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Resources for RED 303:

Teaching Children to Care by Ruth Sidney Charney

Section I Building a Learning Community

Chapter 1 Intentions
Need to establish an ongoing curriculum in self-control, social participation, and human
development
The more children care about school the more likely they are to grow academically as well as
socially
Teaching discipline requires two fundamental elements:
Empathy and structure.
Self-control allows listening and waiting
Teachers provide choices, time limits as a natural constraint.
You need to teach children how to care
Creating community means giving the children the power to care
Adults set boundaries, provide limits and expectations.
I hope to use all these things to set up the classroom. I will definitely pay close attention to how the
teacher starts these first few weeks and see how she does it.

Chapter 2 I See You, I See Everything

Spend the first six weeks teaching behavior
Proactive teaching involves presenting and helping children practice appropriate attitudes and
behaviors
Children need to be seen
Make encouraging comments
Specific comments
Positive comments

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Build expectations into routines, rituals, special situations, and events in the classroom.
Provide opportunity for practice
Three stages of the year. Stage one is establishing expectations, stage two is small group work
and independent work. Stage three is independence and responsibility.
For this student teaching experience, I want to make sure I see and have an understanding on how to
set ground rules and expectations with students from day one. I want to make sure that I have the
opportunity to teach some sort of expectation/rule and work on them throughout the first six weeks I
am there.

Chapter 3 Making the Rules with Children

Generate rules with the children

Teachers provide children with positive guidelines and a vision of a great classroom
Rules generated together to make sure they all have a voice
Rules are not to legislate every action
Make sure students have clear understanding of expectations
I would like to create a circle map with all the things that students know about rules in the
classroom. I would like to see what the children come up with and how much they know. I would
also like to take on the rules by allowing the students to lead the discussion with me just
guiding them through it. Like as them What rules should we have so that all students can be
successful

Chapter 4 Teaching the Rules

Discuss rules
Model Rules
Role-play
Write them
Consistency is key

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Take advantage of any opportunity to teach a rule

Teaching rules consistently continually build a community that reflects hopes and dreams of
teacher and students
I would like to start with the students by creating a circle map or list of all the rules the students
know of, then guide them through ones they may have forgotten or that may be new to them this
year by using questioning. I will then pick one to demonstrate for the students. First I would
demonstrate it in the wrong way and ask students what exactly I did that wasnt following the rules.
Then I will demonstrate the right way to do something and ask the students for feedback on how I
did. Then I will pick a few students to demonstrate the right and wrong ways to behave or do
something.

Chapter 5 The Critical Contract: A Students Individual Goals for the Year

Involves parents, teachers, students themselves

Makes individual goals for the school year
Respects and fosters investment of child, parent, teacher
Process begins before school starts, whenever, where ever
Usually done by October, but can reviewed and revised through the year
Can be incorporated in end of the year reflections
Motivation and reference point
Establishes importance or cooperative effort
Presents a positive vision of growth

For this I would like to sit with at least one student and come up with some personal goals for them. I
wont make them get to in-depth with their goals at first but eventually I would like them to come up
with at least two deep goals that they can work towards for the year.

Section II Making the Community Work

Chapter 6 Using Logical Consequences When Rules are Broken

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Hold children accountable

Keep children safe
Help students construct learning from experience
Response to rule breaking needs to be incremental
Consequences could include reparations, loss of privileges, or removal from an activity.
First stop behavior, then evaluate options, and provide specific action related to problem.
Language should be interpreted in a way that the child sees the choices they made and the
connection between privileges and responsibility.
Consequences should be respectful in content and tone, reasonable in demand and duration,
and related to the problem.
I hope and I am most certain that I will have experience with students breaking rules or being
unsafe. I want to watch a few times and see how the teachers at I.J Holton handle the situation
and then I want to have an encounter as well and see how I can handle the situation. I think that I
will be able to handle it well as that is my job currently. But it will be interesting to deal with 6 th
graders as that is quite older than what I am used to dealing with.

Chapter 7 Time-Out: Establishing Boundaries and Promoting Self-Control

Time out useful way to teach children to refocus and return to successfully participate
Preserves integrity and fluidity of the work of the room
Does not work for every child
Needs to be a consistent procedure and practiced until familiar
Small things count and should be taken care of before they turn big
Time out is a DIRECTION not a negotiation
Explanation needs to happen before or after but NEVER during
Check in with student after
Time-outs focus on behavior not character

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Let students tell you how they feel too

If I encounter behaviors, I will be sure to only address them with consequences that will be
reasonable and do-able. I want to catch them when they are not a problem and a distraction to the
WHOLE class. I dont want to have to stop instructional time and take that away from the students
who dont deserve it done. I want to catch things while they are little and hope that it doesnt turn
into a larger problem. I will stick to my word and wont negotiate because as a student teacher they
need to know that I mean what I say and that they will not get their way and negotiate with me.

