Leman Academy of ExcellenceLeman Academy of Excellence

Click Here for Schoology
Donate
  • No products in cart.
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Welcome
    • What is a Charter School?
    • What is Classical Education?
    • Mission and Philosophy
    • Curriculum
    • Meet Our Founder
    • Parent Education
    • Videos
    • Donate
    • Staff Documents
  • Schools
    • PRIMARY SCHOOLS
      • ARIZONA
        • Central Tucson (K-8)
        • East Tucson (K-8)
        • Marana (K-8)
        • Mesa (K-8)
        • Oro Valley (K-8)
        • Sierra Vista (K-8)
      • COLORADO
        • Parker (K-8)
        • Homeschool Enrichment Program (K-8)
    • PRESCHOOLS
      • Central Tucson, AZ
      • East Tucson, AZ
      • Marana, AZ
      • Oro Valley, AZ
    • LEMAN VIRTUAL ACADEMY - ARIZONA
      • Leman Virtual Academy (K-8)
  • Enrollment
    • Arizona Schools
    • Colorado Schools
    • Leman Virtual Academy
      • Enroll Now
      • Leman Virtual Academy Enrollment Interest
    • Arizona Preschool
    • Colorado Homeschool Enrichment Program
  • Payments
    • After Bell
      • Mesa
      • Parker, CO
      • Sierra Vista
    • Donations
      • Where Most Needed
      • Royal Teacher's Fund
      • Tax Credit East Tucson
      • Tax Credit Central Tucson
      • Tax Credit Marana
      • Tax Credit Mesa
      • Tax Credit Oro Valley
      • Tax Credit Sierra Vista
      • Tax Credit Leman Virtual Academy
    • Kindergarten
      • Kindergarten - Arizona
    • Sports
      • Sports Payments - Arizona Schools
    • School Lunches
      • Dishes2U
  • Careers
  • News
  • Contact
October 25, 2016 / Published in CEO Blog

Against The Sticker Chart…..Relational Discipline At Leman Academy

sticker-chartDiscipline policies and ideas can differ from family to family and school to school. Here at Leman Academy we built our system around the teachings and life’s work of Dr. Kevin Leman. His brand of relational discipline has changed the way families function for over 40 years. To sum up relational discipline, it’s not about sticker charts and conditional rewards for doing the right thing. In our campuses we strive to build in character and values and encourage our scholars to do the right thing…BECAUSE IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

This article from the Washington Post does a great job of explaining the nuances of relational discipline vs the ‘sticker chart’ concept.

The dark side of classroom behavior management charts

By Katie Hurley September 29
Washington Post

With each new school year come shiny new behavior management systems decorating the walls of elementary classrooms. From sticker charts to clip charts to color cards, teachers choose bright and engaging systems with the hope that a little incentive might lead to improved student behavior. The thing is, these systems rarely work for any extended period of time.

Research shows that kids continue to work toward their personal goals when intrinsic motivation is high. What stickers, clips and color cards have in common is that they rely on extrinsic motivation. You do this (sit, listen and don’t yell out) and you get this (sticker, clip up, green card). For a short time, these systems can be motivating. Over time, however, the rewards are no longer enough.

There is also a dark side to these behavior management systems. For the kid who doesn’t earn the stickers, clips down instead of up, or never climbs above the yellow card, these charts can be shame-inducing. Imagine seeing your bad day played out in bright colors on the very wall that all of your peers stare at all day long. These systems can leave students feeling worthless, overwhelmed and incapable. They can negatively impact the student’s self-confidence, which can result in poor academic performance and even more behavioral issues. These behavior management systems, although well-intentioned, can be downright devastating.

