SED 500 Discipline Journal #3

Incident #1 Cell Phone
A. October 23,2008
B. 4th lunch
C. I was on my way back to my classroom when I came across a group of male student standing out in the breezeway. When the students are at lunch they are not allowed to leave the cafeteria and these guys were out in the breezeway. I decided to redirect them back into the cafeteria. When I got closer to the group I noticed that one guy was texting on his cell phone. I asked him to give me his phone and he refused. I told him that since he is refusing that he would need to go with me to the office. On the way to the office I explained to him that a refusal to give up a cell phone resulted in an automatic 2 days ISS. I asked him if he had ever been in ISS and he said that he hadn't. Then I told him to get prepared to sit on tiny stools until 5 o'clock. He was quiet the rest of the way. Once we got to the office, I had him sign in and sit down. I began to fill out his referral and he came back up to me and told me that he didn't want to go to ISS so he wanted to give me his phone. At this point I had already finished the referral. I told him that he was already too late because it was already written. I asked him why he didn't give me the phone in the first place. He explained that he didn't have $15 to get his cell phone back. Then he told me that he had a bad experience with another teacher and thought I was going to be mean like her. As a result he immediately gave me an attitude. Once I started talking to him I began to realize he was not a bad student. He actually was quite a pleasant young man. I told him that I know he isn't a bad student, but that he just made a bad decision. I told him that if he had just handed it over to me in the first place we wouldn't have had a confrontation and he could have seen that I wasn't a mean teacher.
D. Once he gave me his phone I sealed it in the white envelope which is our policy regarding the procedures for cell phones. I then added to his referral that he did give me the phone. Since he eventually gave it to me I am hoping that the office will only give him a detention since it was his first offense.
E. After this incident happened I walked back to my room and I felt horrible. If this student and I had met under a different circumstance I think we would have gotten along well. I felt that I shouldn't have acted so "pushy" about him giving me his cell phone. I think that if I tried to counsel with him a little better on the way to the office instead of using my sarcasm then he might have given me the phone earlier. I think that once I talked to him about his decision I feel that we bonded. When we parted ways I told him to have a great day and he told me the same. I think if I see him again we might exchange greetings.

Incident #2 Cell Phone
A. October 29, 2008
B. End of 1st period
C. I was leaving the library when came across a group of students walking towards me. One of the students had her cell phone out and when she saw me she quickly shoved the cell phone in her shirt. I approached the young lady and asked her to hand me her phone. She walked past me like she didn't even hear me. I stepped in front of her and tried to direct her to the office. She started yelling, "don't touch me.". I informed the young lady that I had no desire to touch her and that I just needed her to walk with me to the office. She kept trying to walk around me so I put my arms up to block her. She kept trying until finally she figured out that I was not going to give up so finally she gave up. She began walking slowly behind me as we walked towards the office. On the way to the office she managed to pick up a friend who she carried a conversation with all the way to the office. I kept reminding her that we were headed to the office because she kept walking at an angle away from where I was going. She of course let me know that she knew where we were going. I believe that she managed to pass her phone off to the friend because I later found out she no longer had the cell phone in her possession. Once we entered the office she refused to sign in. She just stood in the middle of the office. I asked her 3 times to sign in and she kept arguing that she didn't have a cell phone so she wasn't going to sign anything. When I got closer to her she again kept yelling, "Don't touch me!!" I reminded her, again, that I had no intention on touching her. She created such a scene in the office that the secretaries called for the SROs to come to the office. Once they got there they saw what I was dealing with in there. They explained to her whether she was in trouble or not it was procedure that anytime a student comes to the office they must show they were there by signing in. She again refused to sign the sheet. We asked her what her name was and she refused to give it to us. Eventually after about 10 minutes of arguing with her they got her to sign in. When she signed in she just stood at the counter. We asked her to have a seat and again she refused. I had to write her up for insubordination and disrespect to school personnel. Since she didn't give me her name I walked over to where she signed in. I stood close to her because I knew she was trying to intimidate me and I was going to let her know that she was not scaring me. I put my paper right next to her as I began copying her name and grade on the referral. I placed the completed form in the box and began to walk away. The SROs had to come back and get her to sit down. After about 5 minutes of arguing with them she finally sat down. When I left the office she stared me down. So I looked in her direction waved and told her to have a nice day.
D. I received a copy of the referral in my box the next day. The referral had another comment added from an administrator. It stated that the administrator was asking her some questions and she told her to get out of her face. So the student was given 1 day of ISS and 5 days of MIC.
E. I can guarantee that this student will hold a grudge against me so all relationships have been affected. If I had to do it over again, I think I wouldn't have used so much sarcasm. I couldn't help, but come back with a smart remark every time she tried to take control of the situation. The sarcasm didn't make matters better. I have taken several classes on Love & Logic and I couldn't even remember then during the heat of this situation. It seems to me that this student doesn't have much respect for herself of others, especially those in authority positions. The way she disobeyed was one thing, but then disobeying the SROs shows me that she has no respect for anyone.