Chapter 8 The Five Percent

Two groups: Those who intentionally engage in power struggles and those who lack emotional
or cognitive skills to exert their feelings
Normal procedures might not work for these children
Let these students choose their time out place
Children with power struggles need the rules changed for them so they win by choosing a
positive alternative and follow through with it.
Positive approach builds student strengths and helps them gain confidence while they work on
difficult tasks
We as teachers need to make ourselves flexible as we may deal with inflexible students
Fair is getting what you need
I am almost certain that I will see the fiver percent and I will try my best to avoid intentional power
struggles. I hope to use positive approaches with the students and hope to get a good grasp on using
that approach so I will be able to handle it on my own in my own classroom someday. I will also make
sure that students know that being fair is getting what they themselves individually need. That
fairness isnt getting the exact same thing or treatment that everyone else is getting. That some kids
are different and need different ways to calm themselves down, or gain control of their body and
actions.

Chapter 9 Working Together to Support the Rules

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Can be made up of just two teachers or many concerned individuals

Can use the buddy teacher time out strategy if student needs to leave the room
Teacher sends student to the participating buddy teacher
Teacher will then come and retrieve student from classroom
Talk about it, see if ready to join the classroom
Follow up discussion about the behavior. Talk about what went wrong and how we can fix it.
What would a good consequence be
Plan of action if student needs it
Work with not against parents
I will work with my teacher to understand PBIS and know what the expectations are for the
students and figure out who and how we should handle situations where we ourselves cannot
and will not achieve success in punishment or dealing with behaviors. I know dealing a lot with
my job we use the buddy system in elementary school but I am interested to know if they use it
as well in the intermediate school. I know that we use the office as a resource when students
misbehave but I do not know if we use colleagues with this age. I feel that this age is too old to
be doing that and if you have a student who is already at that place with behavior it would
create more problems in another teachers room if you sent them there because they would
want to be cool and probably act up in that room too. That Is just how I feel so it will be
interesting to see and/or talk about.

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Section III The Voices of Teaching

Chapter 10 Empowering Language: Say What You Mean and Mean What You
Say

Keep demands simple and short

Say what you mean
Make your demands appropriate
Mean what you say- dignify your words with actions
Remind only twice, third time, you are out
Speak directly
Non-negotiable
Use words that invite cooperation

I know from experience that if you do not mean what you say you are only making it worse for
yourself. The students pick up right away if you are a pushover and know that you wont make them
stick to what you said. Kids need structure and stability. If you tell them that they are staying after
school for five minutes then they NEED to stay after for five minutes. If you give in then they are
going to think that they can continue the behavior that led them there because tomorrow you will
just give in again and wont make them stay. It is also helpful to keep demands short and simple so
they have a CLEAR understanding of what is expected from them.

Chapter 11 Stress the Deed, Not the Doer

When teachers stress the deed, they preserve the doer.
Stressing the deed not the doer sharpens the students skills of attention and social discourse.
Morning meetings, compliment clubs, and other social activities helps the children use language
precisely and intentionally to express their likes, dislikes, ect. In a constructive way.
Constructive expressions requires noticing and naming details.
Teachers AND students must learn to notice and name specific behaviors that work or dont
work.

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Children need help expressing their feelings

Children learn these things from modeling but mostly from experiencing
Compliments are important!
I would like to do the Pretzels activity. This develops strong social skills, which I think is something
that all classroom teachers should work on regardless of students ability to already do so. All
students could use work on it as they can forget how to treat one another.

Chapter 12 The Voices of Authority

Teachers use different voices of authority.
Three voices are the voice of the principle (The Golden Rule), voice of procedure (safety and
order), and personal voice (personal rules).
The golden rule is a moral and ethical force that binds us together as human beings
The voice of procedure is school rules, or procedural rules.
It is important for children to understand the source of laws or rules that govern the society.
Personal rules are ones personal quirks or preferences.
Voices are tools for teachers
Used carefully and sparingly, personal voice is the strongest.
I want to be able to differentiate the different voices by observing my teacher teach. I can already
think of the ways these voices make up who I am as a teacher and can see them in my head but I
would like to see them in action in the classroom setting itself.

