Sarah Hartuniewicz

EN 466
Tool Kit Critique
The purpose of a tool kit is to have a designated area where a variety
of tools, techniques, approaches, and other useful information can be stored
together collectively. Having a tool kit is more effective than using one
specific program because each student is different. Having a tool kit will
make it easier to find a specific approach or technique that will work for each
individual student.

Tools that I will include:

First Days of School Harry Wong
The first week of school should be focused on setting up procedures
and rules. Harry Wong believes that teachers should not start in on
schoolwork and that the first two weeks should be used to teach your
students self-control.. He also believes that discipline has very little to do
with classroom management. The two goals of classroom management are
to foster student involvement and cooperation in all classroom activities and
to establish a productive working environment. Harry Wong believes that the
characteristics of a well-managed classroom are that the students are
involved, they know what is expected, there is little wasted time and
disruptions, and the climate is relaxed and pleasant. According to the First
Days of School, a teacher is effective when students are working, students

know the assignments and that they are based on objectives, the teacher
has procedures, they start class immediately, and they have assignments
posted. Teacher readiness is the primary determinant of teacher
effectiveness and success. Harry Wong also believes that teachers should
post their information by the door, stand at the door to greet their students,
and check whether the student is in the right place. He also believes in
creating an action plan when there are behavior problems. The action plan
should include: What is the problem? Whats causing the problem? What plan
will you use to solve the problem? It should also involve commitment and
follow through.
The reason why I chose to include The First Days of School in my tool
kit is because it believes in teaching students rules and procedures right
away. I personally believe that if students know what is expected of them,
there will be less behavior problems. Like Harry Wong, I believe that
consistency is key. I also believe that discipline has very little to do with
classroom management. Instead of disciplining our students, we should
manage our classrooms. Our students will never know how to behave at
school if we do not teach them.

CHAMPS
Champs stands for: conversation, help, activity, movement,
participation, and success. CHAMPS works by displaying posters throughout

the classroom that lets students see and know what they are supposed to be
doing.
C (conversation) - Lets students know what they should be talking
about during
specific activity or task.
H (help) - Lets students know how the teacher is able to help them
during the activity. It
also lets students know what they should do when they need help.
A (activity) - Lets students know what the end product is of the activity
as well as the
objectives/standards/tasks.
M (movement) - Lets students know what kinds of movement are
acceptable during the

activity. Can they get out of their seats?

P (participation) - Lets students know what they should be doing in

order to participate.
S (success) - Tells students that when CHAMPS is implemented, there
will be success.

The goal of CHAMPS is to develop an instructional structure in which students

are: responsible, motivated, and highly engaged. This program helps
students because they are able to see what is expected of them. CHAMPS
can be used for any situation, task, or subject, and it can be changed
depending on what you expect from your students at that given time. This

program is effective because it is positive, it is clear and specific, it can be

used with any instructional approach, and it lets students know what is
expected of them. In addition to displaying the CHAMPS posters throughout
the classroom, there should be 3-5 rules posted along with consequences.
CHAMPS also believes that the behavior you attend to the most will be what
you see more of in the future.
The reason why I chose to include CHAMPS in my tool kit is because I
like that it lays the expectations out for the students. Since students are able
to see the expectations, there should be less behavior problems. This takes
away the issue of students saying What are we supposed to be doing? or I
didnt know that I couldnt do that. Since the CHAMPS posters are displayed
throughout the room, there should be no reason why students arent aware
of what they should be doing. I also like CHAMPS because the information
changed to work for various activities or tasks.

Assertive Discipline Lee Canter

Lee Canter believes that there are three types of teachers: nonassertive, hostile, and assertive. Non-assertive teachers are viewed as being
wishy-washy and not in control of their classroom. Hostile teachers create
negative environments and dictates their class in order to control their
students. Assertive teachers clearly and firmly express their wants and
needs, they have the control of the classroom through respect, and they
believe in a combination of teacher and student rights. Canter believes that

all teachers should strive to be assertive teachers.. In order to be an

assertive teacher, Canter believes that teachers should be prepared to set
and enforce positive limits, respond to inappropriate behavior persistently
and equitably, and enforce rules every time. They should also never make a
demand that theyre not prepared to follow through with and they should be
quick to recognize inappropriate behavior. Assertive teachers should let their
students know when they disapprove of something and they should let the
student know what they should be doing instead. Making a social contract
involves students and should help establish rights, identify what behaviors
are expected of the students, and should be designed to include limit setting
consequences.
I included Assertive Discipline in my tool kit because I believe that all
teachers should strive to be assertive teachers. I believe that there will be
less behavior problems when teachers clearly express what they expect of
their students. We should also have control over our classroom through
respect, not through fear. I also like that assertive teachers believe in a
combination of teacher and student rights. Students deserve rights just like
teachers. I also believe that teachers should let their students know when
they disapprove of something; rather than ignoring it or disciplining them
without letting them know why.
The key to assertive discipline is catching students being good: recognizing
and supporting them when they behave appropriately Lee Canter

