first years as a
substitute teacher. As the students gathered around the door to leave, one
student used a knife and stabbed another student in the arm. OMG. I told
myself I had to be in control and I would not let the students do anything
that required them to be out of their seats. I have loosened up a bit on this,
but I still have that image in my mind. I don’t know how to carry out les-
sons that allow students to be walking around the room or any such thing.
I UNDERSTAND. BUT, HELP COMING HERE IN CHAPTER 14.
“D. I like the ‘You must follow them’ idea. This really makes sense
to me. I always thought it was the other way around, but now I can turn
that 180 degrees. It would be fun to follow them—start out letting them
tell you why a person would rather be dead than alive (boy would that
get them going in the book Go Ask Alice). They would have plenty to
say about that and what a great way to prevent discipline problems if
you are writing their ideas on the board rather than your own. YES,
HELP COMING HERE IN CHAPTER 14.
68 FOR CHAPTER 9
“E. Already stated that this is an area that I definitely need to work
on. I try to come up with sharing ideas without the students leaving
their seats—so trading papers is easy. It’s the projects and things that
I have more trouble with. HELP COMING HERE IN CHAPTER 14.
“G. I like the idea of stop trying to be the major feeder of attention
and to develop methods whereby students can give each other atten-
tion within the lesson. This is a great way to look at lesson planning. I
always feel like I have to be the center of attention, but why can’t the
students be? Again in English this would not be so difficult. I am not
currently doing this, but I can see where it would work. HELP COM-
ING HERE IN CHAPTER 14.
“H. I know when this is taking place exactly because of the way the
book describes it: the kids in chaos or bored out of their wits because
they don’t understand the material and their attention is a gonner. I
literally feel this when it happens and I do something to change the
pattern. I ask one of the students to try to explain what we are doing; if
two or three can’t, I have to change the way I am presenting the mate-
rial and I do so immediately. I guess you could say that I am in tune
with my students’ feelings and I take them into consideration as I am
literally delivering a lesson. I have completely turned a lesson around
because I have sensed my students were confused or turned off.” HELP
COMING HERE IN CHAPTER 14.
“A. From Incongruent content: In regard to ‘congruent teaching’—I

like most of the subjects we teach in elementary schools. Every once in
a while we hit things that involve a great deal of ‘repetitive’ teaching;
and of course, it’s a little tougher to maintain an appearance of ‘lively
interest’ when [I SAY TO MYSELF] you are saying to yourself, ‘don’t
they get it already?’” TALK IN THE FIRST PERSON PLEASE.
“A. From Incongruent Content: I think that I do a pretty good job

in terms of keeping my content congruent and making the information
motivational and interesting (even if I may not think that the content is
particularly remarkable). GLAD. GOOD.
“B. From Not Being Affective Enough: I think that not being affec-
tive enough means that there isn’t enough emotion, enough interac-
tion, and enough connections being made. I believe that I can always
improve on this aspect of teaching. There are always going to be days
that I am going to be tired or feel sick and therefore be unenthusiastic

about a particular lesson or subject. What I need to remember is that
teaching is very much like acting. [YES AND NO. YOU CANNOT
FAKE CONGRUENCE.] When I come into school for the day I need
to act like this stuff is interesting [I HOPE YOU REALLY FEEL IT
IS INTERESTING.] and if I am enthusiastic, the students will be too.
CHAPTER 14 WILL HELP HERE.
“C. From Not Being Actional-Experiential Enough: This section
is something that I really try to put into action daily. Studies upon
studies have confirmed the importance and the significance of actions
and actually doing things. When students are interactively involved in
their learning—through role play, simulation, reversing roles, illustrat-
ing, imitating, playing music, etc.—they retain the information. YES,
“D. From Not Being Inductive Enough: Inductive teaching is based
on the presumption that a learner’s knowledge is built on experiences
and interactions with phenomena. This way, they are leading the lesson
from the start. I am excited to learn how to make lessons more induc-
tive in Chapter 14, section D. YUP, THAT CHAPTER WILL HELP.
“F. From a Lack of a Felt Sense of Order, Rewards and Momentum:
This is something that I need to work on. Very often I have found that
what seems perfectly logical and orderly and simple to me, may not
be for my students. Moreover, it is hard to decipher when to call on a
student and if this will result in a loss of momentum of the lesson. YES,
“I. Especially Grades K–6: Importance of emotion and drama to the
lesson. Directions with too many steps or an underestimation/overes-
timation of the student’s developmental readiness. This is something I
need to work on.” CHAPTER 14 WILL HELP HERE.
TRAINING EXERCISES
Exercise One: Recognizing Sources of Disruption

That Come from the Lesson Plan Delivery
Ask a friend or colleague to observe you teaching a lesson. Or

observe a colleague teaching a lesson. Or, if you’re in an education
workshop or class, each one of you can volunteer to teach the first ten
70 FOR CHAPTER 9
minutes of a lesson. Now, with the framework below, answer ques-

tions 1–17 “yes” or “no,” as best you can. If this lesson is perfect, your
answers should be the answers given at the end of the list of questions.
1. Does the teacher seem to care about the topic(s) s/he is teaching?
2. Does the lesson delivery seem to be impersonally coming from
just memorized notes or just his or her head?
3. Is the lesson too cognitive? Does it lack emotional content?
4. Does the content have any, even implicit, relation to the present
that is at least somewhat apparent?
5. Does the lesson only call for the students to listen, question,
comment, and take notes?
6. Does the lesson keep going from a stated generalization (item
in the curriculum) and then, only much later, to a relation to
experience?
7. Or does the lesson sometimes begin with students’ experiences
and then move toward a curriculum learning?
8. Are the students allowed in the lesson, for the sake of the lesson,
to interact with each other?
9. Or are they pushed to relate mainly to the teacher and repri-
manded when they interact with each other, even when it relates
to the lesson?
10. Can you feel the order of this lesson?
11. Do you know where the teacher is going?
12. Can you feel why s/he’s going there?
13. Does the lesson have momentum?
14. Does s/he slow down or stop too much?
15. If you were a student with this teacher; would you be able to
get enough attention from the teacher and your fellow students?
16. Do you understand the lesson well enough so that, when the
teacher moves on, you don’t feel left behind?
17. If you didn’t understand something, could you easily find a way
to let the teacher know this?
(Answers: 1. yes 2. no 3. no 4. yes 5. no 6. no 7. yes 8. yes 9. no 10.

yes 11. yes 12. yes 13. yes 14. no 15. yes 16. yes 17. yes)
Where you had different answers, you can now locate the area that
needs work and skip to Chapter 13 for the area you want to improve.
1 and 2 were about incongruent content.

3 and 4 were about lacking affect.
5 is about not being actional enough.
6 and 7 were about being inductive enough.
8 and 9 were about being interactive enough.
10–14 were about a felt sense of order, reward, and momentum.
15 was about the managed distribution of attention.
16 and 17 were about whether the lesson was explained well enough
and also about, in a way, all of the above.
Exercise Two: Recognizing Your Incongruence Regarding the

Subject Matter You Teach
Hand either lesson plan or a copy of the textbook that you use to
teach to a colleague or friend. Ask that person to call out topics at
random in the lesson plan or file text (try about five topics). For each
topic called out to you, answer, “Why the hell should I learn this?” as
if a student were to ask it as a challenge. Give an immediate answer as
best and as honest as you can.
How’d you do? Do you have an answer right away? Was your friend
convinced by your rationale? Were you being sincere in your answer?
How much do you really believe in the meaning and value of the sub-
jects you teach?
Exercise Three: Recognizing the Lack of Affect

in Your Lesson Plan Delivery
Tape one of your lessons. Then, don’t listen to it for at least a week.
When you do listen to it, with pencil and paper in hand, answer the
following questions:
1. Did you start the lesson’s introduction to the class with some
statement of how you feel about this topic?
2. Does your voice tone express some real care and feeling for the
subject?
3. Did you actually say many emotional or valuational words, e.g.,
“valuable,” “significant,” “beautiful,” etc.?
72 FOR CHAPTER 9
4. Did you support students’ emotional reactions (not just their cog-
nitive statements) about the subject maker?
If you listen to it right away, you will read into it what you would
like to think your lesson said. (If you are able, you might allow a friend
or colleague to observe your lesson and evaluate you on the above
questions. Or, if you’re in an education workshop or class, you can take
turns and do this for each other.)
Exercise Four: Recognizing How Actional Your Lessons Are
Either tape one of your lessons or allow a friend or colleague to

observe one of your lessons. Or, if you’re in an education workshop or
class, do the following for each other:
Place a check here each time:
1. Students in your lesson are directed to take notes.

2. Students ask you questions.
3. Students comment on the lesson.
4. Students explain or re-explain a part of the lesson.
5. Students are asked to draw something, e.g., a diagram, chart,
picture.
6. Students are asked to do something that requires them to get out
of their seat, e.g., to go to the chalkboard.
7. Students are asked to vote on something.
8. Students are asked to role-play or simulate something.
The items above have been arranged from passive to most actional.
Are students asked to spend most of their time in your class doing
things like 1, 2, or 3?
Or do they spend more time doing things like 6, 7, or 8? How ac-
tional are your lessons?
Exercise Five: Recognizing How Inductive Your Lessons Are

observe one of your lessons. Or, if you’re in an education class or
workshop, do the following for each other:
1. Place a check here each time you make a point in your lesson
by starting out with a generalization and then relating it to the
students.
2. Place a check here each time you make a point by going from
your students’ reactions and experiences to a generalization.
The latter style (2) is inductive. The former style (1) is deductive.
How inductive are your lessons? (If you often do neither, your stu-
dents probably “turn off” because they seldom feel any way to relate
to the lesson.)
Exercise Six: Recognizing How Interactive Your Lessons Are

Each time in the lesson students interact with the teacher, draw a line
between the teacher and the student, as in the above diagram. If the
interaction is mostly teacher to student, put the arrows mostly toward
the student. If the other way, then put arrows the other way. Each time
the students interact with each other, draw a line between student and
student.
74 FOR CHAPTER 9
After marking the above diagram throughout the whole lesson, no-
tice if:
(a) most arrows go between the students?

(b) most arrows go from students to teacher?
(c) most arrows go from teacher to students?
The more that (a) or (b) are the case, the more interactive is the les-
son. If the lesson is almost all (c), students probably feel little chance
to respond.
Exercise Seven: Recognizing If Your Lessons

Have a Felt Sense of Order
In the middle of teaching your lesson, stop and ask a student to please
summarize briefly where we are and where s/he thinks we are going.
Do this once or twice each period for at least four or five periods.
How often do students sense where you are and where you are going?
Do your lesson deliveries have a felt sense of order?
Exercise Eight: Recognizing Whether Your Lessons Have a Felt

Sense of Meaning or Reward
In the middle of teaching your lesson, stop and ask a student to

please summarize briefly why this topic is important. Do this once or
twice each period for at least four or five periods. If the students can’t
say why, ask them if they are just following you for the sake of passing
the upcoming test.
How many students seem to feel the significance of the topic?
How many are with you only for extrinsic rewards?
How many are not with you because they feel neither?
Exercise Nine: Recognizing Whether Your Lesson Loses Momentum

Place a check next to each of the following each time one of these
things happens:
1. You stop the (train of your) lesson for a comment or question.
2. You follow “a side point” you want to bring in for a minute.
3. You explain something more than twice.
4. You reprimand a student, using class time instead of handling it,
e.g., after class. If you do many of these things often, students
probably “turn off,” look out the window, or get off the train of
your lesson often.
Exercise Ten: Recognizing How You Feed Attention in Your Lesson
Either tape one of your lessons or allow a friend or colleague to ob-

serve one of your lessons. Or, if you’re in an education class or work-
shop, do the following for each other: Draw an arrow: (a) from teacher
to student each time the teacher gives attention; (b) from student to
student, each time a student gives attention to another student as part
of the lesson, e.g., students show each other their work, comment on
each other’s comments, etc.
76 FOR CHAPTER 9
Are you the major feeder of attention?

Do you allow, and even provide, ways for students to give each other
attention?
Are you afraid of the latter? Are you exhausted at always trying to
be the major feeder?
Exercise Eleven: Recognizing If Your Lessons

Are Explained Well Enough
In the middle of teaching your lesson, stop and ask, “How many
students follow what I’m saying, understand this point? Raise your
hand.” Then ask, “How many are not sure?” and “How many are a
little lost?” Notice how many seem to feel they understand, are not
sure, don’t follow your points. Also, notice how many do not raise
their hands for any of these. These latter students must be feeling one
of these, yet are not comfortable enough to give you feedback. That’s
significant. Now, ask the ones who understand (get a volunteer) to
explain to one (get a volunteer) who felt not sure, or one who felt lost.
Listen to your students re-explaining what they think you said about
this topic. Are they hearing you correctly? Are your lessons generally
explained well enough? Do students feel free to give you feedback
when they’re lost?
Exercise Twelve: Using Computers and Tech in the Classroom Best:
Below are the Pitfalls you should not fall into in using technology
and computers in your classroom. Put an X next to the item if you need
to watch that one, or stop doing this, for each one listed (consult Chap-
ter 9, section J. for clarification of these). The teacher:
1. ___Starts to be the assistant to the computer program/software,

instead of the computer program/software being an assistant to
the teacher.
2. ___Overuses computers to teach to the test, worries about the
upcoming standardized test.
3. ___Uses tech to teach a restricted curriculum (pushed by stan-

dardized tests), that is only: memorizing, retrieving facts, cog-
nitive information, but not any valuational, process, affective,
emotional, aesthetic, creativity, social learning, or reasoning
skills and understanding.
4. ___Does not make use of the value of using computers for
logic-stepped sequential cognitive learning, empirical facts, e.g.,
math, geometry, knowing the chemical elements, memorizing
dates, etc.
5. ___Spends too much class time on teaching an outmoded
method for retrieving information, e.g., too much time teaching
the multiplication tables, when students have ease of access to
a calculator.
6. ___Does not make use of software that can be geared to differ-
ent competency levels and the pace of each student for some
learnings, to help those who are behind, or to not bore those
who are ahead.
7. ___Does not use software that can give immediate feedback to
students who need more immediate feedback on some learnings.
8. ___Uses tech for students to hand in their homework, but does
not develop a late policy for the timely handing in of homework.
9. ___Or the school succumbs to using the tech that big business
money has supplied to your classroom, even if you feel that this
tech/software is not very educational.
10. ___Does not use blended learning (computer assisting the live
teacher’s teaching) for: valuational, process, affective, emo-
tional, aesthetic, creativity, social learning, or reasoning skills
and understanding.
11. ___Uses computers so much that students become deprived of
interactive communications with each other, communications that
are also nonverbal, emotional, brings in cultural diversity, tonal
communication, and the live relationships with other students.
12. ___Uses computers so much that the teacher no longer has time
to be his/herself to his students, no longer time to be a role
model for these students in various situations that arise in the
classroom.
78 FOR CHAPTER 9
13. ___Uses computers so much that there is little time in the class-
room to teach and practice good, active listening skills (which
are 50 percent of communicating!) in live situations.
CHECKLIST
1. Do you believe in the importance or value of the topic(s) you

are teaching?
2. Do you tell your students how you feel about the topic(s)?
3. Do you provide ways for students to share their feelings about
the subject matter?
4. Do you provide ways in your lesson for students to do more than
take notes, comment, and ask questions?
5. Do you allow, even urge, students to respond to each other?
6. Do you provide either verbal or other signs in your lesson that
give your lesson a sense of order?
7. Do you provide clear ways for students to feel the meaning of
the lesson, or at least, to get reward or credit for their work or
class participation during the lesson?
8. Do you slow down, or stop too often, or digress too often in
your lesson?
9. Do you give all the attention, or do you also provide ways for
students to give each other attention, e.g., show and tell each
other?
10. Does your class feel free to give you feedback?
11. Are you best and appropriately using computers/tech in your
classroom? (See Exercise Twelve above)
For K–6
12. Do you give emotional content to your delivery?
13. Are your explanations in simple small steps?
14. Are your explanations or planned activities too long?
15. Is your content appropriate to your students’ developmental
level and learning style?
FOR CHAPTER 10
Dealing with Those That

Are Somewhat Out of Your Hands
Ducking
“I learned to duck about a year ago, when I realized that it helps to
minimize the amount of confrontations I have with my students. There
was a time, however, when I would take things students said and did
very personally. When a student cursed, I got very upset. When I first
started teaching, I thought that students just didn’t respect me when
they cursed. I finally realized that cursing is part of their vocabulary,
and it has nothing to do with respect. I feel much better now that I do
not take things personally.”
“In retrospect, I realize that I should have let a lot of things slide.
I took things too personally, which is not to say that many of the stu-
dents’ comments weren’t blatantly disrespectful, but, as discussed, one
cannot force respect.”
79
80 FOR CHAPTER 10
“I once had an experience that, now that I look back, I should have
ducked. There is a student in my class that I find obnoxious. This stu-
dent left my class to sit in another teacher’s office and read yearbooks.
When I confronted this student, I told her that this was inappropriate
and that she would receive no credit for participating. This student then
smirked at me, which drove me crazy (I think if it was from any other
student I would have let it slide by).
I told her to wipe the smirk off her face. Of course, this only led to
a verbal match in which there was no winner.”
Disturbances Right Outside Your Classroom
“Over the past year I have taught in many different classrooms.

Some of the resident teachers have put paper over their classroom win-
dows, an extremely effective solution to a difficult problem but also an
extremely gloomy one. The methods that were discussed in class that
I have been using are waiting outside the door until the bell rings and
telling the class not to react to wavers outside the door. Both of these
methods have worked well for me, and I intend to continue using them.
Waiting outside is especially good because the students are encouraged
to come into the room before the bell rings and to start their work im-
mediately. Usually, I do not have to tell students to ignore wavers. I
simply ignore the waver, give a stern look at the student waving back,
and the waver goes away.”
“Because my classes are in the same room I’m able to put assign-
ments on the board early. I also assign students to put assignments,
especially the ‘do-now’ assignment, on the board. When my students
enter the classroom, they have work to start on. This gives me the free-
dom to stand at my classroom door and usher my students in and keep
strangers out. I also lock the rear door, which prevents students from
entering from the rear of the class. When the bell rings to start class, I
lock the front door. This prevents students who walk the hallways from
opening the door, looking in your class for friends, and calling out.”
“There is a monthly meeting of the executive committee of the union

chapter and the principal in which we discuss issues that concern the
teachers. Discipline is one of the things we talk about. We make sug-
DEALING WITH THOSE THAT ARE SOMEWHAT OUT OF YOUR HANDS 81
gestions like: all teachers should ban Walkmen in their classrooms. In

fact, there is a rule in the school that these instruments of disruption
should not be allowed in the school. We’ve suggested there be assistant
principals patrolling the halls especially in between classes and help
keep student noise and hyperactivity down to a minimum.
“We’ve requested that security guards patrol the halls during class
changes. These suggestions are circulated to the faculty and sometimes
discussed at faculty meetings. We’ve had a number of faculty meetings
concerned with discipline, and, in fact, small committees have come up
with many suggestions. For the cafeteria, we’ve suggested that there be
security guards to keep a calm atmosphere (there are already plenty of
teachers there, and they find the job an onerous one).”
Seating Arrangement
“In reference to the seating arrangement, I found it a useful threat

to promise to change a seat if talkative behavior continues. Usually it
works, and at the most, all I need to do is shoot a threatening glance in
a certain direction and a potential disruption is warded off.”
“I use the circle and horseshoe form from time to time. For example,
to discuss prevention of suicide, teenage pregnancy and if I have to use
visual aids, those will be very useful.”
“I prefer circles or a horseshoe—more student interaction, less pull-

ing teeth. The students can learn from each other—also social interac-
tion. Suddenly, fellow students become human, and they also have
feelings. Also, I can sit down more of the time and see their faces. It’s
hard to hide in a circle.”
Procedures
“When we spoke about lateness previously, keeping an empty chair
by the door was one of the procedures for dealing with late students. I
have been keeping an empty seat for those who come late, and I like the
effects. First, the students make almost no disturbance when they are
late, and secondly, they are punished because they cannot sit in their
82 FOR CHAPTER 10
regular seat. They really hate the ‘late seat.’ Last week a girl came a
few seconds late and took the late seat. About ten minutes later I saw
tears down her face. I gave the class something to do and asked her if
she wanted to tell me why she was crying. I was shocked when she said
it was because she had to sit in the late seat. I was especially shocked
because her reaction almost did not fit her ‘image,’ but her feelings
were genuine. I have found that even in my eighth-period class, stu-
dents who were problems get there on time so that they can sit in their
regular seats.
“The procedure has been very effective. Another procedure is keep-
ing the bathroom pass by the door, and the students exchange the pass
for a paper with their name and date for the pass. I find that I am no
longer annoyed with requests to use the bathroom. I always found it
disruptive when a student asks to go to the bathroom and I called on the
student because I expected a good answer to a question.
“On Friday, I spend about ten minutes going through the papers and
marking B for bathroom on the front of their Delaney cards. By mark-
ing the Delaney cards I can check who has been using the pass too
often as I take the attendance on Monday. I feel that this is also going
to work out very well. As far as items for the classroom, I have put up
a calendar in each room. (It was not easy to get calendars for free.) In
the three days that the calendars have been up, I must have used them
a dozen times.”
Equipment
“In all honesty the information rendered concerning tools over-

whelmed me. I realized that I was like a plumber going to work without
his tools. There have been numerous times when I was unprepared to
staple some tests together, mark a paper in red ink, or remember an
appointment because I was not equipped. I generally carry a plastic
bag with some of the materials you mentioned. Sometimes I find the
chalk falls out of a box and I’m left with crumbs. Maybe a zippered bag
would make a difference. I’ll try. The magic markers or special pens,
which I use for writing on transparencies or even the ordinary pens,
sometimes leak and I have a mess with which to deal. I’ve never heard
of 3M Postem Pads, but they look as though they might be useful. I like
the idea of a mechanical pencil and press-on labels, hand-wipes, and an

appointment book a little bigger than my UFT one. It never occurred to
me to have in the drawer some machine oil.”
TRAINING EXERCISES
Exercise One: Learning How to “Duck” Ones Not Meant at You
Below, briefly describe five incidents this past week where you got
very angry at some students right on the spot.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
It is possible that you overreacted or took one of these incidents per-

sonally when you should have ducked or at least “gone with the punch”
and not have taken it so personally. To learn how to do this better and
to decide if you fall into a pitfall, ask yourself these questions for each
incident you described above:
A. Is it possible that the student’s anger was displaced, not really
meant for you, but you got it or took it personally?
B. Was the incident really out of your jurisdiction?
C. Is it possible that the “curse words” used by the student were
really only venting a previous frustration rather than hostility
directed at you?
D. Is it possible that this student is generally angry at authority
figures?
E. Might the incident only have been short-lived, just a burst of an-
ger and over with, had you not gotten so involved?
F. Were you trying to earn the student’s respect on the spot, by
verbal preaching, rather than over a long period?
G. Were you not only trying to get the student to behave but also
trying to extract a feeling from him or her on the spot?
84 FOR CHAPTER 10
H. Is it possible that you chose the wrong place and time for your
reprimand; the student couldn’t really “hear” you at this time?
If you have answered “yes” to any of these for the above incidents,
it might have been better (at least at the time) to have ducked, or you
probably took the incident too personally and overreacted. Check the
letter or letters above (A–H) that you need to watch out for as your
“sensitive spot” or tendency for poor judgment or bad timing.
Exercise Two: Practicing Ducking
If you are in an education class or workshop, try this exercise. (a)

Each person in the class thinks of a particular student in their imagina-
tion who is particularly angry. (b) Then, each person imagines where
this student is in school and what’s happening. (c) Now, each person
imagines that this student comes across a teacher during the angry
incident. (d) Get one person in the class to volunteer to role-play
“the teacher” in the imagined incident and one person to volunteer to
role-play the student in their imagined incident. (e) Before you begin
the role-play, prepare the person who will role-play “the teacher” by
describing the incident to “the teacher” you are about to role-play with.
(f) When you both understand the incident, begin the role play by the
person playing the angry “student” speaking first.
The whole class watches the role play and notices how the “teacher”
handled it. Did the teacher duck? Was this a ducking situation? (You
can decide by reviewing questions A–H above in Exercise One.) How
well did the “teacher” do? Get a few volunteers to play “teachers” for
a few volunteered imagined “students.” You’ll be able to practice your
decisions about whether to duck or not and practice your ability to duck
when appropriate.
Exercise Three: Dealing with “Hanger-Outers”
A. Notice whether the students who hang out and disturb your third
period class, for example, are sometimes the same students. Write
down their names here.
B. Now write down either the name of these students’ destination

teacher, or homeroom teacher, or the name of the person who is on hall
duty that period. Take your time. It may take a couple of days to fill in
these names.
C. Now, write a note to or talk to one of these teachers (or all three).
Follow up your warning to these hanger-outers. Thank the teacher(s)
who help(s) you. If you don’t feel like going through all this bother,
note this to yourself, that you’ve decided to bear the disturbances rather
than bother to do the above.
Exercise Four: Dealing with Students in the Halls Who Distract

