Robin Harmon
November 9, 2009
EDUC 360
Curwin and Mendler
When learning about disciplining with dignity there were a few things that I found very
important. One of those things is that rules and consequences should reflect the school’s values,
not necessarily your own. This is so important because the school’s values do not change. Even
though they are not in your class all the time, as long as their other teachers follow the school’s
values, many of the rules and consequences should be the same. It is also very important to
model the wanted behavior for the students. The teacher should model in their own behaviors
and also set up role playing opportunities for student to practice the behaviors. I believe it is also
very important to allow students to make decisions. Many times, just by giving students the
opportunity to make decisions makes them feel as though they are in charge of their learning.
This builds their self esteem.
I disagree with always disciplining a student in private. Some students may just be acting
out so they can have some one on one time with the teacher. By disciplining a student in front of
others there is a part of the public humiliation. You’ll have to know your students before making
any decisions about how to handle this though. Some students may do better when disciplined in
private. I am also not sure about stressing responsibility. Some students do not want
responsibility. They may misbehavior simply to shed themselves of the responsibility they were
given. I believe that emphasizing respect is much better than stressing responsibility. Respect
ultimately should lead to taking responsibility for their own actions. They should eventually go
hand in hand.
This model seems to be fairly easy and straightforward. I am not sure how easy it would
be to implement though. If a teacher is taking the time to talk individually with each student
every time there is misbehavior and making a plan to change each action, it seems that
disciplining is all that teacher will get done. You really have to make sure that you know your
students before implementing this behavior management plan in your class. Each student would
react differently to it. This method looks like it would be good for students who are sometimes
violent. It is sometimes very hard to know how to best deal with these students. One thing to
look out for when working with these students while using this model is that if you are alone
with this student. You need to ensure that you have proper backup in case the student turns
violent on you.