During the first two weeks of school I had to seriously scan my brain for some of the fabulous tools that I gained over the summer at NTI to erradicate a behavior to prevent it from becoming a norm. I had a student who was continously using the "N...." word out loud in the class as he addressed or spoke of other students. The first strategy that came to mind was the diminishing principle strategy. I spoke to the student away from the other students and explained that I could not tolerate that word in class and hoped that he would respect that and also learn to respect himself enough to not use the term. I told him that he used the word over 3 times and that I would work with him on stamping it out. I told him the next day he would be allowed 2 slip ups and the day after 1, By the end of the week my expectation was to not hear the word again. By the end of the week, I had a smile on my face when I realized that there was no sound of that word. The following week, he did slip up and begin to say the word but it came with an immediate appology.
happy Dr. Fingall
Excellent use in relating and working with that student. Students need to feel the "care" and see the discipline.
ReplyDeleteI will be "stealing" that tactic from you. Thanks for sharing !
Hi Dr. Fingall,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post. I am glad you are using this strategy. I can picture you doing this in a calm, firm, kind manner. You may have to stay after the student a bit, but stay consistent and don't give up. I hope for great results with this problem with your perseverence. Dr. J.