Incident # 3 Cell Phone
A. October 29, 2008
B. During 2nd lunch
C. I was on my way to lunch when I saw a girl walking towards me on her phone. I asked the girl to hand me her phone and she flat out refused. Since I was on my way to lunch I asked her to come with me to my room. There I wrote her name down and told that I would send a referral down for her later. I asked her why she was on her phone and she said that she was trying to get money from her mom for lunch. I sent her on her way and wrote the referral later. I had one of my students walk the referral down to the office later during the period.
D. The student received 2 days of ISS for insubordination. I am sure her record was blocked for $15 since she refused to give it to me. Of course, unless she gave it up to the office.
E. If I could do this over again, I would have escorted her to the office instead of waiting to deal with it later. I think the waiting time for her wasn't best because I am sure after she left my room she got back on her phone.

Incident #4 Cell Phone
A. October 31, 2008
B. During 4B - before pep rally
C. I was walking out of CMC and I saw a group of students just standing around when they should be headed to the pep rally. In one group of students was one student who was talking on his cell phone. I walked up to him and asked him to hand me his cell phone. He continued to talk on the phone while looking at me in the eyes. It was as if he were letting me know that I wasn't going to be able to take his phone away from him. Once he got off the phone I asked for him to give it to me again. He asked why and I explained to him that it was school policy and he wasn't allowed to use his cell phone. Then he just turned the other direction and ran off down the hallway. I wasn't about to chase him down the hallway so I remembered his face and I was determined to find out who he was. I woke up Monday morning and thought about how I was going to find this student since I didn't know his name. Then when I walked to the office that Monday morning there sat the student. He noticed me first and then he ducked down to hide his face from me. I walked out of the office and it dawned on me who he was. So I walked back into the office and walked over to him. He was in complete shock that I had found him. I asked him what his name was and he told me. I began writing his name down on the referral. He told me he was a freshman so it indicated that on the referral as well. The discipline secretary told me to place his referral in his folder which was already sitting on the top cabinets waiting to see an administrator. When I looked through the folders I couldn't see his name. I then found out he gave me the wrong information. So I took his referral and added that he gave me false identification and lied to me about his name.
D. I am not sure what his consequence was since I left him in the office. I haven't received anything in my box indicating what his discipline was.
E. I don't feel that our relationship was affected because during our discussion in the office I was teasing him about how he ran away from me. He was laughing and carrying on about how he was only protecting his friend's phone from being taken. Since this day happened the student still greets me in the hallway and we joke about how many times he has been to the office since. There really wasn't anything I could have done to make this situation better. I was fortunate to have stumbled into the office to find the student that ran from me sitting in the office.

Incident #5 Tardy
A. November 3, 2008
B. During 3rd period
C. One of my students came in class two minutes after the tardy bell. Since this was his third tardy I had him sign the tardy sheet. I began writing a referral for his tardy since the policy indicates an office referral is to be given. He began to argue with me regarding whether not he was tardy. He argued that he walked in as the bell was ringing when in fact he was late. I told him it was not up for debate so he was just wasting his time. I wrote him up and sent him on his way. He was in the office most of the class period. When he came back to class, he didn't have his referral. He said they were too busy in the office so he was sent back. I checked with the discipline secretary to make sure he was telling the truth. She did verify that he was sent back and would be called down later.
D. The student was called down to the office during 4th period. He was given a 30 minute detention for Wednesday after school.
E. If I had it to do over again I think I would have waited until after lunch. He wasted valuable class time sitting in the office waiting to see an administrator. If I had waited he could have had his classwork completed. There weren't any relationships affected since the student knew that I was right. He understood that I stuck to the policy and followed the proper procedures.

Incident #6 Language
A. November 3, 2008
B. During lunch in the hallway
C. I was walking back from lunch when I heard one of my students cussing while telling a story to one of her friends. I asked my student to come to me as I walked into my room. She didn't come to my room. So I walked outside and didn't see her. I knew what classroom she was in so I walked down the hallway and asked her to come with me. She already knew that she was going to be in trouble and that is why she hid from me. I spoke to her regarding her language and she was very apologetic. She explained to me that she didn't mean to cuss, but she forgot she was at school and the word just "slipped out." I gave her a warning and told her that if I hear her cussing again, either by accident or not, that I was going to write her up and give her a ticket. The next day she stormed into my room and demanded to know why I wrote her up. Apparently another student in my class had told her that I wrote her up for cussing the day before. I informed her that the student she got her information from had no idea what she was talking about and that she had no business coming to me in such a forceful and disrespectful way. I told her that it wasn't her business who I was writing up, but that she was not the one I wrote up. She again was apologetic and made her friend apologize to me for telling her the wrong information.
D. Since I spoke with the student regarding her language and gave her a warning, there were no other consequences. She now knows that if I hear her using obscene language that I will no longer give her a warning and the consequence will be the office.
E. Since she is one of my students the relationship was not affected. I believe that since I gave her a warning I gained her respect and she will know that the next time it happens it was because it was procedure. If I had to do it over again, I might not have given her a warning especially if I had known she would have been so disrespectful the next day.

