Discipline Journal 3

Discipline Journal #3

I. Ten Discipline Situations:
Date/Time: November 3, 2008
Grade level/Class: On-level 10th grade English 4th period

Description of the Incident: Tardy for the 3rd time, a student walked in late from lunch. I told him to sign the tardy book, which he did without incident. Later that day while tallying up tardies, I realized that the student signed in as “Stuart Little”, and while I enjoyed the literary reference, I was not not impressed with the lack of respect the student had shown the expectations in my class. I don’t think this is an event I could have prevented.

Consequences: During class the next time I had him, I told him that I had to write him a referral, not just for the 3rd tardy, but for signing the tardy book under a false name. I called his mom, and she said she would “take care of it”. He wasn’t punished by the office for not signing in correctly, but he was given an after school detention for the 3rd tardy.

Reflection: My relationship with the student is still fine. I don’t think him signing in that way was a personal affront, and he didn’t seem to think that sending him to the office was unwarranted. The is discipline situation didn’t really impact my relationship with the student, though he hasn’t been tardy since, which probably has more to do with his desire to stay out of the office than it does with an improved relationship with me.

Date/Time: November 4th, 2008 4th period.

Grade level/Class: English II, 4th period

Description of the Incident: A student – not mine - walked down the hallway with their shirts un-tucked before the bell rang for first period. I asked them to stop and tuck in their shirts. They ignored me, but one student said something under his breath, which was barely audible. I decided not to address that, but instead to reinforce the dress code issue. I don’t think I could have prevented this event because dress code is a perpetual problem. I told them they had two choices to tuck their shirts in or to follow me up to the office. They promptly tucked their shirts in and went to class.

Consequences: There were no consequences, save the social time they wasted, standing talking to me.
Reflection: I don’t have a relationship with those students, really. I still see them every-other morning and they pass me in dress code, knowing that I enforce the dress code. I suppose that is kind of sign of respect, which means our relationship is a bit better.


Date/Time: November 10th, 2008

Grade level/Class: Pre-AP English I, 2nd period

Description of the Incident: A student was written a detention for excessive tardiness, but did not show up. When I gave the student an office referral the next class period, her stayed in his desk and didn’t move toward the door. I wrote a sticky note to him facing him with the consequences for refusing to go to the office would be – having him removed from my classroom. I may have been able to prevent the incident by speaking to the student as I handed him the referral instead of laying it on his desk and expecting him to go on his own. I had already rescheduled his detention once, and was irritated, so I just handed it to him instead.

Consequences: His consequence was a warning. I think the consequence was appropriate and so far the consequence has made a difference. I haven’t had any problems of this sort from him since.

Reflection: I hate taking class time to deal with behavioral problems, yet I may have had to spend less time dealing with it if I had addressed him personally. My relationship with the student is about the same, and he had followed directions ever since. Should it happen again, I think he will just go.

Date/Time: November 10, 2008

Grade level/Class: Pre-AP English I, 2nd period

Description of the Incident: After the announcements, we say the Pledge of Allegiance together as a school. It has been a problem before that the students would refuse to recite the pledge. It was happening again. I looked out at the crowd as they were half mumbling the pledge, and it had no effect.

Consequences: After the moment of silence, I engaged the class again in a discussion about what they think the Pledge is for, about sacrifice, appreciation, and respect just like we had before. As a consequence, I had the kids take the time to write why they didn’t want to say the pledge. The consequence was appropriate for the situation. I cannot force students to say the pledge, and I hope it’s simply a problem with maturity. Most of their responses said something about “being tired” or “we say it every day, it’s lost its meaning..” I read some of the responses anonymously to the class and asked how adults would react to these situations. The consequence took up the free reading time they get that period, but I think it was time well spent.

Reflection: Some problems aren’t resolved after addressing it once, which doesn’t bother me. I think the more we discuss things, the more they will see that I care about the situation.


Date/Time: November 11, 2008

Grade level/Class: Pre-AP English I, 3rd period

Description of the Incident: My daughter has been very sick with spinal meningitis, which has caused me to miss a lot of school. During one of the days I was out, my 3rd period class was completely out of control. Some of the students were actually throwing paper at the poor substitute. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do to prevent this from happening.