Students in Your Class
(A.) You need to practice going deaf, dumb, and blind to the students
in the halls who try to get an audience reaction from you and your class.
Instead, reprimand the students in your class who give the outsiders
attention. What will you say to your students in your class about giv-
ing attention to outsiders? Write out your little speech here: (B.) What
warning of punishment or loss of privilege will you apply to those in
your class who feed attention to the outsiders? (C.) Have you slipped
and given attention to these outsiders, e.g., by reprimanding them?
Have you tried a window covering as discussed on pages 225–226?
Exercise Five: Choosing a Seating Arrangement
(A.) Review Chapter 10, section D, b. Use the chart below to de-
cide your seating arrangement. Place a checkmark in the Pros or Cons
86 FOR CHAPTER 10
column for each characteristic that is significant to you for each kind
of arrangement.
B. Also, each time you see that that arrangement takes work (as
described there). After you have scored yourself, you should probably
consider the arrangement that has the most checkmarks in the Pros
column (the least in the Cons). Or you may decide to sometimes shift
arrangements.
CHECKLIST
Ducking
You should be able to answer “No” to as many of these as possible.
1. Have you overly reprimanded a student who was just displacing
his or her anger?
2. Have you gone after a student out of your jurisdiction just be-
cause you took his or her actions personally?
3. Have you taken a vented angry statement personally?
4. Have you taken personally anger that is really general, e.g., to-
ward all authority figures?
5. Have you wrongly gone after an incident that would have quickly
blown over had you not jumped in?
6. Have you reprimanded a student who was just showing frustra-
tion? You took their frustration personally?
7. Did you try “to preach” respect into a student today?
8. Did you try to win a feeling from a student today: the behavior
wasn’t enough?
9. Did you try to scold a student at an inappropriate time?
Disturbances Right Outside Your Classroom
You should be able to answer “Yes” to as many of these as possible.
1. Did you put a “do-now!” on the chalkboard (or use a task sheet)?
2. Did you stand outside the door sternly and usher students in?
3. Did you note the names of students who repeatedly hang out?
4. Did you find out who their destination teacher is, or homeroom
teacher is, or tell the person on hall duty?
5. Have you tried a covering or shade for your front door window?
6. Have you spoken to other teachers about similar concerns about,
e.g., bad or loose school rules?
7. Have you spoken to the administration about these concerns?
8. Are you expressing your concerns in concert with others?
9. Have you described these matters in terms of “needs” and “con-
cerns” (rather than criticized the administration)?
10. Have you listened to the administration’s problems around these
concerns?
11. Do hall duty staff walk around the hall (rather than remain sta-
tionary)?
12. Have you suggested the rule that staff and parents not enter a
classroom in progress, except for an emergency?
13. Have you suggested the rule that no food be allowed beyond the
cafeteria?
14. Have you suggested that teachers stop being so liberal about
issuing passes?
15. Will someone keep track of these too-often-issued passes?
16. Have you suggested “hall-sweeps” (Chapter 10, section C,
3[g])?
17. Have you suggested a place in the school where students may be
allowed to have time to just talk and vent?
The Environment and Procedures of Your Classroom
You should be able to answer “Yes” to as many of these as possible.
1. Have you tried to secure the same room for each class period?
2. Have you tried to get rooms near each other?
88 FOR CHAPTER 10
3. Have you checked that your room(s) is not near a gym, music
room, cafeteria, industrial arts class, chemistry lab, auditorium?
4. Have you checked that the room windows don’t look out on a
distraction?
5. Are the lights OK?
6. Is the floor quiet enough?
7. Are the window shades OK?
8. Does it also have a back door, with a lock?
9. Is the heater or air conditioning OK?
10. Can the windows be opened?
11. Does your desk have a drawer that can be locked?
12. Does the room have a closet that can be locked?
13. Is there a private place in the room where you can reprimand a
student?
14. Are the bulletin boards and chalk boards OK?
15. Are the walls of the room OK?
16. Does the room have garbage cans?
17. Is there no pencil sharpener, or can you remove it?
18. Do you have enough chairs and desks, plus one or two?
19. Are they non-squeaky?
20. Does the room contain only the essential furniture?
21. Have you decided on a seating arrangement carefully? Have you
carefully decided on a seating arrangement that is congruent
with your teaching style?
22. Are you working on applying the “tips” for handling the seating
arrangement of your choice (starting on p. 232)?
23. Can your students be seen by you and they see you easily?
24. Have you made sure that the seats are not too close together?
25. Have you tried to have them face away from the windows as
much as possible?
26. Have you left a good traffic pattern in your seating arrangement?
27. Have you left an empty seat near the door for latecomers?
28. Do you put a “do-now!” on the chalkboard (or use task sheets)?
29. Are your “do-nows!” short, e.g., “fill in the blank”?
30. Do you use a Delaney book?
31. Have you tried the learning names exercise (see Index of text)?
32. Do you list the topics covered and to be covered on the chalk-
board?
33. Do you use staples on the bulletin boards?
34. Do you have a large calendar and clock in the room?
35. Do you have a clear policy for going to the bathroom?
36. Have you tried the “garbage pail” strategies, pp. 241–242?
37. Do you communicate well with the custodians?
38. Do you keep the room cool?
39. Do you know where the sun comes in and have a shade for this
glare?
40. Have you arranged the furnishings for a possible private place
to talk to a student (K–6)?
41. Have you provided a place where parents can leave you notes
(K–6)?
42. Have you found a way to keep children’s attention away from
looking out at the playground (K–6)?
43. Do you have a clear policy about students who do not have a
pencil? Or theirs just broke?
Your Equipment
Hopefully you can obtain all the survival tools listed in Chapter 10
for grades K–5, and 6–7. Go to that section now and check off each
one. Circle the item number you want to get but don’t have. Go after
these items. (Place the date that you’ll try to get it next to each circled
item.)
FOR CHAPTER 11
Repairing Your Student-Teacher Interactions
will see you are not alone with these problems.
Not Making Miscalls
“Displaced anger: I have on many occasions been guilty of this.

Something in the hallways (learn to duck, Pam) would upset me and
I’d enter the class ready to kill anyone who so much as batted an eye.
Now, I let my class know I’m upset and to be patient with me. In re-
turn, they are to let me know how they are feeling and I’ll take it into
consideration.”
“Tired of being helpful: How many times have I lost my patience

when asked the same thing time and time again. Now I first reevaluate
my explanations to make sure I’m being clear. When I make miscalls,
91
92 FOR CHAPTER 11
it is usually due to displaced anger. A picture of myself would look

like this:
“Any little thing got me pissed. It could be a student who just wasn’t
doing anything but looking out the window, or someone who didn’t do
their homework. I blew everything out of proportion.
“At first, I did this very often because I had personal problems and
blamed the students for them. Student teaching took up so much of my
time (writing lesson plans, making up tests, grading tests, correcting
homework, etc.) that I didn’t have much time left to spend with my
husband. We got into a lot of arguments over this because he felt that I
was neglecting him and his wants and needs.”
Being Congruent
“At the beginning of each school year, I place a great deal of em-
phasis on my authority in the classroom. In so doing, I block out a
great deal of my ‘person’ and exercise authority through my role as a
teacher. I don’t quite understand why I’ve done this, but I have a few
ideas. First, it made me feel safer with the students in class. That is to
say, I defended myself from reactions by the students, by placing the
teacher up in front of the firing line. I thought it deterred students from
REPAIRING YOUR STUDENT-TEACHER INTERACTIONS 93
questioning my reasoning or reactions to classroom situations. When I

was a student, I recall my feelings as being ‘Well he’s the teacher and
there is nothing I can say about a situation.’
“However, there is more to being a teacher than just teaching. I will
have to pull down my defenses and open up. Maybe, this is the ‘safer’
way to go. However, this poses another problem for me because I don’t
open myself up like a can of beans for anyone, at least not a casual
acquaintance. This is something that unfolds for me naturally over a
period of time, as trust and understanding develop. Therefore, my per-
sonal interaction with students doesn’t begin on the first day. It takes
time—I believe you will agree—that personal relationships cannot be
achieved in forty-two minutes. However, I am considering opening up
more about my feelings and personal reflections to hasten the growth
of personal interaction or congruent interaction. Doing this at the start
of school I hope will create an understanding more readily between
myself and my students than my past experience has shown.”
“As far as the curriculum goes, I have not been totally honest with
myself or the kids. I know I have to try to approach the subject matter
from many different viewpoints to find a way that’s congruent to me.
Looking back, I can see now that the lessons in which I was congruent
were always the best. I know, for example, that I should use the social
studies book less and plan more interesting lessons tied to what I feel
is important about the subject. I don’t have difficulty showing how I
feel, but in some areas what I have been projecting is negative feelings.
I also must train myself to be more flexible within the lesson.”
“My first reaction to the concept of congruence in evaluating myself

was that I rated myself as average. I can honestly recall many times
when I did not know how I felt and other times when I knew how I felt
but could not find the proper words to express it. Also, I have warned
the kids about my feelings but have not actually told them what they
are.”
“I firmly believe that being congruent with a class in the beginning

of a semester is a very difficult task, especially when you don’t know
what their reaction will be. Maybe the problem here could be need for
94 FOR CHAPTER 11
approval on my part. Now, I can clearly see that I have a little more
difficulty expressing my feelings about their behavior than expressing
my feelings on particular subject matter.”
“When examining whether I ‘say what I feel and feel what I say,’ I
realized that for the most part this is not true. I find that it is of great im-
portance to think about and evaluate my true feelings on subject matter,
rules, warning systems, administrative rules, and personal issues before
I begin teaching. This is something I never did. Consequently, I was
faced with many instances of disruptive behavior because the children
did not know ‘where I was at’ regarding these areas.”
“Having some students older than myself and teaching all boys pre-
sented a bit of a problem to me, and I really did hide myself under the
cloak of teacher ‘99.9 percent strength’ that first semester. That pres-
sure was really great and it took its toll—I cried often that first term af-
ter I came home from trying to banish the ‘me’ from the teacher role.”
“The importance of being congruent when dealing with kids cannot

be overemphasized. I have come to realize that many times when I
stammer and search for the right words, it is exactly those times when
I don’t really believe or feel what I’m saying. This gets the kids suspi-
cious, and rightly so, and very often leads to discipline problems, either
by individual students or the entire class. Since I am not a physically
threatening teacher, it is necessary that I consistently convey to the
children the kind of ‘person-teacher’ I am. As I seek to trust and be
trusted by students, I must not talk down to or deceive the students in
any way.”
“I can speak, I can write, and most times I can understand the way
that I feel. At other times, though, when I am removed from being alone
with myself, I have trouble relating my feelings to others. I am afraid
that other people will not accept my feelings, and even though I under-
stand how I feel I’m not sure I accept them as being valid myself.”
“Congruence is that quality that allows a teacher to express his true

feelings about his subject area of teaching or in his personal relation-
ships with his students. When I began teaching, I found that I had many
problems expressing my true feelings toward a student if he was being
disruptive in my class. Holding my anger inside me usually made mat-
ters worse because the student didn’t really know where I stood with
regard to his behavior. At this time, however, I have very little trouble
letting a student know how I feel about him or about something he had
done. Also, my attitude toward teaching some topics in mathematics
still gives me problems. I do not get very excited about teaching verbal
problems in algebra, and I think the students detect this, and sometimes
get ‘turned off.’ Congruence is a very important quality to have be-
cause it can say much about the credibility of the teacher.”
“In the beginning of the year, I established some classroom rules that
I became uncomfortable with after taking this course. I have changed
these rules because it has become impossible for me to congruently en-
force these rules. Rules such as ‘No spiral notebooks,’ ‘Math and Spell-
ing must be done in pencil’ and ‘No candy for lunch’ seem purposeless
now. I don’t have to prove who is the boss. There is no boss. Regarding
school rules, I tell my feeling about them. If I genuinely agree, I say so.
If I don’t, I say so, adding that they will have to follow these rules in
the school, but I am willing to bend them in my classroom.”
Following Through
“I have trouble being consistent about following through with pun-

ishments. This is probably because I am not congruent about them. I
still tend to ‘blurt,’ and then don’t follow through. I am learning not to
say, ‘If you do that again, I’ll call your mother, send you to the office,
keep you after school every day for a month.’ Before I call in a third
party I have to ask myself if it’s necessary.”
“I find that at times I forget to give that extra homework assignment

or call that parent or talk to a student during the day because I am
overwhelmed by the demands and pressures of the job. Sometimes the
schedule is changed, something comes up that I must do that day for
my supervisor, or I have so many interruptions that the classwork does
not get done and everything else is forgotten.”
96 FOR CHAPTER 11
“Sometimes I just didn’t want to be bothered with calling a par-

ent. The reason is not that I didn’t want to be bothered but that I was
afraid. I was afraid of being told that I wasn’t doing a good job. I can
remember one parent who couldn’t understand why his son was doing
so poorly. After I explained the behavior displayed by his child every
day, the father blew up at me and told me that it was my job to control
his son. I wasn’t afraid during this encounter, but I was afraid of having
to come in contact with this man again.”
“When I threaten to take away a party or some such treat from the
children, I usually don’t. If I do take it away, I find a reason to give it
back to them. This leads the children to believe they can get away with
minor infractions. Although I find it difficult to follow through on a
threat, I must learn to carry it through. In the long run it will be better
for the children and me.”
“I tend not to be able to follow through on the warnings I give

students when they misbehave. I tend to speak before I think things
through, i.e., basically I tend to blurt! For example, a student disrupted
the class from learning by talking to her neighbor. I told the student af-
ter reprimanding her twice before that if she continued to talk, I would
send her to the dean. She continued to talk and I didn’t send her to
the dean. After I realized what I had said to this student, I knew that I
couldn’t send her to the dean because in my school we are not supposed
to send this type of case to the dean; we are supposed to handle it by
ourselves. If I carried through my threat, it would only come back into
my lap again. What I should have said to this student is that she should
see me after class where we can discuss the matter.”
“I am definitely inconsistent and I know it can mess me up. It’s just

that I’m lazy and so many things need more than one follow-up that I
neglect doing it. If I could do it in a one-try-one-follow-up process, I
could manage, but as the term progresses, I get bogged down in other
stuff and don’t follow through the second or third time. The record
keeping alone! This is going to be much more difficult for me to do.
After all, I’m in control of expressing congruence and there’s no pa-
perwork involved. Maybe if I can get those disciplinary steps worked
out, I’ll be able to see the results that will encourage me to keep it up
for the necessary ‘breaking-in’ period.”
“This area is definitely the most difficult to be successful in. There

are times the thing I tell the students is not quite the same as my
follow-through. There are many reasons for this inconsistency, but my
problem is mainly that I state more than I really wish to enforce. For
example, I have an official class that is very noisy. I warned them that
if the noise persists, I will assign seats to the class, even though I’d
rather not because it makes extra work for myself. The class ignored
my warning, so I repeated my warning about assigned seats and I still
didn’t do it. There went my consistency. After the third or fourth warn-
ing, two days later, I forced myself to assign seats. At this point it was
difficult. I am now thinking more clearly about my warnings and not
biting too much to chew.”
“I find that I am not a consistent person. I do not follow through

on my warnings. I have been working on this concept recently. In the
past, I felt some of my warnings were too harsh for the type of behavior
problem the student exhibited. I also find that I have a tendency toward
favoritism. Therefore, I do not always give the same to every child for
the same type of behavior. I would say that I tend to blurt at least two
or three times a day, an unfortunate rate.
“Even though these are spontaneous responses, I sometimes feel I
am waiting for an opportunity to respond. To me it is an opportunity
to come up with a great line. I have this almost wholly irresistible
urge to come up with that great line even though it usually goes over
the heads of my students. I believe, this being the case, that it is done
just to please and entertain myself, and while I am being momentarily
entertained it can lead to chaos. For example, I’m writing on the board
and suddenly I hear a radio blast. If I know where it’s coming from, I
might wheel and throw a piece of chalk in the direction of the offending
student and tell him if he doesn’t turn off the radio and put it away I’m
going to turn him off and lock him away for good. I don’t even know
what this means, and neither do the kids, but the words sound right
and the message is clear. Now, obviously, I’m not going to lock him
anywhere but that’s not really important at that instant. My kids just
98 FOR CHAPTER 11
stop work and watch the show. With one blurt I have disrupted the class
with no chance of following up on that blurt. Fortunately, the student
will almost always put the radio away but that does not preclude his
bringing it in again another day and forcing me to act again—this time,
hopefully, with some sense.
“Sometimes the blurt will be truly creative. At one time I would
engage in ‘snapping,’ the art of putting another person down, but it led
to absolute chaos. Now I might be in the middle of a discussion where
most people are raising hands while one or two are calling out. They
are probably not even calling out answers, just opinions or observa-
tions. Perhaps I’ll blurt to the few calling out, ‘Keep yelling out and
I’ll cut your tongue out.’ They’ll look at me as if I’m crazy. Perhaps
I’ll say, ‘Use your hands, you know, the things you use to swing from
branch to branch.’ Or ‘What’s the matter, if you raise your hands your
armpits will knock us out?’ The class falls into instant hysteria. Then
I’ll say, ‘If you continue calling out, I’m going to throw you out.’ They
sense immediately that since I helped to create the atmosphere of chaos
I won’t throw them out. Now most times my blurts do not lead to a
situation quite as chaotic as this.
“But they do lead to my saying things that I know I won’t follow up
on and my kids know I won’t follow up on so another barrier is down,
and I am now closer to being at the mercy of my students. Though
blurts might be spontaneous reactions, I feel I can still work on them
by working to remain stable and consistent in my teaching without giv-
ing into certain whims of my own personality. It is one of my hardest
problems.”
Being Appropriate
“My main focus from now on will be on the growth of the children.
There have been many times when I have talked about myself to my
class for no purpose but to serve my ego. I have also cheated the class,
I am certain, by doing lesson plans that have been more convenient for
myself than beneficial to them. My biggest problem is saying things
that are not appropriate for the situation. I enjoy being the center of
attention in the class, and many times I make comical statements at
the expense of some child. I must try to make appropriate statements
to the children.”
“Being professional is doing what is good for my classes and not

what is convenient for myself. Many times, during the course of a
working day, I am tempted to do the easy thing. Sometimes, I am not
professional and succumb to my desire to rest and take it easy.”
Being Fair
“I realize now that I let some students ‘get by’ for subjective rea-
sons.”
“I have a bias for students who look like other people in my family.”
“For some kids, I have put missing decimal points in on test papers.”
“I used to give class punishment assignments and then secretly ap-

proach some ‘goodie-goodies’ and tell them they didn’t have to do it.”
“I think I tend to call on boys more often than girls.”
TRAINING EXERCISES
Exercise One: Handling Those Feelings and

Needs That Can Lead to Miscalls
(a) Make a list here of areas or responsibilities you feel a lack of pride
in or areas you feel irresponsible about because you are procrastinating
(in and/or out of school). Then, in the right-hand column set a deadline
day you will do the item by.
Area Deadline
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
(b) To feel less powerless, stop now and make a “to-do” list for this
week and prioritize the items. Get organized. Decide on a day you will
100 FOR CHAPTER 11
spend after school organizing your desk and classroom. Tell a friend
about these plans to feel some support.
(c) To stop storing up angers, make a list here of all the irritations (in
and/or out of school) you are feeling.
Angers
1.
2.
3.
4.
Now plan to do one or more of the following with each anger:
A. Meet a friend after school who’s a good nonjudgmental listener

and just try to vent what’s bugging you.
B. Do some strenuous exercise.
C. Get away to a place for a while that is a complete change of
environment.
D. Write a nasty letter (you never mail) to a person you’re angry
with.
E. In a private place, make believe that your pillow is one of the
people you’re angry with, and yell at it and hit it.
(d) To cope with your loneliness and sense of meaninglessness, you

must be with more people and share meanings with them. Write down
three persons’ names here you will call this week and work on a friend-
ship with them. Also, decide now to try two new meaningful projects
this month.
Friend
1.
2.
3.
New Project
1.
2.
3.
(e) Write down here the names of students to whom you particularly
overreact. Then, in the right column try to identify if there is anyone
these students reminds you of (including you).
Students Remind Me of
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
(f) To identify any prejudices you may have, place a checkmark next to
those you are most attracted to, an X next to those not attracted to, and
an N next to those you find to be neutral or “not sure” for you. Here
may be the biases you need to watch in your attitudes and behavior.
Blacks______; Overweight people_______; Polish people______;
Whites______; Skinny people______; Germans______; Asians______;
Short people______; Physically disabled______; Hispanics______; Tall
people______; WASPS______; Heterosexuals______; Long-haired
males______; Long-haired females______; Jews______; Homosexu-
als______; Protestants______; Men______; crew cuts______; Catho-
lics______; Women______; Poor dressers______; Atheists______;
Irish people______; Cute or pretty______; Muslims______; Passive
students______; Write here, others __________________________
and check or X.
(g) if you feel “curriculum pressure,” write out here a short note to the
person (you yourself?) who is pushing and rushing you. Then, either re-
ally deliver the note, or talk to him or her about the pressures you feel.
102 FOR CHAPTER 11
Exercise Two: Working on Being Congruent in Your General

Interaction with Your Students
Review the congruence diagrams in Chapter 11, section B. Now

draw how you are as teacher here (and/or have someone else draw you).
How incongruent are you? Why? (Review the reasons for incongru-
ence in Chapter 8, B; Chapter 9, A; and Chapter 11, B.) Write yourself
some advice here about your own ability to be congruent.
Exercise Three: Working on Being a Real Person with Your

Students
Review the ways you can put your “person” into your “teacher” on p.
277. Check off at least four ways you will try this week. Write them down
here, and grade yourself on how well you did at the end of the week.
Ways to be more real
1.
2.
3.
4.
Grade
1.
2.
3.
4.
Exercise Four: Working on Being Congruent Regarding Your Rules
Describe five rules you try to enforce in your classroom with each of
their warned consequences. Now give them a letter grade: (A) I believe
in this very much; (B) somewhat; (C) a little; (D) not at all.
Rule Warning Grade

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Exercise Five: Working on Congruence Regarding Your Subject

Matter
(a) List five topics you will teach this week. For each give a letter
grade: (A) I think this is very important, I care about it; (B) I believe in
the importance of this somewhat, care about it somewhat; (C) I don’t
feel this is valuable, I don’t care about it; (D) I think this is useless and
boring.
Topic Grade
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
(b) Choose a topic from above you did not give yourself an “A.” Now,
try to justify it. Why learn this? Give a reason. Then, ask, “why this?”
etc. Can you reach some feeling you believe in close to your “heart”?
104 FOR CHAPTER 11
(c) Close your eyes and imagine you’re in the woods. It’s a beautiful
day. You hear some children playing off in the distance. Go to them.
They are smart, have never been to school, and have never been in the
world. You can teach them one thing, only one thing. And they will
listen. What would you teach them? Write it here:
________________________________________________________
This fantasy of what you would teach them may reveal where your
“heart” is, what you care about. Try to attach your curriculum to this
deep care within you.
(d) Prepare an opening talk to your students about a curriculum topic
you gave yourself a “B” on. Try to put your true feelings into this talk.
Ask a friend, or a classmate, or colleague to listen to it. Now, ask them
to rate you on how congruent, believable, motivating you sound.
Exercise Six: Working on Following Through
Look at your list of rules and warnings you wrote down in Exercise
Four above. Give the rule two checkmarks if you always tend to fol-
low through, a single checkmark if sometimes, an “X” if seldom. Why
don’t you follow through? Are you incongruent, lazy, too busy, wor-
ried about anger, hurting someone, forgetful?
Exercise Seven: Working on Being Appropriate
Look at the rules and warnings you listed in Exercise Four. Give
them each a letter grade: (A) this is for the students’ sake; (B) for their
sake and my sake; (C) mostly for my sake, somewhat helps them; (D)
for my sake, doesn’t help them. How appropriate are you?
Exercise Eight: Working on Being Fair

Again, look at your rules and warnings you listed in Exercise Four.
Now look at the questions about fairness listed on pp. 292–293. Can
you answer “No” to each question for each of your rules? How fair are
you? Which tendencies do you need to watch?
CHECKLIST
1. Are you making any miscalls?

