ELEMENTS OF A DISCIPLINE PLAN

Thomas H. Allen, Ph.D.

(c)1996. All rights reserved. Fair use by teachers and students is authorized. Commercial use is prohibited except by prior written permission by the author
This outline is explained in detail in class. Experienced teachers will recognize parts of the Lee Canter and Fred Jones approaches.

Its purpose is to provide a framework for laying out the classroom control plan developed by a teacher to meet the needs of a specific school class and to satisfy the teacher's style needs.

Some teachers (and many pupils) need a structured situation. This framework provides for that.

Other teachers prefer to allow students maximum freedom to develop. This framework provides for that as well.

Probably all teachers hope that the structure that is typically required at the beginning of a class can wither away and be replaced by self-motivated learning in a self-regulated environment with cooperative, mature behavior. This framework should facilitate that to the extent possible.

The blank form is followed by

DISCIPLINE PLAN

TEACHER_______________________________ SUBJECT_______________________

GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT _____________________ SCHOOL ___________________

RULES [General classroom rules stated positively]

1. _______________________________________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________________________________

3. _______________________________________________________________________

4. _______________________________________________________________________

5. _______________________________________________________________________

INCENTIVE PLAN [DESCRIBE--[May include Preferred Activity Time (PAT)]

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

LIMIT SETTING ACTS TO BE USED [Generally non-verbal]

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES [Hierarchical steps to be used in class when limit setting acts are ineffective.]

Step 1. _________________________________________________________________

Step 2. _________________________________________________________________

Step 3. _________________________________________________________________

BACK-UP PLAN [Outside help to be requested]

Step 4. _________________________________________________________________

Step 5. _________________________________________________________________

Step 6. _________________________________________________________________

ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE STEPS POSSIBLE: Action by School Attendance Review Board (SARB); Suspension from school by administrator; expulsion from school by school board.

Elements of a Discipline Plan [With examples]

RULES [STATED POSITIVELY] May be developed with the class or imposed but must be "taught" along with consequences.

  1. Be in your seat by the end of the tardy bell.
  2. Be prepared with materials and assignments.
  3. Raise hand to ask questions or participate.
  4. Respect others and the property of others.
  5. If more rules are needed, I will announce them. [i.e., no ex post facto rules]
INCENTIVE PLAN [DESCRIBE]

Every other Friday there will be a Preferred Activity Time [PAT] period of up to one hour--time determined by net minutes earned by the class. Minutes may be earned by quick compliance with teacher's directions, etc. Minutes may be lost by violation of class rules by one or more members. [Since the teacher controls this, a reasonable amount of net time will be earned by the class.] The class will choose the preferred activity from a menu developed by the class and approved by the teacher [only educationally- related and "legal" activities will be approved].

POSITIVE CONSEQUENCES [MAY VARY WITH EACH RULE.]

  1. Praise from teacher.
  2. Points toward Preferred Activity Time.
  3. Call home or note home telling how good the pupil's work has been, how cooperation has improved, etc.
LIMIT SETTING ACTS [TO BE USED BEFORE IT IS TIME TO EMPLOY NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES].

  1. Proximity, point to work to be done.
  2. Blink lights or raise hand for class attention.
  3. Suspend instruction and call name [this is understood to constitute a warning].
NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES [MAY VARY WITH EACH RULE] A HIERARCHY OF STEPS

  1. Talk with student in hallway or after class.
  2. Lunch detention
  3. Lunch detention and phone call/note home.

    BACK-UP PLAN [OUTSIDE HELP]

  4. In school suspension [remainder of period].
  5. Referral to vice principal.
  6. Parent-pupil-teacher-administrator conference with contractand/or suspension.
Note: Student teacher is to obtain support of master teacher [and vice principal if appropriate] prior to implementation of the plan. The plan is hierarchical--the teacher always knows what will be done next if the present step doesn't achieve desired results. The teacher can then remain calm with the assurance that the plan will work and thus avoid becoming emotionally involved.

EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT: SUMMARY

The effective teacher emphasizes prevention rather than remediation in classroom management. The teacher systematically approaches teaching by planning and preparing well in advance; setting expectations and teaching the procedures, routines and standards of behavior at the start of school and reteaches as necessary; and maintains these through prompt and consistent reinforcement of appropriate behavior and by providing appropriate, well-prepared lessons and activities that engage the learners. See "Effective Classroom Management and Instruction: An Exploration of Models" Final Report, Evertson et al, 1985, ERIC:ED 271 422 for a complete discussion of this topic.

Effective classroom managers:

  1. Plan classroom procedures and rules carefully and in detail.

  2. Systematically teach students procedures and expected behaviors.

  3. Monitor student work and behavior closely.

  4. Deal with inappropriate behavior quickly and consistently.

  5. Organize instruction to maximize student task engagement and success.

  6. Communicate directions and expectations clearly.

At the end of a class period/teaching day, it is important to analyze and reflect on the lesson if improvement as a teacher is to occur.

Analysis and reflection vis a vis a discipline plan:

  1. Is it working? [for all but a few?]

  2. Why isn't it working? [review the plan]

  3. Have you really implemented the plan with consistency?

  4. Have you consulted with counselor, parents, administrator?

  5. Do you need to modify the plan? For all? For some individuals?

  6. Is it time to announce, "This isn't working, so ..." [Then develop with the class or announce a new rule/plan.]

ON MOTIVATION

The teacher's role: to enable others to learn...to develop attitudes toward learning...work on attitudes and the learning will smooth out.

When you get up in the morning, do you want to run 10 miles? Do a dozen hard calculus problems? Kids don't always want to do what you give them to do.

How do you handle the kid who says, "I don't want to do it?" [QUIETLY] Tell him he doesn't have to do it...just sit quietly so others can work...they'll get bored and join in later. Or, "ok, you can read something else...but tell me, how are you going to get this concept if you don't do the assignment?"

What is the most frustrating thing from the teacher's point of view? Wasting time, goofing off, stalling, not doing the work.

You will be paid as a teacher to cause children to learn. Yet Madeline hunter says that no one can motivate another person. Certainly no one can force another to learn. What can we do?

You can set the stage so that a pupil will go to work. What are the conditions that encourage learning?

  1. Attractive, enriched environment.

  2. Material at a level that challenges but can be understood.

  3. Teach to individual learning styles.

  4. Use appropriate model of teaching for the purpose.

  5. Praise, prompt, and leave [get all pupils started quickly and provide prompt seatwork assistance as needed...then move on quickly].

  6. Clear expectations and consistent class control.

  7. Madeline Hunter's 6 variables of motivation: feeling Tone, Reward, Interest, level of Concern, Knowledge of results, and Success (TRICKS).

  8. Make learning intrinsically interesting to students by relating lesson content to the student's life.

  9. Vividness of the presentation...novel or different approaches in the readiness part of the lesson.

  10. Vary the lesson presentations, use a variety of audio-visual approaches to keep teaching from going stale.

    Use of the TESA or GESA interactions so that each pupil is involved in success.

  11. The bottom line in motivation is meaning/understanding.

    This list of a dozen variables that you can use to set the stage for student self-motivation includes, of course, nearly everything you've studied about teaching, doesn't it? Not a bad check list if things aren't going right.
    Go to Developing a Discipline Plan for you

    Go back to Class handouts, models, keys, etc.

    Go back to index