Journal #4

I. Data Collection: On additional page(s) (to be attached), document at least 10 discipline situations encountered in your classroom. Journal each incident and include:

Incident #1
A. 11/8, 8:27

B. 8th grade PFD

C. Description of the incident:
John is refusing to work with the people in his group. His group has tried to work with him, but he keeps changing his mind about what he wants to do. He will not explain the notes he has taken to them so that they can finish their project.

D. Consequences:
The problem was that John did not want to work in a group. Part of the point of the project was learning to work as a team. So I mediated for the students. John and the other boys each picked part of the project. Their grades were reflective of the individual parts they completed as well as how their final presentation went. John still wanted to do the project by himself, but was a little more willing when his grade was a little less dependent on the work of others.

E. Reflection:
Since I was willing to work with the student and modeled for him an appropriate way to compromise, the student was later able engage in this behavior himself without my help.

Incident #2
A. 11/10, 11:59

B. 8th grade PFD

Description of the incident:
Students were using the wrong door in the hallway and walking down the wrong side of the hallway. (Students were not staying on the right side of the hallway.) This was causing congestion in the hall and causing students to be late. A student who was about to come in the correct door got hit in the nose by a student who was coming out the wrong door. The doors are labeled with signs saying, “Use this door” and “Please use the other door”.

C. Consequences:
The counselor and I started standing out in the hallway by the doors in order to direct traffic. Students who were coming in the wrong side, had to go back through and go in the right side. For repeat offenders, they had to practice going in and out the correct door three times.

D. Reflection:
Students generally are not repeat offenders too often. Because I teach 8th graders, I set a standard in the hallway of expectation for the 7th graders coming up. Many of my current 8th graders have said that they thought I was mean because of my hallway expectations. This lays the foundation for my classroom in that they know that I am strict but yet they know we can have fun.

Incident #3
A. 11/10, 12:40

B. 8th grade PFD

Description of the incident:
Students are given a “baby” (aka a baby doll) to take care of for a week. This project is worth 20% of their grades. John and John took their babies and were play-fighting with them.

C. Consequences:
Because John and John had jeopardized the safety of their babies, “CPS” stepped in and removed their babies from the dangerous situation. John and John had to write a one-page paper about what had happened and what would have happened to them in real life had they done this.

D. Reflection:
John and John unfortunately were the example of how serious I was about the project. Students were thinking that they had just received baby dolls and could treat them any way they wanted. Other students saw that they had to take the project seriously as well.

Incident #4
A. 11/12, 3:30

B. 8th grade PFD

C. Description of the incident:
John was in tutoring. I was discussing with him about why he had been late to class. Another teacher walked in on the conversation and overheard what the problem was.

D. Consequences:
The other teacher said, “We can take care of this problem. Everyone else gets here on time. Why don’t you watch the cameras and check and see what he is really up to? If he does it again, just send him to the office.” This automatically put John on the defensive. I was going to give him a warning and let him know that he was

E. Reflection:
The other teacher stepping in definitely did not help. The teacher is very old school and was just trying to help. Unfortunately, anything I said to the student after this conversation fell on deaf ears.

Incident #5
A. 11/20, 12:44

B. 8th grade PFD

C. Description of the incident:
John came into class with his pants sagging.

D. Consequences:
I stopped him and looked all around as if I was looking for something and said, “Dude! Your butt fell! I was just looking for it for you!” John laughed and pulled up his pants.

E. Reflection:
John struggles with academics as well as behavior. He does not do well with confrontation and generally shuts down when confronted. Using Cooperative Discipline and doing the unexpected, I was able to solve the problem and communicate my expectation without directly confronting John.

Incident #6
A. 11/24, 3:27

B. 8th grade PFD

C. Description of the incident: write down everything that happened or was said. (Write down immediately after class; don’t wait until after school or until right before assignment is due!)

Jane was walking down the hall with her friends. She rears back and hit one of her girlfriends on the butt.

D. Consequences:
I told her to keep her hands to herself otherwise she would end up in the office with an office referral. As she was walking into another classroom, she said, “Whatever!”

E. Reflection:
Luckily I do not have Jane. I did not go after her although I really wanted to. One of Jane’s friends is one of my star students and felt an overreaction with Jane would have damaged the relationship I have with this student, so I let Jane go. Next time, she won’t be so lucky.

Incident #7
A. 12/7, 9:23

B. 8th grade PFD

C. Description of the incident:
Students were watching a movie. Before the movie, I reviewed with the students what I expected of them during the movie (no talking, paying attention, etc.). However, John and John still were talking.

D. Consequences:
Using Love and Logic, I went to them and whispered to them again what my expectations were and reminded them that something would happen if they continued to talk. They continued to talk. Using the Cooperative Discipline Model, I changed their location.

E. Reflection:
Using a combination of strategies, I was able to maintain my cool and preserve the relationship I have with the students.

Incident #8
A. 12/7, 11:23

B. 8th grade PFD

C. Description of the incident:
A guest speaker was coming to speak about childhood immunizations. This class is a very talkative class. Using the Cooperative Discipline Model, I did the unexpected and gave them two peppermints to suck on before the presentation.

D. Consequences:
Because the student’s mouths were occupied, there was very little conversation.

E. Reflection:
This tactic definitely helped! I did not have to get onto the students for talking. With a little bit of creative thinking, I was able to solve the issue.

Incident #9
A. 12/7, 12:58

B. 8th grade PFD

C. Description of the incident:
A guest speaker came to speak about childhood immunizations. I wanted to encourage students to pay attention, ask questions, and answer questions. The speaker asked a question and Jane very politely raised her hand and answered the question correctly.

D. Consequences:
Following the Assertive Discipline Model, I rewarded the positive behavior with a peppermint. This encouraged other students to listen for questions and answer them.

E. Reflection:
What is your relationship with the student?

How did your relationship impact the dealings with the student?

How did the discipline situation impact your relationship with the student?

Incident #10
A. 12/08, 10:07

B. 8th grade PFD

Description of the incident: Jane and three other students came in the wrong door in the hallway. I sent all of them back to go through the correct door. Jane walks up to the door and turns around and does not follow my instructions.

C. Consequences:
I said, “Nice try. Now turn around and go do it right.” She rolled her eyes and went back and walked through. I had her do it a second time. When she walked back by me, I said, “You follow the teacher’s instructions the first time.” She said, “Yes ma’am.” She was late to class.

D. Reflection:
The student was a new student and didn’t know the rule. This has not been a problem again and the student now says “hi” as she passes me in the hallway.

II. Model to implement in your class: Assertive Discipline

A. Summary of model:
This model is aimed at building the student’s self esteem and positive relationships by first laying our expectations, then giving firm, clear consequences for following or not following those expectations.

B. Description of incident:
The students were doing presentations. We reviewed what you do when someone is doing a presentation. John kept talking and interrupting the presentations. Other students

C. Steps:
Knowing that John loves peppermints, I began to hand out peppermints to the students who were modeling the appropriate behavior we had previously discussed. Eventually, John got the hint and by the last presentation, he had earned his peppermint.

D. Reflection:
I was not very impressed with this model. Although I didn’t hurt the relationship by getting onto John, he definitely did not respond immediately because he was getting more attention by continuing to talk and disrupt the speaker than he would have if I had say moved him.