Behavior Advisor

Just read an interesting article in the Atlantic in which an argument is made with slanted language, red herrings and the forwarding of correlation as causation, but the prevalence stats and suggestions for avoiding bottom-level discipline are spot-on. Link: http://www.theatlantic.com/…/school-discipline-chil…/399563/

WHO BUILT THIS PYRAMID? A colleague of mine sent this link to me: https://drsaraheaton.wordpress.com/…/maslows-hierarchy-of-…/
It seems that Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” pyramid that we all learned about in Psych 101 was not in any of his works. Who drew it?

Call me a Barbarian-at-the-gate, but I don’t much care who drew the pyramid to explain Maslow’s work in a pictorial form. It helps with our understanding of how some “needs” serve as a foundation for greater likelihood of attaining and expanding other needs. As with all models, it explains a great deal while having some moth holes in the cloth. For example, one can have strong attainment of love/belonging while still being very tenuous in safety. Hmm…. Do I believe the blog post, or do I need to add the original two publications to my reading list?

Perhaps the greatest contributor our ability to convince kids to be engaged and display appropriate behavior is having formed positive interpersonal relationships with them. Here’s some sage advice on the topic from a publication that reviews recent articles (The Marshall Memo, #585, May 4th, 2015). It is presented here verbatim.
Seven Steps to Building Relationships with Teens
In this Virginia Journal of Education article, award-winning high-school music teacher David Webb says he’s always believed that positive rapport with students is essential to classroom success. His suggestions:
• Meet them where they are. “Teenagers want desperately to be treated like adults,” says Webb. It may be true that their frontal lobes won’t fully mature for another decade and that they’re hard-wired to be impulsive and rebellious and need constant adult guidance. But an authoritarian approach doesn’t work. The best thing is to forgive teens their developmental circumstances and talk to them as equals.
• Get to know them. Teens crave approval or at the very least being noticed. “Engage your students in conversation,” says Webb. “Open your room/office to them during non-class time.” Chat. Eat together. Get to know more about them.
• Don’t demonize the things they think of as normal. “Our students do not know a world in which they find information in books, have to go to the library to do research, have to wait until later to answer a question from someone not in the room, or can’t simply touch a screen to get almost anything they want instantly,” says Webb. “Society will never go backward – it is our job to assimilate to their world, not vice versa.” Ditto for tattoos and piercings.
• Your reputation precedes you. “It is very difficult to shake a perception that people have of you based on what other people report,” he says – on the bus, in the cafeteria, online, from parents. She’s really cool. He’s mean and overreacts to everything. “What’s being said about you?”
• Know what you’re talking about. “Kids can spot a phony a mile away with blindfolds on,” says Webb. “They may not know the material you’re supposed to be teaching them just yet, but they can certainly tell when you don’t know it!” Admitting ignorance when you’re not sure of something is an excellent strategy.
• Teach with passion. “Show your kids why you love what you’re teaching,” he advises. “[T]hey won’t be engaged by people who aren’t engaged themselves.” Webb remembers the dramatic improvement in his own high-school math achievement when he moved from one math classroom to another.
• Like them. That doesn’t mean being lax on standards, but it does mean communicating genuine acceptance and affection, being positive about expectations (“Do this” versus “Thou shalt not”), and always explaining why.
“Getting Along with Teenagers” by David Webb in Virginia Journal of Education, November 2014 (Vol. 108, p. 8-12),

For more on motivation, check out my web page on the topic at: http://www.behavioradvisor.com/Motivation.html

“AUGHHH! How many times do I have to tell you to do this? You should know by now!”
They probably do “know” it by now, but we’re witnessing the difference between RECOGNITION (“knowing” when you’re reminded, like on multiple choice tests) and RECALL (remembering on one’s own in a certain situation). We need to move the kids from the low level of responding when reminded to self-initiated undertaking of the correct action when the situation is familiar (Example: “Get ready for class.”).
One method for building ‘self-management’ is to ask them what they should be doing at that moment. However, even this simple tip can be messed up with the wrong presentation by the adult (parent or teacher).
Saying “What should you being doing right now?” in an irritated voice does nothing to promote the positive relationships that drive youngsters to want to please us. It’s essential that we place a tone-of-voice filter on our minds/mouths and say instead: “My high-potential scholar: What needs to happen right now in order for you to succeed at the task?” (Vary the wording depending on the situation)
Note the positive initiation of the commentary and the “I believe in your abilities.” wording. The “Pygmalion effect” applies here: High expectations lead to high performance.