Customer Reviews

Assertive Discipline--New and Revised: Positive Behavior Management for Today's Classroom

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I felt that this was a well thought out method of providing structure in the classroom. The ideas presented are practical and allow a teacher to satisfy the needs of all students while teaching. I have put some of these methods into practice with amazing results. Suddenly, even the most troubled student feels that he can be successful in class. Most students with behavior problems simply need the right type of attention - once they have it, their unproductive behaviors begin to fade. I was amazed at the response I received from using these techniques - I connected with a particular student that I thought would never be reached.

As a new teacher, I was desperately searching for a guide to assist me in classroom management and Lee Canter provided it! This book can be useful for all K-12 teachers. It includes helpful examples of classroom situations, many which explain actions to take when students do not respond to preliminary behavior management. This book provides realistic, practical and applicable advice for today's classroom teacher. I highly recommend it.

I first encountered Lee Canter's Assertive Discipline concepts in college, and again later while on the board of directors for a school.

Canter's approach is PRACTICAL, not ideological, and his goal is for you to have a classroom in which you can teach.

That's it: simply a classroom environment that is functional enough that you can teach.

I disagree with a previous reviewer: the point behind classroom discipline isn't to teach "critical thinking skills" or to have students analyze whether "Please take out your homework and pass it to the front of the classroom" is a reasonable, just, appropriate, or relevant instruction.

Getting compliance with basic classroom rules is NOT the same as controlling or manipulating students. You, the teacher, are supposed to be in charge of what happens in your classroom. Living up to your job description will not hurt your students or turn them into uncritical automata.

The real purpose of classroom management is to make it possible for you to TEACH in the first place. The fact is that, no matter how brilliantly you present today's objectives, if the classroom is too loud and chaotic for students to pay attention, then you might as well have just stayed in bed.

I really believe that the first step in direct instruction is to provide a classroom where students are able to be in their places, to look at you, and to pay attention -- or at least not prevent everyone else from doing so.

One idea I developed from Canter's book: attitudes are the family's problem. Even if the family is failing at their job, I'm STILL not the parent, and -- while I want my students to be happy and well-adjusted, and I certainly facilitate that noble goal -- my REAL JOB is to get them to do their work, not to throw a fit if they don't happen to hand in their papers with gracious smiles. Similarly, I actually do NEED my students to be quiet when I'm explaining the next assignment, but I don't NEED them to "wipe that scowl off your face while I'm talking."

Canter's book helps you understand the effectiveness of clearly drawn "lines in the sand" and absolutely certain, wholly impartial, escalating consequences which are given to any student crossing those lines.

I have used Assertive Discipline techniques to help parents. In one memorable instance, a young mother was very inconsistently screaming and paddling her toddler for "thinking(!) about getting into the refrigerator."

Using Canter's framework, we worked out the difference between perceived intention and actual action, and the importance of a clearly understood, black-or-white rule.

This mother resolved to enforce "Do not OPEN the refrigerator" as her rule, and developed a escalating list of reactions, so that she had clear alternatives to her screaming fits and paddle-swinging.

Consequences were applied with 100% certainty and 100% impartiality. Screaming was forbidden. The mother decided to make paddling an absolute last resort.

Two weeks later, the problem was completely gone, and the mother felt more confident, more capable, and more effective than ever before. Best yet, her child didn't need to be afraid of accidentally provoking a screaming fit any longer: everyone knew where the line in the sand was.

The same system can work in your classroom, and Lee Canter shows how to create a functional classroom without throwing a temper tantrum in front of the class.

It can be done. YOU can do it.

For some teachers, Canter's approach will be a significant departure from their "style," but if you (or your neighboring teacher) screamed at the class this week, then it's probably time for a departure from that "style," even if someone has been perfecting that temper for decades.

Let me strongly recommend that you do NOT read the first edition of this book; there are clarifications of his ideas and methods in subsequent editions that will help you avoid some common mistakes. In particular, the common misunderstanding that the author wants you to "publicly shame your students into better behavior" is specifically and categorically rejected as both cruel and ineffective.

I've been using Assertive Discipline since 1987. I've used it in 4 different schools, (elementary and secondary), during summer school sessions and in CCD classes.

