Betsy's Bits
February 9, 2014
Stallions Keep Rising
SLMS goes to Tramway
Last Middle School Dance
They said it was a geat night! :) We appreciate Mrs. Bok, the Builders/AVID Club, Mrs. Duncan, and the Art Club and Mrs. Marshall and the Science Club for a great night for our kids. The science club was not supposed to do anything at the dance, but they had such a fun time at the last dance, Mrs. Marshall said they wanted to volunteer to do snack table again! :)) Thank you to all the staff at the dance ~Mrs. Guerrero, Mrs. C. Reed, Mrs. Stuart, Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell, Mr. Coleman, Mrs. Szakly, Ms. Watson, Mrs. deLambert, Mrs. Black, Ms. Monica and all the Admin Team. It takes a village!
Beauty and Talent
What's on Mrs. Bridges' mind this week:
Group punishment: silent lunch for the class
Please refrain from assigning group punishment to a class. I have never been witness to an entire class that was misbehaving. You must pick out those students which are following the rules and ensure they are not punished. Group punishment includes silent lunch. Taking away a privledge from those that are behaving is not a fair and just practice.What's the Why?
Taken from http://mypointexactly.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/group-punishment-ineffective-unethical/ Lisa Pampuch, July 21, 2009
In Discipline with Dignity, a respected classroom management book by Richard Curwin and Allen Mendler, the conclusion is clear: “Group punishments are almost always ineffective. They generate resentment in the innocent students who learn to think that they might as well break the rules because they will be punished anyway, and they teach the rule violators that they will not have to take responsibility for their actions. … Focus instead of teaching correct behavior through natural and logical consequences.”
School psychologist Beth Bruno writes, “Disciplining a whole group for the misbehavior of one person (or small group) in the group gives the impression … that the teacher isn’t interested in taking the time to determine who is acting out and how to deal with one or a few students directly. … Such an approach is likely to feed a feeling of adult unfairness.”
In short, experts say that group punishment is ineffective, counterproductive, and unethical.
Consider other situations involving obedient and non-compliant participants:
• We don’t close roads because some drivers speed. We ticket lead-footed drivers.
• We don’t close libraries because some patrons damage books. We fine careless borrowers.
• We learned not to prohibit everyone from drinking alcohol because some people abuse it when Prohibition was a colossal failure.
Clearly it’s not acceptable for city officials to close a public venue because some easily identifiable visitors violate rules.
Morgan Hill’s skate park should remain open to skaters who obey the rules and should be made unavailable to those who don’t.
Let’s remember that the ends don’t justify the means. Closing the skate park might be easy. It might help those charged with enforcing rules vent their frustration. But it doesn’t increase compliance with safety rules, and even if it did, it’s wrong.
Let’s stop justifying group punishment, and let’s stop using it.
PTSO Board Meeting
Mark Your Calendars!
Next Week at a Glance
Monday: Home Game vs. East Lee, Report Card pick up for 8th grade
Tuesday: Last day for magazine sales, Science Dept PLC, LCS Board of Ed Meeting
Wednesday: Science Fair in the media center
Thursday: Home Gamve vs. Shugart (last game of the season)