Love and Logic Charles and Jim Fay

Love and Logic supports the idea of disciplining kids without losing
their love and respect. Teachers should focus on helping students develop
responsibility, self-control, and decision making skills. Charles and Jim Fay
believe that building positive long-term relationships with students is key.
Love and Logic has two main rules: 1. Adults set firm limits in loving ways
without anger, lecture, or threats. 2. When a child causes a problem, the
adult hands it back in loving ways. The adult should hold the child
accountable for solving his/her problems in a way that does not make a
problem for others. Love and Logic also believes in offering children choices
with limits. Adults should also use enforceable statements and provide
delayed/extended consequences.
I included Love and Logic in my tool kit because I believe that forming
positive relationships with our students is necessary in order to have a safe
and successful learning environment. I also believe that when these positive
relationships are present, there will be less problems with behavior. I like how
Love and Logic believes in disciplining without anger, lecture, or threats.
Once a teacher-student relationship is damaged, it is very hard for teachers
to gain trust and respect back from their students. I also like that this tool
believes in offering children choices with limits. Offering choices will be
beneficial for our students as long as the options are realistic.

Capturing Kids Hearts Flip Flippen

Capturing Kids Hearts focuses on creating positive relationships

between teachers and students. This program uses EXCEL engage, xplore,
communication, empowerment, launch. Engage involves greeting the
students every day at the classroom door. Xplore involves identifying how
our students are personally, emotionally, and academically. Communication
involves addressing the content of the class and the needs of the students.
Empower is when our students gain the ability to use the information that
they have been taught. Launch involves summarizing what occurred in class
and preparing them for the next class. Flip Flippen believes in writing social
contracts which should focus on what the students expect from the teacher,
how the students should be treated by the teacher, and how the students
should treat one another. He also believes in asking these three questions
when students misbehave: what are you doing, what are you supposed to be
doing, and what are you going to do? Teachers should use SOLER listening
when talking with students: square up, open posture, lean in, eye contact,
and relax and respond.Using SOLER listening helps students feel more
comfortable and it lets them know that their teacher truly cares.
I included Capturing Kids Hearts in my tool kit because I believe that
it is very important for teachers to have positive relationships with their
students. Like I previously mentioned, when teachers and students share
positive relationships, there will be less bad behavior. It also makes learning
and engagement more likely to take place. I like the idea of SOLER listening
because I know when people listen to me in such ways it makes me feel like

they truly care. Social contracts are also very important because students
need to know that their rights are important to. When students are involved
in the social making process, they will be more likely to take it seriously.

Emotional Intelligence Daniel Goleman

Emotional Intelligence has five components: self awareness, self
regulation, internal motivation, empathy, and social skills. Many states have
SEL as a curriculum requirement, so this program would work well to help
complete the requirements. This program mostly focuses on helping students
become aware of their emotions, which I believe is something that most
students who have behavior problems arent aware of. Emotional Intelligence
is a program that requires students to think about why they feel a certain
way, and it also allows them to make decisions based on this.
I like this program because it requires students to really think about
why they are feeling a certain way. This then allows them to decide if they
really want to act out because of the way that they are feeling. This would
also be a program that would benefit teachers. I believe that adults struggle
with emotional intelligence more than they would like to admit. This would
help teachers remain calm when dealing with bad behavior and in turn it
would positively affect students. I also decided to include Emotional
Intelligence because not only does it pay off with improved behavior, but it
also helps with academic achievement.

