9 Essentials for the Love and Logic Classroom® Curriculum
This program has been designed to help participants learn skills for: (1) Creating classroom and school environments that stimulate responsible behavior and high levels of academic achievement; (2) Preventing misbehavior and increasing instructional time on task; (3) Avoiding power struggles while setting limits with challenging students; (4) Teaching character and responsibility through the application of logical consequences instead of punishment; (5) Developing positive, cooperative relationships with even the most difficult students and their parents; and (6) Preserving the learning environment when one or more students become disruptive and unresponsive to preventative discipline.
The program consists of nine separate modules, each of which teaches a different subset of skills. Each of the skill subsets is taught through various media including video presentations, readings, structured group exercises and discussions. The class is approximately 12 hours in duration.
Neutralizing Student
Arguing (Module #1)
Participants
will learn:
- That arguing is one way that challenging students exert unhealthy control over classrooms and schools
- How adult-child arguments often contribute to the development of more serious acting-out behavior
- Why reasoning with arguing students is ineffective
- A practical skill for disengaging from arguments by repeating one statement like a “broken record”
- How to apply this skill with empathy instead of anger or sarcasm
Delayed Consequences
(Module #2)
Participants will learn:
- About research that shows why consequences do not always need to be immediate
- How to delay consequences in a way that yields the benefits of delayed consequences and immediate consequences at the same time
- That delayed consequences allow one to calm down, develop an effective plan, and avoid “knee-jerk” reactions
- Why repeated warnings are damaging to students and schools
- How to develop an enforceable classroom discipline plan
Empathy (Module #3)
Participants will learn:
- How the human brain responds to threat by narrowing thinking and shifting into “fight or flight”
- That empathy is a powerful tool for helping students remain in “thinking mode”
- That providing empathy before delivering consequences allows students to learn from the consequence…instead of developing resentment toward the adult
- Why empathy without
accountability leads to irresponsibility and low self-esteem
The Recovery Process
(Module #4)
Participants will learn:
- How to use the “recovery area” approach to preserve the learning environment when one or more students become chronically disruptive
- The basic goals of this approach
- The importance of adapting this approach to their unique school
- What to do if a student refuses to go to Recovery when asked
- Related legal issues and tips for explaining this approach to parents
Developing Positive
Teacher/Student Relationships (Module #5)
Participants will learn:
- How coercive strategies and tangible rewards backfire with disruptive, resistant students
- That positive teacher-student relationships are the key to success with such students
- The difference between general praise and specific encouraging feedback
- The importance of greeting students each day with friendly eye contact, a smile and a handshake
- The “One-Sentence
Intervention” technique for building successful relationships
with the most challenging students
Setting Limits with
Enforceable Statements (Module #6)
Participants will learn:
- Why it’s important for educators to set fair and consistent limits with students
- How to set such limits in ways that decrease resistance and power struggles
- How to set limits that are easily enforceable
- Specific examples of enforceable limits, or “enforceable statements”
- How to enforce
limits through the use of questions
Using Choices to
Prevent Power Struggles (Module #7)
Participants will learn:
- That a general sense of personal control is a basic human emotional need
- That most people will do almost anything to regain control
- How to share control to gain more of it
- Guidelines for sharing control through choices within limits
- Specific examples
of appropriate versus inappropriate choices
Quick and Easy Preventative
Interventions (Module #8)
Participants will learn:
- About research showing that effective teachers spend most of their time and energy preventing behavior problems instead of reacting to them
- Specific interventions designed to prevent disruptive behavior
- Guidelines for using preventative interventions versus using logical consequences
- The importance of addressing discipline on two levels: prevention of misbehavior and accountability for poor behavior
- That positive
teacher-student relationships are the foundation of preventative
discipline
Guiding Students
to Own and Solve Their Problems (Module #9)
Participants will learn:
- Five steps for helping students learn to own and solve their problems
- Why it’s important that educators avoid rescuing students by solving their problems for them
- How to avoid resistance while helping students learn to problem-solve
- Guidelines for determining when to allow students to solve problems versus when to step in
- The importance of keeping our disciplinary discussions with students very brief
