Discipline Without Stress, Punishments or Rewards

I purchased this book after an extremely challenging year of behavior problems in first grade. As a teacher who had previous success using rewards (giving plastic money that could be redeemed in a class store) and punishment (taking away recess time), this new class had so many problems that nothing seemed to work! During the summer, I read everything on behavior management I could find in preparation for my new third grade class and found this book while searching the web. Needless to say, this past year was the best year of teaching I've had in my short career of five years. Using the daily class meetings--the students' favorite part of the day--to solve problems and asking disruptive students to tell me "their level," I found that most problems went away quickly and students didn't get resentful of me because they had to reflect on how they were acting. Using the agenda for students to write down issues that bothered them was a great way to deal with tattling. I also linked the system with students who would forget homework. Rather than punish them, I would give them the Level 1 Essay to reflect on why they forgot their homework and what they could try so they could remember it. It worked! I also recommend buying "Positive Discipline in the Classroom" (Nelson) as a companion to this book if you want more step-by-step instructions for the classroom meeting. It picks up where Dr. Marshall's book leaves off regarding class meetings, especially on how to introduce it at the beginning of the year. One more thing: parents LOVE this system and will love you for using it!

As I read Marshall's book, I found myself wishing that I had had this as required reading in graduate school! There is so much to discuss, from self-awareness (i.e. whoever asks the questions controls the conversation) to classroom management to parent education. As a faculty, we chose this book as our summer reading. Everyone...and I mean EVERYONE...(approx. 25 faculty members) felt this was one of our best picks yet...and we've read some awesome books over the years! In addition to faculty discussions, we hosted a parent session to have a conversation on the parenting chapter. By and large, the parents were so excited by the stimulating conversation, that they asked for ways in which they could integrate the concepts at home! Marshall's concepts and strategies have the best interest of the child in mind. Truly a win-win...for students, teachers and parents!

This is one of the best books I have read about relating to kids. As a school psychologist it is a landmark book in making the shift away from using punishment and consequences to a mindset of working with kids in more positive ways to facilitate responsible behavior. I highly recommend this book to parents and educators.

I began using Marvin Marshall's "Discipline without Stress" behavior plan even before the book went to press. It completely revolutionized my classroom. Before my eyes students turned from disruptive, uncooperative, discipline problems into caring and cooperative responsible citizens. I am no longer a stressed-out teacher. When other teachers see the results, they ask "what are you doing?", "how do you manage your classroom?" and more often than not, "tell me about the plan."

Discipline Without Stress, Punishments Or Rewards: How Teachers And Parents Promote Responsibility & Learning by education and child development specialist Marvin Marshall is a highly positive guide for teachers and parents seeking to helping young people learn without putting overwhelming pressure upon them in the process. Introducing a system to help parents foster accountability and positive life skills, chapters of Discipline Without Stress, Punishments Or Rewards set forth very practical ideas in a reasonable, rational text easily accessible to lay readers. Discipline Without Stress, Punishments Or Rewards is first rate and thoughtful book, highly recommended to teachers and parents of children at all grade levels from preschool through high school.