Consequences: I firmly believe in giving students choices and building rapport, but this incident bordered on criminal in my opinion, and I knew there had to be harsh consequences this time around. The sub left me specific names of the perpetrators. When I returned, I had office referrals waiting for them. I called them out into the hallway to discuss the situation, but I did most of the talking. One girl cried, the other two boys fidgeted, looking down at the floor and not responding to my questions. When I saw that they were not cooperating, I packed them off to the office. I let the office know they were coming ahead of time, and asked them to keep them the entire period. I wanted to talk to the rest of the class about not standing up for a man who was a guest on our campus. I believe the consequences were swift and appropriate.

Reflection: Whether the consequences for these behaviors were effective or not remains to be seen, but I believe very strongly that some behaviors require harsh punishments.


Date/Time: November 14, 2008

Grade level/Class: Pre-AP English I, 3rd period

Description of the Incident: I had a girl athlete interrupt my classroom, bursting through the door with a grade sheet in her hand and while I was talking to my class, she interrupted to ask if I would sign her grade sheet. I looked at her and asked her to step outside and wait for me. This has been a constant problem with this particular student, so I decided to tell her coach. When I spoke to her, she was angry and frustrated that I “embarrassed her” in front of my class. I spoke to her about better ways she could have handled the situation and that I would have to tell her coach.

Consequences: Her coach made her run as a punishment. I think it was appropriate because it was directly tied to the infraction, and it was not her first or second time she had, not only interrupted my class but been disrespectful to me when I tried to suggest a different approach to her behavior.

Reflection: I think this time, the message got through. Sometimes having the support of a colleague in redirecting a students’ behavior is the successful way to go. She talked to me in a humorous way about having to run until she was sick and that she was sorry – an apology which seemed sincere.

Date/Time: November 5, 2008

Grade level/Class: 4th periodPre – AP English I

Description of the Incident: While I was out, a couple of my students were participating in a very racially charged conversation. One student wanted to know if the Confederate Flag on his note book meant he didn’t like black people. He said that he loved black people…hanging from his water tower. Of course this comment enraged most of the class. I wasn’t there when it happened, but a student relayed the information to me. I was told he was already sent to the office for his comment. I called the office to verify, and he had. I knew that when he came back to class that things would be extremely tense.

Consequences: He received ISS for his comments, which is appropriate, but I knew there needed to be other actions taken. I spoke to the boy’s counselor and suggested she get the parties together to open up a mediated conversation about what was said and the feelings behind what he said and about the people who were hurt by his comments. This consequence was appropriate because you can never fight hate with hate, and I knew the kids would probably not work things out on their own.

Reflection: The aftershocks of this incident are still being felt, and things are far from normal in this class, especially now that the boy is back in class. I know they are still working with the counselors, and I know that’s the only way we’ll make progress. I think my relationship with most of the students in the class is improved because I treated the comment seriously and made sure it was taken care of.

Date/Time: October 13, 2008

Grade level/Class: - 10th grade on-level English

Description of the Incident: I gave my on-level class time to work with each other on annotations over a short story. They took the time that I gave them and worked quite well. When their time was over, they were to go back to their assigned seats and write a response to the reading assignment based on their annotations by themselves and quietly. They didn’t. After redirecting them a multitude of times, I could see that it just wasn’t going to work out.

Consequences: I told them that we had to make a deal. When they work together, they should expect that there is going to be individual work not far behind it, and that if that they could not work silently when the time came, they would lose the privilege all together. They lost the privilege for the rest of the day, but they could earn it back based on their behavior. The consequence was appropriate because it directly related to the problem at hand.

Reflection: Our relationship is a bit strained. They are not quite “getting it” yet. I will continue to work on our relationship while making sure they have the opportunity to learn and follow directions. I think our relationship will improve. We don’t quite know each other well enough yet.


Date/Time: November 17, 2008

Grade level/Class: Pre-AP English 4th period

Description of the Incident: I was setting up a video clip during class, and in the back of the classroom, I hear a boy make a comment that was sexually related. I looked over my shoulder and told him to step outside. I got the class started and went to see him in the hallway.

