Discipline
Caring staff team members implement discipline in ways that lead students toward positive behavioral changes.”1 For example, developmentally responsive and socially equitable middle schools hire skilled and caring people to run the discipline rooms or programs. These staff members know how to motivate students to set goals and how to begin working to meet their potential. Many times, the school counselor serves in this role.
For teachers instructing middle grades students, the tasks of teaching lessons and managing students are especially challenging. The dramatic changes that occur during this time of their lives require a radically different and unique approach to educating young adolescents. The biological changes impact the cognitive, social, and emotional lives.2 Research suggests that teachers who develop relationships experience fewer classroom behavior problems and better academic performance. Research also indicates that the actions of teachers in their classrooms double the impact on student achievement than other ways educators try to improve student success. Therefore; an essential part of good classroom management is building relationships.
Strategies for Building Relationships
In The Power of Positive Relationships (Outside Source), Tara Brown gives seven relationship-based strategies that can transform the classroom into a positive learning environment.
In Classroom Management Strategies for Difficult Students: Promoting Change through Relationships(Outside Source), Mary Ellen Beaty-O’Ferrall, et al., gives three relationship-building strategies.
In How to Develop Positive Classroom Management. (Outside Source), Evantheia Schibsted gives nine tips for building relationships because the secret to effective discipline is proactively building relationships, not reacting punitively to student misbehavior.
In Student-Teacher Relationships Can Be Built Five Minutes at a Time (Outside Source), Dan Ouelette tells how he created a manageable middle school classroom by establishing a personal relationship with each student.
In the Spotlight
McKinleyville Middle School, McKinleyville Union Elementary School District, a 2006 Schools to Watch™-Taking Center Stage Model School
The opportunity room at McKinleyville is an instructional class that has caring teachers who provide students with help in setting goals, reviewing progress, and catching up on schoolwork.
Related Links
- Classroom management, Recommendation 8—Safety, Resilience, and Health, TCSII.
- Discipline: a fair, consistent, and positive approach, Recommendation 8—Safety, Resilience, and Health, TCSII.
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Conclusion
Footnote
1Rick Wormeli, Misleading in the Middle: A Rebuttal to Cheri Pierson Yecke (Outside Source), Educational Leadership, Vol. 63, Summer 2006.
2Armstrong, Thomas. 2006. The Best Schools (Outside Source), ASCD, 112.