TACTics Journal

A Publication for and by TOC for Education Practitioners

November 9, 2001

 

In this week’s issue:

Elementary/Secondary TACTics

   (1)     The Case of the Disruptive Student, Belinda Small,

Connections

(2)     News from Russia

    (3)     TACT, ETC in Michigan

Quote

    (4)      Jan L.A. van de Snepscheut

Editor’s Notes

  (5)   Kay Buckner-Seal

 

ELEMENTARY/SECONDARY TACTICS

(1)        The Case of the Disruptive Student

By Belinda Small, Crestview, Florida USA

 

The most horrible scenario for any teacher, new or experienced , is a group of children who are continually disruptive.  Sometimes it is the class as a whole that is cause for concern and sometimes it is just one student causing all of the problems.  Either way, little or no instruction or learning can go on until the problem is resolved.  Having a toolbox of effective strategies to help with disruptive students is a necessity for all teachers.  TOC to the rescue! The simple yet powerful thinking tools are proving successful with students of all ages.  In this case study from the TOCFE Anthology, the Negative Branch seems to work wonders but we know it's not luck and it's not magic!  Do you have similar examples to share with our readers? Cheryl A. Edwards

 

Shortly after I was trained in TOC, I began to adapt one of the thinking methods (the Negative Branch) to get students to write down for themselves the consequences of their actions.  The application was so effective with my 7th grade disruptive students that soon all of the teachers on my team began to send their disruptive students to me rather than the office because the process I was using was so effective!

 

The amazing thing is that the students actually fix their own problems.  All I do is get them to use the process.  The first step is to have them write down the behavior that led to the problem with the teacher.  After that, I just guide them with: what happened next?  I think the students can write this so easily because they have experienced the chain of events.  In this way, they are also developing a skill cause and effect), which is sometimes difficult to teach.  Using this method, they can develop the skill by building on prior knowledge rather than having to learn it as an independent skill.

 

In this example, the student had been making noises in another teacher’s class.  When we started writing the Negative Branch, I just asked, “Why were you sent here?”  At first, the student said, typically: “I didn’t do anything.”  I gave him some thinking time and then in a few minutes he said, “Well, I made some noises in class and then the teacher got mad.

 

And then what happened?” I continued, and he gave me a few more effects, which I was writing down for him just in little circles and connecting them with arrows to indicate that one circle was leading to the next circle.  Meanwhile, my 7th grade English class had been working on an assignment and I had to stop and give them some instructions.  I put the pen down to wait until I had dealt with the needs of my classroom.  When I returned, I found that he had picked up the pen and finished the Negative Branch all by himself!

 

We discussed what could he do to prevent the final outcome and he wrote down some suggestions that were not new ideas.  What was new in this case was that this time they were his ideas  This Negative Branch was written in October and this student had already been referred to the office 40 times by the other teacher!  He never got in trouble again with this teacher for the rest of the school year.

 

The Student’s Negative Branch:

If:  I make noises in class,

Then:   

·         Another student gets mad.

·         Teacher gets mad.

·         I get mad.

       Don’t listen.

       Don’t do assignment.

       I get an F.

       I fail the class.

       (I get) furious.

I will try not to disrupt the class.

 

A note from Kathy Suerken:

Belinda Small is the first known teacher to have used the Negative Branch with children.  Teachers all over the world are now using her simple, yet powerful, application.

 

CONNECTIONS

(2)        News from Russia

From Zarechniy Pensenskaya ,Region of (Central) Russia

 

               In September the students and staff of Didakt Gymnasium participated in seminars on Communication in Business.  We discussed many problems and learned how to resolve conflicts and make decisions using a method, which satisfied the needs of all seminar participants.  We used the technology of TOC TAKT.

 

The leaders of the seminar were students:  Masha Denisova; Olya Komarova and Ilya Shilitsin.  They were trained in this technology at the Eureka seminar in April 2001 by Galina Dolya and David Higgins.

 

 

               The following trainer of trainers sessions are scheduled to take place in the upcoming months:

Location:                        Moscow, Russia

Date:                        Nov 1-5, 2001

Host:                        Eureka University

Instructors:                        Galina Dolya and David Higgins

 

(3)        TACT, ETC in Michigan

 

Are you interested in training educators to use TOC for: School improvement, instruction and curriculum design, conflict resolution and self-discipline including classroom management?

 

Are you interested in the TACT, ETC training as an up-grade?  Anyone who has not attended a conference or upgrade in the last year is required to attend an upgrade to keep a TOCFE Trainers status.

 

TOCFE Training for Trainers

Location:            Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, USA

Date:                January 28-30, 2002

Host:                Michigan Institute for Nonviolence Education, Alicia Renee’ Farris, Executive Director

 

Prerequisites:

       TOC TACT training or equivalent

       Examples of each of the TOC tools you have used in an educational setting

       Read, The Goal, It ’s Not Luck and Critical Chain by E. Goldratt

       Have a group of educators eager to be trained.

 

If you are interested, contact Cheryl Edwards:  E-mail: redwards@sault.com, Phone: 906.484.6808

 

QUOTE

(4)        "In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.  But, in practice, there is. " Jan L.A. van de Snepscheut

 
EDITOR’S NOTES

(5)           Kay Buckner-Seal

 

The TOCFE Anthology, compiled by Kathy Suerken is a powerful collection of case experiences using the tools in the educational setting.  In “The Case of the Disruptive Student,” Belinda Small, modeled how to use the negative branch for the disruptive student.  She gave us an explicit example of scaffolding, giving a student the support needed to be successful.  The beauty of it all is that the tools are so easily adapted by students.  Within a matter of minutes, the disruptive student was able to use the tools to modify his behavior.  And, he was able to apply it again, successfully; “he never got in trouble again with his teacher!”  Logic is so appealing!  Belinda Small, thanks for writing up a fine example of the tools in use.  If you have other experiences to share, we welcome the input!

 

Thanks, for the “News from Russia.”  We did not include your name in this article, because we did not know who sent the correspondence.  Please let us know so that we may share this information with the TOCFE family. 

 

Send in your experiences using the TOC tools to TACTics.  We can all learn from each other.  Send your responses, applications of the thinking processes, lessons, announcements, and etc. by mail to:  Cheryl A. Edwards, 2253 S. Hill Island Rd., Cedarville, Michigan 49719, USA.  Or send hyperlink to:  redwards@sault.com, or bucknek@earthlink.net.

 

 

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