2. Are you handling these situations in a more constructive way?
3. Are you being congruent about your rules and warnings?
4. Are you being congruent about the subject matter in your de-
livery?
5. Are you acting congruent when you generally interact with your
students?
6. Would you feel uncomfortable with your students if they sud-
denly saw you eating a sloppy pizza at a pizza parlor?
7. Are you following through with your warnings, rewards, and
punishments?
8. Are your actions and what you say “appropriate”?
9. Are your rules, warnings, rewards, and punishments “fair”?
10. If you are mostly concerned about grades K–6, did you take the
time to revise some of the suggestions in Chapter 11, section F?
FOR CHAPTER 12
Preventing Your Rules from Falling

Apart and Growing Healthy Students
“Well now, since most of these are about HS I can’t really say that
they pertain to me but I really liked # 7. Your first response to an in-
fraction should be as nonverbal as possible. I like the statement that you
don’t want to accidentally award ‘negative attention.’ I also liked giv-
ing the misbehavior as little attention as possible. # 8 is also good. But
then they really do go hand in hand now don’t they? #9 is also good.
Who wants to be the driver sitting in their car by the side of the road
with the police car behind it and the lights flashing. Every other driver
who passes by says, Boy I am glad that isn’t me. I want to remember
to have discussions in private. I just have to remember to breathe first!
Ten nice big cleansing breaths.
“We have discussed this before, but I agree with 12 by letting my
students know from day one what I expect and being consistent. #14
I have seen some lists or hierarchies hanging on the wall in some
classrooms. This is pretty clear for the students and it goes along
with as much nonverbal attention as possible. All you really have to
do is look at the student with that ‘teacher look’ and then look at the
107
108 FOR CHAPTER 12
list of consequences then sorta shake your head and go on. No words
necessary. [WOW] #18 I just really do not like tattling and this is one
that really speaks to that. I tell my students that the one who tattles
is the one who is in trouble. Now if there is something that is life
threatening, then I want to know about it, but privately not for the
whole group to hear. So, if Johnny is pinching Julie and Julie is hurt,
come and tell me, Julie, raise your hand and call me over, let me deal
with Johnny. When Julie does this she will move to the highest level
on the behavior chart and Johnny will be in time-out with a letter of
apology to be written for homework and mom will need to sign it too.
He may not really be sorry, then, but he will be after mom has to sign
the letter too.
“But, I really like your idea of doing these in private [GLAD] so that
Johnny doesn’t get extra attention. # 20 is so true. I don’t really like to
call in a third party, because it is giving up authority in my classroom
to someone else and I may not like the way that third party handles
the situation but I am stuck because I turned it over to them to handle.
[YES] However, there are times when the principal must be called and
then she/he is in charge of the situation. Fighting would be one of these
situations for me.” YES GOOD UNDERSTANDINGS ABOVE, AND
GLAD THESE GUIDELINES WERE USEFUL.
“I learned a great deal in this course in regard to this topic. I had

thought I had a good system of rules and warnings, which I realize was
less than adequate. My system was verbal and was not specific enough.
At times, depending upon the child, I would bend the rules. I did not
have enough warning steps and those that I did have were not really
clear cut. I tended to call in an outside party before it was necessary to
do so.”
“My problem in the warning category is that often when I get in a

very pissed-off state, I jump steps and wind up putting myself in a spot.
For instance, I’m in a nasty mood and Kim decides to throw a paper
across the room into the basket. I snap for Kim to hold the paper until
after class. A little while later Kim takes another shot. This time I might
make the mistake of blurting out something like, ‘Kim, if you do that
once more I’ll have you suspended for a week.’ What I am trying to say
PREVENTING YOUR RULES FROM FALLING APART AND GROWING HEALTHY STUDENTS 109
is that quite often I’ll get pissed and lose control temporarily and find
that my warnings jump steps in a most dramatic fashion.”
“Unfortunately, my first response to a misbehavior tends to be a

verbal one. I tend to feed negative attention and not reward positive be-
havior. I do not reprimand with as little attention as possible. I tend to
reprimand with a question. I tend to blurt. I tend to have large steps in
my warning system. I tend to call in a third person early in my system.
I tend not to let students know what is next in my warning system.”
“I feel that I need to sit down and set up better rules and a better
warning system for each type of infraction. Here is my new warning
system for students who ‘call out’:
Student Does / I Do
1. Calls out. I look at the student and call on someone else.
2. Calls out again. I ignore the student who calls out and call on
someone else who raises his/her hand.
3. Calls out a third time. I tell the student to see me after class, and
if he does not show up he’ll lose two points off his grade.
4. Student does not show up after class and calls out the next day
in class. I tell the student that he has lost two points off his
grade for not coming to see me after class yesterday, and from
now on each time he calls out he will lose two more points off
his grade.
5. Raises hand. I call on the student and I tell him that I’m glad
to see that he knows the right way to participate in the class
discussion.
“This has really been so valuable. One thing I inherited from my

mother is my short temper and big mouth. I would start yelling at a
kid, throw out ridiculous threats, and not understand why the kid was
getting more upset and nastier. He was also winning. I could not imag-
ine why I was not in control. I find when I use these steps I am more
relaxed, the kids are more relaxed, the class doesn’t get involved, and
they work. I have been much calmer, better prepared, and enjoy my
classes more.”
110 FOR CHAPTER 12
“I find this to be a great weakness of mine. Since I have been teach-

ing I never had a set of warning steps, but I have begun to try them
and hope to use them from now on. I have even discussed them with
my principal and explained to her how helpful I have found them. In
the past, I always found myself threatening or warning a child but very
often that was where I stopped. I would sometimes give silly punish-
ments like writing spelling words fifty times each.
“That might work for a little while, but I find the same thing hap-
pening, so l know it wasn’t very effective. Many times when I’d give
punishments I also found myself not checking them or making sure
they got done, so many children would not even do them. The problem
I find is to really get enough warning steps. Because of the age of my
class (2nd grade) I am limited in their punishment. They are not per-
mitted to stay after school since they cannot get home by themselves.
“However, as a substitute, I now keep them in during their lunch
hour. Taking away a child’s playtime proves to be very effective. I also
keep in contact more with the parents of the problem kids. This really
is helpful. I used to find this more of an inconvenience for me, but it’s
worthwhile since it seems to be working. My principal is also aware
of what I have been doing and agrees to get involved if needed. So far
this hasn’t happened.”
“Negative Attention: I can remember many times I put a student in

the library because he was a pain in the ass. I know now he loved his
punishment. I should have dealt with him in other ways, such as extra
homework assignments, detention, zeros, but most importantly not to let
anyone see he got attention, never reprimand him publicly. Eventually,
he will burn out if I don’t feed the negative attention he thrives on.”
“I do not have a systematic list of rules and warnings. This is a

problem area for me that I have been giving serious thought to. I gen-
erally find myself favoring certain children. If a child I like is chewing
gum, I will make a light remark about spitting it out. But if a child that
‘bugged’ me chews a piece of gum, I will be much firmer with him/her
and make a big problem out of a small issue. This type of inconsistent
rule-making is not fair to the class. I am working at laying down the
same rules for everyone in all situations.”
“See Me after Class! The second most interesting and important part
of the course for me was dealing with ‘see me after class.’ I have never
been good with words and somehow when it got to be after class, I
would change what I wanted to say to something nicer. Of course, later,
I would be very upset with myself for not telling it like it was. I would:
1. Try to be logical

2. Play a game of ‘chess’
3. Try to win the person’s feelings
4. Have a discussion
5. Put my anger into the form of a question
6. Show inappropriate anger
7. Blurt things out
In the past several weeks I have changed to:
1. Expressing my feelings on the problems

2. Being very brief
3. Stating my follow-up action
“Situation 1: In the case of Joe asking me about my belly dancing I

told him after class that I did take dancing lessons, that it did not have
anything to do with math class, and that I would appreciate it greatly
if he not mention it again. He was a little surprised at my reaction and
was lost for words. He could not argue with me because I expressed
how I felt.”
“Although I agree that we should be very direct in telling a student

after class what is incorrect about his behavior, I do not think that is
enough. I agree that I should not try to change his personality or feel-
ings about me; however, I try to give the child the opportunity to ex-
plain the reasons or rationale for his actions if he so desires. This does
not result in a ‘chessboard’ discussion; instead, it represents a coopera-
tive attempt to understand and remove the source of the misbehavior.
If a child does not appear to want to discuss the problem, then I think it
is correct to simply lay down your feelings, rules, and warnings about
continued breaking of those rules.”
112 FOR CHAPTER 12
“Calling Out: The most difficult thing that I found was not to give
any recognition to those students who called out. Very often I was
tempted to look at them or take their answer as they called out and
raised their hand. Also, I found it personally difficult not to respond
to a question right away. I still feel that students might be turned off if
they cannot get their question answered.”
“Obviously, I’m not as quick as I should be to observe and reward

the person who stops calling out and begins to raise a hand. In the
actual classroom, I probably allow questions to be asked sometimes,
which interrupt my train of thought. Indeed, it seems that I need to
concentrate and practice the art of being deaf, dumb, and blind to those
who do call out and, yet, alert to changes that take place.”
“When I tried to follow the guidelines to prevent calling out in my

classes, I found it quite challenging. At the beginning of the week, I
was very self-conscious because sometimes I would start to frown at
students who would call out, when I should have been deaf, dumb, and
blind to them. I also forgot to give a lot of attention to students who
raised their hands. By Wednesday I was starting to get the hang of it,
though, and the guidelines were becoming effective. The students who
almost always call out started to get angry when I ignored them.
“Most of them just stopped calling out and would not even raise
their hand. One student started making comments such as, ‘I knew that
answer,’ when I would call on someone who was raising their hand. I
also remembered to look straight at the students and thank them.”
“Fighting: I don’t hold students who fight. I once got in trouble

because I held the kid with too much force and he claimed he was hurt
by me!”
“Once I broke up a fight between two seventh grade boys. (I am a

female.) I guess I was lucky to come out unharmed.”
“Cheating: The idea of sitting in the back of the room seems terrific.
I like walking around the room better, but then I can’t get much work
done during the test.”
“If I see a cheater, I just go up to him/her and look at them and

squeeze their arm. They get the idea.”
“Lateness: I used to stop in the middle of my teaching, walk over

to my Delaney book and alter absentees to latenesses for all students
who came in late. This drove me crazy! Now, ‘a late student must enter
through the back door, if there is one, and quietly sit down in his/her
seat. The student is marked absent and must see the teacher after class
to have the absent mark changed to a lateness; otherwise the absent
mark will stay.’ I have found this policy to be quite effective in my
classes. Students used to come in five to ten minutes late and would
interrupt either my instructions or organization of a game. With this
new policy the students come in, listen to my instructions, and wait till
I have a question period before they ask what they have missed. The
repetition is good for the entire class as it reinforces the given instruc-
tions. In your policy you do not recommend answering late students’
questions. However, I must answer all questions and make sure that
everyone fully understands the activity so no one gets hurt.”
“Homework: Regarding not accepting late homework, I wish that I

had enforced this rule. The amount of late work I received on the eve
of report cards was tremendous, adding stress by doubling my work,
correcting papers to get grades to average marks. I penalized late work,
but I actually should not have accepted it. I think that I accepted it
because I feared that had I not accepted it, some students never would
have done any work. I did use the policy of glancing over homework at
the beginning of class and writing the names of those who didn’t have
it. I like the idea of commenting on homework without grading it, ex-
cept occasionally to keep students on their toes. I also like the idea that
homework be used as an opening to a class lesson and excluding from
discussion those who are on my list as not having done the homework.”
“I have not followed the homework policy that was suggested in

class; however, I have decided to modify my own homework policy.
This semester I decided to accept late homework unconditionally. I
still accept late homework; however, they must be handed in within
three days and they are marked late. I have found that most students
114 FOR CHAPTER 12
now hand homework in on time. I accept late homework because I feel

my homework is good for reinforcing what has been learned. No mat-
ter when they do the homework, even though we have gone over it in
class, they are still reinforcing what has been learned. I found that when
I did not accept late homework, many students rarely handed in any
homework. This semester, however, most of my students have handed
in every homework assigned.”
“The homework idea works very well. At the beginning the students
were trying to hand me their homework at the end of each period, tell-
ing me that they forgot to show me at the beginning, but soon they real-
ized that I meant what I had said. The only problem is that sometimes I
forget the students who had had the assignment and I call on those who
hadn’t. Then I keep looking in my grade book and time is wasted, but
I am working on it.”
“Some Psychological Considerations: At times, I feel that punish-

ment is necessary to keep obnoxious students in line. I do feel that
whatever punishment I give should be educational so that it reinforces
my teaching. I would never look down on a student or belittle a student
by giving punishments just to show authority. When I do give punish-
ments, it is always after many warnings and never comes as a surprise.
I think that never to punish students would give them every opportunity
to misbehave.”
“Personally, I don’t feel that I would like to give my students an op-

portunity to formulate their own rules. First of all, I feel that my classes
should follow the rules that I feel are appropriate, not the reverse. Sec-
ond, I’ve found that there is always a group of clowns in my classes,
and I couldn’t imagine allowing them to make up rules. I cringe just to
think of what they would allow.”
“Since I started teaching in the public schools in September, I have

been trying to figure out a way to make up class rules that would allow
the students to participate in designing them. I feel that a good way
may be to ask students to write down the rules they would like to have
in different categories (homework, cheating, lateness, etc.). I would
then look all of them over and choose the best ones or modify others. I
want the rules to be congruent with the way I feel, but I also think that
if students help design them, they are placing the responsibility for their
behavior on themselves.”
“Assertiveness: As a student in junior high school as well as high

school, I was always anxious to discover what grade I had received on
a test. Therefore, when I give a test to my students I feel I should return
the corrected papers as soon as possible. If I’m not able to return the
papers on the following day, I experience a sense of personal guilt, and
I often have trouble telling or reminding my students what they have to
do or should have done. As far as emotional conflicts are concerned, I
find that telling a student that he can obtain a bathroom pass only dur-
ing the third and seventh periods is a bit ridiculous.
“However, it is one of the rules, and yet I have mixed reactions about
this rule. In addition to this is another school rule that says that all
homework assignments must be signed by a parent. If a child has a par-
ent who works irregular hours and cannot sign the homework, should
I penalize the student and give him a zero or an incomplete grade even
if his work appears to be correct? These are some of the conflicts I’ve
been confronted with, but it was not until this concept was discussed
that I learned why I sometimes have trouble asserting myself. Fear of
my own anger is another variable that sometimes presents a problem
for me in asserting myself. I try to control my anger because there
have been at least three occasions during my teaching career when I
attempted to retaliate to get even for things students did to me.”
“Not being able to assert myself most of the time has something to
do with my fear of the kid’s anger. Referring to the homework rules,
I’ll enforce them to the point of being very pushy, knowing beforehand
that the kid will never hate me for something he knows is part of school
requirements. On the other hand, I would be afraid of the kid’s anger
if asking to go to the bathroom I say no because I sense that this is his
way of getting out of the classroom. Soon after, I’ll be calling him and
let him go, only to be in peace with my conscience. I could be more
assertive, if sensing his play, I kept my word and let his insistence con-
vince otherwise. Also, I want the kids to like me. One of the reasons I
116 FOR CHAPTER 12
would handle the bathroom situation the way I did is I would not want
the kid to feel that I am insensitive and intransigent. It is like that I am
assuring their love, their support.”
“I really haven’t accepted the idea that it’s all right to be angry. I
associate anger with immaturity and lack of control. In my mind I’ve
separated ‘emotional anger’ and ‘intellectual anger.’ I get ‘intellectu-
ally’ angry about a lot of things: racism, sexism, poverty, and I do re-
ally feel these things. The way I release the anger is by demonstrating
or writing a leaflet or giving a speech. I guess I think anger is OK if it’s
for the benefit of someone else—or a group of people.
“Asserting myself in certain situations has been a problem that I am
trying to overcome. Many times, I have not been as direct and forceful
as necessary. The fear of anger and a confrontation is something that
has always bothered me, and for these reasons I have developed an at-
titude that prevents me from asserting myself when the situation calls
for it.”
“My major block in being assertive is wanting to be liked by my

students. I definitely want my students to like me both as a teacher and
a person. But will they still like me after I let off some steam at them?
I must learn to assert myself more and worry less about their reactions.
The problem is that I envy the smooth, easygoing teacher who has a
solution for everything and is well liked by his students.
“For the most part I am liked, but I don’t want to pay a price for that.
My problems with asserting myself in class have gone through stages
directly related to my emotional growth. At the beginning of my teach-
ing career, my biggest problem was that of needing the kids to approve
of me, like me, etc. I was very unsure of myself both at home (it was
the first year of my marriage) and at school. I was then unaware of the
extent of my problem. That need continued until recently (though a
touch remains), and it caused me to back off many times for the sake
of being the ‘good guy.’
As I made progress in therapy and unearthed all the hidden angers
of my childhood deprivations, I became terrified of expressing my
anger in class because I felt it was a lit fuse to a stick of TNT. The
last two years, I’ve had problems for other reasons. I felt a lack of ac-
complishment and an overwhelming sense of loneliness out of school
that made me need the children more and affected my ability to assert
myself. I also felt guilty over not keeping up with my professional re-
sponsibility—that of marking papers, giving tests, etc. I remedied the
latter problem of guilt by sitting down with myself and devising a new
system that enabled the children to help me out by marking much of
their own work. This helped me feel better about me, which naturally
reflected itself in the way I related to the kids.”
“I have the most trouble asserting myself when I feel guilty. If the
lesson that I am teaching is bad, I find it hard to force the students to
behave. This is usually a result of lack of proper preparation on my
part. However, I question if I should assert myself. My solution to this
is to have an appropriate math game or activity handy to substitute for
the lesson.”
“Another area that I feel has been a weakness is over-identifying

with the students. Whenever a student would complain to me about
something, my tendency would be to hear the student out thoroughly,
even if the complaint did not warrant my giving him as much attention
as I did. I came to realize that the student seemed to be like me when
I was a kid but not getting the attention that I wanted. I was, in effect,
satisfying little Jeff. After speaking to you, I realized that little Jeff is
no longer here, so I had to get these thoughts and tendencies out of my
mind.”
TRAINING EXERCISES
Exercise One: Rating Your Present Rules and Warnings
List here six or seven of the rules and warnings you are presently
using in your classroom. In the column at the right, place the number
of the guideline that is not being followed by you for the rule. (The
guidelines are listed at the beginning of Chapter 12 in the text, sec-
tion A.)
118 FOR CHAPTER 12
Rule Guideline Not Followed
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Which rules are bad ones? Which guidelines do you tend not to heed?
Exercise Two: Not Giving Negative Attention
List your tendencies here where you tend to give negative attention:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Now, write down here three ways you can reprimand a student in a
non-audience setting.
1.
2.
3.
Exercise Three: Deciding Your Limits
Have a friend, colleague, or classmate throw demand questions

at you, such as: “Can I go to the bathroom during class?” “Can I go
twice in one period?” “Can you lend me a dime?” “Do I have to do the
homework?” “Can I call you by your first name?” Ask them to make all
their questions answerable by either: “yes,” “no,” “maybe,” or “none
of your business.”
You must answer each question as fast as you can, on the spot.
However, if you take the easy road of “maybe,” you must answer, “If
what?” You must state your conditions. Since teachers often can’t give
rationales, you can’t justify your judgments. Just answer “yes,” “no,”
“maybe” (if what?) or “none of your business.” Do this exercise with
your partner. Then reverse roles: let the other person be the teacher and
you be the demanding, questioning student.
Where are you cloudy on your limits?
Do you say “yes” more often than you mean because of fear of anger
or of being disliked?
Could you follow through with your “nos”? (Have your partner see
if s/he can change your answer by acting angry, sad, seductive, etc.)
Exercise Four: Deciding Your Warning Steps and Consequences
Try to fill in the chart below by trying this “nightmare.” Assume that
(in the left column) you are “teaching and all is going well,” and the
120 FOR CHAPTER 12
students (in the right column 1) are all “paying attention.” However,
suddenly, in 2 “a student calls out.” What would you do at this time?
Write your response in 2, the left column. Now assume that the student
violates whatever warning (or whatever you did) in 2. Imagine what it
is s/he does to violate you (write it out as 3 in the right column). Now,
what do you do about this 3?
Write your next graduated response in 3 (left column). Again, as-
sume in 4 that s/he violates your 3. Imagine the student’s 4, write it
out, and respond with your 4. And so on. Continue until you run out
of power. When you finish the “nightmare,” see if your warning steps
followed the guidelines discussed in this chapter, section A.
Exercise Five: Preparing Your Warnings and Rules
Write down a rule in the left column. Word it as you would actu-
ally say it to the class. In the right column, list at least four steps of
consequences you would use to enforce the rule. Do this for five rules.
(Certainly decide a rule for calling out, lateness, talking and disturbing
the class, and gum chewing.) Do your warned consequences follow the
guidelines discussed in this chapter?
Exercise Six: Evaluating Your Rules
Look at your rules objectively. Try to write down every single rule
that you would like to see followed in your classroom. If you have a list
that is so long that you can’t remember them all right away, then you
will probably have trouble enforcing all of them. In addition, if there
are too many for you to handle effectively, then there are certainly too
many for your students to remember and follow to the letter.
Try going through your list to see which of those rules are truly im-
portant to you personally.
Which do you consider important because that’s how you were
taught?
Or because it’s always been done that way?
Which ones really enhance your teaching?
Versus giving you a false sense of power or control?
Which rules could be combined into a more general rule that would
be easier to remember and follow?
Rule Consequences
I. 1.
2.
3.
4.
II. 1.
2.
3.
4.
III. 1.
2.
3.
4.
IV. 1.
2.
3.
4.
V. 1.
2.
3.
4.
Exercise Seven: Clarifying Your Policies in Light of Some

Psychological Considerations
These issues discussed in Chapter 12, section D are difficult and

complex. Write out a short speech you believe in for each of the fol-
lowing issues:
1. The Use of Empathetic Listening

2. The Use of Rewards and Punishments
122 FOR CHAPTER 12
3. When Confronting Is Best

4. Using Punishments
5. Using Extrinsic Rewards
6. Should the Students Decide the Rules?
7. Out-of-School Suspensions
8. In-School Suspensions
Exercise Eight: Warding Off Bullying
1. Look around your classroom at your students. Which students

are off the “norm” for their peer group? Which students are
overweight, underweight, are of a different race, different sexual
orientation, may be considered “odd,” or too much of a “book-
worm” etc. These are the students who may be targets of bullying.
Let these students know in some small way that they can talk to
you about any situations or incidents that feel upsetting for them.
2. If one of these students is a victim, reread the section on: Strength-
ening the Victim. Which strategy might you try with them?
3. Can you work with this student’s parents to make this student
stronger? (See what parents can do in that same section on
Strengthening the Victim.)
4. Look over the forty-one Anti-Bullying School Strategies. Which
ones can you do? Which ones do you want your school to advo-
cate for?
Exercise Nine: Working on Asserting Yourself and Taking Stands
Below are the “blocks” to assertiveness that weaken this ability.

In the Rating Column, place 1 next to the ones that are Always your
problem; 2 Often; 3 Sometimes; 4 Never. Which is your problem(s)?
Blocks to Assertiveness Rating

1. Incongruence, thus Guilty
2. Inappropriateness, thus Guilty
3. Unfairness, thus guilty
4. Guilt for other areas
5. Conflicting feelings
6. Fear of other’s anger

7. Fear of your own anger
8. Low ego
9. I need the class to like me
10. Identification with the student(s)
TOTAL:_______
(The higher your Total, the stronger you are.)
Notice which ones received a 1 or 2. You should read the sugges-
tions for working on these in Chapter 12, G, and try to follow them.
CHECKLIST
1. Are you following as many of the guidelines as you can that are
suggested in this chapter?
2. Which guideline do you have trouble following?
3. Are you trying to reinforce the appropriate behavior with some
kind of rewards as much as possible, rather than always punish
the inappropriate behavior?
4. Are your rewards and punishments systematic, and do you keep
track of them?
5. Have you tried to apply some conflict resolution strategies to the
conflicts in your classroom?
6. Are you applying any of the strategies suggested in this chapter
to strengthen students to be less vulnerable to peer pressure?
7. Are you keeping an eye to trying to strengthen any victims that
you may have in your class?
8. Are you keeping your eye out for potential bully victims?
9. Are you trying any of the strategies to reform a student you
know tends to be a bully?
10. Have you tried to consult with the parents of victims, or parents
of bullies?
11. Are you trying to “unblock” any areas that are weak for you
personally that you may become more assertive?
12. If you are mainly concerned about grades K–6, have you taken
time to revise some of the suggestions in this chapter that have
been advised in section H? Like: What to do before the first day?
What to do the first day?
FOR CHAPTER 13
Specifics
“See Me After Class: Guideline that was significant to me: Do not
arm wrestle with child—don’t take challenge. Tell student why he or
she is here. ‘You called out, you disrupted my lesson and the learning
of the rest of the class.’ Then tell student the warning or reprimand.
Do not expose the victim to the hallway or to other students. This is
important in elementary school as well as high school because students
in the hallway or on the playground can easily distract students. Don’t
say ‘look at me when I talk to you’ because it’s silly to do so. Students
can’t be perfect and instead of asking them to have the correct stance
when talking to you, get to the point and summarize the situation and
the consequences to their behavior. What to do, ‘since you called out
. . . do page 21, if you don’t do page 21 . . . I will call your parent.’ It’s
important to not give a lecture on morals. Specify the behavior, and
that’s it.”
“The role-play exercise on See Me After Class. [WHAT DO YOU

