Category: Behavior Management

Getting Through the “Gimme” Season
By Categories: Behavior Management, Discipline, Discipline, Gratitude and inspiration, Parenting, Parenting, Rules and Boundaries, Taking care of yourself Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Tips for joyful giving (and staying sane) The hints start dropping early. Visions of sugarplums give way to images of the hottest toys, trends, and technology. Lists, links, and spreadsheets are emailed, tweeted, and texted. I want. I want. I want. Our inboxes overflow with gift ideas. We get wound up by the promises of glittery commercials…

Presentation: Motivating the Unmotivated
By Categories: Avoiding power struggles, Building responsibility, Classroom management, Counselors, Creating community, Differentiating Instruction, Educators, Emotionally safe schools, Feedback and encouragement, Increasing Positivity, Learning styles, Motivating cooperation, Motivating your kids, Non-traditional learners, Parents, Recognition and reinforcement, School climate, Social and Emotional Growth, Win-win authority Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Getting past defenses, disinterest, and disengagement Presentation by Dr. Jane Bluestein Of all the challenges teachers face, the one mentioned most consistently over the years has been, “How do I engage kids who aren’t motivated and just don’t care?” Few things are more frustrated that having your planning and enthusiasm met with groans, shrugs, or eye…

Stress-Producing Obstacles in Relationships
By Categories: Counselors, Educators, General Interest, Overcoming obstacles, Problem solving, Relationships, Self-care and Inspiration, Taking care of yourself, Win-win authority, Win-win parenting authority Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Patterns to avoid Want to reduce conflict, pain, and alienation in relationships with the important people in your life? Here are some of the patterns that make connecting difficult. (Some suggestions for resolution below.) • Needing to be in charge or in control, especially when it depends on disempowering or controlling others, or when it disregards…

Icelandic “Pads” on the Back™ Template
By Categories: Free Product, Gratitude and inspiration, Pads on the Back Templates, Recognition and reinforcement, Recognition and Reinforcement, Translations Leave a comment

Download the “Pads” on the Back™ Template in Icelandic by Dr. Jane Bluestein & Lynn Collins, Ph.D. These are two of the eight different messages on the PDF. By clicking on the link below you agree to keep the copyright notice on this page and to distribute or share these materials for free. Free download: Get…

Motivation vs. Manipulation
By Categories: Feedback and encouragement, Motivating cooperation, Motivating your kids, Parents, Recognition and Reinforcement, Recognition and reinforcement, Teaching Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

There is a difference You see the kids on task and behaving, and it’s natural to want to reinforce what they’re doing. By the same token, the kids who are dragging their feet or not doing their work (or chores) may need a bit of a fire lit under them. There are positive and effective…

Checklist: Characteristics of Positive Teacher-Student Relationships
By Categories: Avoiding power struggles, Behavior Management, Behavior Management, Building responsibility, Classroom management, Counselors, Creating community, Discipline, Educators, Feedback and encouragement, Intervening negative behavior, Leadership, Modeling positive behavior, Motivating cooperation, Parent-Teacher relationships, Problem solving, Recognition and reinforcement, Rules and Boundaries, School climate, Win-win authority 2 Comments

Evaluate your relationships Use this checklist to evaluate patterns in your current relationships with your students. If you have implemented a specific discipline or motivation approach, does it encourage relationships in which the following are true? (Click here for a description of each category.) Proactivity: ___ I focus on prevention–not reaction. ___ I attempt to…

I-Messages: The Handout
By Categories: Counselors, Educators, General Interest, Health and Safety, Intervening negative behavior, Intervening negative behavior, Motivating cooperation, Motivating your kids, Problem solving, Social and Emotional Growth, Taking care of yourself Leave a comment

More information about a destructive communication pattern This handout was developed to accompany a free online article, “What’s Wrong with ‘I-Messages’?” I first wrote about the problems with using this formula to try to get people to assess (and shift) their behavior in 1991. Evidence based on outcomes of using this formula has only strengthened my opinion. There…

The Problem with Zero Tolerance and Push Out Strategies
By Categories: Behavior Management, Classroom management, Counselors, Creating community, Discipline, Educators, Increasing Positivity, Intervening negative behavior, Leadership, Motivating cooperation, Rules and Boundaries, School climate, Schools in Society, Tolerance and Respect, Win-win authority Leave a comment

How these programs are making things worse On March 4, 2015, I had the privilege of keynoting the National Youth At Risk Conference for the second time. In meeting with many of the participants who attended the keynote and my follow-up session, as well as what I’ve observed in my visits to schools around the country and…

Product: “Pads” on the Back
By Categories: Behavior Management, Educators, General Interest, Motivating cooperation, Parenting, Parents, Recognition and Reinforcement, Recognition and reinforcement, Stationery item 2 Comments

Like Getting a Hug on Paper by Dr. Jane Bluestein & Dr. Lynn Collins We are sold out of all remaining stock of this. Our distributor has stopped producing this product. See link for free downloads of the 8 original messaged.  This item is no longer in production. The good news is that you can…