Consequences: I talked to him about how much trouble he would get into if what he said offended someone personally, and that he needed to show propriety, respect, and sensitivity in the classroom. I also told him that I documented exactly what he said, and that I would attach it to an office referral if I ever heard anything like that come out of his mouth again. He was nearly in tears. I think he knew his mother would be horrified if she knew what he had said.

Reflection: My freshmen are so very immature, and I know that the comment he made was not meant to hurt anyone; it was merely for shock value and attention. I think he appreciate the fact that I gave him another chance, and I don’t expect that I’ll have any similar problems from this student.


Date/Time: November 17, 2008

Grade level/Class: Pre-AP English I

Description of the Incident: One of my procedures is that everyone must be seated before the bell rings. It keeps them from knocking each other over at the door and keeps the illusion of order. There were 2 students who were standing up near the door, and when I asked them to sit down, they walked super slowly back to their desks, but before they reached their desks, the bell rang and they turned back towards the door. I told them to wait, that they’d be the last to leave the classroom.

Consequences: Leaving the classroom last was appropriate because it was directly related to the infraction, and they could see that the punishment fit the incident.

Reflection: Since the incident, our relationship has not changed. They are good kids who just tried to “work” the system. Not all consequences change relationships with students. In fact, some students are so used to receiving consequences that it hardly phases them at all. I’m working to try to change that in small ways so that they will be encouraged to do the right thing without consequences.

II. Model to Implement: Positive Discipline
The tools and concepts of Positive Discipline include:
· Mutual respect. Adults model firmness by respecting themselves and the needs of the situation, and kindness by respecting the needs of the child.
· Identifying the belief behind the behavior. Effective discipline recognizes the reasons kids do what they do and works to change those beliefs, rather than merely attempting to change behavior.
· Effective communication and problem solving skills.
· Discipline that teaches (and is neither permissive nor punitive).
· Focusing on solutions instead of punishment.
· Encouragement (instead of praise). Encouragement notices effort and improvement, not just success, and builds long-term self-esteem and empowerment..

Description of incident:
A male student came to class with his earrings in, and as he walked in the door, I asked him to take them out. He heard me, kept walking to his seat, and did not comply. This was direct insubordination to the dress code as well as to my direct request, and the punishment he could have received could possibly been harsh. Because of the relationship I have with him, I know him to be a good student and not normally insubordinate or disrespectful. I decided to use the Positive Discipline Model to handle the situation.

Specific steps:
As the model suggests, I identified the fact that he had his earrings in for a reason – to look cool, to get attention, to get noticed. I wanted to focus on the solution and not the problem, so I started to advance toward him. As my proximity closed in on him, he began to take his earrings out. I smiled, he smiled back and the situation was over. Before he left for the day, I quietly asked him to come to my desk and asked him to do me a favor and not wear his earrings to class any more. He hasn’t since.

Reflection:
The Positive Discipline model is great in most situations. Avoiding arguments allows me as a teacher to do my job and not lose much time or the relationship I’ve built with the student by over-reacting or being too harsh. Using this model, the students don’t feel like they’ve been yelled at by the end of it, which allows me to continue building a relationship after a bad situation. Other models may make the student feel intimidated and belittled. In this situation, I was able to handle the situation with very little ado, which is how I wish all behavioral situations could be handled. The Positive Discipline model pushes patience, understanding, and elimination of the problem without humiliation or intimidation, and I think that as humans, that’s how we all would like to be treated. The students are no exception to the rule.

Using Reliable Internet Information

I have been guilty of pulling information from the Internet in a last-minute crunch and not knowing or caring who was responsible for creating the information. The time that comes to mind was when I was planning an introduction to To Kill a Mockingbird and wanted to give my students some background information on the setting. Besides what they learn in History, my kids are pretty unaware about what life was like in the 1930's in America, so I put together a PowerPoint that would hit on some aspects of life such as politics, art, music, fashion, entertainment, and daily life in the 1930's.

I admit that I was in a mad rush to put the PowerPoint together in time for my 1st period class, and so I Googled this and that, not bothering to find out if the information was reliable, pulling pictures and bullet-pointed information to "educate" my students. Looking back, if I had taken the time to really research the information using the sites we learned about last class period, my students would have benefited.

I take pride in my profession and in the way I teach, but moments like that are great indicators that where technology is concerned, I have a long way to go before I can say that I am completely competent in that area.