SFL Golden Nugget #3

Golden Nugget: Chapter #3
The word discipline seems like such a frightening one. Not only does the word discipline seem as if it should never be said I do not entirely know what the word means. In the DAP book the word discipline is replaced with the word guidance, and these suggestions helped to clarify what my responsibility as a teach is. I really need some clarification as to what I can do to help guide my students, beyond prevention.
The example of the teacher going to the student’s parents and discussing how the television their daughter was watching influenced her behavior was my favorite positive example. It modeled creating a caring community of learners by developing families (p. 35). It also exemplified how a teachers positive example of using language, and communication can resolve conflict. In this example the teacher followed the DAP advise that, “in their interactions with others, caregivers model how they want children to behave” (p. 95). This positive example of respectful behavior from the teacher will hopefully influence her student’s to model her behavior of respectful communication.
Communication is more than verbal, and this is a vital part of guiding children. The story that modeled this for me was the story about the teacher trying to stop the three boys from jumping on the coach. The book use your words suggested that the teacher raise her eyebrows, and change her tone of voice. I realized that this is DAP appropriate on several points. The first obvious reason is that children do not have as large as a vocabulary as an adult and that by “imitating the object or action, pointing to the object or illustration” the physical communication of hand movements and gestures helps the child to understand what is being said (p. 166). Even babies being to understand gestures “before they understand even simple word combinations, they read gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice” (p. 55). When I am teaching and I can guide a student by communicating to them through my tone, physical proximity, and actions what I expect, create clear limits in the classroom, and define for my students what actions I will and will not tolerate.
After taking SFL classes I have been avidly against spanking and hitting. In truth it makes no sense. The book also mentions the irony, “poorly informed parents who shout, “Don’t you ever hit,” punctuating each work with a slap (Mooney p. 66). So, I am against hitting, but what is next. I was glad that the book had a few simple suggestions such as: Stop (what needs to be done), you’re hurting Jessie, (why it needs to be done), tell her you’re still using the trike (giving the child the actual alternative to pushing or hitting and the words to use as well) (Mooney p. 68). although I will have to practice this simple formula I can see how it is DAP appropriate because, “preschoolers’ thinking still tends to be egocentric; that is, they tend to take into account only their own point of view and have difficulty understanding how the world looks to other people” it is important to use my words and guide my students to an understanding of how other’s feel and what are acceptable ways to work with others (p. 135).
While I read this chapter I could not help but to reflect on the statement from the DAP about development of the conscience. According to the DAP handbook, “One of the most important advances in children’s development is their gradual internalization of values and expectations for behavior” (p. 125). This chapter illustrated for me that children understand that in society they want to be viewed as “good” and that if they are viewed as “bad” they feel that something is wrong with them. As the different teachers began to communicate clearly what society views as good the children became more confident and able to model good behavior. For example when the teacher clearly told the student that he could not run to the next point without his partner and he did not listen the student was not surprised when the teacher took his hand as she had promised. When the teacher made the rules clear and the consequences defining the student was able to quickly realize that his behavior was “bad” and did not mistakenly think that he was “bad.”