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Home : 2002 : March : 30

To Sarah:
By Jessie

Coming up with a discipline plan that first year is a sort of scary prospect. I find it best to think LONG and HARD about it before implementing it. If you'd like to see an example, you can email me and I will send you a
copy of mine. It can alos be viewed on my web page: www.teachers.k12.sd.us/JL058
A basic discipline plan consists of three main components: Rules, Consequences, Rewards. Every teacher has one that varies depending on offical school rules, and personal preference. I made up 5 classroom rules for my students that WERE NOT apart of the normal school wide plan. I typed them out and glued

them to a large poster which is posted in plain view of the students right on the first day. FROM THE VERY FIRST MOMENT, you have to be ready to institute your plan, explain it throughly to the kids, and be ready to follow through. I also posted my classroom consequences on a poster next to another one of rewards my class could earn. I also typed all of this information up and sent it home to the students/parents before school started, and had them (students & parents) sign it and bring it the first day...a behavior contract of sorts.

Yes, some of it is trial an error. There are a few things I won't be doing next year that I did this, my first year. Some of the rewards simply didn't work well (too time consuming) and one things I have found out is that some of my consquences are can be hard to follow through on. I will be revamping it slightly, but overall am very happy with it.

The keys to a successful plan I think are making sure you follow through CONSISTANTLY, and that you spend ample time at the begining of the year going over the rules and so forth. If you need more info, feel free to email me.

By the way, I'd purchase the book THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL by HARRY WONG. Its a pretty good resource book for new teachers, and worth every penny. I don't take everything thing in it as gospel, but it has some great tips and is the best resource I've found for discipline plans. Best of luck!