The Beauty of Losing Control

By Dr. Jane BluesteinApril 26, 2022April 26, 2022 Avoiding burnout, Avoiding power struggles, Beginning Teachers, Behavior Management, Behavior Management, Building responsibility, Classroom management, Culture and Community, Discipline, Increasing Positivity, Intervening negative behavior, Modeling positive behavior, Motivating cooperation, Recognition and reinforcement, Rules and Boundaries, School climate, Uncategorized, Win-win authority Leave a comment

An effective way to “be in charge”! Note: This is one of the very first articles I wrote for publication—in this case, for Instructor Magazine, back in 1985. The language and approach I currently use in my work has changed significantly over the years. For example, I rarely ever use the term “obedience” anymore because I have found…

Book: The Beginning Teacher’s Survival Guide

By Dr. Jane BluesteinAugust 13, 2021April 27, 2023 Assessment and Testing, Avoiding burnout, Avoiding power struggles, Beginning Teachers, Behavior Management, Behavior Management, Body and Brain, Books, Building responsibility, Classroom management, Creating community, Cultural Changes, Culture and Community, Discipline, Educators, Emotionally safe schools, Feedback and encouragement, Health and Safety, Homework, Increasing Positivity, Intervening negative behavior, Leadership, Learning, Learning styles, Life Management, Mentorship, Modeling positive behavior, Motivating cooperation, Non-traditional learners, Parent-Teacher relationships, Problem solving, Professional growth, Recognition and reinforcement, Relationships, Rules and Boundaries, School climate, Schools in Society, Self-care and Inspiration, Social and Emotional Growth, Special Needs, Taking care of yourself, Teacher Appreciation, Teacher retention, Teaching, Teaching, Tolerance and Respect, Win-win authority avoiding power struggles, beginning teachers, boundaries, challenges for new teachers, creating community, difficult students, discipline, emotional safety, emotionally safe classroom, learning differences, parent-teacher relationships, positive consequences, professional development feedback, professional growth, professional identity, school culture, self-care, student behavior, student self-management, teacher retention, teaching

Win-Win Strategies for Success by Dr. Jane Bluestein At the start or your career or at the end of your rope… Get your teaching career off to a winning start—or recharge your passion for your work! The new & revised edition of Dr. Jane Bluestein’s pivotal guide for your teaching career! A great gift for new…

Book: 21st Century Discipline

By Dr. Jane BluesteinFebruary 4, 2019April 23, 2022 Avoiding power struggles, Behavior Management, Behavior Management, Books, Bookstore, Building responsibility, Discipline, Educators, Intervening negative behavior, Motivating cooperation, Recognition and reinforcement, Rules and Boundaries, Win-win authority Leave a comment

Where it all began We are sold out of all remaining copies of this book, which is no longer in print. Please search online retailers for copies. Since the release of the first edition in 1985, we have sold thousands of copies of this book and remain incredibly grateful to everyone who supported this work….

Tired of Nagging Your Kids?

By Dr. Jane BluesteinJanuary 6, 2019July 4, 2022 Avoiding power struggles, Avoiding power struggles with your kids, Behavior Management, Behavior Management, Building responsibility, Counselors, Motivating cooperation, Motivating your kids, Parenting, Parenting, Parents, Rules and Boundaries, Rules and Boundaries, Win-win authority, Win-win parenting authority autonomy, boundaries, choices, cooperation, encouragement, follow through, gotcha, nagging, opposition, parental authority, positive connection, positive consequences, positivity, power struggles, privileges, saying no to kids, threats, validation, win-win parenting Leave a comment

Here’s What you Can Do Instead You’ve probably heard them all. “Awww, Mom!!” “Do I have to.” Or my all-time favorite, “You can’t make me!” Or maybe your kids’ routines are more along the lines of pouting, arguing, ignoring you (or agreeing and then ignoring you). Either way, in the day-to-day dealings with children, there…

Checklist: Characteristics of Positive Teacher-Student Relationships

By Dr. Jane BluesteinMay 15, 2015May 2, 2022 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…

The Problem with Zero Tolerance and Push Out Strategies

By Dr. Jane BluesteinMarch 16, 2015May 2, 2022 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…

Book: Managing 21st Century Classrooms

By Dr. Jane BluesteinFebruary 11, 2014June 18, 2023 Avoiding power struggles, Beginning Teachers, Behavior Management, Behavior Management, Books, Bookstore, Classroom management, Counselors, Creating community, Culture and Community, Discipline, Educators, Emotionally safe schools, Increasing Positivity, Intervening negative behavior, Motivating cooperation, Recognition and reinforcement, Rules and Boundaries, School climate, Teaching, Win-win authority Leave a comment

How to avoid ineffective classroom management practices! by Dr. Jane Bluestein You know all those behavior management strategies we learned to use in our teacher ed classes (and many subsequent workshops)? Well guess what! Some of them are actually making things worse! It’s long past time for our approach to classroom management to catch up to…

What’s so Hard About Win-Win?

By Dr. Jane BluesteinJanuary 8, 2013May 8, 2022 Avoiding power struggles, Behavior Management, Behavior Management, Building responsibility, Counselors, Creating community, Discipline, Educators, Emotionally safe schools, Intervening negative behavior, Modeling positive behavior, Motivating cooperation, Recognition and reinforcement, Rules and Boundaries, School climate, Win-win authority Leave a comment

Getting past old win-lose traditions This article was written for Educational Leadership magazine. A similar version appeared in the September 2011 edition of that magazine. Talk about safe, respectful schools and at some point, the term win-win is bound to come up. First coined in the 1920s by human relations and management pioneer Mary Parker…

Rules and Boundaries

By Dr. Jane BluesteinDecember 17, 2012May 9, 2022 Avoiding power struggles, Behavior Management, Behavior Management, Building responsibility, Counselors, Discipline, Educators, Motivating cooperation, Rules and Boundaries, Win-win authority Leave a comment

Effectively creating structure in your classroom When I started teaching, I had some reservations about being completely in charge and responsible for the rules, so I tried involving the students in this task. Part of my intention was an honest stab at building a positive, win-win classroom environment, wanting to acknowledge the students’ needs for…

5 Characteristics of a Good Boundary- For Educators

By Dr. Jane BluesteinNovember 9, 2012May 23, 2022 Avoiding power struggles, Behavior Management, Behavior Management, Building responsibility, Counselors, Discipline, Educators, Increasing Positivity, Leadership, Motivating cooperation, Relationships, Rules and Boundaries, Win-win authority Leave a comment

A positive, effective shift from rules and punishments Unlike rules (with punishments or negative consequences), boundaries* are characterized by the following: Clarity Boundaries are clear, specific and clearly communicated. They work best when you have the students’ attention, when they understands what you’re requesting, when the positive outcome of their cooperation is clear and when…