Empowering Discipline: An Approach that Works with AtRisk Students,Used

EMPOWERING DISCIPLINE by Vicki Phillips Third Edition (Revised and Expanded, 2011)Most school discipline programs have one thing in common; their primary goal is to CONTROL student behavior. This tends to work with the majority of students; however there remains a group with whom nothing seems to workso we label these students as atrisk and attempt to tighten our control.The author of this book, Vicki Phillips, was principal of an awardwinning alternative school for atrisk students for twentytwo years. Since all of her students were atrisk, she had to come up with strategies which would work with them, which meant applying a nontraditional approach. After years of being successful with students labeled difficult by the mainstream, Vicki shares her approach in this book and guarantees that it works!Vicki calls for a shift in our thinking about the issue of control. Traditionally, schools try to control these students. When this doesnt work, the schools escalate the control, which causes the students to escalate their behavior. Students with no aspirations, who feel they have nothing to lose, can end up winning any powerstruggle since they dont care about our consequences! Control becomes counterproductive and these students spiral downhill.In contrast, Vickis strategies recognize the need of most atrisk students to be selfdirected, and they involve working with students instead of against them. They are based on therapeutic principles and are designed to build emotional intelligence and "perspective modification," so that students will view the situation in a different way and choose to respond more appropriately.COMMENTS ABOUT EMPOWERING DISCIPLINEVicki Phillips book EMPOWERING DISCIPLINE provides what every classroom teacher needs these days: practical strategies and perspectives to help kids who arent happy campers in school discover their true strengths and abilities. Her book can save teachers from wasting time on externallycontrolling discipline systems and help them turn the atrisk student into the atpromise learner!Thomas Armstrong, PhD., Author of THE MYTH OF THE ADD CHILD, MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES IN THE CLASSROOM, & AWAKENING YOUR CHILDS NATURAL GENIUSFinally! A discipline model that blends the needs of atrisk students, indeed all students, and the kinds of teacher behaviors that can make school an exciting and emotionally safe place for everyone. If you are looking for effective, positive, and preventative ways to deal with disruptive behavior, rebelliousness, resistance, passive learning, and problems of student dropout or truancy, youll find answers here.Jane Bluestein, PhD., author of 21st CENTURY DISCIPLINE: Teaching Students Responsibility & SelfControl and BEING A SUCCESSFUL TEACHERVicki Phillips clearly understands atrisk kids and their powerful need to make their own choices regardless of whether the choices get them in trouble. EMPOWERING DISCIPLINE is an exciting practical tool for anyone working with discipline resistant kids because it gives stepbystep directions for how to get the most resistant kids to make good choices about their behavior as well as their school work. If you ever wondered what in the world to say or do with an oppositional teenager, EMPOWERING DISCIPLINE is the help you need.Joyce Divinyi, M.S., Licensed Professional Counselor, Director of The Wellness Connection, author of SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES FOR WORKING OR LIVING WITH DIFFICULT KIDS