Section IV Further Strategies for Difficult Classroom Behaviors

Chapter 13 Problem-solving Class Meetings
Useful when things are not working well
Children can generate ways to solve problems themselves
Students come up with classroom goals
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Provides a constructive format for students to contribute to their classroom by helping each
other.
Set up an environment for class meetings that invites participation and responsibility.
Positive tone
Goal is group discussion
Close on a positive note
Try to solve problems
Support one another and not use and put downs
Listen to each other
Use I voice
Meet once a week at a regular time
Keep time
Meet in a circle
Set up a weekly agenda
Problem solving:
Introduce the problem, gather information, begin and focus discussion, brainstorm solutions,
choose solution, define progress and consequences, close meeting.
I would like to be a part of a meeting that involves students problem solving. I would like to see how
a teacher handles it and solves the problems and guide students to an answer.

Chapter 14 Teachers as Mirrors: Using Social Conferences

Good teaching depends on being keenly aware of our individual students and their interactions
Noticing children can initiate a social conference
A social conference builds a responsive relationship upon two elements- behavioral boundaries
and autonomy.
Main objective of a social conference is to solve an immediate problem
Establish what teachers and students notice Positive things, things that dont work, asking

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what student notices

Naming the problem and the need to solve it
Understanding the problem is the hardest part for children to do
Generate alternatives
Establish an agreement to try

I would like to be a part of a social conference and see how it works. I am almost positive that I wont
be there long enough to see the benefits of a social conference but that would be nice to see as well.

Chapter 15 Individual Contracts

Can bring parents, teachers, and student together to work on improving a behavior
problem
Teacher establishes a goal that conveys realistic expectations for improvement and helps
student achieve goal by using different strategies and approaches
Offering a firm matter-of-fact structure for expectations can dissipate the negativity that builds
up after repeated reminders, nagging, and punishment
State a goal and concrete marker that will be used daily to track progress
Special celebration is planned to recognize an agreed-upon number of markers-goal is met
At the conclusion of the contract a new goal can be articulated
Regular communication among teacher, student, and parent is essential to successful
behavioral contracts
Morning check-in can help remind students of the goal they are working towards
I would like to experience independent contracts and see what the steps are for I.J. Holton and
making the contracts. I have experience with using them at work but I would like to see how they
are made for students who do not qualify for special education and what steps are taken. I am
going to ask how it works.
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Section V Clear Positives

Chapter 16 Teaching by Clear Positives: Revisiting Ideals
Establishing and defining our ideals can help us assess our plans, goals, techniques and
strategies
Schools need to teach alternatives to violence
Children need to learn to think for themselves
We need to stretch, not track, potentials.
Part of non-violent curriculum is teaching children to take an interest in others lives and in views
unlike their own.
Teach children to manage conflict
Conflict resolution should be integrated into the curriculum
Children need to see us, the grown-ups, behave decently and with integrity
Children need to learn to think for themselves
Children need choices
Decision making must be part of the expected curriculum
Scheduled choices
Children should act like decision makers in their own education
When we develop our skills as a community to solve our own problems, we forge and
strengthen a unity of purpose
We need to help our children do even what they dont do well
Arrange our classrooms to stretch potentials and encourage participations.
Ensure Availability, universal participation, support, and a responsive climate
WE NEED TO KNOW WHY WE TEACH AND WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO IN THE CLASSROOM
When I get into the classroom I want to involve choices for student learning. I would like to see what
my classroom teacher does to offer choices and see how it works for students. I also agree that
children need to learn for themselves. I think that the way teaching has started to become is to

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formed and that we have forced certain learning on students. Children need to learn things for
themselves for it to stick and make an impact in their life.

Chapter 17 Clear Positives in Action

Can be a way to explain to students why we do what we do

Can be introduced in small groups or whole
Can be established during the first few weeks or midway through the year
May frame specific content or direct children behavior
Can guide the outlook of individuals or groups
Can create a sense of purpose or help recover one that has been lost
Clear positives can provide a sense of conviction and challenge but do not moralize or lecture
We frame the work in a larger context of positive achievement and we specify
actions that will help us get there
When something isnt working in a classroom it is a signal to reconsider the Clear Positives
Make your goals for content groups and classroom routines
Recognize the learning process embedded in routines
Discuss goals and strategies for implementation with children
Carefully model the behavior and attitudes you wish to teach
Continue to observe and reinforce effort and success
Any steps mark growth

I will make sure I observe my co teacher and notice the clear positives being stated. If I teach a
lesson, I want to make sure that the students have an understanding of my expectations and I will
demonstrate what I expect out of them in a clear positives manor.

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