Customer Reviews

Assertive Discipline, Third Edition

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A veteran teacher in the inner-city school I teach in recommended this book to me. What I like about it is that it teaches internal controls that the majority of my students so critically lack. It puts the responsibility for behavior squarely on the shoulders of the student and encourages them to make wise choices. It's not an over night fix but I'm beginning to see results. Used in conjunction with "Love and Logic in the Classroom" and Fred Jones' methodology I feel the students are beginning to see the benefit of exercising self-control. Mrs. G. assures me it will eventually work with even children with hard-core behavior problems.

No book can offer everything a teacher will encounter as far as discipline, and this book does not try to. Instead, it offers a practical outline to think about when teaching. I especially liked the section on positive feedback. I recommend this for anyone starting out, like me. The kids will try to test you, and having a reasonable but assertive discipline plan in place is a proactive way to get started, stopping small problems before they escalate into something else. The book sets out steps that would be difficult for anybody to argue with, especially any students.

This is probably the best book on behavior management! I have used "Assertive Discipline" and it is very effective. The rules, consequences, and rewards are clearly stated from the start of school. I like that it places the choice of a consequence or reward clearly on the students' shoulders.
I purchased this book for a friend of mine, who is a new teacher and she loves it! I think they should include this book in ALL teacher preparation courses. It's easy to use and it works!

Discipline is always a challenge. Lee Canter points out that a significant fraction of teachers have seriously considered leaving the profession because of student misbehavior. And how many have already left? Discipline issues lead to failure in beginning teachers and burnout among experienced ones.

Classroom rules should be posted and observable (e. g., not something unobservable such as "Be considerate.") and limited to about five. Of course, classroom activities themselves should be subsumed under the rule, "Follow instructions the first time they are given." A list of escalating consequences should be given for any rule broken. Teachers should never fall for the "You are unfair!" or "My parents don't care!" lines given by misbehaving kids. Something that the teacher cannot or will not do should NEVER be a consequence.

Canter believes that teachers are not as successful in discipline as they could be because they enforce rules inconsistently and because they are afraid that students will not like them. This, of course, especially applies to novice teachers.

When the hierarchy of rules and consequences is not working, the teacher needs to "drop down" to more severe consequences. When the entire classroom is briefly in disorder, the teacher must apply the "Freeze!" technique. In severe cases of persistent classroom disorder, the teacher needs to apply an individual-reward and/or classroom-reward system. Canter rejects contentions that this procedure constitutes bribery, or that it ignores intrinsic motivation in kids. In fact, Canter believes that intrinsic motivation is rare in children.

Canter also believes that, in cases of severely recalcitrant children, the teacher must try different approaches and adopt an "I will not go away" attitude that is clearly communicated to these children. In his more recent publications, Canter also has emphasized the teacher's development of positive relationships with tough kids.

In its third edition, this text has been a tried and true collection of positive behavior management for over 30 years. The collection of skills and strategies for teachers to use include a proactive approach, having a classroom discipline plan in place, building positive relationships, and using positive feedback to motivate students to behave. The tools offered in this text are designed to facilitate a safe, healthy, respectful environment in which students can learn and teachers can teach effectively.

The idea of positive behavior interventions has recently become very popular in the public school systems with which I have been involved. Although these strategies have been developed by these authors for years, their implementation through school wide reward programs and emphasis on giving individual student positive feedback just begun at my son's elementary school this year. These concepts for behavior management, as developed by the authors, were revolutionary for the American school system 30 years ago, and still hold in awe those who are new to the idea that power and control are not always negative in nature, but can in fact be helpful and even necessary to maintain an environment conducive to achievement. As a student in the field of education, and from my own experience in the classroom, I agree with the premise in this text that stud

The best thing I can say about this book is that the advice is easy to implement and it really works. I have other books on discipline but this one is the most helpful. I was arguing with one of my kids over something the other day, caught myself, remembered the advice in the book and instead of arguing gave him choices (rewards or consequences). The issue was quickly resolved. I wish I had read this book when my children were younger.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who works with children. I've been working with kids on and off from 1992 from infants to elementary school and this book is a must have. It provides techniques to set limits and consequences while giving the child the ownership of their behavior. Children learn to be responsible for their choices and their dignity is maintained.

This item was exactly as described in the item description. It was in the original packaging and is in excellent condition. I am very satisfied and I highly recommend this seller and product to everyone. This is an excellent book for teachers by an excellent author!

i am very happy with my purchase, the quality and condition of the book and would order from this seller again.

I hear it is a great book. I ordered it in November, and now it is mid January. Sure wish I had it by now.