NOTICE SPECIFICALLY FOR YOURSELF?] This was a funny
125
126 FOR CHAPTER 13
exercise to practice! I did it with my sister and she was pretty tough
(considering she never gets reprimanded and is a great student)! I found
that I did a good job on all of them because I was well prepared from
watching the examples on the DVD. Some guidelines I still need to be
reminded of: Don’t answer a ‘Why?!’ challenge. It is okay to explain
that I understand student’s feelings, but I need to remember to explain
why I cannot accept the disruptive behavior. Don’t ask, ‘Why did you
do this?’ Only go after the behavior. ‘But . . . but . . .’ don’t accept the
challenge and instead close the conversation.
“Significant to me: The most significant is ‘to try not to win the
battle with the student in front of the class,’ as for adolescents it matters
a lot what other students think of him/her rather than what the teacher
does. Specify the reason you asked to see the student after class and
why you are annoyed. Do not arm-wrestle—in other words ignore the
invitation for debate and carry on with your reprimand and warning.
Specify the punishment for the infraction (if required and depending
on the case). Warn with what you can actually follow through with
and what is fair (educational). Teacher places his/her back to the wall
so student is not facing his/her peers. Do not reprimand student’s reac-
tion to your reprimand. [YES] The whole guideline about handling an
aggressive student with a ‘do-now’ assignment while waiting for the
student to be escorted out.” YES, THESE WILL ALL BE USEFUL.
“Tell the student why you are ‘annoyed.’ This would tell the student
that I have feelings too and his actions distracted me from teaching the
other students. Give simple fair and appropriate warnings. Be and feel
congruent while doing this. Although I have told a student he was a
pain in the ass, I like the idea of letting the student know how his ac-
tions made me feel, i.e., angry, disappointed, frustrated, etc. ‘see me
after class’ is not a discussion. You need to control the discussion, it is
not a forum for the student to ‘arm wrestle’ you. I didn’t use this very
often, but I will in the future. Not arm wrestling but just going on with
what you expect. I like that. I also like the part about not expecting the
kid to look at you. I have done that and it just makes me more upset
when they don’t. I liked ‘so what, let them look at the floor.’ It is true,
they are hearing you whether they are looking at you or at the floor.”
YES, GOOD, YOU GOT IT.
SPECIFICS 127
“[I tried it.] I noticed that when I didn’t argue with him, my husband,
i.e., the ‘student’ and just told it like it was, he stopped arguing too
and listened. I also didn’t expect him to make eye contact. Why, has
that been so important in the past? Is it a sign of respect? I don’t know
but, you know, respect for each other needs to be earned. YES, AND
WHEN PEOPLE ARE BEING SCOLDED, YOU CAN’T EXPECT
SMILES.
“What I need not fall into: I explained ‘why’ and trying to win
student’s feeling. Unconsciously, I was part of the debate.” YES, WE
NEED TO RETRAIN OURSELVES AND OUR REACTIONS.
“Calling out: Particularly significant guideline: Do not face the class

when reprimanding the class. By facing the student or calling out one
student who misbehaves, that is giving him or her negative attention. It
is best not to call on the first student who raises their hand. Don’t need
to call on every student every time—this prolongs the lesson and can
endorse a loss of attention and therefore leads to withdrawn students.
If a student changes his or her behavior, call on him/her to immediately
reward this new behavior. [WHAT ARE/WERE YOUR BAD HABITS
HERE?] The above guidelines were significant to me because they
are guidelines that I need to personally focus on and remind myself
of while appropriately responding to students who call out. I need to
remember to not face the class while reprimanding them, to not call on
the first student who raises their hand, and to call on the students who
change their behavior. These guidelines require practice. By catching
myself and being mindful of the guidelines, I hope that I can eventu-
ally create a more positive learning environment. At first I wondered
about the just looking at the board and keep right on teaching approach.
I don’t know if I could own that one. I think I might turn around and
look at the wall on the other side of the room but I don’t think I could
just talk to the board with my back to the class.” FINE.
“Fight: Significant guidelines for me: Tell students that they will
both be punished no matter who started it. If both students fight, both
are in trouble. Don’t try and give students advice right away, wait and
let them cool down. It is never a good idea to try and talk to a child who
128 FOR CHAPTER 13
is angry because those feelings will transition into the next conversa-
tion. If breaking up a fight, grab and stop aggressive student (easier in
elementary grades!). Planned steps of punishment—if you are caught
fighting, I will call your parents. If you get caught fighting for the sec-
ond time, I will start suspension procedures.”
“If it couldn’t prevent a fight or strong verbal argument, I separate

the boys who are arguing and read them the riot act, and give them a
warning that they will go to the office the next time it happens. I watch
them very closely after that. I also will talk to the students separately
after class to cool them down. If it’s a fight, I try to separate the boys
or call a guard who will take them down to the office (school policy)
and write up a report.”
“A. Separate them before they start to fight, just don’t get caught in
the middle of the battle.
B. Or even weeks ago! It doesn’t matter who started it, if both
fought, both are in trouble.
C. Yep.
D. I cannot start suspension procedures, I can only write them
up and send the report to the office, of course, that can be the
beginning of the procedures, but I do not have the power to
suspend, so I don’t/won’t be even mentioning that word. I did
in the past and when the kid came back and was not suspended,
I lost credibility. I simply send them to the office for fighting.
[FINE]
E. Yep. Sometimes talking about it is only like throwing gas on
the fire.” YES.
“Cheat: Significant guidelines for me: Sit in the back of the rows of
desks so that students are unable to see you. When students can’t see
the teacher, they are less tempted to cheat. Give out different tests (two
forms). Give out test papers at the end of the day in order to prevent
disruptions. I have personally found that younger grades (K–2) have
been peering at one another’s papers during graded homework and
tests. This reminds me of the importance of explicit instruction and
SPECIFICS 129
reminding students that their work needs to be their own and if it is not,
consequences will be the result.”
“A. I like this one. B. I like this one a lot! C. Nope, gotta tell the truth
if I expect the same from my students. D. This one is really good! I
might have a tendency to make it more than ten points though. [FINE]
You cheat, you don’t get a passing grade in my room. E. I even have
cover sheets with their names on them that they can use from test to
test, that way it becomes the norm. G. I agree with this one to an extent.
When we are going over the test and I am giving the correct answers,
I want the students to know that they got that question wrong, so they
can write the correct answer on the test. I guess I can do that the next
day, if they bring their tests back. [FINE]
“I guess if I taught older students I would simply tell the class to
bring the tests back the next day and we would go over the answers, but
then we would still have the opportunity for arguments. Maybe give a
good warning before going over the answers that if there are any dis-
agreements during the test discussion that are not handled with respect,
that I will . . . give a warning here . . . that way the students will be
able to correct their tests and understand their mistakes. This is a pretty
fine line to walk.” HAVE THEM WRITE DOWN THE CORRECT
ANSWERS THEY THINK THEY MAY HAVE GOTTEN WRONG.
THEN GIVE BACK THE TESTS. THEY WILL REMEMBER ONES
THEY DOUBT.
“Come in late: Suggestions that I intend to try: ‘Late seats’ Leave

chair by front of back door for latecomers. Ignore them and motion
them to take the late seat. Verbalize the classroom system and the
responsibility of the student who is late to tell the teacher he/she was
late. WOW! The illustration of the school that used the ‘hall sweep’
was really phenomenal! I can’t believe that there was such a significant
change in tardiness that the Transit Authority called the school. What
an amazing example.”
“I didn’t have a back door, but if we were on the floor, late comers
knew to sit in the back. [FINE] Only problem with this whole section,
Howard, as a teacher of younger children, they are not to blame for
130 FOR CHAPTER 13
their tardiness. [YES, BUT] Their parents don’t get them to school
on time. Now, of course once they are at school and do not return to
the room after recess or lunch then that is a different situation.” NO,
STILL GIVE CONSEQUENCES FOR LATENESS! THE LITTLE
ONES WILL TELL THEIR PARENTS WHAT HAPPENED, WHICH
THEN MAY MAKE THE PARENTS GUILTY THEY GOT THEM
THERE LATE. OR, EVEN LITTLE ONES WILL GET ANNOYED
WITH THEIR PARENTS FOR BRINGING THEM LATE. DO NOT
EXCUSE LATENESS. OR ALL WILL JUST KEEP COMING LATE,
AND NO PRESSURE ON THE PARENT. WE NEED TO KEEP
PRESSURE ON THE PARENT TO BE RESPONSIBLE.
“Don’t do the homework: Suggestions I might try for students who

don’t do their homework: While students are doing the ‘do-now!’ go
around and check for who has not done the homework. Then, discuss
the homework only allowing the students who did the homework to
participate. After rules have been enforced, do not accept or give less
credit for late homework. Enforce a system of three missing home-
work’s = five points off final grade/next test.”
“You know, again this goes with my calendars on the folders, cause
the kids who turn in homework stay on green, and if they do an out-
standing job they may even move up to blue because it is above grade-
level work, if a students doesn’t bring in homework that day, they are
on yellow. My kids got to the place where they would put themselves
on yellow when they didn’t bring their homework without me even
mentioning it. Self checks and student motivation. I love it! [SOUNDS
GOOD.] Yep. Been there done that!” FINE.
“I have done most of the Traditional No Homework ways. I would

reduce their grade by ten points for every day they were late, and after
the fourth day they get a zero. The administration and workload of this
method really sets me back. And in some cases due to a parents call
I have permitted the homework to be late but accepted and graded.
Not Good. Homework grades, like tests, account for 25 percent of the
marking period grade. I still want to hold students accountable for their
homework since the goal of my homework is for them to learn some-
thing. If I don’t accept them late at all I think they will miss something
SPECIFICS 131
and not have any incentive to turn in the homework. Maybe instead of
ten points off for each day, I will now give them a one day grace period
that will cost twenty points.”
“Carry weapons: What a Teacher/Schools Should Do Regarding

Weapons: 1. Yes 2. Yes 3. Now, waiting would be so difficult in this
situation cause, they might be really waiting for your class to use the
weapon. So, my question here, Could you do the same thing that you
suggested when you have a student who is out of control by opening
the door and standing half in half out of the room so the hall moni-
tor comes to the door and you could discuss the situation with them
with some sort of a code word that would be secret between the staff?
[GOOD IDEA. FINE.]
“Although this will allow the student to know that it was you that
turned them in, man this one is so scary!” YOUR IDEA IS FINE.
YOU JUST HAVE TO DECIDE TO DO THE LEAST PROVOKING
THING. HARD DECISION. HOPE YOU NEVER HAVE TO. BEST
OFTEN IS TO GO PASSIVE TO THE ANGRY WEAPON PERSON,
WHO NEEDS TO FEEL POWER TO CALM DOWN. SHOW HIM
RESPECT AND LISTEN TO CALM HIM—MIGHT BE THE SAF-
EST APPROACH. NOT CHALLENGING.
“Unlike the urban school I came from, we don’t have metal detec-
tors. Since my current school has few weapon problems, I really can’t
suggest we put in metal detectors. It’s too difficult to channel 2,000
students threw a few doors with these detectors. We do have the ex-cop
guards and security officer that help deter weapons in school. I feel that
the students themselves are the best defense against weapons in school.
When it does happen, it usually is a student who contacts someone to
let them know that John has a weapon.”
TRAINING EXERCISES
Exercise One: Working on Your “See Me after Class!”
You should role-play the exercise with a friend, colleague, or class-

mate. You play “the teacher,” and your partner should play a student
132 FOR CHAPTER 13
who: (1) has called out too much; (2) started to fight; (3) threw some-
thing across the room; (4) cursed at you, consecutively.
You must say “See me after class!” and then assume it’s the end of
the period, after class. What do you say now? Your partner should try
to be as unmanageable as students are sometimes. After situation (1),
see if you have followed the guidelines (a)–(r) on pages 417–419.
Then, try situation (2). Check the guidelines again. Try all four situ-
ations.
Which guidelines reveal your pitfalls? (Reverse roles and let your
partner try being “the teacher.”)
Exercise Two: Handling Calling Out
If you are in an education class or workshop, get up in front of the

class.
In this role play, some students should call out, some raise their
hands. Now teach a simple lesson on, e.g., names of cars or names of
flowers. Ask, “Who knows the name of a car, a flower?” Respond to
the class and try to stop the calling out. Which guidelines do you not
follow (your pitfall) from those described in Chapter 13, section B, 1.
Exercise Three: Handling Fighting, Cheating,

Latecomers, Late Homework
Review Chapter 13, section C. Place a “c” next to each suggestion

made about these problems if you feel congruent with the suggestion.
Then, try the suggestion for a week. Check the suggestion periodically.
If after a week, you feel this is not tryout revise it or drop it (ask others
for other suggestions).
CHECKLIST
1. Have you reviewed your warnings so that you know what you
need to say if you have to see a student after class?
2. Have you practiced ignoring the “caller-outer” and only respond-
ing to those who raise their hands?
SPECIFICS 133
3. Do you know how and where to get quick help from a staff
member if you need help to break up a fight?
4. Before you plan to give a test, have you reviewed the guidelines
for preventing cheating?
5. Do you suspect plagiarism? Are you using the points in that sec-
tion of the book to catch/stop plagiarism?
6. Have you thought through your “late policy”?
7. Have you thought through your “homework policy”?
8. Have you decided on your policies (and reviewed the schools
policies) regarding hats, personal stereos, beepers, drugs, and
weapons?
9. Have you decided on what you will do if you suspect a student
is “high” in your class?
10. Have you planned how you will handle students who “dis” each
other in your class?
FOR CHAPTER 14
Repairing the Delivery of Your Lesson Plan
“Well, there really isn’t just one that I would use, I found myself us-
ing one: Preface Statement, two: Share a personal experience and five:
Talk to their person-student. I have used these when working with my
students to let them know what we are going to be learning about to
get their heads in the right place and ready to learn. I have also found
that when I put myself into the lessons for my students they can actu-
ally see that I am human and not someone to be put on a pedestal. I
always thought that I was not smart enough to be a teacher, that is why
I went into hairdressing before going after my true calling, teaching. I
always thought that teachers knew everything and there was no way I
was that smart.
“When I finally stopped believing that lie, and started college, I
loved it! I love learning and growing. That is why I always tell my stu-
dents that I was not a good student in school. I had a very difficult time
learning to read and math, well, we’ve discussed that before! My stu-
dents love to know this and it helps them to buckle down and try harder
because they know that I understand where they are. I also like number
135
136 FOR CHAPTER 14
five because I feel it is important to keep track of their understand-

ing and comfort levels. Sometimes we just have to stop, get up, turn
around, jump a little and then go on again. GOOD ABOVE. GLAD.
“When I was teaching about reading, I wanted my students to un-
derstand that reading did not come easily to me. As we read through
stories, I would always stop and ask questions to make sure the kids
were right there with me in the story. I tried to build comprehension
but also love of literature and love of reading; by modeling this for my
students they could see how important it was for me and hopefully for
themselves as well. YES, AND SHARE FEELINGS TOO.
“Making the Lesson Affective, Method[s] I would use: #8, using
journals: and again, I need more than one, Draw a picture. Now, I need
the two because working with the younger students, they often tell their
feelings better with pictures than with words. YES.
“In writing class I tell my students to draw the picture first and then
write, that way they can be really thinking about their feelings and
then write about the picture. [GOOD.] Many students have a difficult
time getting started writing, and drawing the picture helps their mental
juices to begin to flow. We always had to put the students’ one big writ-
ing project per grading period in their portfolios. This method made
those writings so much better because the students understood what to
write about. YES.
“Making the Lesson Actional and Experiential, Method[s] I would
use: #22, Simulation. When I taught about the water cycle in science
class and the elements of matter, I used dance with my kids. First the
water cycle, we stood up and sang this song that has them moving their
arms in a huge tall circle; they love the movement and it gets them
thinking that, yes, it really is a big circle. With the properties of matter,
we would first melt ice in an electric skillet with the lid on to catch the
steam. They actually saw the solid ice, become the liquid water, be-
come the steam and the steam become the liquid again. Then we acted
it out with dance. They loved it, and so did I.
“Science was one of my favorite subjects to teach, because, I re-
membered what it was like as a child when we had to study science
and it was so boring! I decided I would not allow that to happen to my
students and I became, Drucilla the Science Fairy! I talked with a dif-
ferent rather Southern/West Virginian accent and wore a lab coat, wore
a different funny hat depending on the subject matter. For water cycle
REPAIRING THE DELIVERY OF YOUR LESSON PLAN 137
I had a snowflake hat, and carried a magic wand. The kids, staff, and I
loved it! I even gave a workshop on it once in an early education semi-
nar. Drucilla is actually my alter ego, in fact, I am typin’ in her vooice
rite naow! Can you heiar it? SOUNDS VERY GOOD.
“Making the Lesson More Inductive, Method(s) I would use: #30,
Learning to Read Using Life-Experience Material. Oh my goodness!
This is one of my favorites. I tell my students that I don’t care what
they are reading as long as they are reading. Two of my best examples
of this are my twin sons. They both have dyslexia, one has more diffi-
culty than the other, but neither of them was at all successful in learning
to read until I used this method at home. My guys are into super heroes
and comic books were our saviors when it came to reading. They both
loved them and finally learned to read because of their format. Thank
goodness for comic books. One is now a pharmacy tech and the other
a department manager for Loew’s. So, I guess using life experience
material really helps huh? SOUNDS VERY GOOD. BUT ALSO TRY
TO GO FROM THEIR LIFE TO THE LESSON.
“Involving the Students: Participation Method(s) I would use: #36,
Working in a horseshoe or circle; #46, The Social Barometer. [YES,
GOOD ONES.] Any lesson that gets the students to be up and looking
at each other, teaching each other and listening to each other if OK by
me. I like both of these methods and try to arrange my classroom for
this type of interaction every day. The social barometer, could be used
for any subject and I use it as a review before a test. YES
“Creating Lessons That Feel Orderly and Have Rewards and Mo-
mentum Method(s) I would use: #58, Write on the chalkboard a ‘Felt
Goal’ Not an ‘Aim’ for the Lesson.
You know, these would also help me to make sure that I understand
the issues to be taught. If I can paraphrase the lesson into a Felt Goal
I will know that I understand what I am going to be teaching to my
students. YES
“Managing the Distribution of Attention, Method[s] I would use:
#81 a Class Project. Health, now, that can be a real boring subject if
there ever was one! Not with this method! Then we are working on the
food pyramid and healthy eating unit we do a class project that involves
the school nurse, grocery flyers, and a very large pyramid drawn and
measured out on chart paper beforehand.
138 FOR CHAPTER 14
“First day, the school nurse comes in and talks with us about the
types of foods in each food group. She brings plastic food and pictures
of food to represent each section of the food pyramid. Then the next
day, I distribute the grocery flyers to the students. Each table of stu-
dents then becomes the detectives for a certain food group. They cut
out pictures of their food from the grocery flyers and glue them onto
the pyramid. They then go back to their tables and color a picture of
their type of food. The pyramid and the pictures are hung in the hallway
for all of the school to learn and read. We all learn a lot from this les-
son. SOUNDS VERY GOOD.
“H. Making the Lesson Supportive, Method(s) I would use: #91, Be-
fore you move on to the next task or content to be taught review what
you just taught. #92, Compliment the students a lot. #93, Always ask
for volunteers, rather than pick on students. #94, Before you require
them to say their answer in front to the class let them write it privately.
#96, Total Responses. YES, GOOD ONES.
“OK Howard, you had to go to the Math section of my day now
didn’t you! Before going on to another section of a math concept it is
important to check for understanding. An exit ticket works with this.
The students need to show me in any way that they can, on a piece of
journal paper, the math concept that was just covered. Then during
math class of course I compliment the students a lot! I do this every day
all day it is amazing how they sit up straighter and listen a bit better if I
use one child’s name and give a compliment, because of course we all
want compliments so maybe she will say my name next.
“Then when writing the problems on the board, I would not want to
be forced to go to the board if I didn’t understand or know the answer
to a problem so I ask for volunteers. And lastly, to make sure we all
understand I would pose the question and have the students write their
answers in their math journals, I would go around the class and give
happy faces for the correct answer. If I have not given a happy face,
rework the problem or ask a neighbor that has the answer correct to
show you how they did it. SOUNDS VERY GOOD.
“Discussing your analogy of keeping during a lesson, I remember

that I did not do that very well when I was in charge of the 3rd-grade
class I worked with. I used to try to pay close attention to each student’s
actions, and while I was doing that, twenty other students would start
doing their own thing and suddenly the whole class was out of control.”
“Not actional enough—I talk too much! I have, since taking this
course, asked for students to summarize, respond, react to other stu-
dents’ answers or to the lesson. I have not gotten into debates and role
playing, but this is an excellent way to get kids motivated and to have
some mobility and freedom to speak.”
“I realized during our discussion on attention flow that rarely have I

asked students to come to the chalkboard this semester. My feeling had
been that it takes too much time and results in too much movement.
This is wrong. During the past month, I have asked students to solve
problems at the board, explaining their work if possible, and have other
students ask questions and comment on it.
Students enjoy the recognition and usually strive to meet the challenge.
It also keeps the rest of the class interested as it represents a change—
seeing someone else talk math after seeing me 150 times. I have also
used the suggestion of writing students’ answers and ideas on the board
more often, even if they are wrong. I have used games involving teams
and the like, but they take a lot out of me. The kids get very excited and
I have to keep control in addition to playing referee in the game.”
“One of the ways I can motivate the students is by creating learning

situations that involve students relating to each other. For example,
I would introduce the information about the properties of air. Then,
I would ask each student to quiz each other on the properties of air.
Then, I would ask someone to write the properties of air on the chalk-
board. And finally, I would ask the class to determine whether these
properties this student wrote on the board are correct or not. I feel that
this approach takes me (teacher) off the stage and puts the students into
the limelight. I feel that this approach will result in the student being
‘turned on’ to my lesson.”
“As an introduction to teaching coordinates last month, I distributed

maps of the United States and asked the kids to locate the place of
their birth or the home of some out-of-state relative where they spent
140 FOR CHAPTER 14
a vacation. Many of the kids took a very personal interest in this activ-
ity. In general, I am glad that we discussed the need to relate lessons
to children’s lives.”
“This past week I taught mitosis and meiosis to my Regents Biol-
ogy classes. I tried very hard to think of ways to use the participation
techniques mentioned in class. Although I find it extremely difficult to
role-play, I decided to use this technique because I have a few ‘hams’
in my classes. After going through the stages of mitosis, I said, ‘I can’t
imagine what it would be like to be a chromosome going through mi-
tosis. Let’s think about it.’ We thought about it for a minute and I said,
‘Who can imagine being a chromosome?’
“A few students raised their hands and I chose Nadine. I asked Na-
dine what stage of mitosis she was in, and then I asked her to describe
herself. The students thought this was great. Other students wanted to
get in on the act. We were laughing so hard at one point that I thought
the floor dean would come to the door. They really enjoyed role play-
ing, but most of all it seemed to help them understand the topic. I have
asked students to imagine themselves in certain situations, but this was
the first time I asked them to role play. I would certainly recommend
this technique.”
TRAINING EXERCISES
Exercise One: Delivering the Subject Matter Congruently
Prepare a preface to a particular unit of the curriculum by either

expressing how you really feel about the subject matter or by sharing
a relevant personal experience. Make your preface talk from your “I”
personally to the student’s person. Now present this preface to either
a friend or colleague or another participant in your education class or
workshop. Allow them to rate your congruence. Practice these kinds of
prefaces for better congruence.
Exercise Two: Making Your Lesson Affective, Actional, Experiential
If you are in an education class or workshop, each participant can

present a lesson plan to the rest of the group. The group gives each les-
son a 21 point every time a full minute goes by that the lesson is only
cognitive, verbal, and only the teacher is doing something. (A situation
in which the students are only taking notes, also gets a 21 rating.) Each
presenter tries to receive the least minus points in score in a given ten-
minute lesson.
Exercise Three: Making the Lesson Inductive
If you are in an education course or workshop, participants should

volunteer curriculum topics that are written on the chalkboard. For
every three placed on the chalkboard, the class must brainstorm a way
to teach one of them by starting inductively with the students’ experi-
ences. Each time a successful inductive strategy is described, all three
topics are erased, and the participants offer another three. Again, the
class tries to offer a successful inductive strategy that teaches one of
these by starting with the students’ experiences. Continue this exercise
until most of the participants can construct at least some inductive
strategies for some of the curricula.
Exercise Four: Practicing Involving the Students
If you are in an education course or workshop, each participant pres-

ents a lesson to the other participants who role-play being “students.”
The presenting teacher conducts the lesson for ten minutes and then
closes by explaining where he or she would’ve gone with this lesson
had s/he had time to continue. The “students” make a checkmark in
their notes each time the lesson delivery made them want to participate.
And the “students” also grade the lesson A, B, C, etc. as to whether
it would encourage them to participate upon hearing the explanation
of the direction of the rest of the lesson. Each presenter tries to get as
many vats as possible and to get as high a grade as possible.
Exercise Five: Practicing Creating Lessons That Feel

Orderly and Have Rewards and Momentum
If you are in an education course or workshop, each participant

presents the opening three minutes of a lesson to the others who listen
142 FOR CHAPTER 14
as “students.” The listeners then report to the presenter: (a) where

they think s/he was going with this introduction; (b) how they think
one goes about being good in this lesson; and (c) tells whether they
would have been interested in staying on the “ride” of the movement
of this lesson. The presenter hopefully gets guesses that are correct for
(a) and (b) for what s/he intended in the presentation and gets a high
rating in terms of who would’ve liked to take the “ride” offered in the
presenter’s lesson.
Exercise Six: Managing the Distribution of Attention
You can either role-play this to each other if you are in an education
course or workshop, or you and a friend or colleague can observe each
other’s lessons. Every time you as teacher are the one who is giving the
attention or approval in the lesson, you receive a 21 from the observer.
Every time the students are able to give each other attention or approval
in the lesson, you receive an 11 from the observer(s). The object is to
deliver a lesson in which the teacher’s score is a total that is positive,
on the 1 side.
Exercise Seven: Explaining the Lesson Well
If you are in an education course or workshop, each participant can

teach a lesson to the others as “students.” Here, the “students” give
a checkmark to the teacher every time they feel the comfortable op-
portunity to let the teacher know where they are in the learning, or let
the teacher know how well they are following him or her. The teacher
teaches for ten minutes and tries to score as many checkmarks as pos-
sible indicating that the lesson provides feedback opportunities for the
“students.”
Exercise Eight: Using Technology in the Classroom
Review the nine pitfalls teachers fall into when using tech in the
classroom in Chapter 14, section J. Which one do you tend to fall into?
Review the guidelines in this Training Manual, Appendix H, B:
“Guidelines for Using Technology in the Classroom.” Which guideline
do you need to follow more?
Review Appendix H, D: “Useful Computer Sites and Resources.”

