Discipline

This presentation really got me thinking about the different approaches to dealing with students. I have long been an advocate of doing everything possible before forcing a student to leave the classroom, but I had never really put a lot of thought into different styles of discipline. The presentation opened with the line game, asking tough questions, such as "Have you even been hit by a teacher?". I think that made a lot of the students in the class open their eyes. There are a lot of ways to handle any given situation, and not all of them are good. The role playing was an excellent exercise in coming up with alternatives to handling situations you might encounter someday, and having each group explain why each disciplinary action was good or bad really helped get everyone in the classroom thinking. Each situation is different, and should be looked and handled in the way that best suits the students' needs. Forcing them from the classroom isn't the end all of dealing with misbehaving students. It is much more beneficial to open the lines of communication. This is why that behavior is not okay, Is there something you would like to talk about, Why did you do what you did, What made you feel that way?, etc. This presentation really helped reaffirm my views on discipline, and open my eyes to many other forms of discipline as well. Overall, the presenters did an excellent job of showing everyone in the class what's out there, and helping us come to our own conclusions of better ways to help our future students.