I had a parent very unhappy with the letter that went home when her daughter received a white card. She thinks practicing the gestures for 2 minutes at school is "ridiculous and immature. These kids are in 6th grade not preschool!" She refused to sign the letter. How do I explain to parents why this is effective?

Well, that is tough. I think I would say, "We want your child to succeed. The best way for this to happen is for him or her to be on board with all that we are doing including our classroom mamangement piece." Everyone needs to be on the same page with the rules so that everyone can learn. I might also point out that this two minute practice is to help her child remember the rule. He/she isn't missing an entire recess or free time, whatever the case may be. (I would have him/her practice with a timer next to me when the others are out of the room.) At one building where I teach the students are sometimes sent into the pod with a timer to practice the rule. They are usually in an area where other students don't even notice what they are doing. They are finished in two minutes. It doesn't even have to be viewed as a consequence. It is just some needed additional practice. After all, your whole class practices the rules daily, right?

I'm sure others will have additional insight to this question. (I hope this helps.)

Susan Floyd
WBT Intern
2011-12

I just explain the concepts.

I teach a self-contained class for students with behavior disabilities in 6th, 7th and 8th grades. As you can imagine some of my students' parents have behavior disabilities as well.

I say, "I could be assigning a 45 minute detention like the other teachers do. But I don't think that will actually do anything for your student. It will make them resent me, which damages my relationship with them, and it will waste their time. Several studies have shown that 45 minutes of detention aren't really any more effective than 5 minutes of detention. In addition, your student is having difficulty following the rules regularly, and I believe this is because he/she has not really internalized the rule so they don't even need to think to follow it. The gesture/repetition is based on brain research that shows doing this will help your student memorize the rule so well I won't even have to tell them about it, they'll just remember."

That usually works. For the parents who are still not interested, I accept the things I cannot change, and politely let them know that this is my discipline system, and the letter is to let them know that their student required a disciplinary action in my classroom that day, and if they disagree with my discipline system they are free to use their own at home instead of the practice.

WBT Intern
2011-2012

Okay, if you've followed the procedures we've suggested you're in good shape. You can say, "We're now in the sixth [or whatever] week of instruction. We've repeated the rules several times a day for 30 days. When students have broken the rules, I've cued them as a reminder. In addition, by the 6th grade we expect students to have achieved the self control necessary to raise their hand before speaking. I've explained to them that the white card is not a punishment. Punishment would be sending your daughter to detention (which I'm happy to do if you think that will solve this problem.) I believe your daughter and others simply need enough practice so that following this rule becomes automatic."