Try to incorporate some of these tech strategies and resources into your
next lesson. Which ones will you try?
CHECKLIST
Below you can fill in the lesson topic each day that you teach. Then, for
each lesson each day you can check off whether your lesson contained
the elements discussed in Chapter 14. You may notice that consistently
your lesson lacks elements (E) and (I), as in the example below. Try to
place these elements into your next day’s lesson.
FOR CHAPTER 15
The Substitute Teacher
will see: you are not alone with these problems. MY COMMENTS to
“Tips that seem most useful for this job: Be nice to the school sec-
retary. Get to class early—if possible. Memorize 2–3 student names.
Call regular teacher at home to inform him/her about the day and the
students who demonstrated good/poor behavior. Elementary: warm,
emotively nurtutant attitude. [WHICH DO NOT FEEL RIGHT FOR
YOU/YOUR TEACHERS?] None! All of these seem great/relevant/
applicable.” GLAD.
“#1, Try to sub as often as you can at the same school. #2, Being
nice to the school secretary is a good one to remember whether you are
a sub or a teacher in a building, them and the custodian! #6, Meeting
them at the door with a no nonsense attitude is a good way to start the
day. I am terrible at names and to memorize one or two it is usually
the difficult students that we get to know first now isn’t it?” FINE ON
UNDERSTANDING HERE.
145
146 FOR CHAPTER 15
“Tips (techniques) from 1–5 seem to be most useful as well as go to

classroom before the students get there.” YES, THESE WILL HELP.
“I think everything under A and B would be useful. I leave very

detailed instructions for the sub. I spell it out to my students how I
expect them to behave toward a sub—they know the expectations and
the consequences!” FINE, IF YOU HELP THE SUB DO WHAT YOU
WANT . . . GREAT.
“I hated being a sub. I was unprepared for this terrible job. All of the
suggestions should have been given to me when I was first a substitute.
After years of suggesting, I was finally able to convince our school to
have a substitute folder in everyone’s room ‘Help for Being a Substi-
tute Teacher.’ In this, now, there is: class lists, attendance book, passes,
rules/regs., problems that may arise with a certain group, etc. I had to
write it, and it is now very useful. [SOUNDS GOOD.]
“We even have task sheets if a lesson would be too complicated.
[SOUNDS GOOD.] However, I disagree with your suggestion: ‘Of-
ten, it is best that you don’t try to teach the lesson the regular teacher
leaves for the substitute.’ Nothing makes us teachers more upset than
a substitute who doesn’t follow our lesson plans. I think it is wrong
and subs have lost their jobs as a result of doing their own thing rather
than follow the plan the teacher left. [I UNDERSTAND.] One teacher
only wanted the kids to read a section of a story. The substitute didn’t
do the job, and days later, the teacher struggled to catch the kids up.
So I disagree with this as a teacher—I want the sub to follow what
I leave.” I UNDERSTAND. MAYBE WITH SOME IMPORTANT
LESSONS, THE SUB SHOULD TRY TO DO WHAT THE REG.
WANTS.
“After reading this chapter, the substitute teacher does put up with a
lot of frustration at times. I am sure that if there is not an appropriate
lesson plan provided it makes for a very difficult experience. As long
as I have been teaching the substitute has been provided with a lesson
plan. In the beginning of the school year, all teachers need to provide
the principal or VP with emergency lesson plans. I agree that it is im-
portant for the substitute teacher to secure his/her space.
THE SUBSTITUTE TEACHER 147
“We have Aesop, a system where we can readily ask for a specific
substitute and also access to their phone number to give them informa-
tion in advance. Notes can also be added when we enter our designated
time off. It is extremely important for the substitute to get to school
before the students do. I have morning duty and class morning atten-
dance on alternate days since 8th grade are A and B days with the A
day having first period planning. I provide my substitute with an emer-
gency exit form that is posted for fire drills with protocol. The folder
contains lesson plans, behavior sheets, class lists, and my full agenda
for the day. A list of teachers that may be helpful and the name of the
principal, VP, and school dean. Useful warm up sheets, ‘Do-Nows,’
are provided so that attendance can be taken. Word searches are great!
The regular lesson is best not to teach, however, if it’s leading up to a
lesson, the video to review concepts and safety may be good in prepa-
ration. My modeling of the process did follow the next day. So it was
helpful.
“Recently the substitute was provided with a video for printmaking.
The video showed some history and the importance of safety when
using the printmaking tools. Students were attentive, but not eager to
write the summary of what they watched that day. The exit slip was
left for all the students to fill in. I knew who I needed to especially ac-
commodate when I returned to school. I have my copies of task sheets
prepared in the sub folder.”
“Useful tips: #2, Be nice to the school secretary. #5, Try to get the
regular teacher’s roll book or Delaney book.
“#6, Get to the classroom before the students get there. Some tips
don’t feel right for me: #4, Call on the two or three students whose
names you memorized and thank each one for his/her response.” YES,
USEFUL ONES ABOVE.
“Try to select out two or three students who don’t seem to be angry
or aggressive and say hello to them and ask, What’s your name? and
thank them. Try to memorize two or three students’ names.” OK.
“In the elementary school, although it may be useful for the substi-
tute to have some ‘pre-planned’ activities, most of the time it is better
148 FOR CHAPTER 15
to stick with the material that is planned out by the regular teacher,
especially if it is ‘self-explanatory.’ [OK, FINE, IF THE SUB CAN
EASILY.]
“I agree that it is best to get the students started on their tasks for
the day. I would advise to follow the teacher’s lesson plan as best as
possible. . . . Usually it is some kind of review work that they already
know how to do; it is more practice. [As regular teacher] I always have
the students turn their work into the substitute for credit. The substitute
then has better control of the class.
“If you don’t do the work, you get no credit. This will help the sub
to keep students on task. I would also advise the sub to walk around the
room and check on student progress. Sub can show students that s/he
can help with how to look up information in a textbook, how the glos-
saries work, etc. My reservations about substitute bringing own task
sheet are these: often, the sub [is, regarding copying, using duplicating
machines, etc.] . . . An alternate would be to bring some 3 x 5 cards
and have students fill out name, class title, period, favorite topic in the
class, etc. Again, your advice about being congruent is very helpful for
substitutes as well. I liked that you mentioned to briefly tell students
behavior that you will and will not accept in class. This does set the
tone that you are in charge today.”
“I would not, personally, do any the activities or worksheets that you

suggest. There are much better activities and worksheets in ‘sponge
book’ activities—and quick, short games you can do with the class.”
FINE. SURE, THE READER CAN GOOGLE: SPONGE ACTIVI-
TIES, K–12.
(See “Task Sheets” or suggestions for “do-nows,” bellwork in
Chapter 15, section C of the Text.)
TRAINING EXERCISES
Exercise One: Securing Your Place
Below, write out what you plan to say to the secretary of the school
where you wish to substitute. Then, orally rehearse it a little.
THE SUBSTITUTE TEACHER 149
Exercise Two: Your Opening Remarks to the Class
Below, write out what you will generally say to the class when you
first meet them. Then, orally rehearse it a little.
Exercise Three: Preparing Some Task Sheets
Write out two or three “task sheets” (according to the guidelines in

this chapter) that you can use when you sub, and make enough copies
to teach classes for one or two days.
CHECKLIST
1. Have you reread the second paragraph of this chapter to be pre-
pared for students’ anger that will be displaced at you?
2. Have you followed the suggestions in section A for “securing
your place”?
3. Have you prepared what you will congruently say to the class
when you first see them?
4. Do you have some good “task sheets” ready that you can use?
5. Are you ready to use techniques 4–7 of section B?
6. If you are going to sub in grades K–6, have you reviewed section
D?
FOR CHAPTER 16
Epilogue: “You Matter!”
“Reading the epilogue was encouraging and inspiring. Even though
the profession of a teacher may not be appreciated as much as some
hope it would, it shouldn’t be about recognition anyways. [BUT
SOMETIMES WE ALL NEED THIS. I DO.] I’m not really doing this
for the gratitude from our society. I am well aware that our culture has
ideals that are not as morally respectable as they could be. Instead,
I’m doing this for those children who are lost, who need direction,
love and inspiration. As teachers, we can provide this. [YES. I DO IT
BECAUSE MY PARENTS WERE NOT GOOD IN MANY WAYS,
AND I WANT TO BE BETTER “PARENTS” TO THESE KIDS SO
THAT THEY DO NOT SUFFER WHAT I DID.]
“That is what we are here for. We can inspire a thirst for knowledge
and curiosity. We can channel angry feelings into positive ones. We
can provide a home for students that they would not have otherwise.
Reading about the statistics of divorce, suicide, and teen pregnancy all
instill the importance of our image. Teachers provide a constant when
everything that surrounds a child’s life appears broken.” YES!
151
152 FOR CHAPTER 16
“The closing: As teachers, we are the ‘lifeguards’ of our society.

We are the protectors of the future of our society. This is an excellent
analogy. It is really inspiring to hear that my work matters very much.
I have put lots and lots of work into this profession, and I honestly
very often get stressed and nervous for what my future could hold.
[YOU WILL BE A GREAT TEACHER.] More often than not, I hear
horror stories of first-year teachers or teaching in general. It is helpful
to understand that the teacher who takes it easy in September is a mess
by December. By working hard at the beginning of the year, I will
only benefit. I am extremely eager to be enriched by the relationship
between my students and myself.” YOU WILL, AND THEY WILL
GET A LOT FROM YOU.
“At this time it is good to read these because the states of Ohio,
Wisconsin, Tennessee, and two others that I cannot remember are
fighting for public employees’, teachers’, police officers’, fire fighters’,
bus drivers’, and nurses’ employee rights. [YES.] For crying out loud,
Howard, don’t people realize that we are the custodians of societies’
futures? [NOPE.] It is good to know that others remember and love
us. It is good to know that some realize that we want more than the
summer off! For crying out loud, don’t they realize that we work in the
summer by taking classes so that we can be better equipped to teach
the next year?
“You know, Howard, I saw myself in some of those remembrances.
The one of the 2nd-grade boy who thought he was bad. I had a stu-
dent in 1st grade whose mother didn’t like him because he looked
too much like his father. He was one of I think seven children. He
had not been sent to kindergarten because the father thought that the
mother had taken him when he was in her custody and the mother
thought the father had. He was nine years old in the first grade! He
was a very handsome child and only needed someone to love him.
My heart broke when he came to school with bleached out sweatshirts
that didn’t fit, because his mother had spilled bleach on his school
clothes. I still believe that it was not an accident. I went out and got
him some sweatpants and sweatshirts and socks, because the child
never wore socks. I gave the clothes to the nurse and asked her to
keep them in her office.
EPILOGUE: “YOU MATTER!” 153
“We made arrangements for him to change into and out of the
clothes every day. I took them home on the weekend and washed them
myself so that he could have nice things to wear to school. I don’t know
where that child is today, but towards the end of the year, when I was
finally able to get him into special needs classes, his mother came to
me in tears and thanked me for caring about her son. I fought for that
child more than his own mother did. I was the mom he did not have
at home. The family moved away before this boy could get out of the
third grade so I lost track of him, but I think of him often and pray for
him. We educators give our very lives to our students and we definitely
do not do it for the money. To be honest, I am sure many of us have
done it for free more often than not.” YES, AND YOU ARE STILL
WITH HIM, I AM SURE. GREAT.
“Yes, this feels good: I do matter and it’s good to hear sometimes. I
really feel good when a student ‘gets it.’ This makes my job worthwhile
and helps erase most of the bad stuff that I have to deal with related
to disruptive students, especially when I do not get support from the
administration. I hope that of all the students I have and will teach that
only one remembers the lessons of life I try to put into my lessons.”
“I am impressed. I have heard teachers complain a lot about overload

with too many students in their classes, no support from education au-
thorities, pressure to have the least number of children who drop out.
Some also complain about low salaries. However, these teachers are
doing a great job in the midst of raising difficulties. [YES.] Sometimes,
very young kids will listen more to what their teacher is saying than
their parents. They would say—‘My teacher said this and that, . . . I
would do the way the teacher said.’ Thus, children rely on what teach-
ers say and do. In a way, teachers motivate children as they learn and
grow. [YES.]
“Sometimes I may feel worried whether those teachers are up to date
with this faster growing world of business, whether what they provid-
ing children with will serve them in the future, whether their ethics
are appropriate and influential to kids. Reading your epilogue reminds
me of a saying I heard from an outstanding professional: ‘If you think
education is expensive, try ignorance.’ [GOOD ONE.] As a parent I
154 FOR CHAPTER 16
am convinced that a high-quality education and a professional ethics

or attitude will be the strongest tools of the students to face the fast and
growing changes of the environment they live in. Literacy and math
are important, but educating active and responsible citizens is far more
important.” I AGREE, AND EMOTIONAL EDUCATION.
“Thank you, Howard—it is a very difficult job that we have and it

hurts not getting the appreciation; we are the custodians of the future of
this country and of the world. If we do not produce students who can
carry on, what will happen?” [CORRECT: STATUES OF TEACHERS
IN PARKS, INSTEAD OF JUST SOLDIERS.]
“This section: You matter, is a warm-fuzzy that we all need to hear

often. I recommend that we print out this page and hang it on our wall.
Keep mementos/letters from students all over your room to remind you
on bad days that there is a reason for doing this job. It really involves
more than just money.”
“The epilogue was very heart wrenching. I believe in this so much. I

must say for myself that the teachers who most influenced me were my
kindergarten teacher who took me to see The Nutcracker performance
in NY because she was nurturing me when she discovered that my
mother was hospitalized. [SO GLAD SHE WAS THERE FOR YOU.]
Also my art teacher in high school, Mr. Tlumack, who encouraged me
to become an art teacher. I would like to be half the teacher that he was
to his students. We loved him!”
TRAINING EXERCISES
Exercise One: Ask Your Class . . . in Order to Reinvigorate You
We can easily get burned out during the school year. You need to see
that you matter from month to month or maybe every week. Try giving
these brief short exercises in class for the students; but these will also
give you feedback that what you are doing matters:
1. Ask the class to write a letter to you or to one of their friends in
class as if it is five years from now, that says: “When I think back,
EPILOGUE: “YOU MATTER!” 155
these things we did in class were helpful to me.” They then make
a list, and then read them out loud, sharing them.
2. Or, they do this but no names. You collect them, shuffle them,
and pass them out and they read them out loud to the class, with-
out identifying the author.
3. Stop after a unit and have the class list five things that mattered to
them (that related to their lives). Then, tell them to put them into
priority-order, by placing a 1 next to mattered most; 2 mattered
somewhat; 3 did not matter. Then, have the class share their 1s
and tell why.
Exercise Two: Have Them Notice How They Feel about Themselves
from the Learnings You Gave Them
1. Ask them to write down: What feelings have changed for you
from what we learned?
2. Ask them to write down: Is there anything you now see/under-
stand differently in your life from what we learned?
3. Ask them to write down: Are there any people you feel differently
about (in the past or present) from what we learned?
4. Ask them to write down: How do you feel about yourself, your
abilities, since we went over this unit this week/month?
(They can read their answers out loud to the class, or you can collect
them, shuffle them, and pass them out and they read them out loud to
the class, without identifying the author.)
CHECKLIST
1. Have I related my teachings (either before or after the lesson) to

their lives?
2. Am I feeling discouraged, burned out?
3. Do I need to share and talk to a colleague about my feeling dis-
couraged?
4. Do I need to feel unalone with these feelings?
5. Do I need to see some students alone, talk with them, to feel them
as persons, to see if what I am doing matters to them?
6. Do I need to reread this chapter in the book to remember that I
do matter?
APPENDICES: USEFUL TOOLS
APPENDIX A
A Questionnaire for Your Staff

“Assessing the Problems and Needs of Your
Teachers Regarding Discipline Problems”
You may wish to make copies of this questionnaire to assess the

problems and needs of teachers in your school. This should be done
anonymously, tallied, and the results posted for teachers to learn they
are not alone.
Then, they can follow up with a workshop and make this book, Pre-
venting Classroom Discipline Problems, 4th Edition, available to your
staff. You can also contact the author for free consultation at: www.
ClassroomManagementOnline.com. A training video/DVD is also
available cued to this book. See Appendix B.
QUESTIONNAIRE: PROBLEMS AND NEEDS REGARDING

DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS
Please drop off this questionnaire at: _______________________ by

_____________. These will all be tallied totally anonymously. Thank
you.
Please indicate the extent to which the following are problems for
you.
Always—3, Often—2, Sometimes—1, Never—0
___ 1. Disruptive behavior

___ 2. Deciding whether I should call certain behaviors discipline
problems versus letting a behavior “slide”
___ 3. Withdrawn students
159
160 APPENDIX A
_ __ 4. Winning over students’ feelings

___ 5. Sarcastic nonverbal reactions from students
___ 6. Getting the lessons done on a time schedule
___ 7. Getting students to participate in the lesson
___ 8. Cursing by the students
___ 9. Deciding the best seating arrangements
___ 10. Bathroom going and a proper bathroom policy
___ 11. Homework not being done
___ 12. Marking all the homework handed in
___ 13. Late homework
___ 14. My homework policy in general
___ 15. Latecomers
___ 16. Calling out
___ 17. Class clowns
___ 18. Handing out papers and materials
___ 19. Students talking to each other during the lesson
___ 20. Cheating
___ 21. Fighting among students
___ 22. Verbal put-downs among students
___ 23. Verbal wisecracks at me
___ 24. Students throwing things
___ 25. Students who wear hats
___ 26. Students with iPods
___ 27. Students with beepers
___ 28. Students with weapons
___ 29. Students who are high
___ 30. Students who carry drugs
___ 31. Students who are dealing drugs
___ 32. Keeping students motivated
___ 33. Parents coming into my class
___ 34. Confrontational students
___ 35. Students getting out of their seats
___ 36. Feeling better related to the students
___ 37. Losing my patience
___ 38. Some of my procedures (like . . .)
___ 39. Lack of equipment and materials (like . . .)
___ 40. Deciding whether to confront a student during class or let it
slide until after class, or just to overlook the behavior
A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR YOUR STAFF 161
___ 41. Being completely honest with myself and the class about
the subject matter
___ 42. Being honest about all rules
___ 43. Being honest in general interactions with the students
___ 44. Following through on any warnings
___ 45. Getting support from the administration on my rewards and
punishments
___ 46. Being accused of being unfair
___ 47. Not believing in the whole curriculum I’m teaching
___ 48. Putting emotions into some of my lessons
___ 49. Making my lessons relate to students’ experiences
___ 50. Getting the students to interact with each other, besides me
___ 51. Helping the students feel a sense of direction and the goal
of the lesson
___ 52. Explaining everything very well
___ 53. Handling students’ anger
___ 54. Disturbances right outside my classroom
___ 55. My rules falling apart
___ 56. Handling the “See me after class!”
___ 57. Deciding the proper rewards and punishments
___ 58. Asserting myself
___ 59. Students when I’m substituting or doing a “coverage”
___ 60. Designing good “do-nows” or short worksheets
___ 61. I feel as though I’m alone with these problems.
___ 62. I feel frustrated in my efforts about handling “discipline
problems.”
___ 63. I feel the problem is always the students.
___ 64. I feel the problem is the administration.
___ 65. I feel the problem is the parents and home life.
___ 66. I feel the problem is the students’ peers.
___ 67. I feel the problem is none of these.
___ 68. I feel the problem is sometimes my own personal style.
___ 69. I feel the problem is the environment of my classroom.
___ 70. I feel the problem is sometimes in procedures.
___ 71. I feel the problem is in the delivery of my lessons.
___ 72. Bullying
73. Other:___________________________________________
162 APPENDIX A
Please indicate the numbers of three items that are most important to
you from the above list 1–73.
________; _________; _________
The administration can then post the tally of which items got the
highest (most troubling) score, and list the items most chosen by the
staff. Then, the video/DVD can be shown, and the staff can read the
book, and search the Table of Contents and the Index of the book for
help with each of these.
For help with all these issues in the above questionnaire, consult the
text and the Video/DVD that is cued to this questionnaire and see Ap-
pendix E. You may also contact the author of this book at: www.Class-
roomManagementOnline.com. To order this book and/or the DVD go
to: http://www.panix.com/~pro-ed/.
APPENDIX B
Individual Training DVD That

Demonstrates the Ineffective and
Effective Teacher, Cued to This Book
1. Actually demonstrates the effective vs. the ineffective teacher.

2. Is perfect for training school staff or future educators.
3. Teaches practical skills for specific, frequent problems.
4. Trains educators for the diagnosis and prevention of actual disci-
pline problems.
5. Is not “ivory tower” theory, but actually shows what to do and
what not to do.
6. Cuts down the referral of disruptive students to the dean or prin-
cipal’s office.
7. Teaches practical suggestions, by example, for handling disrup-
tive behavior without the need for revamping the entire school’s
procedures.
The DVD is unique! In the scenes of various discipline problems,

these enactments are spontaneously acted out by real teachers and
student-teachers. Instead of following a written script, they acted out
how their real disruptive students would actually behave, and what
they would actually say in these classroom situations. If the teacher in
the scene does something that is ineffective, what you will see is how
their real students would actually respond. And, if the teacher is effec-
tive, then you’ll see how their real students would actually change their
behavior and be more cooperative.
163
164 APPENDIX B
Training Segments of the Video
• Teachers and Student Teachers Share Their Real Discipline Prob-

lems and Fears
• An Overview of the Training Handbook Cued to These Video
Demonstrations
• Demonstrations: (ineffective vs. effective teacher)
• When Is It a “Discipline Problem”? Some Miscalls
• Congruence: Repairing Your Rapport with the Class
• Handling the: “See Me after Class!” Correctly!
• Preventing Students from Calling Out
• Preventing Your Rules from Falling Apart
• Closing: Teachers, You Matter!
(Live-action, color, 46 minutes—can be shown in 10-minute seg-

ments) The DVD has been successfully used in over three hundred
public and private schools across the United States; teacher education
courses in many U.S. universities; Canadian public schools and uni-
versities in five provinces; and international schools in Japan, Ghana,
Mexico, Malaysia, Greece, Singapore, Switzerland, Iceland, Kuwait,
and many other countries.
Reviews
“This video is a powerful change agent! . . . enables teachers to feel
less alone and more empowered to prevent and constructively respond
to discipline problems! Rich . . . far reaching and practical.”—Susan G.
Roth, EdD, chief school psychologist; Governor’s Committee on Chil-
dren’s Planning for New Jersey; senior coordinating supervisor, Rut-
gers University Graduate School of Applied Professional Psychology
“Essential truths, invaluable for new or experienced teachers; price-
less keys to rewarding teaching, beautifully demonstrated! . . . a guide
to successful discipline-free teaching, no matter what your style.”—
Carmen H. Mason, teacher trainer for the New York City Board of
Education. Teacher of the Year, 1993, and New York City high school
teacher of English for twenty-one years
“Excellent examples of troublesome situations, skillfully demon-
strated . . . provides very practical discussion and learning for very real
INDIVIDUAL TRAINING DVD 165
classroom problems.”—Ronald Manyin, director of student teachers,

1985, City University of New York
“Every parent should see this video and have this book to evaluate
their child’s teacher and help their child’s emotional development.”—
Steve and Linda Wilhelm, parents of four children, New York City
“A comprehensive treatment of classroom discipline . . . not about
controlling children, but rather about humanistic education with ample
regard for practical solutions to disruptive behavior.”—Journal of Staff
Development
“Seeman has created a text that can be used as a self-help guide or
training manual for preventing and solving discipline problems.”—
Educational Leadership
“All the suggestions . . . are skillfully presented and can easily be
executed. . . . I thoroughly recommend this book to every teacher. In
reading and practicing what Seeman is telling us (and showing us) to
do, we will reduce the number of discipline problems in schools.”—The
Journal of Educational Thought
“Well received! . . . Both the book and the video are recommended
to all schools in Saskatchewan, Canada, that need help with emotional
and behavior disorders. Also, recommended to the College of Educa-
tion, University of Regina, Canada.”—Gail Saunders, coordinator of
materials evaluation and acquisition, Saskatchewan Department of
Education, Canada
To order this DVD cued to the book, e-mail the author, Prof. How-
ard Seeman, at: www.ClassroomManagementOnline.com. School dis-
counts are available.
GUIDELINES FOR TRAINING USING THIS DVD
1. Post the announcement (see the next pages) of the showing of the
video for your staff to see.
2. About one week prior to the showing of the video, distribute
the questionnaire for your staff (Appendix A) so that they may
anonymously fill it out and hand it in (e.g., to a box with a slot).
3. Tally the results of the questionnaire and post it to be read just
before the showing of the video.
166 APPENDIX B
4. Show the video (46 min.) without stopping it.

