1. HOT Sale of the Month

(especially for educators)

Disciplineonline.com— 54 short videos on how to eliminate all discipline problems and become a more efficient and effective teacher is on sale this month for $99—rather than the usual investment of $299.00. Link here and insert the code “August2019” for this special discount.

Normally: $299  NOW $99

2. Quote of the Month

3. Levels of Development

Of all that I have created and shared, my guess is that my lasting legacy is showing the difference between unacceptable behaviors (anarchy and bullying) and the difference between external and internal motivation—visualized and explained on the LEVELS OF DEVELOPMENT. Make a Google search for LEVELS OF DEVELOPMENT and you will see the image and text on their first page.

View more about 'The Levels of Development' ➤

4. Parenting Without Stress

Remember that the person who asks the question controls the conversation. So, ask yourself, “What can I ask to make the responsibility theirs?”

5. Teaching Without Stress

The following is from an email I received from a Second Grade Teacher in Millstadt, Illinois who is really motivated to turn their class around from the worst to the best in the school.

"Dr. Marshall, I am finishing my 30th year of teaching. I believe next year will be the most difficult class I have ever had and I need to prepare myself. I have heard about your book, and I am intrigued. I have never been one to give rewards for something students should be doing anyway, so I believe we share the same philosophy."

My response: Yes, we do. When you give rewards for things kid should do, you are prompting them to ask, “If I do what you want me to do, what will you give me. And if I don’t, what will you do to me?

"Parents are the ones that seem to want the rewards and constant communication about behavior. "

My response: True! And as educators, we have the obligation to teach them. (This is one reason that I wrote my parenting book.)

6. Discipline Without Stress

"My name is Dylan Wilson and I am a university student in Australia, undertaking a bachelor of secondary education. I am currently working on an assessment in which I’m researching varying classroom management skills and I have been tasked with explaining which management theory most relates to my own personal teaching philosophy. It is your teaching without stress model.

I’ve been reading your work and watching your videos, however to cite your work properly, I ask if you could possibly tell me the year in which you first developed your theory?"

My response:

I developed the approach around 1985 from my experiences as teacher; counselor; principal on the elementary, middle, and high school levels; and as a district director of education.

For an interesting video explaining how I used my experiences to dramatically change a student’s behavior, see this video.

7. Living Without Stress

Internal motivation is the most satisfying, as illustrated by a woman who wrote me to relate an incident...

“I purchased some items at the grocery store. When I was about to take the bags out of the cart to put them in my car, I noticed I had a small lime clutched in my hand that I had forgotten to put on the conveyor belt; so I hadn't paid for it.

“At ten limes for $1, it would have cost ten cents. My first thought was that I didn’t want to walk all the way back to a cashier to pay ten cents. The store wouldn’t miss that meager amount. Nevertheless, I pulled a dime from my purse and walked back to the nearest cashier. I handed it to her, explaining what I had done. She replied by saying, ‘God bless you for your honesty.’

“I cannot adequately express how I felt doing the right thing simply because it was the right thing to do. I felt so much better than if I had driven away without paying the ten cents.”

Although morality, ethics, and character attributes are often associated with a person’s motivation, I am concerned that you understand the difference between your being actuated by an external influence or an internal one. This is the reason that I developed the LEVELS OF DEVELOPMENT

8. Improving Relationships

Although you can control some people, the only person you can actually change is yourself. With this truism in mind, if you want to influence a person to change, decide what YOU will do differently—or in simple terms, how YOU will change.

9. Increasing Effectiveness

Sherlock Holmes used his powers of reasoning to retrieve a stolen letter after two exhaustive police searches had failed. The mistake of the police lay in hunting for intricate hideouts: secret drawers, excavated table legs, the inside of cushions. Too obvious, clearly! When the searches bore no fruit, the officers concluded that, contrary to their assumption, the letter must not be on the premises. But the police had missed the letter not because it was hidden too well but because it was lying in plain sight.

Our visual system’s search strategies depend not only on what we are trying to find but also on our expectations and experience.

Time again for one of my favorite mentor’s signature quotes:

“There is no such thing as immaculate perception.
What you see is what you thought before you looked.”
—Myron Tribus.

10. Promoting Responsibility

Whenever my students gave me an excuse for something within their control, my standard comment was this, "Responsibility finds a way; irresponsibility finds an excuse.” The purpose of this mantra was to encourage responsible thinking and behavior.

Since being responsible requires thinking, effort, and choosing from a range of decisions, many young people nonconsciously convince themselves that it is too insurmountable a challenge. Some blame others for their problems without any thought as to responsible responses to their problems (challenges). Some hope that others will come along and make everything right.

People can operate more responsibly if they have a strategy. One strategy is to ask young people the following question: "If you wanted to be fully responsible right now, what would you be doing?"

In most cases, the answer will be readily apparent. It's just a matter of listening to the responses and encourage acting upon them.

11. Promoting Learning

Here are a few resources to search for promoting learning especially during the summer:

10. Stress Management Video

Marita wrote me:

Hi, What does it cost to subscribe to your videos?

ANSWER:

There is no charge.
My videos are free.
Subscribe to My YouTube Channel
In addition, I have a few videos on my main website.

11. What People Say

"I appreciated your differentiation between discipline and class management. After 35 years in the classroom, I see how often discipline problems are exacerbated by poor classroom management"

—Karen Biaotto – Glendora, California

12. Resources

Learn that you ALWAYS stay in authority WITHOUT bribes to control, threats, imposing punishments, or any other coercive or EXTERNAL motivational approach. Visit WithoutStress.com.

Speaking and Presenting

If you are interested in hiring a speaker to reduce stress in living, parenting, or teaching, visit MarvinMarshall.com

Personal Coaching or Staff Development

For personal COACHING or STAFF DEVELOPMENT, send email to Marv@MarvinMarshall.com with "Info" in the subject line. If you want a group Internet session at no charge, just let me know your date and time preference using Pacific time zone.

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Questions, Thoughts, or Comments?

Don't be shy, I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to contact me directly at Marv@MarvinMarshall.com

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