Incident #7 Skipping
A. November 4, 2008
B. During 4B
C. I was on my way to CMC when I noticed a group of Hispanic students standing around in a circle after the tardy bell rang. I told the crowd to either get to class or leave campus if they had early release. As the crowd began to leave I noticed that one of the students was one of my kids. He is a sophomore and I know that he has a class 4B. He apparently skips 4B every day since it is an outdoor PE class. When I got to CMC I wrote a referral for his skipping. Then I contacted his teacher to let him know.
D. I am not sure of the consequence since the office has been backed up. Some students aren't being seen for a referral from 2 weeks ago. Usually the procedure for skipping is ISS so I am sure that will be his consequence.
E. If I had to do it over again I would have approached the student and either escort him back to his class or to the office. I believe that I have a good rapport with this student. He skips all his other classes, but mine. He comes to me for other problems and he lets me know what is going on in his life. Apparently I am the only teacher he says, "yes ma'am" to. He knows that when I write him up it is because it is my job and not because I don't like him.

Incident #8 Tardy
A. November 5, 2008
B. During 1A
C. One of my students walked into class 5 minutes after the tardy bell. I asked him to sign the tardy sheet which is the procedure for tardies. He began to argue with me that he had just gotten to school and thought that he was supposed to be in ISS. He said that he went to ISS and they told him that he wasn't in ISS that day. So then he came to class. I told him that I was sorry to hear that he was confused, but he still needed to sign the tardy sheet. Then he told me that his bus was late. So I decided that he was just lying to try to get out of signing the tardy sheet. I continued to ask him to sign the tardy sheet. He refused to sign the sheet so I told him it didn't matter whether he signed it or not. He was still going to get a detention for his second tardy. I filled out the tardy sheet and filled out the detention slip. I asked him if he wanted to serve his detention on Tuesday or Thursday and if he wanted to serve it before or after school.
D. The student chose to serve his 30 minute detention before school on Tuesday. I reminded him that the detention will be in ISS and will begin at 8:00 so he needed to be there on time or he will be given another detention, possibly for an hour.
E. For this situation there wasn't anything I would have changed. I think if anything I wouldn't have argued with him about the tardy. I should have used my Love & Logic one liners to keep from engaging in a power struggle.

Incident #9 Cell Phone
A. November 5, 2008
B. Between classes (3rd/4th)
C. I was walking to my next class across campus when I came across 3 students hanging out in the hallway after the tardy bell. I asked them where they were supposed to be and two of them said they were out 4th period. One guy said that he had class down the hall. I asked him 3 times to start going to class and he continued to stand there and ignore me. He took his time kissing his girlfriend and finishing up his conversation. I then informed him that I would personally walk him to class. On our way to his class, he pulled out his cell phone. I asked him to hand me his phone and he refused. He said that he was turning it off. I unlocked his classroom door and walked him in. I asked his teacher for his name and then I looked up his grade. I wrote a referral for disrespect to authority, insubordination, and refusal to give up his cell phone.
D. Since I had class I just dropped his referral off in the office. Usually the procedure for refusal to give up a cell phone is 2 days ISS and the phone is tagged for $15. I found out from his teacher the next day that she had to write him up after I did because he had his phone out and refused to give it to her. However, instead of going to the office like he was supposed to, he threw his referral into the trash and skipped the rest of the period. I received a copy of his referral about 1 week later and he received 5 days of MIC.
E. I believe that I handled this situation well. I followed procedures and instead of the student coming willingly with me he was defiant. I couldn't have done anything differently. Since I didn't know the student there were no relationships affected.