Kids are Worth It Barbara Coloroso

Kids are Worth It rejects quick fix solutions, which I believe is what most
programs consist of. This program helps students develop self-discipline by
owning up to their actions. Barbara Coloroso believes in using consequences
that are: reasonable, simple, valuable, and practical (RSVP). She also
believes in the three Rs which are: restitution, resolution, and reconciliation.
According to Kids Are Worth It, the six steps to effective classroom
management are: 1. Identify the problem, 2. List the options, 3. Evaluate
options, 4. Choose 1 option, 5. Make a plan and do it, 6. Evaluate the
problem and solution.
I decided to include Kids Are Worth It in my tool kit because I believe
that we should teach our students that they need to own up to their own
actions. I really like how this program involves identifying the problem and
then listing all of the possible options. Evaluating all possible options will
help the students and teachers select the best possible option depending on
the situation. I also like how Kids Are Worth It because it involves restitution.
I really like the idea of allowing students to do something to make up for
what they did wrong. There is a lot of learning that can take place as a result
of restitution.

Restitution Diane Gossen

Diane Gossen believes that there are five positions in management.
They are: punisher, guilter, buddy, monitor, and manager. A punisher

believes in using punishment to get their way, while guilters use guilt to
force others to do what they want. Buddies use friendship and humor to
influence their students. When teachers are buddies they may find that it
is difficult to discipline their students. Monitors keep track of behaviors by
keeping score - example: clip-up system. Teachers who are managers focus
on restitution. They may use the monitor or buddy approach to fall back on.
Gossen believes that we need to let go of the illusion that we can control our
students. We also need to let go of the idea that positive reinforcement and
guilt and criticism are good for students. Restitution is seen by the victim as
adequate compensation. It requires the offender to put in effort and it is used
to strengthen the offender. Restitution does not encourage further offenses
and it must be relevant to the general area of offense. When giving students
the option of restitution, we should also give the opportunity to choose the
normal consequence.
I chose to include Restitution in my tool kit because it is one of my
favorite tools that was presented in class. Often teachers are so focused on
punishing students that they never give them the opportunity to make it
right. I believe that restitution will be beneficial for everyone that is involved.
Not only will it make the victim(s) feel better, but it will also strengthen the
offender. Restitution is a process where learning will take place. When we
punish our students and do not give them the opportunity to make it right,
no real learning occurs.

Attitude Check
Attitude Check is a version of a Social Problem solving class meeting.
Attitude checks are regularly scheduled and they can pertain to any subject.
Teachers should schedule a block specifically for attitude checks since they
typically take up 15 minutes. In order to be recognized, students should raise
their hands. All attitude checks should receive feedback regardless of how
extreme they may be. The golden rule of this program is that no names
should be used. This helps to slow the statement of the problem and
refocuses the discussion on problem solving, rather than on the offender. Not
using names and regularly scheduling attitude checks will potentially
eliminate tattletales. Sometimes, private conferences may be necessary.
Teachers should encourage student leadership as soon as possible - let
students run the attitude checks. Posters featuring positive quotes or sayings
can help to make attitude checks successful.
I chose to include attitude checks in my tool kit because I believe that
it can be very beneficial when done correctly. I really like that this tool
requires students to not use the offenders name. So often the first thing that
students bring up is the name of the offender. Without using names, the
focus will be on problem solving. I also like that this is a great way for
students to talk about their feelings and emotions prior to starting in on class
work.

Strategies for Engaging All Students All The Time

The strategies that are included in the Ways to Engage Students are
great ways to keep students engaged and focused. Random cards or sticks
are pretty common but I believe that they work very well. This ensures that
students all get a chance to share their ideas without feeling singled out or
unprepared. Think, pair, share is also an activity that I have experienced a lot
of success with. I also like the idea of fill in the blanks for notes. This always
helped me in high school because I was required to pay attention to the
material and take notes - typically the blank was the most important
information. Popcorn reading, sentence starters, and singing songs are also
ideas that I really like. These would be great for elementary aged students or
even middle school.
I decided to include the list of ways to engage students in my tool kit
because I believe that it has a lot of great ideas. I am not a very creative
person, so this is a great tool to refer to if I ever needed new ways to keep
my students engaged. I think that switching it up and using a variety of
these different ways to engage students will keep things interesting and
exciting for students.

