Here is a quick excerpt from Discipline Survival Guide for the Secondary Teacher that is appropriate for this time of the school year. By now, we are past the initial stages of getting to know our students and setting the expectations of our class for them. At this point in the school year, it is time to help our students move toward self-discipline!
One of the
most powerful techniques for teachers who want to direct their students to
become self-disciplined is to teach students to monitor themselves. When
students monitor their own behavior, the responsibility for improvement and
success rightfully shifts from teacher to student.
When your students learn to monitor
themselves, you no longer have to assume the role of overbearing adult in
charge of a room full of students who have perfected the art of learned
helplessness. Instead you become a learning partner with your students. Below
you will find a list of strategies or activities that you can adapt to help
your students stay on track by monitoring their own progress.
· Offer rubrics
in advance of an assignment
· Give
students checklists of tasks to be accomplished
· Ask students
to reflect on their learning or on their work habits
· Set and work
toward a goal
· Make frequent progress checks
· Allow
students to see their grades at least weekly
· Encourage
students to chart their grades
· Have
students break assignments into smaller parts and setting their own due dates
for each small part
· Give
students a syllabus so that they can plan their work
· Have
students complete admit tickets with their plans for the day’s work
· Ask students
to assess their own strengths and weaknesses
· Ask students
to keep a list of what they have learned and what they still need to know in a
unit of study.
