Howard Glasser

A bit infomercial-ly. I would have appreciated more evidence, even anecdotal, to pep talks. The book focused relentlessly on success stories, mentions very few kids who didn't respond instantly to the program, and mentioned no teachers who failed to make progress.

I liked, however, the book's absolutely uncompromising insistence that all the energy in a classroom should be directed at celebrating the good things children do. Teachers are told to always respect a child's dignity, and the compliments (though they sound a bit over-the-top to me) are supposed to be delivered sincerely. I liked, too, the direction that outwardly, a teacher's reaction to rule-breaking is dispassionate and colorless; no emotion is involved.

I really dislike the "credit" approach (earning points for being good) though that part of the approach doesn't need to be used. I can just see some resistant / willful children being left in the dust as the more compliant children rack up points. I also am a bit bemused by the statement that all classroom rules should be in the negative ("No disrespecting others!" instead of ""Show respect.") I agree that children often frame rules as "stuff you shouldn't do," but I feel there's such good discussion generated when a group discusses what respect looks like, sounds like, feels like.… (más)

The first three quarters of this book outline a straight-forward strategy to ramp up positive interactions with children, while simultaneously removing the emotional energy from dealing with misbehavior. As a parent with a child who craves emotional energy, positive or negative, Mr. Glasser's theory and solutions makes a lot of sense. I'm committing to put his solutions into play and see what happens. The last part of the book bogs down in philosophical conclusions that meander and was less helpful.… (más)