5. At the end of the showing, take comments and questions, but do
not attempt to answer these concerns here. Just allow your staff
to vent their concerns so that they can hear that each of them is
not alone.
6. Before the viewing audience leaves, distribute “Am I Going to
Have a Lot of Discipline Problems?” A Pretest (Appendix D).
7. Now, make available (in the faculty lounge or library) several
copies of this book so that your staff can look through the book
for their particular concerns that were prompted by the video,
the questionnaire, and the pretest. Also, with the DVD, teachers
can work privately at their own computers on specific skills they
may need.
8. About one week after the distribution of the pretest, post the
answers, which are all: No!
9. This will prompt a very useful discussion among your staff and
refer them to the particular chapters that they got “wrong.”
10. Each teacher can read their own concern and chapter and work
on these problems by using the exercises and checklists in the
Training Manual that comes with this text.
11. Show the video once more; this time stop it after each section
for staff discussion.
12. Let them know that they can also borrow this DVD for their
individual use.
13. For further workshops, and in-service training for your staff
with the DVD and this book, I recommend that each person read
their area for their job title in Chapter 1 of this text. In Chapter
1, you will find a “road map” for each of these education re-
sponsibilities:
• Education Majors and Student Teachers
• New Teachers and Veteran Teachers
• Instructors and Consultants
• School Psychologists and Guidance Counselors
• Administrators
• Supervisors of Student Teachers
• Instructors of Education Courses
• Parents (for a PTA meeting)
INDIVIDUAL TRAINING DVD 167
To work with your school staff, post this notice below:
ANNOUNCEMENT
A VIDEO ON:
PREVENTING CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS
WILL BE SHOWN ON:________________
AT:___________ IN:___________________
Your attendance is required. Thank you,
________________________.
APPENDIX C
Legal Parameters
Here we shall discuss the legal parameters of issues that pertain to

classroom management school-wide in these sections:
1. Search and Seizure

2. Locker Searches
3. Metal Detectors
4. Weapons in Schools
5. Corporal Punishment
6. Suspensions
7. Disabled Students
8. Student Records
9. Gangs
10. Dress Codes
11. Freedom of Speech
12. Graffiti, Vandalism, and Arson
13. Police in Schools?
14. Conclusions
15. Resources
The first point to make here is that in the United States (and usually
in democracies of a republic of states or provinces), each state, within
the U.S. Constitution, can determine its own local education policies.
The cities of each state, and boards of education in these cities, all come
under that individual state’s regulations. However, federal funding, and
169
170 APPENDIX C
how the courts interpret the law vs. students’ rights under the Constitu-
tion have sometimes taken away, and sometimes given the administra-
tors of schools more or less power.
1. Search and Seizure
The issues involved here are unfortunately in opposition: students’

rights to privacy vs. school administrators’ needs to find ways to ensure
the safety of a school. How much should the Fourth Amendment1 be
invoked regarding the rights of students? The courts have been flexible
in accommodating the Fourth Amendment to the special situation pre-
sented by the public schools, where school officials have both a right
and a duty to provide a safe environment conducive to education.2
For example, in a case that has set the standard on this issue (New
Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 83 L. Ed.2d 720, 105 S. Ct. 733, 740
[1985]) The court noted that: “against the child’s interest of privacy
must be set the substantial interest of teachers and administrators in
maintaining discipline in the classroom and on school grounds. . . . Ac-
cordingly, we have recognized that maintaining security and order in
the schools requires a certain degree of flexibility in school disciplinary
procedures.” These kinds of decisions have created a key criterion for
search and seizures in schools: students are entitled to protection from
unreasonable searches and seizures.
The legality of a search of a student should depend simply on the
reasonableness, under all the circumstances of the search. (T.L.O., 469
U.S. at 341; 105 S. Ct. at 742.) Considering this criterion, the following
policies are probably best regarding this issue:3
1. The administrators of a school and the school board should write
up a search and seizure policy that spells out the criterion of the
T.L.O. case regarding reasonableness. It should clearly state that
the following kinds of decisions should be made in determining
whether a search should be conducted:
a. Whether a student’s conduct creates a reasonable suspicion
that a regulation or law has been violated.
b. Whether the measures contemplated for the search are rea-
sonably related to the search objectives and not excessively
LEGAL PARAMETERS 171
intrusive or harsh in light of the suspected infraction and the

age and sex of the student.
2. Administrators and faculty should receive in-service training re-
garding the school’s search and seizure policy.
3. When contemplating a search of a student’s person, belongings,
or locker, a teacher or school administrator should consult with
an objective third party (preferably another administrator or
teacher). These professionals should discuss whether a search
is reasonable,4 given the immediate situation and the methods
by which the search will be conducted. All searches should be
conducted by at least two faculty members of the same sex as the
student being searched.
4. Notes detailing the method and nature of the search should be
made during or immediately after the search.
5. The school board should publish a notice to all students that stu-
dent lockers are school property and that school authorities may
search student lockers with or without cause. Some factors that
might be considered in determining whether reasonable suspi-
cion to search exists include the child’s age, history and record
in school; the prevalence and seriousness of the problem in the
school to which the search was directed; the exigencies in making
a search without delay, and further investigation; also, the proba-
tive value and reliability of the information used as a justification
for the search; and the particular teacher or school official’s ex-
perience with the student.5 Also, the more that law enforcement
officers are involved the more likely “probable cause” must be
evident.6
2. Locker Searches
School lockers are generally the property of the school and there-
fore many courts have found that schools have a right to control and
search them. In fact, the courts in these cases often do not even con-
sider an inspection of a student’s locker to be a “search” within the
Fourth Amendment, especially if it is written in a public statement
that: “school lockers are school property.”7 In these kinds of searches,
school officials do not even need “reasonable” suspicion. (There are
172 APPENDIX C
states, however, such as Massachusetts, that recognize that students do

have some reasonable expectation of privacy in their school lockers
and therefore provide some protection against unreasonable searches.)8
As a result of such policies regarding lockers, students may be more
likely to keep weapons on their persons than in their lockers, espe-
cially when they are aware of the possibility of “suspicionless” locker
searches. Or, the end result may be that with this policy regarding lock-
ers and the use of metal detectors, more weapons may be kept out of
school, since there are fewer places to hide them.9
3. Metal Detectors
There are few problems in using metal detectors in schools as at-

tempts to keep a school safer. But, they are an expensive technology,
and at times, ineffective (see Chapter 13, section B, 12, “Students Who
Carry Weapons”) 452. However, regarding their legality, funds for
their use and installation in schools are provided by federal law (Public
Law 103-227, 108 Stat 204) which, thus, lends an approval to their
use. And school administrators usually need only to show that there is
a need for such a measure to justify their installation.10
4. Weapons in Schools
In an effort to prevent guns from being brought onto school grounds,

Congress enacted the “Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990.” It re-
quired every local educational agency to have some kind of policy
and procedure for the expulsion of any student (for a minimum of one
year) who was determined to have brought a weapon to school. It also
criminalized the possession of a firearm. This Act, however, was held
unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Lopez v. United States (1994)
on the grounds that mere possession of a firearm did not implicate in-
terstate commerce and therefore, Congress had exceeded its powers in
enacting the law.
However, in 1996, Congress reenacted the Act with linguistic
changes designed to address the concerns of the Supreme Court ruling
of 1994. It is now a law on the books and it has yet to be challenged
before the Supreme Court, and has been upheld by lower federal courts
(Prof. Kate Greene, Univ. of S. MI). However, some cases that have
invoked this 1996 act are still (1997) in appeal, however mostly regard-
ing whether the item in question should be considered a “weapon.”11
(For examples of what may count as a “weapon,” see Chapter 13, sec-
tion B, 12.)
As a result, many states have expanded their guidelines to prohibit
the possession of many types of weapons at school, including:
• Brass or metal knuckles

• Knives and razor blades
• Bats, clubs, or other bludgeon-type implements
• Darts and other throwing weapons
• Tasers and stun guns
• Any weapon intended to propel objects
Basically, weapons and especially firearms are never allowed in

school unless it is authorized, for example if an armed police officer is
scheduled to make a presentation on campus. Many states have laws
that hold parents liable for criminal acts performed by their children
while at school. This is particularly true if the parent knew about the
dangerous situation but failed to take measures to prevent injuries or
damages. Thus, a parent can be guilty of a criminal misdemeanor such
as “contributing to the delinquency of a minor.” Parental liability for a
child exists until the child reaches the age of majority (usually eighteen
years of age). Similarly, according to Law Library Managing Editor,
Ken LaMance (personal interview, February 9, 2011), teachers can be
held liable for failing to report a crime such as student violence or pos-
session of a weapon at school.
5. Corporal Punishment
Each year, hundreds of thousands of students are subjected to cor-

poral punishment in public schools. Despite the many problems as-
sociated with the hitting or paddling of students, corporal punishment
is a legal form of school discipline in twenty states, according a joint
statement by the ACLU and Human Rights Watch: “Corporal Punish-
ment in Schools and Its Effect on Academic Success,” at a Hearing
174 APPENDIX C
Before the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Healthy

Families and Communities, April 15, 2010. At the time, these states
still had corporal punishment legal in schools: Alabama, Arizona,
Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Ken-
tucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico [April 7, 2011,
New Mexico declared it illegal], North Carolina, Oklahoma, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. Of these, thirteen states
have reported that corporal punishment was inflicted on over one thou-
sand students: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North
Carolina, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, South Caro-
lina, Tennessee, and Texas; and eight states reported its use against at
least ten thousand students: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas. According to Susan H.
Bitensky, writing in the New York Times, “Hitting Children: Should It
Be Outlawed?” (April 6, 2011), currently twenty-nine nations outlaw
all corporal punishment of children, and more than another 100 do so
in the schools. The United States is basically on the same trajectory,
though at a much slower pace.
6. Out of School Suspensions
The courts have decided that, under the Fourteenth Amendment, no

student may be denied entitlement to an education without some fair
procedure of due process.12 However, the courts have never required,
e.g., hearings in connection with short (less than ten days) suspensions.
Also, the courts generally have decided that suspensions need not be
“strictly” by rules of evidence, as it is with cases in outside schools.13
However, the courts have not upheld suspensions for, e.g., truancy,
poor academic behavior, smoking cigarettes, etc. (For more details on
a generally court sanctioned, “proper” suspension policy, see Chapter
12, section B, 7 on suspension policy.)
In New York State, the governor once introduced legislation autho-
rizing teachers and principals to remove disruptive students from the
classroom for up to ten days without formal hearings.14 (But such leg-
islation never was passed.) For a suspension to be warranted, usually
there needs to be behavior that is considered “violent” or dangerous
to others (not merely disruptive), and to be defined with other behav-
iors on a “Code of Conduct” developed in collaboration with student,

teacher, administrator and parent organizations. The West Virginia
State Legislature recently enacted the Safe Schools Act, which specifi-
cally mandates suspension for no less than twelve consecutive months
for possession of a deadly weapon, assaulting a school employee, or
attempting to sell illegal drugs.15
7. Disabled Students
School districts should proceed carefully when contemplating disci-

pline of a student who is deemed to have a disability. A disabled stu-
dent has distinct and special rights with respect to discipline and what
kinds of proceedings can be imposed (Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act: IDEA, 200 U.S.C., 400, et. seq.).
Sometimes these students are called 504 students. This law (at:
http://www.slc.sevier.org/iepv504.htm) recognizes that students with
disabilities, whether receiving special education or receiving only
reasonable accommodation, should not be removed from school for
infractions that are manifestations of their disabilities. However, if you
can argue that the behavior was not caused by the disability, then, one
can usually discipline the student via the more usual conduct rubrics.
The Supreme Court has provided a threshold standard for the ad-
ministration of discipline to a student with a disability. Any exclusion
from school of a student with a disability for more than ten days is
considered “a change in the placement of that student.” This means
that students with disabilities may neither be suspended nor otherwise
excluded from school for over ten days without complying with spe-
cial requirements in the above act, e.g., placement procedures, parental
agreement, and the disallowance of punishment for conduct that is a
manifestation of the child’s disability.16
However, the courts have found legal basis for stipulating that stu-
dents with disabilities can be treated in the same manner as students
without disabilities for short-term suspensions and other typical dis-
ciplinary measures. For example, one can petition the court to tempo-
rarily change the student’s placement when: the individual presents a
continuing threat of disruption; uses drugs or alcohol; or is carrying a
weapon in school.17 Also, Congress reauthorized and amended IDEA in
176 APPENDIX C
1997, specifically addressing the issue of discipline. While maintaining

the IDEA’s core principle of providing disabled students with a free
and appropriate education, the 1997 IDEA enables school officials,
inter alia, to suspend a disabled student who violates school rules for
up to ten days without providing alternate educational services.18
8. Student Records
In general, The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

(20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the
privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools
that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department
of Education. FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their
children’s education records. These rights transfer to the student when
he or she reaches the age of eighteen or attends a school beyond the
high school level. Students to whom the rights have transferred are
“eligible students.”
• Parents or eligible students have the right to inspect and review the
student’s education records maintained by the school. Schools are
not required to provide copies of records unless, for reasons such
as great distance, it is impossible for parents or eligible students to
review the records. Schools may charge a fee for copies.
Parents or eligible students have the right to request that a school
correct records which they believe to be inaccurate or misleading.
. . . Generally, schools must have written permission from the par-
ent or eligible student in order to release any information from a
student’s education record. However, FERPA allows schools to
disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or
under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31):
• School officials with legitimate educational interest;
• Other schools to which a student is transferring;
• Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes;
• Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student;
• Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the
school;
• Accrediting organizations;
• To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena;

• Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies;
• And State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system,
pursuant to specific State law.
Schools may disclose, without consent, “directory” information such

as a student’s name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth,
honors and awards, and dates of attendance. . . . For additional informa-
tion, one can call 1-800-USA-LEARN (1-800-872-5327).
9. Gangs
An upswing in school and community gang activity began appearing

in many school communities around the 2003–2004 school year, and
today we currently see a clear upward trend in gang activity in many
communities across the nation. Unfortunately, many of the gang pre-
vention, intervention, and enforcement efforts in place in communities
back in the 1990s have been disbanded, dismantled, and dissolved due
to a lack of funding and community support, so many communities are
starting fresh in dealing with gang problems. Some school districts are
adopting a variety of methods designed to eliminate or restrict gang
activity, and these methods are being upheld by the courts.
For example, the prohibition of wearing certain jewelry, as an at-
tempt to ban gang activities, was sustained in an Illinois court. The
court asserted that the school had convincingly enunciated a rationale
with regard to such jewelry which directly related to the safety and
well-being of its students.19 And, in California, the prohibition of
wearing gang-related apparel was authorized by the legislature (Jan. 1,
1995),20 and its Supreme Court also ruled (Jan. 31, 1996) that cities can
prohibit suspected gang members from standing together on streets,
wearing beepers, etc.21 (See also 12 below.) However, the main empha-
sis needs to be on proven prevention programs that change children’s
behavior by getting them involved in community and school-based
programs that essentially keep them out of gangs.22 (For further reading
about preventing gangs and gang violence, I suggest Arturo Hernan-
dez’s Peace in the Streets: Breaking the Cycle of Gang Violence, Child
Welfare League of America, 1998.)
178 APPENDIX C
10. Dress Codes
As of April 2011, no state had legislatively mandated the wearing of

school uniforms. Most dress codes and uniform policies are developed
at the district or school level; twenty-eight states and the District of
Columbia have enacted laws—with varying degrees of detail and in-
terpretation—that address school dress. Some state statutes affect only
dress codes with no mention of uniforms; others address dress codes
and uniform policies separately; others include uniforms within dress
codes. For example:
Arizona Uniforms: District boards have the discretionary power to

require students to wear uniforms.
Arkansas Dress Codes: District boards may, if they choose, form a
parent/student advisory committee to determine whether a student
dress code should be enacted. If so, the issue will be brought to
the voters in the district for approval.
California Dress Codes: Districts may establish a reasonable dress
code, as part of their school safety plan, that prohibits pupils
from wearing gang-related apparel. Uniforms: Districts may also
require students to wear uniforms. Parents must be informed six
months before the uniform policy takes effect. The policy must
provide an opt-out clause and ensure that no student will undergo
sanctions for not participating.2
However, there is an increasing body of opinion that: “Many educa-

tors believe that school dress significantly influences pupil behavior.”
Apparel that relates to gang membership (as discussed above) is only
one instance. The courts are beginning to support educators regarding
dress codes in general. For example, the courts have sustained rules by
schools to prohibit the wearing of immodest clothing that impacts upon
relationships between student and student, and student and teacher.
Similarly, the prohibition of the wearing of certain buttons was
sustained by a court that found that some buttons did relate to boister-
ous conduct and the undermining of school authority. To eliminate
clothing-related school problems, the California legislature has also au-
thorized schools to adopt the wearing of school uniforms.24 However,
in many cases the courts have not sustained the schools’ prohibitions:
with regard to, e.g., wearing certain pants, pantsuits, dungarees, etc.
where it was judged that such were not disruptive to school discipline
or detrimental to morals.25
President Clinton agreed with educators, “that school dress signifi-
cantly influences pupil behavior.” For example: “We must continue to
promote order and discipline, supporting communities that introduce
school uniforms” (President Clinton’s State of the Union Address, Feb-
ruary 4, 1997.) And, on February 24, 1996, President Clinton instructed
the Secretary of Education to issue a Manual on School Uniforms to
the nation’s 16,000 school districts on how they can legally enforce the
use of such uniforms.
Here is a sample of some useful “dress codes” that some schools do
try to heed (From a letter to parents at: MS 104, Baruch Middle School,
NYC., April 2001.)
The following are not permitted:
a) Short shorts, micro miniskirts.

b) Clothing that reveals midriffs, navels, backs, cleavage, under-
wear, bra straps.
c) Spaghetti strap tank tops.
d) Clothing that is transparent, skin tight.
e) No heavy chains, safety pins, jewelry containing spikes.
f) Hats, sunglasses, gang affiliation symbols.
g) Clothing with offensive sayings, ethnic slurs, suggestive—pro-
fane symbols.
Again, here there may be a fight and a need for balance between
freedom/liberty and safety needs.
11. Freedom of Speech

The U.S. Constitution allows you the freedom to speak, write, and
meet freely with others. In other words, the government cannot cen-
sor you. The First Amendment also gives students the right to freely
express themselves at a public school. (Because private and parochial
schools don’t receive taxpayer money, these schools can place greater
180 APPENDIX C
restrictions on a student’s right to free speech.) The U.S. Supreme

Court has said public school officials can’t censor you or your children
unless officials have a “reasonable expectation” that your expression
will cause a material and substantial disruption of school activities, or
invade the rights of others. But there are some limits to a student’s right
to express himself or herself.
For example, a student can’t stage a sit-in protest that blocks the
school’s entrance or use obscene language that would be offensive
to some students hearing it. Some public school officials have tried
to punish students who make provocative political comments or joke
about school violence, claiming the student has made a terrorist threat.
But to be considered a threat, the comments must:
• Be intended to be seen as a threat by other people

• Be so clear and convincing so as to cause someone else to believe
you intend to carry out your threat
• Cause other students to reasonably fear for their safety26
The courts have upheld the rights of students to express their opin-
ions, even on controversial subjects (Tinker v. Des Moines Indep.
Comm. Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503, 21 L. Ed.2d 731,89 S. Ct. 733 [1969]).
The only way to bar students from these rights is to show that the stu-
dents’ activities would materially and substantially disrupt the work
and discipline of the school (Id., 393 U.S. at 513; 21 l. Ed.2d at 742).
Thus, for example, it has been ruled that freedom of speech (and the
freedom to distribute literature on school grounds) does not extend to
the privilege of cursing one’s teachers and school administrators, nor
can a student, e.g., post a cartoon that is deemed to be offensive to other
students,27 or obscene, or libelous.28
However, these questions remain difficult to answer: Do the speech
rights of students increase as they get older? Do high school students
have the right to speak in ways that elementary school students do not?
Do university and graduate school students have the right to speak in
ways that might be punished if they were students in a high school?29
And what about Internet postings about one’s school? Might the fol-
lowing ruling be the standard? An Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that
a middle school student’s MySpace posts (criticizing the principal’s
school policies) were free speech. The judge ruled that it was wrong to
have placed this female student on probation. The court said that even
profanity-filled postings were political speech, her right to free speech.30
12. Graffiti, Vandalism, and Arson
Gangs use graffiti to claim territory. To restrict gang activity, schools

who budget funds to immediately eradicate graffiti, have been sup-
ported by the courts. And, the courts have also deemed vandalism and
arson as acts that justify schools’ policies of mandatory suspension.31
13. Police in Schools?
Many schools have resorted to having uniformed police officers

(School Resource Officers, SROs) in schools. Fifty-two percent of
teachers in New York City surveyed reported their school has an armed
police officer on school grounds.32 However: “Aggressive policing is
stripping thousands of New York City students of their dignity and dis-
rupting their ability to learn,” said Donna Lieberman, Executive Direc-
tor of the NYCLU. “We all want safe schools for our children, but the
current misguided system promotes neither safety nor learning. Despite
mounting evidence of systemic misconduct by police personnel in the
schools, the NYPD refuses to even acknowledge any problems with its
school policing practices. We are confident that the courts will compel
much-needed reform.” One lawsuit in NYC schools “maintains that
inadequately trained and poorly supervised police personnel engage in
aggressive behavior toward students when no criminal activity is tak-
ing place and when there is no threat to health and safety. The police
confront and arrest students over minor disciplinary infractions such
as talking back, being late for class or having a cell phone in school.
The lawsuit documents numerous incidents in which students engaged
in non-criminal conduct were handcuffed, arrested and physically as-
saulted by police personnel at school.”33
SROs “may not have a clear understanding of their role within the
larger educational context or the rights and needs of the children they
are intended to serve; they may inadvertently, and indeed counter-
productively, create an adversarial environment that pushes students,
182 APPENDIX C
particularly at-risk students, out of school rather than engaging them in

a positive educational environment.”34
14. Conclusions
Presently, it seems as though our society is generally opting on the side

of safety and violence prevention in our schools as opposed to an over
concern for students’ rights (although the ACLU continues to fight for
the latter). For example, regarding school safety and weapons in schools,
with relaxed rules on student searches, combined with low-intrusive
detector searches and zero-tolerance policies, schools have more legal
support to, e.g., curtail weapons in schools and, therefore, eliminate some
of the more dangerous crimes. (However, easy access to guns, usually
from the home, is still a huge problem that is difficult for schools to con-
trol.)35 However, several state legislatures (e.g., California, Connecticut,
Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania) have enacted laws
making parents responsible for the actions of their children.36
Also, in the Anti-Crime Bill of 1994 there are substantial grants to
be used for alternative punishment for young offenders, e.g., requiring
young offenders to reimburse the victims of their crimes, weekend in-
carceration, community service, and programs to deal with serious sub-
stance abuse and gang-related crime. Also provided are funds to state
and local governments which have a law or policy that (1) punishes any
student caught with a firearm with the loss of driver’s license privileges
and suspension from school; and (2) bans guns and other weapons
within one hundred yards of a school. The bill also provided funds for
new “drug courts” to be established by state and local governments,
and public and private organizations. There are also provisions here for
substantial funding for after-school programs for youth, offering edu-
cation, tutoring, job preparation, athletics, culture, and arts and crafts.
14. Resources
a) The Education Law Association 300 College Park; Dayton, OH,

45469-2280 phone: (937) 229-3589
b) The National Council on Crime Prevention at: http://www.
weprevent.org
c) The National School Safety Center (NSSC) 4165 Thousand Oaks

Blvd., Suite 290 Westlake Village, CA 91362
d) The National Report on School Violence (800) 274-6737 at:
http://www.bpinews.com or e-mail at: bpinews@bpinews.com
(includes information on innovative programs, contact persons,
phone numbers, etc.)
e) For individual help with legal issues on a specific legal education/
school concern, contact: Taylor Nichols at: tnichols@kippaustin.
org 512-501-4969, ext. 101. (Mention you were referred by this
book.)
NOTES
1. “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,
and no warrant shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or af-
firmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons
or things to be seized.”
2. Horton v. Goose Creek Indep. Sch. Dist., 690 F.2d 470 (5th Cir. 1982);
ruling denied, 693 F.2d 524 (5th Cir. 1982).
3. Reed, B. Day, Legal Issues Surrounding Safe Schools (Cleveland, OH:
National Organization on Legal Problems of Education, 1994), pp. 30–31.
4. Regarding “reasonable”: a search must be justified at its inception; that
is, the school official must have reasonable grounds to suspect that the search
will turn up evidence that the student has violated, or is violating, either the
law, or the rules of the school. And, such a search must be limited and related
in scope to the circumstance which gave rise to the inference that a school rule
or the law was being violated in the first place. (T.L.O., 469 U.S. AT 342, 105
s. Ct. at 473.)
5. Craig Wood and Mark Chestnut, “Violence in U.S. Schools: The Prob-
lems and Some Responses.” West’s Education-Law Quarterly 4, no. 3 (July
1995): 417–18.
6. Ibid., 420.
7. Eugene Bjorklun, “School Locker Searches and the Fourth Amend-
ment,” West’s Education-Law Quarterly 4, no. 1 (January 1995): 8.
9. Ibid., 420.
10. Ibid., 420–21.
11. Day, Legal Issues Surrounding Safe Schools, 49.
184 APPENDIX C
12. The Civil Rights Act, 42, U.S.C. section 1983.

14. The New York State Teacher, March 1995, p. 6.
15. Joan Henderson and Billie Friedland, “Attitudes toward Suspension, a
Wake-Up Call: Rural Educators” (ERIC no. ED 394749), 1996.
17. Gail Sorensen, “Discipline of Students with Disabilities: An Update”
(A Legal-Memorandum) (Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary
School Principals, June 1995), ERIC no. ED384192.
18. Lauren Zykorie, “Reauthorizing Discipline for the Disabled Student,”
Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal (Fall 2003).
20. Ibid. 53.
21. New York Times, February 1, 1997, 6.
22. “Best to Prevent the Need for Gang Membership” New York Times,
July 19, 2007.
23. “Dress Codes and School-Uniform Policies,” April 2011, Clearing-
house on Educational Policy and Management.
25. Ibid. 53, 55–56.
26. Jennifer King, “Understanding Your Rights to Free Speech at
School,” Lawyers.com, October 13, 2009, http://www.lawyers.com/our-blog/
archives/129-Understanding-Your-Rights-to-Free-Speech-at-School.html.
27. Ibid., 59.
28. Willis Furtwingler and William Konnert, “Legal Parameters,” chapter
9 in Improving School Discipline: An Administrators Guide (Boston: Allyn
and Bacon, 1982), 202.
29. Exploring Constitutional Law at: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/proj-
ects/ftrials/conlaw/home.html
30. Associated Press, April 10, 2007.
32. “Discipline Problems, Unruly Behavior Seriously Threatening Student
Achievement,” Public Agenda, press release, May 11, 2004.
33. “ACLU Lawsuit Challenges Abusive Police Practices in New York
City Schools,” ACLU, March 31, 2010, http://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/
aclu-lawsuit-challenges-abusive-police-practices-new-york-city-schools.
34. Don Parker-Burgard, “ACLU Says Police Officers in Schools Need
Guidelines,” District Administration, October 2009, http://www.districtad-
ministration.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=2150
35. Wood and Chestnut, “Violence in U.S. Schools,” 427.
APPENDIX D
“Am I Going to Have a

Lot of Discipline Problems?”
A PRETEST FOR DIAGNOSIS AND PREVENTION
This is an assessment questionnaire for new and beginning teachers. It

is also a good test to take for experienced teachers who want to make
sure they are not falling into some bad pitfalls as they start the new
semester. It is a fact that often the average new teacher goes through
almost five years of trial and error trying to learn how to manage a class
to best eliminate many discipline problems. Some teachers, during this
time, just give up and quit teaching.
Among these teachers are often potentially good teachers, people
who really care about students, but, because of the stress in this area
of the job, just give up. It shouldn’t take five years to better manage
disruptive behavior, and we shouldn’t lose these caring, ill-prepared
teachers. By answering the questions below, you will be helped to find
out where your weaknesses and pitfalls may be beforehand. This can
save you from a lot of unnecessary years of upset, save many respon-
sible students’ learning from many disruptions, and help all of us keep
you, a caring potentially effective educator.
Directions
(a) Below, answer Yes or No as honestly as you can.