My very first year using it, it eliminated 99% of any and all discipline problems I was having. Students quickly learned what the rules were and what would happen if they chose to break those rules. This created an environment that was conducive to learning. The students were more relaxed because the atmosphere was orderly and calm.

One of the positive rewards I used was positive notes and phone calls home. Parents were pleased and surprised to get a phone call from the school telling them that their child appeared happy in class, was performing well, turning in all his homework, etc.

I used other rewards as well, such as points towards individual and class-wide rewards, etc. I actually had students spurring each other on to make sure they turned in their homework, completed their work accurately and neatly and so on.

The use of Assertive Discipline will remove much of the uncertainty from teaching. It answers the question, "What will I do when...?"

You will have a plan. The students will know what will happen if they choose to misbehave. It's not simply about 'rewards and punishments' as it is about learning to make appropriate choices. We all have to do that, and we all have to learn to do it sometime.

Most students know how to behave properly. Sadly, many choose not to. I'm not a social worker, but I have a job to do and I can't do it if there's chaos in the classroom.

This program is especially useful for new teachers. If you're having trouble with classroom management, if you're feeling tired and stressed-out, if you find yourself REPEATING INSTRUCTIONS OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER, then do yourself a favor and

BUY THIS BOOK!!

The modest investment that it costs is nothing compared to the peace of mind that it will bring.

Teachers who have been around a while develop an "aura". All they have to do is LOOK at a student and that student will usually settle down. It takes a few years to develop that "aura". I believe that that aura is based to a large extent on self-confidence and the teacher's reputation.

We develop self-confidence by accumulating a history of success in dealing with difficult situations, and we get a "good" reputation among students from being, among other things, firm but fair. Assertive Discipline will help you be firm but fair in your classroom management efforts, and it will help you build a history of success in dealing with difficult classroom management situations.

My experiences with Canter's approach have been disappointing. It can be that this approach will work, though not with the students who have the real problems, but it does NOT TEACH students how to control their behavior. It does not teach students anything except how to receive rewards and how to avoid punishments. Better to read some research on classroom management, Alfie Kohn, or Love and Logic. I believe what we need to do is help our students make better choices. I don't think this approach does that. Read lots of things and decide for yourself.

This was a required text for an online class. I have found it to be very helpful & will probably use it as a reference throughout my teaching career.

The authors encourage the reader to utilize methods which "control" the child rather than prepare children for thinking critically and developing their own sense of self-reliance and responsibility. Methods such as this one only prepare children to be great followers rather than critical thinkers and problem solvers. By following the guidelines that these authors suggest, parents will raise children who are very skilled at predicting the wishes of others and obtaining extrinsic rewards. The child will never have the chance to develop his/her own sense of self. For a more respectful method of child rearing, read Jane Nelsen's "Positive Discipline" or Stephen Glenn's "Raising Self-Reliant Children in a Self-Indulgent World."

Assertive Discipline is an effective way to control behavior in order to help create an environment where learning can occur.

I felt the information was most helpful developing a discipline program for our school.

On the face of it Canter's advice seems sound. Unless you know anything about modern psychology. His approach is purely behavioristic. It assumes that behavior should be modified thorugh the use of external rewards and punishments. While some lip service is paid to students taking ownership of their behivior, his model does not provide a way to do that. it is not even good behaviorism. Behaviroism used appropriately uses different rewards and consequences for the individual, recognizing that the same system will not work for all. Another difference is that when behaviroism is used correctly, the subject is systematically weaned from the reward system as the behvior becomes automatic. In Canter's system the rewards and punishments are the same for all, and stay the same throughout the year. His system also has the same basic reward or punishment for any infraction. It is not person, situation or bahavior dependent (except in extrmem cases).

As a long time teacher and teacher educator I have seen many teachers using Canter's as well as other apporaches. I have seen no corrolation between the use of his system and good classroom mangement.

Instead I would recommend systems that treat students as human beings who are capaple of learning to manage the classroom becasue they want a well running classroom in which to learn. This takes careful and structured guidance by the teacher. These techniques are based on the more current theories of cognitive development, soical learning theory and constructivist theories of learning. An excellent example of this type of classroom management can be found in Ruth Sidney Charney's book, "Teaching Children to Care: Classroom Managment for Ethical and Academic Growth, K-8."