Classroom Discipline Forum Will Support New and Veteran Educators

by Kathleen Carpenter, Editor in Chief

Teachers.Net has added two new forums devoted to discussion of issues related to classroom discipline, expanding its already extensive collection of peer moderated "chatboards" to 124. The addition of the Classroom Discipline chatboard and e-mail discussion group complements existing forums dedicated to discussions about classroom management.

According to Dr. Marvin Marshall, Teachers.Net Gazette columnist and author of Discipline without Stress, Punishments, or Rewards - How Teachers and Parents Promote Responsibility & Learning, while many think of classroom management and classroom discipline as one and the same, there is an important distinction between the two.

"Although closely related, discipline and classroom management are distinctly different subjects." Marshall clarifies the difference by saying, "Discipline deals with how people behave, whereas classroom management deals with how things are done."

Marshall explains, "Discipline is about impulse management and self-control. Classroom management has to do with procedures, structure, and routines. Discipline is the student's responsibility. Classroom management--the key to efficient instruction--is the teacher's responsibility." Dr. Marshall notes, "The reason I asked Harry Wong to write the foreword to my book is that Harry clearly understands the difference between classroom management and discipline." Harry Wong is the internationally known expert on classroom management, a Teachers.Net Gazette columnist, and bestselling author, with Rosemary Wong, of The First Days of School - How to be an Effective Teacher.

The Classroom Discipline chatboard and mailring, supplemented by monthly live chat meetings on the topic, will allow new and experienced classroom teachers, school administrators, and authors/consultants, including Marvin Marshall, to gather for the sharing and exploration of effective methods for improving students' behavior in school.

The new Classroom Discipline resource is one of 124 chatboards (each with a corresponding mailring) dedicated to teachers and school administrators, and covering every grade level, preschool through higher education, dozens of curriculum areas, all U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Australia-New Zealand, U.K., Canada, and many topics of interest to educators. Tens of thousands of educators use Teachers.Net and its affiliates weekly to access information and support for early literacy through high school English instruction, classroom humor and inspiration, education advocacy, arts and crafts, computer technology, jobs, lessons, live chats with experts in the field of education, and much more.

All past and current articles by Marshall are linked from the new Classroom Discipline chatboard along with Harry Wong's monthly "Effective Teaching" columns, written exclusively for Teachers.Net. New articles by Wong and Marshall appear monthly in the Teachers.Net Gazette http://teachers.net/gazette.

All site resources are available through the Teachers.Net homepage http://teachers.net. Chatboard forums are listed and linked on the Mentor Center page http://teachers.net/mentors.