(b) After you answer the questions, consult the upside-down an-
swers at the end of the questionnaire.
(c) Then, read the chapter and section that refers to your pitfall or
potential weakness (the answers you got wrong).
185
Chapter and
Yes? No? Section
1. I think that if I am myself, and often very honest with the class, that this
openness can cause discipline problems. 8B, 11B
2. I should try to do and say what other good teachers have said and done. 8B, 11B
3. If I feel disrupted by a student, I should not let that behavior slide. 4
4. I should “go after” students who withdraw, e.g., fall asleep in my class . . . 4
5. It’s important for me to be a good teacher, which includes trying to “win”
students’ feelings, not just get their correct behavior, so that they have the
correct feelings about school. 4
6. If a student from outside my class is disrupting my class by waving at one
of my students through the classroom door window, I should first “go after”
the student outside my door. 6C, 10C
7. It’s best to have my class sit in rows, rather than in a circle. 7C, 10D, 2
8. It’s fine if I usually don’t express much emotion in my class; it’s more
important that I get across the ideas presented in the lesson. 9B, 14B
9. It’s always important that I have everyone’s attention. 4B
10. It’s very important that I stop students’ digressions and “off-the-lesson
questions” to get the lesson plan done. 4B, 9D, 14D
11. Exercising control in almost all situations is very important. 4B
12. I shouldn’t really be “myself” with a class. Instead, I should try to be the
“teacher.” 8B, 11B
13. Keeping track of things is not as important as being able to explain abstract
ideas. 8C, 11C
14. It’s okay if I don’t believe in the entire curriculum that I’m teaching, as long
as I can convince my students to study the material. 9A, 14A
15. It’s best if I can often go from the curriculum, then to examples of how the
curriculum relates to students’ lives. 9D, 14D
16. It’s better if the students (in the lesson) interact with me (the teacher) than
each other. 9E, G, 14E, G
17. I know some good rules that I can implement used by a good teacher I
once had. 8B, 11B, 12A
18. I remember some effective lectures to give students who violate my rules
(that my past teachers used to give me). 8B, 11B, 12A
19. I have no problem calling a parent as soon as a child violates one of my
rules. 12A
20. If I am reprimanding a student, and the student says: “I won’t do it, big
deal!” I should know how to give the next punishment (for such an attitude). 12A
21. I know how to reprimand students who call out. 13B, 1
22. I know how to go after students during a test who are cheating. 13B, 3
23. It’s important for me to not smile or laugh when a student in my class is
being funny as a “class clown.” 8B, 11B
24. I know how to break up a fight between two students by myself. 13B, 2
25. I know how to speak supportively to a student who might have a crush on
me. 13B, 6
26. If I’m a substitute teacher, I can usually follow the lesson left for me by the
regular teacher. 15B, C, D
27. It’s OK for me to let elementary school students rely on their parents
somewhat to help them enter the class in the morning, e.g., hang up their
coats, since it will help them and me to have them ready for work in the
morning. 10F, 1
The better answers are all No! If you answered Yes, to any of these,
read chapter and section indicated for the question you answered Yes
to, so that you might rethink your teaching methods and attitudes in
that area.
Answers
“AM I GOING TO HAVE A LOT OF DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS?” 187
APPENDIX E
An Indexed Inventory of the Sources of

Disruptive Behavior and Remedies
*Chapter/Section Source of Disruptive Behavior

4A You make a miscall.
4B-1 You reprimand a withdrawn student.
4B-2 You overreact to a rule.
4B-3 You try to win students’ feelings.
4B-4 You need their attention inappropriately.
4B-5 You reprimand a student because your ego is hurt.
4B-6 You reprimand students because they’re interfering with your
getting your lesson done.
4B-7 You displace your anger.
4B-8 You are tired of trying to be understanding all the time.
4B-9 You reprimand because of the “mirror effect.”
4B-10 You need to control, inappropriately.
4B-11 You mistake “steam” for “smoke.”
4B-12 You mistake “venting” for “cursing.”
4B-13 You make a prejudicial mistake.
4B-14 You hold a grudge.
4B-15 You punish an education problem.
6A Students cope with physical and sexual maturation.
6A Students cope with the development of self-identity.
6A Students cope with realizations of mortality and finitude.
6A Students cope with anxiety about the future.
6A Students attempt to develop a system of ideas.
6B Problems are from home.
*The reader can also consult the Index of the text.
189
190 APPENDIX E
6B Students need peer-group support.

6C Problems are from right outside your classroom.
7A Disorder breeds disorder in the physical environment.
7B-1 Each class period is not in the same room.
7B-2 You get to your classroom after the students get there.
7B-3 The classroom is located too near a noisy area.
7B-4 The windows face a distraction.
7B-5 The lighting in your classroom is bad.
7B-6 The floor is noisy.
7B-7 There are papers all over the floor
7B-8 The room is too warm.
7B-9 The sun is glaring into the windows.
7B-10 The room has only one entrance-way door.
7B-11 The front entrance-way door has a window.
7B-12 There is no place in your classroom for privacy.
7B-13 There’s either no chalkboard or eraser or chalk.
7B-14 There are no bulletin boards.
7B-15 The bulletin boards and walls are a mess.
7B-16 The bulletin boards are distracting.
7B-17 There’s no garbage can, or it’s in “basketball” range.
7B-18 The pencil sharpener is unusable in class.
7B-19 There aren’t enough chairs and desks.
7B-20 The desks and chairs squeak or are broken.
7B-21 The room is cluttered with nonessential furniture.
7B-22 The desks or chairs squeak or are broken and/or filthy.
7C-23 The seats are in sloppy rows.
7C-24 The seats are in rows that inhibit student interaction.
7C-25 The seating arrangement promotes an adversary relationship.
7C-26 The seating arrangement makes you the major feeder of at-
tention.
7C-27 You and the students are too far from each other.
7C-28 The students are sitting too close to each other.
7C-29 The seating arrangement has a poor traffic pattern.
7C-30 The seats face too much toward the door or windows.
7C-31 The seating arrangement promotes too much interaction.
7C-33 The students keep taking different seats.
7C-34 There are no empty seats near the door for latecomers.
AN INDEXED INVENTORY OF THE SOURCES OF DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR AND REMEDIES 191
7D-35 The seating arrangement is not congruent with your teaching

style
7D-36 You don’t put a “do-now!” assignment on the chalkboard.
7D-36 You don’t use task sheets.
7D-37 You don’t post rules or routines.
7D-38 There aren’t predictable routines in your style.
7D-39 You don’t demarcate time, use a calendar, or list topics cov-
ered or to be covered
7D-40 You haven’t written a lesson plan with a felt sense of order.
7D-41 You ask for their attention while you give out papers.
7D-42 Your handouts are unclear or too difficult.
7D-43 You have a poor policy for latecomers.
7D-44 You have a poor homework policy.
7D-45 You have an unclear grading system.
7D-46 You have a poor policy for going to the bathroom.
7D-47 You haven’t found methods that help you save time.
7D-48 You don’t have good procedures for keeping track of warn-
ings or rewards.
7E-49 You don’t carry a piece of chalk and/or an eraser with you.
7E-50 You don’t have a piece of colored chalk.
7E-51 You don’t use newsprint, or cards
7E-52 You don’t use or have a large calendar for class.
7E-53 You don’t carry the “little tools of survival” in a pencil case.
7E-54 You don’t use an appointment book.
7E-55 You have not charged your cell phone each night before
school.
7E-56 You don’t use a Delaney book.
7E-57 You have not prepared any manipulatives.
7E-58 You don’t have access to a computer to help you design edu-
cational materials.
8A You have some needs and feelings that lead to miscalls.
8B You tend to be incongruent in some areas.
8C You tend not to follow through.
8D You tend to be inappropriate
8E You tend to be unfair.
9 and 14A You have a lesson delivery that has incongruent content.
9 and 14B You have a lesson delivery that is not affective enough.
192 APPENDIX E
9 and 14C You have a lesson delivery that is not actional or experi-
ential enough.
9 and 14D You have a lesson delivery that is not inductive enough.
9 and 14E You have a lesson delivery where students don’t partici-
pate enough
9 and 14F You have a lesson delivery that lacks a felt sense of order,
rewards, or momentum.
9 and 14G You have a lesson delivery that mismanages the distribu-
tion of attention.
9 and 14H You have a lesson delivery that is not explained well
enough.
12A Your rules fall apart.
12B You handle the “See me after class!” wrong.
12C You are confused about rewards, punishments, and suspensions.
12D
12E
12F
12G You have trouble asserting yourself and taking stands.
13B-1 You mishandle students who call out.
13B-2 You mishandle fighting.
13B-3 You mishandle cheating.
13B-4 You mishandle latecomers.
13B-5 You mishandle homework.
APPENDIX F
A Checklist for Student

Teachers and New Teachers
“Your First Day!”
CHECKLIST
A few days (or a week) before you start your student-teaching experi-
ence (or your first teaching job), it’ll be helpful to prepare many areas.
First, you should observe the class as much as possible with your su-
pervisor’s help. Then, you might consider these:
1. Have you reviewed the definitions of a “discipline problem” and

“miscall” (Chapter 4, section A)?
2. Which typical miscalls might you fall into making?
3. Have you resensitized yourself to remembering the developmen-
tal problems of your students (Chapter 6)?
4. Have you looked into how you might prevent disruptions from
coming into your classroom from the outside (Chapters 6, section
C, and 10, section B)?
5. Have you decided on your seating plan(s) (Chapters 7, section C,
and 10, section C)?
6. Have you decided what procedures you will institute for the many
tasks you will have to carry out (Chapters 7, section D, and 10,
section C)?
7. Have you obtained all of the survival tools and equipment that
you will need (Chapters 7, section E, and 10, section D)?
8. Have you decided how you feel and what you will say about your
rules and subject matter (and how you will generally interact with
your students) so you will deliver these congruently (Chapters 8,
section B, 11, section B, 12, section A, and 13, section A)?
193
194 APPENDIX F
9. Have you reviewed how important it is to: follow through

(Chapters 8, section C, and 11, section C); be appropriate (Chap-
ters 8, section D, and 11, section D); be fair (Chapters 8, section
E, and 11, section E)?
10. Have you reviewed Chapter 9 and selected, planned, and prac-
ticed some of the methods you might use to enhance the delivery
of your lesson plan?
11. Have you reviewed the technical terms in Appendix G?
12. Have you set up a weekly time to meet with your cooperating
teacher to plan and discuss your progress, the progress of stu-
dents, and any difficulties you are having
YOUR FIRST DAY!
Reread Chapter 3, 1. on pp. 58–59, the list of uncertainties and fears of

student teachers. Locate which listed question is your personal worry.
Below are some general guidelines for each concern listed. (Hopefully,
you knew the answer from having read it already in this book.)
For items 1, 10, 11, 16, 17, 24, 27: These generally have to do with
being congruent. Figure out how you feel about things, and plan to talk
to the students about these honestly as both a teacher and real person.
Being congruent will not conflict with your enforcing rules and teach-
ing; it will actually add credibility to them.
For items 2, 3, 4, 13, 25, and all of 30: These generally have to do
with clearly formulating fair rules and routines for your classes that are
congruent for you, and making sure that you can and do follow through
with your warnings, rewards and punishments for each of these rules
(see Chapter 12A, B, and C).
For items 19, 28, 29: These will require that you be for the other
person while you are yourself at the same time. You will need to do
and say what the cooperating teacher, principal, and parent need, while
you also say and do what you believe in. You should be able to find a
middle ground that is also honest for you. If you feel that to be for the
other will involve you in being untrue to yourself, try to express your
feelings to these people as tactfully as you can, before you push “your
way.” (For more help with this concern, review Chapter 11, B, 2.)
A CHECKLIST FOR STUDENT TEACHERS AND NEW TEACHERS 195
For items 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 18, 21: All of these are just normal feel-
ings and anxieties. Most beginning teachers worry about these. If you
can follow many of the guidelines in this book, you’ll be fine.
For items 9, 12, 20: These generally involve using methods for an
effective lesson plan delivery. See Chapter 14.
For item 22 Read Chapter 11, section E.
For items 23 and 26: It is worth your time to, at least, learn to use
a computer, perhaps a projector, and certainly a VCR, to be able to
show educational videos. But, these are not necessary. Regarding a
piano, usually you need not know how to play one, though, if you have
limited time, it’s worth learning to read and play, at least, the melody
line of songs.
APPENDIX G
Online Help for Your Education Concerns
• You can contact the author of this book via an email at: www.
ClassroomManagementOnline.com.
• Also, you can go to: www.ClassroomManagementOnline.com and
tour all the blue links there for the services available at this site.
• Also, you can go to: http://echponline.com/.
• Also, you can go to: http://www.panix.com/~pro-ed/. Here you
will find how to purchase, with school discounts, the DVD cued to
the text that demonstrates the effective vs. the ineffective teacher
and the concepts in the book; some free useful documents; and
how to purchase the author’s other book, Preventing Disruptive
Behavior in Colleges.
197
APPENDIX H
Using Technology in Education

Guidelines and Useful Resources
A. CREATING GUIDELINES FOR USING

TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION
How should we create guidelines for this new “method,” viz., computer
technology, coming into education? Let’s decide step by step, start-
ing simple and working our way up—about what is good for getting
across “learning.” Let’s start like this: if you just read some “notes” on
a subject area, would you get the full learning needed? The answer is:
No. Some learning would not be attained or would be lost using just
this method.
What if you read these notes, and then also talked to the teacher by
phone about the subject? Again, here some learnings, via these narrow
communication methods, would be lost.
What if you could read notes and also had a live teacher tutor you?
Again, since you would not get the benefit of the reactions and sharing
of the other students in a classroom, you would still be missing some
learning about the subject.
So, reading on the subject, having a live teacher teaching you, with
other students in a live classroom . . . seems to add a lot to your learn-
ing experience.
What if the teacher also used in this classroom some method-engage-
ment techniques besides just lecturing: great questions, role playing,
cooperative learning in committees, debates, visual maps/charts, etc.?
What if the teacher also used methods that involved feeling, touching,
tasting, smelling, moving, art, music. Of course, your learning would
increase by all of these.
199
200 APPENDIX H
What if the teacher now also added computer instruction, used

educational software, where you could learn sometimes at your own
individual rate and competence level, keep track of your learning, have
the ability to go to useful Internet sites and videos on the subject. Of
course, your learning would be enhanced further.
So, if our goal is to enhance learning as much as possible, as it
should be, then why push toward only one method of education, e.g., a
classroom dominated by computer learning.
We should use as many of the above methods as possible.
I put the question this way because, as we all know, there is pressure
in schools to move mostly toward computer learning, and often thereby
to use less of the other instructional methods. This pressure-tendency
is motivated under the guise of accountability and efficiency, by the
“factory model” imposed on education, and by the sheer profit motive
of computer industries and makers of standardized tests. Often in this
model, instead of the computer being an assistant to the teacher, the
teacher becomes the assistant to the computer! No good. High-stakes
testing does not teach essential skills for life: what school was sup-
posed to be for, with the partnership of the parents.
High-stakes standardized tests do not teach or assess the whole right
side of the brain: emotional education, character education, values
clarification, ethical decision making, listening to others, empathy
skills, aesthetic appreciation, refutations of stereotypes and prejudice.
They do not help students with the arts of distinguishing facts from
opinions/feelings/values, recognizing fallacious thinking or deceptive
advertising, asserting oneself constructively, making supportive lasting
relationships, enhancing and supporting creativity and the arts, using
negotiating skills; seeing other points of view, or social competence in
general that can be practiced in the live classroom—instead of teaching
to the test.
The reader should notice that it is the lack of the above skills that
are the real causes of the significant ills of our society (suicide, loneli-
ness, drug abuse, poor supportive relationships, etc.). We are not, as
a society, suffering from lack of computer efficiency and calculation.
We seem to get more and more of the latter and continue suffering the
former.
USING TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION 201
So, in our guidelines we will need to guard against an imperialism

of high-stakes standardized testing, which can motivate the overuse of
computers, which then reciprocally tailors the curriculum to fit stan-
dardized testing: an infectious synergy that restricts what is taught in
our schools.
So, since we did not eliminate previous methods of teaching/learn-
ing when the phone was invented (we did not decide to eliminate live
schools with just phone calls!), why eliminate other methods to move
to computer instruction? The latter can add to our methods, but such
should not be an end-all, a replacement. The other methods each bring
their own kind of learning and advantages.
So, as with other methods, we need to ask: “What methods are best
for what kinds of learning being taught, and what learnings should we
put into our curricula?” Live teachers, other in-class live students, role
playing, etc. help some learnings get across better, e.g., learning to
respond to nonverbal communication, listening skills, emotional learn-
ing, feeling the feelings of other students, teacher role-modeling, etc.
And, sometimes, only sometimes, does computer-instructed learning
enhance learning as well.
So, what are the best guidelines for sometimes adding computers to
educational instruction? (Not computers as replacing educational in-
struction.) Let’s add this new technology of computer-assisted instruc-
tion to our “tool kit” as we once added the blackboard.
B. GUIDELINES FOR USING TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM
Before we decide on the best guidelines here, we need to first decide:

What is best to be taught in the curriculum in the first place? What
learnings should we value to hand on to the next generation? Not ev-
erything you can put into a student is valuable. “Valuable for what?”
is the priority question.
The answer should be: for living life successfully, being productive
in life in a meaningful way, having supportive meaningful relation-
ships, widening empathy, consciousness about being a useful citizen
for our whole species, contributing to others, to society. The time spent
in the curriculum teaching a subject matter should be commensurate
with these values.
202 APPENDIX H
But, you say, “Some of the curriculum you must teach does not help
your students with these.” Then, try to change this, while still doing
what you must do and keep your job. But also continue to work to put
these values/learnings into the curriculum, as a voting member of your
community and country.
Meanwhile, as you teach in today’s computer-driven world, we need
to ask: What are the best guidelines for using computers in the class-
room? We need to divide this question up into these:
1. When is it best to use just computer learning (JCL)?
1. JCL is useful for especially logic-stepped, sequential cognitive

learning and empirical facts, e.g., math, geometry, memorization
of characteristics of chemical elements, logical axioms, grammar
rules, dates, mere data.
2. However, a caution about this first guideline: Although, yes, JCL
is useful for these, sometimes too much time is used up in the cur-
riculum studying/memorizing these—when computers can store,
make accessible, and retrieve these facts faster and easier. For
example, it is less necessary to spend months grilling and hav-
ing students memorize the multiplication tables when they can
have a handy calculator right on their smartphone. (However, see
guideline 29 below.)
3. JCL is also useful when you want to instruct one student (using
computer software) who is at a different competence level than
the class (below or above), and/or who needs individual remedia-
tion/challenges.
4. JCL is also useful when the student needs immediate, individual
feedback that often computer software can provide (self-compe-
tition in attaining a score tracked by the computer).
5. However, keep in mind, with JCL, sometimes the homework
credit and late policies, for example, need to be revised.
6. Regarding JCL, we need to also make sure that the influence of
money-vendors, corporations, donors in business and profit . . .
do not pollute the learning. They are not educators and often
transfer the business model or factory model into the learning
instruction; they often have criteria for success that are inap-
propriate for measuring valuable learning (too much emphasis

on standardized testing). Thus, similar to making sure that there
is separation of church and state, we need to make sure there is
separation of capitalism, sexism, racism—and education.
2. When is it best to use computer-assisted learning, sometimes called

blended learning (BL), where computers are used with the other
methods of instruction?
7. When the above 1, 2, 3, and 4 are not the case, then BL should
be used.
8. JCL should not dominate what happens in the classroom. The
teacher should still be the main director—where BL should sup-
port and enhance the learnings designed by the teacher.
9. The teacher should guard against being the assistant to the com-
puter’s programming. It should be the other way around: the
computer can, under the direction of the teacher, be the assistant
to the teacher.
10. When BL is used this way, the teacher must actively resist (or
actively design) where the computer takes the student in the
learning process. For example, Microsoft should not be deciding
where the student should go, what should be learned, and when.
A “lazy” teacher, or one pressured too much by standardized
testing, can easily fall into this pitfall track/rut.
11. When using BL in the classroom, the teacher becomes more of
a “facilitator” than just a teacher. The skills of “being a facili-
tator” are also needed, and hopefully we train teachers in these
supplemental skills for doing BL in the classroom. But, again,
here we must guard against the teacher being the assistant to
the computer. For example: The teacher can facilitate Skype in
the classroom (https://education.skype.com/), where students
can talk to experts, other students, almost anyone in the world.
12. BL (not JCL) should be used when the teacher needs time for
live-relationship teaching: teaching affective, emotional learn-
ing (EQ not just IQ) and live interaction skills, where the stu-
dents need to interact with the teacher and the other students.
204 APPENDIX H
13. Therefore, BL (not JCL) is best for subject matter that should
be enhanced by other students participating live (face-to-face);
where each student can learn from the other students’ nonver-
bal, emotional, culturally diverse, tonal communication and live
relationships with other students. Here, just seeing each other’s
comments/reactions on an interactive computer program is not
enough to get across the social/affective learning that is so valu-
able in addition to the cognitive learning.
14. Therefore BL is best (not JCL) for subject matter that involves
crucial affective, emotional learning, including sharing emo-
tional and valuational and different viewpoints, e.g., cultural
and sex-role diversity, the nonfactual aspects of social studies,
the humanities, literature, art, music, sociology, anthropology,
language learning, the nonfactual aspects of the natural sciences
in, e.g., astronomy, physics, biology, etc.
15. Therefore BL is best (not JCL) for subject matter that involves
emotional decision making, ethical ruminations, spiritual learn-
ing, values clarification, choosing priorities, etc. with the input/
discussion of the live teacher and others.
16. BL is also best (not JCL) where the teacher as “role model”
enhances the learning, and can be a positive influence on the
motivation and personal identity of the student.
17. Therefore BL is best (not JCL) where it is better to have the pres-
ence and live listening of a caring relationship with a teacher.
18. Therefore BL is best (not JCL) where teachers teach more than
information; and if they are good teachers, they are always teach-
ing more than mere information. Teachers teach and convey a
“relationship” with the student, and his/her fellow students, and
an attitude toward learning itself, and enhance the self-concepts
of their students. If you think back on your own teachers who
affected your lives, you will notice they left you something more
important for your whole life than just information.
For example, listen to these:
Betty Ford, First Lady of the United States: “Martha Graham,
my former dance teacher, is my very, very favorite person, one
of the outstanding women of the world. As my teacher, she
helped shape my life. She gave me the ability to stand up to all

the things I have had to go through with much more courage
than I would ever have had without her.”
Jimmy Carter, President of the United States: “My life was
heavily influenced by our school superintendent, Miss Julia
Coleman, who encouraged me to learn about music, art, and es-
pecially, literature. As a schoolboy who lived in an isolated farm
community, my exposure to classical literature, art, and music
was ensured by this superlative teacher.”.
A Second Grade Teacher: “I once had a student who was the
victim of an abusive home. . . . I asked him if he thought of him-
self as a good kid or a bad kid or as a good kid who sometimes
did bad things. It brought tears to my eyes when this seven-year-
old replied, ‘Oh, I know I’m a bad kid.’ There was no question
in my mind that he honestly believed that, with all his heart. At
the end of the year (and after a lot of hard work from both of
us), I asked him the same question. He smiled, and said, ‘I know
that I make bad choices about my behavior sometimes, but I’m
a good kid inside now.’”
A Teacher in a Private School for the Emotionally Disturbed:
One morning a message from a former student came to our
school’s website on the Internet. The student wrote that he was
now a father and Cub Scout leader and taught his children what
I had taught him: that to be of value to the community, one must
first feel valued. I only teach eight students at a time. But now I
realize that each of them grows up and influences others, which
affects their children, families, and communities, . . . and that
what I do, does matter!”
Arnold Willens: On March 7, 1997 a fifty-one-year-old
teacher died. He had been merely a 5th grade teacher and
theater arts teacher for about seventeen years in a small public
school in New York City, P.S. 41. (Oh, he also, apparently,
made it a point to be at the entrance of the school at 7:30 AM
every day to greet all students and staff, giving them some-
thing like: “Go! Do a great job!” The school handed out a
brief letter that he had died, and unfortunately with only three
206 APPENDIX H
days notice, told the parents/staff/student that a small service

would be held in the auditorium of the school for Mr. Willens
on Friday 3 PM. To the shock of some (but not all) over six
hundred people showed up at the auditorium (which could hold
only about four hundred). So, the rest just stood in the back of
the auditorium, in the halls outside, for over an hour and a half.
Most of the people who came were in tears; many had flown in
from as far as California! After an hour and a half, they had to
end the service because present and past students, parents, and
fellow teachers kept going on, and on . . . speaking about him
(e.g., how he came to school to take the kids on a bird watch
dressed as a cardinal), and there was no end in sight of the sto-
ries of how his work with students had changed and enriched
all their lives. (For more on this, see Chapter 16: The Epilogue
of the text: “You Matter.”)
19. Thus, we must protect the teacher-input aspect of BL. We must
be careful to not do too much JCL as to leave little time for the
real, live relationship between students and teachers.
20. JCL can go by each individual’s level, and give feedback well,
and rewards. But sitting at a computer does not give the student:
a live teacher relationship and other students interacting emo-
tionally, with diversity, nonverbal communication, taking turns,
learning to be in groups, empathy enhancement, listening skills,
teaching fair argumentation in a live group. Nor does it teach the
student equality among the sexes, sexual orientations, races, etc.
Regarding these, at least, BL is necessary.1
In short, BL must be protected. We must be on our guard re-
garding JCL, we must not use the computer to fall into being just
efficient, freeing up time for the teacher, and just teaching what
is measurable. Sure, it is easier to track the data of learning with
computers. But, here we need to be leery: learning that is not
easily tracked, that is not simply data, should not be de-valued.
Just because it is not easily reduced to data, does not mean it
should not be taught. Do not only teach what computers teach
well, and then have no time (or money) to teach music, the arts,
emotional education, etc.
3. When is it best to not use either of the above and, instead, only teach
the “old-fashioned way,” where only the live teacher (LT) teaches the
class?
From noticing the above, LT should be used when it is important

to teach affective, emotional, social, nonmeasurable, artistic, creative,
valuational, spiritual, ethical learnings and skills; where the teacher
as role model is also important, and where the teacher as facilitator of
student interactions/sharing is important.
21. Since these are always important, and always happening (even if
not directed and taught by the teacher), some LT should always
be used in teaching.
22. Of course, as LT is being done, there is no harm, and sometimes
there is value, in using BL to back up, support, and enhance
what is being taught using LT.
23. However, while using LT, one must be on guard that the teacher
does not become just the “sage on the stage.” S/he should also
use engagement-methods: class participation methods, action,
simulation, role-playing methods, etc. Lecturing, where the stu-
dents just become note takers too much, is ineffective LT. (For
learning more of these engagement methods and how to use
them effectively, see Chapter 14 of the text.)
24. Finally, the younger lower grades need more LT, to get more
of the teacher relationship, besides BL, than the upper grades.
Computers introduced in the lower grades too early and too
much, deprive some developmental growth of the person that
is the young student. (See Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Social
Emotional Development and Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral De-
velopment.)
25. Caution: High-stakes standardized testing can narrow the cur-
riculum (what is taught) to what can only be measured, which
is mostly cognitive learning. If the pressures of standardized
testing are not resisted, all that LT teaches will be left out of the
teaching, or, at least there will be little time for the teacher to do
live LT, what s/he does best, as outlined in 23 above.
208 APPENDIX H
4. When to do the “flipped classroom”?
The “flipped classroom” means that the students do learning at

home, often using computer programs, going to Internet sites, etc., to
gather/absorb merely information that traditionally was given by the
teacher in the classroom by lecturing and giving students notes on a
particular subject—then using class time, instead, not for this passive
note taking, but for teacher/student participation, action methods that
supports and enhance what was gathered by computer work at home.
Such a method “flips” the traditional routine of learning information
in class and then applying this information in homework. OK, when
might a teacher do this “flipped classroom”?
26. Certainly anything that can be done appropriately as JCL would

be fine to have the students do at home and then use class time
activities to reinforce these learnings.
27. Also, certainly anything that can be done appropriately as BL
would be fine, where the computer part of the learning can be
done at home, then “blended” with appropriate class activities.
28. Also, certainly anything that can be done appropriately as LT
would be fine, as long as the teacher gives them homework that
reinforces what only the LT can deliver. Careful here, what the
homework computer delivers needs to remain supplemental and
not primary to what the LT teacher delivered live and in person
in the classroom.
29. Caution: Here, with the “flipped classroom,” the teacher needs
to be especially on guard for economic class differences. It
should not be the case that lower-income students, who may
not have access to up-to-par computer software and fast Internet
connections, become here, now, even more disadvantaged.
C. TWENTY-TWO GUIDELINES FOR USING E-MAIL2
1. The major guideline here is to guard against getting too much
traffic in e-mails.
2. Do not get into issues/arguments about a student on e-mail. Keep
your e-mail communications as only a supplement to questions
that are hopefully answered at the school’s or class’s website.
3. Try to postpone any problematic issues to the Parent/Teacher

