Teaching with Love and Logic Elizabeth Roggermeier Anna Henderson Julia Nicholson

LOVE & LOGIC “The Love and Logic process includes sharing control and decision-making, using empathy with consequences, and enhancing the self-concept of children. "The Love and Logic philosophy teaches character. Character is built out of a formula that involves three things: A child making a mistake, an adult feeling empathy and compassion for the child, and the child learning from the consequences of his or her actions.“

JIM FAY Jim Fay has become one of America's most sought-after presenters in the fields of parenting, positive discipline, and classroom management. Co Founder with Foster W. Cline, M. Dr of The Love and Logic Institute and co-author of the bestseller Parenting with Love and Logic. Jim Fay has over 30 years of experience in education, serving in public, private, and parochial schools in a variety of roles, including elementary education, art and music teacher, school principal, and administrator. He has been consulting and speaking about parenting and education for more than 30 years, founding School Consultant Services, the sister company to the Cline-Fay Institute, in 1977.

DAVID FUNK Dave Funk has been an educator since 1969 Taught in both regular and special education classrooms. He is responsible for participating in the evaluation and placement of disabled students, coordinating a number of special programs, and serving as liaison to parent groups. He is the co-author, with Jim Fay, of Teaching with Love and Logic, and the author of Love and Logic Solutions for Kids with Special Needs.

The Love and Logic Philosophy The love and logic philosophy states the importance of adults providing limits in a caring way. Discipline is maintained with compassion and understanding. Jim Fay and David Funk describe childhood misbehavior as an opportunity for helping children grow through their mistakes. Their methods help children learn to be responsible and gain self-confidence. They assert that sharing control and stopping undesirable behaviors early are most effective, and that getting to know students on a personal basis can have many benefits.

How It Helps Educators How It Helps Educator Why It Works When adults take care of themselves, they hand the problem back to the student who created it. When the student has to solve the problem, they have to think. When students have to think, they learn that decisions have consequences. When we allow the student to deal with the consequences, they learn to think before they cause a problem. When the student learns to ask themselves, "How is my behavior going to affect me?" they have learned self control. How It Helps Educator Provide underachiever’s hope and willingness when the going gets tough. Improve attendance. Manage disruptive students. Make teaching and learning more fun and productive. Get and keep students' attention. Build positive student-teacher relationships. Help students own and solve their own problems.

3 Rules Use enforceable limits. Provide choices within limits. Apply consequences for empathy.

Enforceable Limits Unenforceable Enforceable Open your books to page 54. Don’t be bothering your neighbor. Turn your assignment in on time or you’ll get a lower grade. Enforceable I’ll be working from page 54. You’re welcome to stay with us as long as you and others are not bothered. I give full credit for paper turned in on time.

Provide Choices Within Limits Example “Would you rather work quietly with us, or would you rather be in the time-out area? It’s really up you. If you decide to go to time-out, please come back as soon as you can handle it. I’d love to have you back. Thank you!”

Apply Consequences With Empathy Example “That’s too bad! That zero will have to be averaged with your other grades.” When a teacher displays anger. The child gets caught up on the anger. The result is that the consequence does not register in the child’s mind the way it should. When the teacher uses empathy in describing the consequence, the child’ mind tends to focus on the mistake with more intensity. This leads the child to build a thought process about the mistake.

Implementing in Classroom Some thoughts on changing behavior in the classroom   Change takes time. Everyone's experience is different. We must attempt to understand a student's perception of events before we can affect real change. Nonverbal language speaks loud. Self-worth is to be encouraged. Use a lot of questions. Eliminate power struggles. When we offer kids a choice instead of making a demand, no power struggle ever begins.

One of the rules of the psychology of self-concept states, "Human beings will perform for the person they love." If a person loves himself, he will do it for himself. If he does not have that high self-esteem or belief in self, he will have to do it for someone else until the time comes that he does love himself.

Tips For Building Relationships Relationship-building If you are having trouble connecting with a student, try the following: Go to the student six times over three school weeks and use a "one-sentence intervention". The sentence should start with the work, "I noticed..." Then, you fill in the blank with something personal about the student - something positive and true Make it something personal and not school related. Spread these interventions over three weeks. After the three weeks, check to determine if the student is more cooperative than before you started asking by going to the student at an appropriate time and asking, "Will you try that just for me?" Or, "Will you stop doing that just for me?"

Works Cited See www.loveandlogic.com for additional information, resources and available training conferences. www.awakening.pbworks.com/teachingwithloveandlogic www.kellybear.com R E F E R E CN C E Fay, Jim, and David Funk (1995). Teaching With Love And Logic: Taking Control Of The Classroom. Golden, CO: The Love and Logic Press, Inc.