Alfie Kohns on rewards and punishments, grades and intrinsic

motivation.
Alfie Kohn believes that discipline is the problem, and not the solution.
He also believes that the three cs of motivation are: content, community,
and choice. Alfie Kohn believes that students need to be presented with

interesting content in order to stay on task. If the material that you present
to them is boring, they will be more likely to act out and not complete their
work. Kohn also believes that the community of the classroom is important in
keeping students motivated. The classroom needs to be a safe environment
where students can feel free to ask for help as well as a place where
students care about one another. Choice involves making sure that kids are
required to think about what theyre doing, how theyre doing it, why theyre
doing it, and with whom theyre doing it. Alfie Kohn believes that kids learn
to make good choices by actually making choices, not by following
directions. He also believes that rewards remove the desire to learn. Instead
of focusing on the material and learning, they are more interested in the
reward.
I included Alfie Kohns beliefs in my tool kit because I agree with the
three cs that motivate students. It is common sense that if we give students
boring work they will be more likely to be off task and not care about the
material. We also need to form a sense of community in our classrooms,
where students feel safe and are free to take risks and ask questions without
feeling judged. I also believe in helping students make good choices, not just
giving them directions and expecting them to follow them. I believe that
when these three cs are used, teachers wont need to use rewards or
punishments in order to keep their students engaged.

Tools that I will not include:

PBIS
PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports. It is based
on principles of applied behavior analysis and the prevention approach and
values of positive behavior support. PBIS believes that teaching behavioral
expectations and rewarding students for following them is a much more
positive approach than waiting for misbehavior to occur before responding.
The purpose of school-wide PBIS is to establish a climate in which
appropriate behavior is the norm. The core principles of PBIS ar that teachers
can effectively teach appropriate behavior to all children. It also believes that
we should intervene early, use research-based interventions, monitor
student progress, and use data to make decisions. PBIS is set up to provide
support on a primary (school-wide) level, a secondary (classroom) level, and
tertiary (individual) level.
I personally believe that the majority of schools already do this, which
is why I am not including it in my tool kit. Although PBIS ensures the success
of all students, PBIS is a school-wide program that may be difficult to
implement. 80% of staff must be committed to this program otherwise it will
not be successful. This is another reason why I chose to not include it in my
tool kit.

Responsible Thinking Process

The Responsible Thinking Process believes that we cannot think that

teachers can change things out of their control. In other words, teachers are
not responsible for their students actions - only the students are responsible
for their actions. Instead of blaming others or making excuses, RTP believes
in focusing on the problem. The questions that teachers typically ask their
students are: what are you doing and what are the rules? The Responsible
Thinking Process also includes a Responsible Thinking Center/Classroom
where students can go to calm down and resolve problems - they may be
referred here or they may choose to go themselves. While in the RTC room,
they must complete a plan with a teacher. The plan includes how the student
will confront a similar problem in the future. Students are also allowed to
choose when they want to leave the RTC room. When negotiations are
finished, RTP believes in asking questions such as: Did the student take
responsibility for their actions? Did the student willingly work to solve their
problem?
I chose not to include this in my tool kit because this was a program
that was used in my school district. I never found it to be effective because
students would refer themselves to the RTC room just to get out of class and
avoid work. I personally believe that students never learned anything from
the entire process. They were never required to think about what they did
wrong and what they should be doing instead. Another thing that occurred
often was that students would refer themselves to the RTC room whenever

something didnt go their way. In my opinion, this was not an effective

program.

Reality Theory, Quality Schools, Choice Theory William Glasser

William Glasser believes in choice theory. This is a theory that all
people do is behave, all of our behavior is chosen, and we are driven by
survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and fun. Choice theory also
believes that positive relationships lead to positive chosen behavior. It also
believes that the only person whose behavior that we can control is our own.
Behavior is made up of: acting, thinking, feeling, and physiology. Reality
theory believes in fixing broken relationships via a counselor, teacher, or
principal. The steps included in reality theory include focusing on the
present, avoiding discussing symptoms and complaints, focusing on what
students can do, focusing on specifics, creating a plan, and being patient and
supportive. Quality schools require all students and staff to be committed. It
believes that relationships are based on trust and respect. Quality Schools
requires that the learning environment be supportive, joyful, and positive.
Students are instructionally supported until competency is reached. William
Glasser believes in regressive therapy where individuals deal with the
present and not the past.

I chose not to include this tool in my tool kit because I personally

believe that fixing broken relationships is very hard, especially between
teachers and students. Once you lose a students trust or respect, it is
almost impossible to gain it back. I think that avoiding the past and focusing
on the present is difficult when it comes to fixing broken relationships which
is why I dont think that this program would work. Quality Schools is also
something that would be very hard to achieve because it must be accredited
by William Glasser himself. Overall I dont think that this tool would be useful
in my tool kit.