Incident #10 Altercation/Arguing
A. November 7, 2008
B. During 4th period
C. I was working with a student in Content Mastery when another teacher and I heard some commotion out in the breezeway. The other teacher opened the door to check it out and there were two girls arguing and about to start fighting. I told one of the other teachers to call the front desk and report the fight. I immediately went out the door to try to defuse the problem. One of the girls was yelling with her arms sticking out, "come on, b****, I'm here." She went on to say things like "I'm not going anywhere. Come on, let's get this over with right now. I'm not running away." She was yelling at another student who was standing on the other side of the breezeway with her earrings already taken off. They were yelling back and forth threatening each other with fighting. I knew one of the girls so I kept calling her name over and over again to try to get her to look at me and not the other student. I walked in the middle of them and told the girl I knew to go to Content Mastery. All the way into the door she kept on instigating the fight. I stayed out in the hallway with the other girl and talked to her about what had happened. She explained to me that her and this girl have been fighting since the 8th grade and here they were sophomores. Apparently they had already been in a fight 2 weeks earlier and were already sent to MIC and given a ticket. She explained that the other student had been harassing her since school started and tried to fight her until I came out. About 15 minutes later one of the SROs and an administrator walked up to the scene while I was still talking with the one girl. The other teacher and I explained to the what we had seen and what had happened. Before we even told them who the other girl involved was the administrator said, "Let me guess....." then he said her name. They had already known what was going on. We explained to them that the young lady I was talking to was trying to get away from the other girl who kept on trying to fight her. So they told the other teacher to write up everything she saw and turn the referral in to the office. Nothing happened to the girl I was talking to since she did try to get away. I went back into Content Mastery and the girl who was starting the argument asked me if we were writing her up. I explained we were because according to what we witnessed she was instigating the fight while the other one was trying to get away. She explained her side of the story which was totally opposite from the other girl's story. I just explained to her that the office will clear it up and I sent her back to class. I did tell both girls that when anyone says something to them they need to ignore it. I told them to be the better person by just walking away without making any comments.
D. I am not sure what the consequences were since I didn't write the referral. Usually when a referral is written the teacher who wrote the referral gets a copy with the discipline section filled out. I am sure she will get ISS for trying to fight.
E. When I reflect back on the situation I think I did everything correct. I heard the situation esculating and then I defused the problem before it became worse. If I had waited longer then the problem would have been out of control. I am glad that I didn't wait longer. As far as relationships are concerned I am sure that no relationships were affected. I wasn't mean to the girls and I didn't raise my voice. I spoke calmly to the girls and talked to both of them after the situation. I tried to counsel with them the best I could to try to make them understand that fighting does not solve all the world's problems.

II. The Model I Implemented

Discipline Preventive Process

Summary of Model

The Discipline Preventive Process can be described as a classroom management strategy that is aimed at utilizing classroom time effectively by eliminating the down time for students to act out and increases teacher awareness and organization. It eliminates classroom discipline problems by suggesting teachers to organize their lessons before class and take the time to separate and count out worksheets instead of passing them out row by row.

Description of How I Implemented the Strategy

I decided implement a couple of strategies from this behavior model. Usually when I pass out my worksheets, I either have a student pass them out for me or I pass them out by walking to each desk. I discovered that when another student is passing out the papers, I have a tendancy of seeing the student hitting people as he walks by a desk or he is putting the worksheets on someone's head. This in turn results in me having to discipline the student that is supposed to be helping me. When I pass them out I have several students who decide it is "free time" to talk. I decided one day that I would take the time to separate each worksheet into piles. I have 5 rows of desks so I made 5 piles of papers. As I walked past each row I handed the papers to the first student and instructed him to take one and pass it behind him. I had counted out the exact number of worksheets needed so there was no one trying to get up to give me the extras. I noticed that as soon as my students received the worksheet, their mouths shut and they started working on it. The students received the worksheets all at the same time so there weren't groups of students in the back who were waiting forever for me to hand them a worksheet. They all waited for me to explain the worksheet to them instead of them asking me one by one. I also decided to implement a way to maintain group focus. I usually have students read from the text or read from an overhead. I choose students based on who wants to read. The problem I have is that the same students want to read every day and they want to read everything. I have students arguing over who gets to read what next. Then once I ask questions pertaining to the material we read, only the ones who read aloud could answer them. I decided to call on everyone randomly. Since I didn't have sticks I decided to just go down the gradebook randomly. I would pick a student and then either ask them a question or have them read. I would continue this process until everyone participated. I noticed that all my students were more engaged and I heard from everyone in the class, not just the "smarter" students. My students were paying closer attention because they were afraid I would call on them.

What Worked and What Didn't

I found that separating worksheets worked really well in my classes. I have made it into an everyday procedure. The thing that didn't work well was going down my gradebook randomly. When I went down my gradebook randomly I would forget who I called on and who hadn't been called on to answer a question. I think that if I had taken the time to prepare a little better by using straws or sticks would have made it much easier. I plan on using the craft sticks for the "stick pull" idea. By using the craft sticks or straws to identify my students I feel I will be able to remember who I called on. Then once their stick is pulled I can put it over in a pile.

Reflection of the Strategy

My students really enjoy taking a worksheet and passing them back. They feel like they are all helping me pass out papers. I no longer have students arguing who is going to help me pass out papers. I really like the randomness of calling out names to answer questions by using the "stick pull" idea. By being random with my students, their participation has improved. I have more students reading aloud and I have students more engaged in the lessons. The implementation of this model has made an impact on my classroom learning overall. I feel that implementing these simple strategies has made me a better teacher and my classroom more disciplined.