Often times we let students get the best of us...raising our voice, saying demeaning things, asking questions (when we really don't want them answered), making assumptions (they "just" don't want to work, he doesn't even care) and shaking our pointy fingers at them. All of these behaviors lead to combat with students and don't resolve conflicts! Every single one of us is guilty of one or more of the above behaviors.
Kevin Dill and his dynamic training and life changing strategies have helped many educators to re-evaluate their disposition. Recently many Scott teachers were given the opportunity to attend the Dill training and were excited to share their experience. Ms. Carroll has written a powerful piece which makes her our 2nd GUEST BLOGGER! Yes! Mrs. Carroll is a blogger!
Enjoy the articles and remember we are here for a purpose. Every child needs support and we accepted this charge when we became educators.
We all need that day in the sun, that long-awaited vacation, or even
that morning when we can have a stay in our pajamas all day. This is the kind of day Kevin Dill gives to
teachers and administrators when they attend his Choice Language, PBIS, Conflict vs. Combat workshop. Every year we come back to our classrooms
with specific goals for the year, especially when dealing with student
behavior. We tell ourselves, we will not
yell, we will not argue with a student, and we will handle any behavior problem
in our classroom without any help from the office. These plans sometimes fail by that third or
fourth week of school. With this
workshop, teachers are shown how to establish a school wide tiered system for
behavior expectations and understanding the three types of behaviors some
students may have and how to handle them with routines that teach good behavior
expectations.
Understanding why
students challenge rules is what this workshop entailed. Kevin Dill is very serious with his
presentation but entertaining with his anecdotes. Mr. Dill explained the three different tiers
for misbehavior and gave solutions to handling them through various
strategies. Students misbehave because
of what he called distorted thinking and
their lack of skills to use in a
classroom environment. Although we
smiled and giggled at his explanations and his reenactments, most teachers and
administrators easily saw ourselves at one time or another in these situations. As teachers we must flood the environment
with positives, do not argue, use key words, such as regardless or nevertheless,
and know that we do not have control over the students. Students have control over themselves when it
comes to behavior.
Everyone who attends a
workshop with Kevin Dill will walk out at the end of the day refreshed and
ready to go home to make their plan of action for positive reinforcement in
their classrooms. They will walk out
ready to go back to their schools and share these ideas with their peers. One of Mr. Dill’s best quotes of the day was
“Kids don’t crave discipline…They crave
boundaries.” We need to give these boundaries in a positive environment.
After all the word discipline really
equals discipling.
An additional note on Balanced Literacy...
An additional note on Balanced Literacy...
As the
saying goes (with a little change of words), “You can teach an old dog (or even
a young one) new tricks. This school
year Balanced Literacy is being implemented by the language arts/reading
teachers. As a result, the camaraderie with language arts/reading teachers is
at a high this year. Balanced Literacy
combines reading with writing in the classroom through several components, Guided Reading/Writing, Shared
Reading/Writing, Individual Reading/Writing, Individual Conferencing, and Word Work. These terms are constantly being repeated to
the students in the Balanced Literacy class so that they, too, become familiar
with the terms. Also, most Balanced
Literacy classes are scheduled for a blocked class (two class periods
together). At the end of last year’s
school year, most of the language arts/reading teachers attended a two day
workshop to further understand this program.
Be aware that teachers and administrators are
meeting together several times a month to share ideas and questions. The discussions are at their highest peak
between these teachers. Discussions are
constantly flowing in the hallway, at team time, during lunches and prep times, and after school, to share ideas of what is working and
may not be working. Classrooms are being
visited among one another to see different methods teachers are using in their
classes. Each day another idea or
teaching strategy is added to the different components of this program. The
baby steps we have been taking are now becoming giant steps as we build more
confidence with the program each day through practice in the classroom and
communication with one another. 