Conference hopefully not too far away; or, if necessary, you can
talk by phone.
4. Discuss only one topic per e-mail, with the subject line identify-
ing what you are talking about in your e-mail.
5. Keep folders per communication per student or parent.
6. Generally talk to the student, not the parent, especially past 2nd
or 3rd grade; your goal is to help the parent wean the student,
and the student wean the parent.
7. Always read over the e-mail you wrote before you send it.
8. Never forward a student or parent’s e-mail to another; resist do-
ing blind copies. The latter increases trust and confidentiality.
9. If you are having a problem with a student or parent, try to get
the backing of your administration before you send out more e-
mails regarding the situation.
10. Keep your e-mails as short as possible.
11. Do not feel that you have to discuss and defend everything you
are doing. Defer excessive requests to: “See your child’s home-
work, or the class syllabus handed out the first day, or see the
school website.”
12. Especially, do not get into defending your grading or homework
or lateness policies. Defer these arguments to: “See my grading
policy in the class syllabus handed out the first day, or see the
school or class website.”
13. Keep your communications with some formal distance. This is
not the place to show affection, or encourage personal openness.
14. Do not allow students to hand in drafts of homework for your
pre-evaluation. This would not be fair to other students and
would eventually overwhelm you if allowed for all.
15. Do not get into e-mailing notes to students who missed the notes
because they were absent.
16. Do not accept reasons for lateness and absence on e-mail. It is
too easy, and will only encourage more “excuses.” Have a clear
late and absence policy handed out the first day and/or on the
class website.
17. You may allow students to ask you questions on e-mail; it may
be good feedback for you of what you have not made clear.
210 APPENDIX H
But, again, defer these answers to the class website and/or just
answer this “good question” in class the next day.
18. Do not respond to or allow other students or parents to talk about
other students or parents on e-mail, or include any personal in-
formation.
19. No need to respond to e-mails immediately. Do not set up that
expectation in the student or the parent, or you will be pressured
more and eventually overwhelmed.
20. If you are upset in your e-mail message, do not send it right
away. Draft it and wait. Look at it the next day, or at least hours
after you have calmed down or have spoken to a friend about it.
21. Keep in mind that e-mails may be accessible under the Freedom
of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
22. Finally, here are links to a few popular guides recommended for
college professors on how to handle e-mail that, with some revi-
sion to fit your own K–12 style, may help you design your own
policy (from the City University of New York Union Clarion:
• http://psc-cuny.org/clarion/how-e-mail:
• tinyurl.com/Prof-E-mail-USNews
• tinyurl.com/Prof-E-mail-Cerritos-CC
• tinyurl.com/Prof-E-mail-Wellesley
• www.wikihow.com/E-mail-a-Professor
• tinyurl.com/Prof-E-mail-Eaton
D. USEFUL COMPUTER SITES AND RESOURCES
1. More specific guidelines for using tech in the classroom: for
when it is sometimes useful to use, e.g., cellphones, flip cameras,
tech-polling, and how to not rely too much on texting and e-mail.
See: http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2013/02/11/tln_barn-
well_classroomtech.html?tkn=SZCFqxJEtl5I4hmhzp8cfRkmo5l
foTwBc56f&cmp=clp-sb-mw.
2. School and school district website: Many schools now use a
school website where school news, forms, homework, grades, etc.
can be posted. See: http://www.edline.com for just one such set
of tools. Also see PowerTeacher at www.pearsonschoolsystems.
com/products/powerteacher/. Check your school to see what they

are using and what their guidelines are for using this computer
communication with students and parents.
3. How to constructively engage parents using cell phones, mass-
texting services that are safe and can be used for remind-
ers, announcements, polling opinions, at: http://smartblogs.
com/education/2013/02/27/4-ways-to-connect-with-parents-via-
texting/
4. Or you can use your own teacher system: e.g., Grade Connect
is a web-based course management system. Its primary feature
is an online gradebook (which automatically calculates quarter
grades). Grade Connect allows teachers to post assignments and
announcements and e-mail students in bulk and it is free; Grade
Connect, Inc. offsets the cost of running the system with sponsor-
ships, donations, and banner advertisements.
5. Student data notebooks: You may want to have your students use
Data notebooks (or folders). These support students in becom-
ing coproducers of their learning. They help students organize
processes for learning. The notebook generally contains a stu-
dent’s mission, goals, and action plans to support classroom and
personal learning. Data notebooks or folders empower students
to become accountable for their learning. By writing goals/ob-
jectives based on actual course or subject objectives, students
have control over their pace of learning. Goals/objectives are
also written by students to capture short-term gains to motivate
themselves to achieve long-range goals. (For more information,
go to: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/baldrige/staff/
datanotebooks.shtm.)
6. Creating online “hangouts” for students: You can create virtual
“student lounges” to allow students to collaborate and work
on projects together. See: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/online-
student-lounge-resources-heather-wolpert-gawron.
7. Using education blogs: http://sn.im/movingforward-bloglist is an
index to education blogs, categorized by subjects and disciplines,
with core and non-core subjects. This webpage created by Mov-
ing Forward is a wiki, so you can add your own favorites. Also
see: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech217.shtml
212 APPENDIX H
8. Help with creating tests: ClassMarker is an online-based test

generator that allows teachers to create quizzes with a blend of
multiple-choice true-or-false, short-answer, fill-in-the-blank,
and essay questions, at: http://www.classmarker.com. Also: Ex-
amBuilder at www.exambuilder.com.
9. Give your students certificates: from Certificate Creator at
www.certificatecreator.com/default3.htm.
10. Using movies: helps you select movies to match subjects that
you are teaching, each with a learning guide, at http://teachwith-
movies.org
11. Guidelines/tip sheets for strategies for computer class work: at
http://www.lburkhart.com/elem/tip4.htm by Linda J. Burkhart
12. Ask ERIC: AskERIC@ericir.syr.edu Ask any question. They
will research it for you and get back to you via e-mail.
13. The Teachnet listserv: Subscribe/Unsubscribe Form online at:
http://www.teachnet.com/t2t/ To post a message, e-mail: t2t@
teachnet.com.
14. NetTeach News: This is one of the longest-running publications
on networking and K–12 education. It covers what is happening
in and out of the classroom with K–12 networking, with tips,
lesson plans, etc., at www.netteach.com/.
15. U.S. Department of Education: From Goals 2010 to upcoming
grants, the Department of Education (www.ed.gov) provides a
collection of resources for teachers, parents, and researchers. In
addition to statistics, research results, calendars of events, and
links to other educational resources, users can search Depart-
ment of Education documents and request them to be sent via
postal mail.
16. EdWeb: General education resources, at www.edwebproject.
org/.
17. Education World and Education Week (great online teacher
newsletters with all kinds of education help) at www.education-
world.com/ and a: www.edweek.org/.
18. For classroom management sites: www.ez2bsaved.com/class_
manage.htm or Search Google for Classroom Management.
19. For your students: Homework help on Homework Hotline,
www.homework-hotline.org/.
20. Problem solving for principals: A team of principals report:

“How I handled” various administrative problems successfully
at www.educationworld.com/a_admin/how_i_handled/how_i_
handled020.shtml.
21. Online newsletter for middle school teachers: Full of practical
articles. To subscribe send an e-mail to norton@middleweb.com
with “subscribe” in the subject line.
22. Online sites to help make learning math fun:
a. http://www.education-world.com/a_issues/chat/chat162.
shtml
b. http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson339.
shtml
c. http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson338.
shtml
d. http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson306.
shtml
e. http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson293.
shtml
f. http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson265.
shtml
g. http://www.education-world.com/a_tsl/archives/math.shtml
h. http://mathforum.org/t2t/discuss/index.taco?start_at=61
i. http://www.brainpop.com/
23. Free courseware for math and math-related science: at: http://
www.shodor.org/interactivate. Includes activities, lessons/dis-
cussions, and dozens of virtual manipulables that can be used
online. Also aligns the materials with many math textbooks.
24. The Incredible Art Department at: http://www.incredibleart.
org/. This is an excellent art resource for highly successful,
well-researched lessons, museums, artists, and a link there to
Art Talk, where art teachers go on line to discuss art education.
25. A resource for grant writing and getting supplies: http://www.
educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev039.shtml
26. Answers.com, an encyclo*diction*almanac*apedia (www.an-
swers.com): a great place for students to begin research on any
topic, with a search tool and toolkit for teachers to help with
lesson planning, plagiarism discussions, etc. The site won 2006
Codie Award for Best Education Search Service.
214 APPENDIX H
27. The Ed Index (www.pitt.edu/~edindex/): K–12 resources, pub-

lications, tutorials, teaching units, lesson plans, staff presenta-
tions, etc. Just type in what you need, and it searches for you.
28.
A Guide to Online Education Resources (www.nytimes.
com/2010/04/18/education/edlife/18openbox-t.html): This New
York Times guide was a top-clicked story for the ASCD Smart-
Brief newsletter during a recent week. The Times describes it
best, not surprisingly: “Thousands of pieces of free educational
material—videos and podcasts of lectures, syllabuses, entire
textbooks—have been posted in the name of the open courseware
movement. But how to make sense of it all? Businesses, social
entrepreneurs and ‘edupunks,’ envisioning a tuition-free world
untethered by classrooms, have created Web sites to help navigate
the mind-boggling volume of content.” The article highlights six
such sites, where you’ll find not only help for your classroom but
for your personalized professional development needs.
29. Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org: An online encyclopedia that
your students can read, edit, and contribute to. Great place for
them to publish their ideas and work to millions of other stu-
dents, and on almost any subject. And, to do so, they have to
read and learn about these subjects! Careful, it is not like an
old fashioned, reliable encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Wikipedia:Criticisms) but it can be a great active learning
exercise for your classes.
30. 100 Best YouTube Videos for Teachers on all subject areas:
These videos can provide supplementary information for the
class, give inspiration, help you keep control of class and even
provide a few laughs here and there, at: www.smartteaching.org/
blog/2008/08/100-best-youtube-videos-for-teachers/
31. Websites for teaching Spanish:
a. Ñandu: list of fabulous teaching ideas from elementary
teachers around the United States. Visit http://www.cal.org/
earlylang/ and on the left you’ll see “Sign Up for Ñandu.” It
has a high percentage of usable suggestions.
b. http://www.spanishtown.ca/spanishforkids/grade1/monthly-
vocabulary/month1activities/audio-saludos.htm
c. http://www.spanishspanish.com/
32. Tips for creating Digital Binders: http://tweenteacher.

com/2013/09/13/going-paperless-the-digital-binder/
33. Furthering classroom discussions using technology: “The free
online platform Collaborize Classroom is a useful tool for edu-
cators seeking to beef up classroom discussions,” writes Todd
Finley, an associate professor of English education. “The tool
allows teachers to facilitate and track discussions while also in-
cluding multimedia, audio and video in discussions,” he writes
in this blog post. Finley shares some real-life examples of how
Collaborize is being used in the classroom, including to create a
jury simulation, to break up online lectures and to post reader-
response questions, at: Edutopia.org/Todd Finley’s blog.
34. What Is a Flipped Classroom? http://www.knewton.com/
flipped-classroom/
35. The 5 Best Practices for the Flipped Classroom: http://www.
edutopia.org/blog/flipped-classroom-best-practices-andrew-
miller
36. Clickers can be useful for immediate feedback: Students see
they are not alone in their responses, etc. See: Jan Hoffman,
“Speak Up? Raise Your Hand? That May No Longer Be Neces-
sary,” New York Times, March 30, 2012.
37. Virtual-field-trips: http://mindshift.kqed.org/2012/03/five-awe-
some-virtual-field-trips-for-students-of-all-ages
38. Digital pictures illustrate various concepts used in Jim Burke’s
classroom, including note-taking strategies, graphic strate-
gies, discussion strategies, and teaching strategies. A second
page on “note-making” (beyond “note-taking”) includes visu-
als of many techniques, PDF versions of handouts, and more,
at: http://www.englishcompanion.com/vignettes/vignettes.html
and http://www.englishcompanion.com/Tools/notemaking.html
NOTES
1. BL (Blended Learning) has been shown to be more effective than just
JCL or just face-to-face learning according to the Department of Education),
as reported by Daphne Koller, “Death Knell for the Lecture,” New York Times,
December 5, 2011.
216 APPENDIX H
2. Some of these guidelines for using e-mail above were mine but also
suggested to me from my reading of: “E-mail Guidelines for Teachers,” Harri-
sonburg City Public Schools, 2012; and Jonathan, D. Glater, “To: Professor@
University.edu Subject: Why It’s All About Me,” New York Times, February
21, 2006.
APPENDIX I
Guidelines for Successful

Parent-Teacher Conferences
Over the years, I have collected a set of suggestions from many teach-
ers and online resources, and then edited what I feel are the best ones
for making parent/teacher conferences more effective. Unfortunately,
the parents that usually show up to these conferences are usually the
parents of the students doing well; too often the parents of the students
who need the most help—sadly do not show up. This is a tell-tale
symptom: a child who has a parent with little time or resources to
parent well is usually a child struggling. However, keep in mind these
parents are struggling also.
However, you may want to urge them, if they can find the time, to:
read to their children, do homework with them, etc., besides only play-
ing with their kids. Research show that parents who can do the former,
not just the latter, help raise student academic ability and actual scores
considerably. But these parents may not have time or are suffering from
the fact that they also had parents who did not do this with them.
So, I understand: it is impossible for you to make up for all these
deficiencies. (But, some of you do “save” students.) Just do the best
you can here.
Only do the suggestions below that are congruent for you (see Chap-
ter 11, section B in the text on “congruence”) and best for your school.
You may already be doing many of these.
A. You may want to have your students write their parents a short
letter in the class—just before this parents’ day. Then, you can
start off your conference with the parent reading this letter or
having read the letter before they come. You can ask your stu-
217
218 APPENDIX I
dents to write about, e.g., things they’ve liked, favorite subjects,

something that is hard, to tell their parents they appreciate their
coming to this meeting, etc. Such is often a great start to the con-
ference with the parent.
B. If your students and their parents and you all have access to a
computer, you can create a class website where you can post as-
signments, grades, projects coming up, etc. Then, when you have
this parent/teacher conference, if they have all kept up checking
the class website, this conference will go much better.
C. On the day of this meeting, have a system for how parents see
you, e.g., a sign-up sheet outside your door: with your name,
class, your child is . . . , parent’s name, phone no., please print,
etc. Have a table and some chairs for waiting parents outside
your door.
D. Some parents may not speak English well; if you can, try to have
someone with you who can translate for you and them. (Do not
use another student, as this will violate privacy.) Usually nonna-
tive language parents can listen much better than they can speak,
and also can read better than they can speak. So, speak slowly;
they can listen/understand better when you do that. And, try to
write out things for them. Then, be very patient about their ability
to tell you their side of the story.
E. Have on the walls or Smart Board some helpful information
about your class.
F. It is always best to listen to these parents first, before you talk.
You may try opening with: “Hi, your son/daughter is . . . ?”
“Thank you for taking the time to come here.” “How can I best
use this time for you?” Parents may be coming in with upsets/
angers; if they are allowed to vent first and you show under-
standing, they are apt listen to you better and the meeting often
goes better. Do not interrupt, even if you disagree, for now. Say:
“I understand how you feel.” You can give input after they feel
more understood and vent and tell you first. If they do not start
talking first, come prepared with some questions, e.g., “Are you
concerned about any particular area for your daughter/son?”
G. You may want to review with them what you have already or re-
cently been teaching in your classes, and what is coming up next,
maybe on a hand-out sheet that you can give them?
GUIDELINES FOR SUCCESSFUL PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES 219
H. Be prepared and organized to easily access any grades, work, or

evaluations about each student; some that you can actually show
the parents. You may want to go over these the night before, es-
pecially regarding students who are in “trouble.”
I. It is best to start out with what the student is “doing well” with
first; the more the parent hears these, the more they will be able
to take in what s/he needs to work on. Then:
• Focus your comments on things that can be changed.
• Limit the number of suggestions so that parents are not over-
whelmed.
• Avoid jargon.
J. Perhaps you may want to explain your grading system or re-
ward/punishment/warning system? (See Chapter 12, section A
in the text.) “This sheet on my classroom rules was given out in
a hand-out before, early in the marking period.” Have it avail-
able to review with the parents, if necessary. If you are meeting
because of a student’s lack of progress and your school is not
already using something like this, you can recommend that the
student be placed on a behavior sheet/homework tracker, either
via your computer (http://Classroom-management-tips.suite101.
com/artiCLe.cfm/CLass_homework_assignments) or a sheet you
design. This helps the student (and parent) organize him or her-
self and then they can send it back to school with their son or
daughter. Explain that this form of communication will make an
ongoing useful communication between the student/teachers and
his/her parents. Try to form a working-together contract with the
parent. “We can work as a team here on this. This is what I will
be doing. Can you support and reinforce some of this at home?”
“Perhaps, we can write this out and show him/her, and have him/
her even sign it?”
K. Keep in mind that almost every parent is worried: “Am I be-
ing a good parent?” Try to reassure them here that parenting is
very difficult. (Share with them, if you have been or are a par-
ent.) Reassure them: “I am sure you are doing the best that you
can.” They are, if you fully understood their situation, e.g., their
economic pressures, marriage difficulties, health problems, their
own difficult, no-so-good parents, etc.
220 APPENDIX I
L. Your main guideline should be to listen a lot. Your talking often

helps less than their feeling that you listened and understood their
concerns; try to not interrupt or judge them. Try to have them
leave feeling understood, and that they got a chance, e.g., to vent,
besides the input that you want to make.
M. Also, watch the time with each parent: too much time with one
parent makes all the other waiting parents angry.
N. At the end: thank them again for coming and taking time out
from all they have to do and handle.
RESOURCES
Sarah Lawrence Lightfoot, The Essential Conversation: What Par-

ents and Teachers Can Learn from Each Other (New York: Random
House, 2003).
And Online:
• http://content.scholastic.com/browse/artiCLe.jsp?id=4194
• http://www.teachingheart.net/parentteacherconference.html
• http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Tips/Parent_Teacher_Confer-
ences/
• http://content.scholastic.com/browse/artiCLe.jsp?id=4195
• http://www.edutopia.org/blog/rethinking-difficult-parents-allen-
mendler
• http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&ie=ISO-8859-
1&q=parent+teacher+conferences%2C+suggestions
APPENDIX J
Glossaries for Student Street Language

and Technical Terms Used in Schools
1. Go here for updated definitions of the changing popular street
language to better understand the current jargon of your students:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/. Defined here are: e.g., A
Wickham, accentool, Atty., . . . Bellagio, Brandon Routh, Bat-
tojutsu, Bluh . . . , Circlism, chum fume, comb-o-hawk, Crowny,
. . . disbunk, doussy, declintonate, Dine on the vine, etc.
2. To understand educational terms, which are also constantly
changing and being updated, the best site to look up current terms
and definitions is: http://www.schoolwisepress.com/smart/dict/
dict.html.
221
About the Author
Howard Seeman, PhD, is professor emeritus of education, City Uni-

versity of New York; a life-coach (at http://www.echponline.com/bio.
html); and a national/international education consultant (at www.Class-
roomManagementOnline.com). His book and training video (cued to
this book) are used in over fifteen countries. He taught and supervised
teachers and student teachers at CUNY 1970–2000. He has published
more than twenty articles in professional journals and online on educa-
tion, counseling, philosophy, and psychology, and is also a published
poet. He has been the invited keynote speaker at many statewide edu-
cation conferences, been on several talk-radio shows, and has given
more than fifty workshops and lectures throughout the United States on
classroom management and emotional education. He was also a pro-
fessor in Japan via CUNY from 1990 to 1992. Dr. Seeman was also a
licensed English, social studies, and substitute teacher in the New York
City public schools from 1965 to 1970, a camp director for many years,
a codirector of a camp for emotionally disturbed children, and head of
a Center for Personalized Instruction at an institute in NYC. Besides
this book, he has also published Preventing Disruptive Behavior in
Colleges, and has given a university-wide keynote talk on this subject.
He also has a private practice as a life-coach online and in the NYC
area, and extensive experience in emotional education. He is available
as a life-coach and for school workshops and talks at: www.Classroom
ManagementOnline.com.
223
uploaded by [stormrg]
224 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Consultant to 4th Edition’s K–6 Sections:

Mary-Ann L. Feller, MA, was an elementary teacher in New York
City for over ten years, and was one of the first teachers in the country
to be certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Stan-
dards. She has presented at many staff development conferences,
including the National New Standards Project. She also served as a
consultant to the National Center for Reforming Education, Schools,
and Teaching; the Professional Development School Project, Dist. 3,
NYC; Scholastic’s Magic School Bus television show; and Super Sci-
ence Red magazine.

Classroom Management Training Handbook - Seeman, Howard (SRG) PDF

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Оригинальное название

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Classroom Management Training Handbook - Seeman, Howard (SRG) PDF

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Classroom Management

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

16 Carlisle Street, London W1D 3BT, United Kingdom

Copyright © 2014 by Howard Seeman

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Printed in the United States of America

For Chapter 1: Using This Book as a Handbook 1

For Chapter 7: From the Environment of Your Classroom 43

Appendix: I: Guidelines for Successful Parent-

Using This Book as a Handbook

Why Many Attempts Have Been Inadequate

TEACHERS SHARE THEIR GROWING PAINS

“Highlights of what I find important: Teacher education programs

judgments (teachers and advisers may picture different things or have

“Point 5—Area of prevention; Point 6—Teacher’s personality; Point

“Each person is different and handles his/her situation differently.

“Yes, prevention is not always enough. Yes, it is important how the

ADVISE FROM THEIR OWN STYLE.] I was also a little disap-

“Chpt. 2—very interesting—yes, teacher training programs do not

“Teachers evidently need more preparation and education on the

A. What We Need to Do and Be Careful About

1. Read Pitfalls 1–11 in Chapter 2.

B. A Summary and Critique of the Literature

1. Read each book listed in this section.

You’re Not Alone

TEACHERS SHARE THEIR GROWING PAINS

“I really related to your first example, the expectations a teacher has,

“Yes, teachers do not want to admit they have trouble controlling

“Wow! A lot of situations regarding math classes! Yes, I have had

“Discipline problems do make for a bad teacher; at least that is

“Many times, things will be ‘smooth sailing’ in teaching—until we

“Reading it made me become a little anxious about teaching. It also

“I was almost in tears reading this chapter. Some of those situations

I UNDERSTAND. YES, YOU ARE NOT ALONE WITH THESE

1. Read each incident in Chapter 3 that is described by these teach-

When Should You

TEACHERS SHARE THEIR GROWING PAINS

I often acted irrationally, my behavior becoming worse than the stu-

“I am still having difficulty in overreacting to discipline problems

“I used to really get upset if a kid was not paying attention to me

experience, that if a kid is not being disruptive, it is not worth having a

“Tired of being helpful: How many times have I lost my patience

me for a few different reasons. I tend to take it as a personal insult when

“As a substitute teacher, I am quite often faced with a great deal of

Exercise One: Definition of a Discipline Problem

Exercise Two: Making up Examples

Exercise Three: Identifying Discipline Problems vs. Miscalls

Below you will find several descriptions of classroom situations.

_____1. A student is doodling in her notebook instead of copying your

Exercise Four: Being Careful of the Mirror Effect

Exercise Five: Being Careful about Cursing vs. Venting

Exercise Six: From Miscall to Education Problem

A. Write three descriptions of classroom situations where one stu-

1. The withdrawn student____

I. Have you found yourself irritated with a student while there

From the Horse’s Mouth

TEACHERS SHARE THEIR GROWING PAINS

“12. had a student with this situation—was so hard on everyone

127. lessons should be as interactive as possible—lecturing and note

“Even though I was typically a very quiet student and seldom

“I often yell and make punishments I don’t follow through with.

“Sections C and section D were chock full of interesting and signifi-

1. Read Pitfalls 1–11 in Chapter 2.

1. Read each book listed in this section.

1. Read each incident in Chapter 3 that is described by these teach-

A. Write three descriptions of classroom situations where one stu-

I. Have you found yourself irritated with a student while there

6. You have just punished this student. Do you know where he or

1. I don’t need attention so much that if a student is not looking at

17. I don’t act phony in front of my class.