Better Than Carrots or Sticks: Restorative Practices for Positive Classroom Management

Dominique Smith · Douglas Fisher · Nancy Frey

Aug 2015 · ASCD

About this ebook

ASCD Bestseller! Classroom management is traditionally a matter of encouraging good behavior and discouraging bad by doling out rewards and punishments. But studies show that when educators empower students to address and correct misbehavior among themselves, positive results are longer lasting and more wide reaching.

In Better Than Carrots or Sticks, longtime educators and best-selling authors Dominique Smith, Douglas Fisher, and Nancy Frey provide a practical blueprint for creating a cooperative and respectful classroom climate in which students and teachers work through behavioral issues together. After a comprehensive overview of the roots of the restorative practices movement in schools, the authors explain how to

• Establish procedures and expectations for student behavior that encourage the development of positive interpersonal skills;
• Develop a nonconfrontational rapport with even the most challenging students; and
• Implement conflict resolution strategies that prioritize relationship building and mutual understanding over finger-pointing and retribution.

Rewards and punishments may help to maintain order in the short term, but they're at best superficially effective and at worst counterproductive. This book will prepare teachers at all levels to ensure that their classrooms are welcoming, enriching, and constructive environments built on collective respect and focused on student achievement.

About the author

Dominique Smith is director of student services at Health Sciences High & Middle College, where he also serves as a culture builder and student advocate. He holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California. Dominique can be reached at [e-mail].

Douglas Fisher is a professor of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High & Middle College. He is a member of the California Reading Hall of Fame and is the recipient of a Celebrate Literacy Award from the International Reading Association, the Farmer Award for Excellence in Writing from the National Council of Teachers of English, and a Christa McAuliffe Award for Excellence in Teacher Education from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. He has published numerous articles on improving student achievement, and his books include The Purposeful Classroom: How to Structure Lessons with Learning Goals in Mind; Enhancing RTI: How to Ensure Success with Effective Classroom Instruction and Intervention; Checking for Understanding: Formative Assessment Techniques for Your Classroom; How to Create a Culture of Achievement in Your School and Classroom, and Using Data to Focus Instructional Improvement. He can be reached at [e-mail].

Nancy Frey is a professor of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High & Middle College. Nancy is a recipient of the Christa McAuliffe Award for Excellence in Teacher Education from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the Early Career Award from the Literacy Research Association. She has published many articles and books on literacy and instruction, including Productive Group Work: How to Engage Students, Build Teamwork, and Promote Understanding; The Formative Assessment Action Plan: Practical Steps to More Successful Teaching and Learning, and Guided Instruction: How to Develop Confident and Successful Learners. She can be reached at [e-mail].