I’ve watched the negative impact of these behavior systems play out both in my office and during classroom observations. Take a 7-year-old first-grade student, for example. He’s bright and engaging in the classroom setting. He loves a good joke and greets all of his peers with equal enthusiasm each day. He tells me that he loves math and science, although social studies leaves him feeling “wiggly.” He’s friendly, kind and respectful, but he does struggle with inattention. Too much sitting is hard for him. When he reaches his limit, he starts moving his legs, tapping his pencil and calling out answers. For those offenses, he moves down on the behavior chart fairly regularly.

In classroom observations, I’ve witnessed kids going through the motions. In the beginning, clipping down, turning a card or losing a sticker upsets them. Some cry. Some shut down. Some beg to get their good behavior marks back. For some of those kids, the systems might work in the short term. They want the rewards enough to behave accordingly. By the end of the year, many kids will continue to struggle with the same behavior issues, but they will no longer care about the consequences on the wall. The act of clipping down or turning a card doesn’t actually help them learn a new strategy to cope with whatever might be triggering the behavior. And when you feel like you can’t win, it’s easier to accept defeat.

Beyond the day-to-day emotional roller coaster of attempting to meet classroom expectations, these behavior management systems can leave a lasting impact on the psychological well-being of young children in a variety of ways.

It can trigger stress and anxiety.
I will never forget the first time I saw a clip chart in my daughter’s classroom many years ago. Students were each given a number, and that number was attached to a clip. Students moved up and down to different colors throughout the day based on behavior. Seeing my daughter reduced to a number on a clip had a prison-like feeling that was difficult to ignore. While she didn’t clip down once that year, she did experience stress related to the expectations on the wall. No amount of reminding her that she is generally a good listener and often quiet to a fault was enough to quell the fear of clipping down on what I came to think of as “the wall of shame.”

I get a lot of phone calls from parents desperate to help their kids stop worrying so much about the academic and behavioral demands they face at school each day. Is it the actual chart that causes the anxiety? No, more often than not it’s the fear of being ridiculed by peers or disappointing or upsetting the teacher and/or the parent that triggers stress and anxiety. Being judged in a public way all day every day makes it difficult to enjoy learning.

Kids develop negative core beliefs.
It’s no big secret that kids are sitting for longer periods of time in the classroom setting. While some kids can handle longer periods of inactivity, most can’t. Kids are wiggly, easily distracted and quick to excitement because they’re young, not because they’re poorly behaved. When kids face the same behavioral intervention over and over again, they begin to develop negative core beliefs. Instead of thinking, “I’m having a hard day,” they tend to think, “I’m a bad kid and no one likes me.”

Kids can face social isolation and symptoms of depression.
When one kid is tagged as the one who always acts out or gets in trouble, he can face social isolation. These behavior systems are individual in nature – each child is challenged to get to the highest level or earn the most stickers on his own. To hang out with the class troublemaker can be risky.

When young children feel overwhelmed with consistent consequences for behaviors they don’t know how to fix and lack adequate peer and adult support in the classroom, they can and do exhibit symptoms of childhood depression. They withdraw from peers and family. They experience sleep disturbance and difficulty eating. They talk about feeling worthless or bad. They might even refuse to go to school.

The good news is that there are alternatives to help manage classroom behavior without using charts on the wall. The MindUp program creates positive classroom environments by teaching self-regulation, reducing stress and increasing compassion. RULER, supported by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, helps students learn to recognize and verbalize emotions and regulate emotions effectively in the classroom environment. When classrooms address the emotions that often lurk beneath the surface of unwanted behavior, students learn to make positive choices and act with compassion for and understanding of others.

In the absence of positive programs in the classroom, the best thing parents can do is work with the teacher directly. Behavior systems are intended to help provide structure and order in the classroom, but they won’t work for every child. Requesting a conference with the teacher to share your concerns and discuss positive alternatives can help alleviate parental frustration while creating a more positive learning environment for the child. While it’s often tempting to use social media to drum up support for proposed changes, this can cause a divide between the teachers and the parents. When parents seek guidance from the classroom teacher directly, on the other hand, a positive partnership emerges, and that can have a positive impact on the classroom environment. And on your child.

Katie Hurley is a child and adolescent psychotherapist and parenting educator in Los Angeles, and the author of The Happy Kid Handbook: How to Raise Joyful Children in a Stressful World. You can find her on Twitter and on her blog, Practical Parenting.

L.A. In The News

Categories

  • East Tucson News
  • Leman Virtual Academy
  • Marana News
  • Mesa News
  • Sierra Vista News
  • Parker News
  • Oro Valley News
  • CEO Blog
  • Head of Schools Blog
  • Marana Principal Blog
  • Sierra Vista Principal Blog

Recent Posts

  • Parker Newsletter 6/27/2022

    Parker Newsletter 6/27/2022

    In this edition: PTO News Dress Code Welcome to Kindergarten Hello Summer Quick Links CLICK FOR FULL EDITIONRead More »
  • Central Tucson Newsletter 6/10/2022

    Central Tucson Newsletter 6/10/2022

    Central Tucson News: Supply Lists Preschool Information Now Hiring Summer Programs Teacher Recognition Program Now Enrolling 2022-2023 School Calendar Tax …Read More »
  • Central Tucson Preschool Newsletter 6/17/2022

    Central Tucson Preschool Newsletter 6/17/2022

    Central Tucson Preschool News: Fathers Day No School Sunscreen Open Enrollment And More…Read More »
  • Marana Preschool Newsletter 6/03/2022

    Marana Preschool Newsletter 6/03/2022

    In This Edition:  Marana Safety View Entire NewsletterRead More »
  • Parker Grade Level & Team Newsletters 6/02/2022

    Parker Grade Level & Team Newsletters 6/02/2022

    Grade Level & Team Newsletters: Kindergarten First Grade Second Grade Third Grade Fourth Grade Fifth Grade Middle School  Music PE …Read More »

Locations

SIERRA VISTA, ARIZONA

Tel: 520-352-7780
Fax: 520-459-4387
1000 E Wilcox Dr
Sierra Vista, AZ 85635

LEMAN VIRTUAL ACADEMY
Tel: 520-462-0832
6188 E. Pima St.
Tucson, AZ 85712
MARANA, ARIZONA

Tel: 520-639-8080
Fax: 520-395-1352
Preschool: 520-639-8071
7720 N Silverbell Rd, Bldg 1 & 2
Tucson, AZ 85743

MESA, ARIZONA

Tel: 602-975-4750
Fax: 480-926-0303
3761 S Power Rd.
Mesa, AZ 85212

ORO VALLEY, ARIZONA

Tel: 520-912-4005
Fax: 520-344-9690
Preschool: 520-912-4007
12255 N La Cañada Drive
Oro Valley, AZ 85755

PARKER, COLORADO

Tel: 720-767-1600
Fax: 303-805-2286
19560 Stroh Rd.
Parker, Colorado 80134

EAST TUCSON, ARIZONA

Tel: 520-526-0474
Fax: 520-722-7309
Preschool: 520-526-0480
10100 E Golf Links Rd.
Tucson, Arizona 85730

CENTRAL TUCSON, ARIZONA

Tel: 520-462-1202
Fax: 520-230-2884
Preschool: 520-462-0876
6188 E. Pima St.
Tucson, Arizona 85712

Quick Links

  • ParentVue Login
  • Investor Information
  • Board Meetings Arizona
  • Board Meetings Colorado
  • SAC Board Meetings Colorado
  • Staff Documents
  • Infinite Campus for Staff
  • Donate
  • Account Payment Login
  • Arizona Registration
Leman Academy of Excellence
Main Number: 1-877-235-3626

Financial Transparency Colorado

Cart

TreeRing

TreeRing
  • GET SOCIAL

©   Copyright Leman Academy of Excellence. All rights reserved. Tucson Web Design by Tagline Media Group. | Privacy Policy

TOP