IGN Consulting

Katy ISD Conference Oct. 4, 2008

admin — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:48:23 +0000

The annual Katy ISD conference for Moms, Dads, mentors and community members is held each fall in the Katy ISD Education Support Complex. The conference offers varied workshops with great presenters. So what’s going to be offered at this year’s Discover U?

How about:

Wildly Successful Parenting
Internet Safety
Getting Back Into The Job Market
Fun Family Getaways
Mothers and Daughters
It’s All About Food
True Colors
Charting the Course: Helping Your Child Make Wise Class Decisions
Family Time Management
How to Raise a Well-Rounded Child in the Age of Technology
Digital Scrapbooking
Seasonal Decorating
Organize Your Life
What Are Colleges Really Looking For?

First Baptist Academy - Dallas Aug 4 & 8, 2008

admin — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:35:02 +0000

August 4, 2008 / Positive Behavior Management - The leadership team

August 8, 2008 / Positive Behavior Management - The teacher training

Texas PTA Summer Leadership Conference - July 25 - 27 2008

admin — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:06:04 +0000

Summer Leadership Seminar for 2008 should be the best yet, so make plans now to come on out and get swinging!
The theme is “Swing Into Action,” so bring as many from your team as you can get! The Seminar weekend will be
held at the Austin Convention Center, and this year the dates are July 25-27. This once-a-year opportunity to network,
attend workshops for training, and gain leadership skills will help your PTA have a great year!

I will be presenting during session II and session III on Saturday.

admin — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:05:05 +0000

I want you to know that the response by teachers to your introduction to managing kids has been nothing short of phenomenal. The Superintendent called the next day because he had heard great things about the presentation. Teachers are saying it was the best training they had attended in twenty years. In short, you accomplished the objective of creating interest in the process. Over the next few weeks we will be collecting Site Improvement Plans (SIP’s) and making decisions about what to do next for student management. Personally, I feel that your greatest accomplishment was to get staff to start believing that positive steps could be taken to modify behavior and that they are not just helpless victims to disruptive students. I know you are just starting in Akron but you have made a positive impact. Again, thank you for your time well spent in Akron this past year. I am looking forward to working with you again in the future. We will be in touch.

Fred Schuett

Director of Secondary Education

admin — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:03:09 +0000

Mr. Dennis Mitchell has been an asset to our district and to our campus. He has helped our teachers be consistent throughout the building and help them see the importance of setting procedures in every area of their day. The visits that are made by Mr. Mitchell are very useful. Not only does he address specific concerns teachers may have, but he also gives them a short refresher to remind them of strategies he has taught. He also is very helpful to me as an administrator. He has given me strategies for dealing with the most difficult child to dealing with parents. We thoroughly enjoy his visits and look forward to more strategies he can share with us.

Karen Munoz, Principal

Ortiz Elementary School

admin — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:01:05 +0000

The Abilene ISD began working with Dennis Mitchell during the summer of 2003. The district has continued to work with him every year since that date. We are extremely pleased with Mr. Mitchell. Dennis has an excellent ability to assess all aspects of a campus and provide helpful strategies to administrators and teachers in a non-threatening manner. He is willing to go above and beyond in meeting the needs of individual campuses and even the parents on those campuses. The program has been viewed as a positive step by the district and the community. We have seen an overall change in the discipline in the district. The first year we had one middle school cut student referrals by 40%. I feel the best way to convey to anyone the impact of the Program is to quote a couple of administrators who experience that impact daily. I believe in the concepts and strategies in the discipline program. The district has trained everyone involved directly with students on a daily basis including bus drivers and cafeteria workers. The impact has been a positive one for our district.

Billy Stone

Director of Accelerated Programs

admin — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:53:35 +0000

While principal at White Knoll High School in 2004, we implemented this program and reduced our office referrals by greater than 50% in the first year. Four weeks into implementation, the faculty broke out into applause when asked how it was going. As a principal for 15+ years, a new “program” usually did not receive that kind of reception so soon. I believe the reason this plan works is that it is simple - anyone can do it - and above all- it gives everyone a plan of action for what to do. Most office referrals fall into the category of mischievous behavior. (for example, no book, talking too much, disrupts the class, sleeping in class, tardy to class, etc.) This plan gives teachers the tools to deal with those behaviors in a proactive way with minimal disruption to the instruction going on in the classroom.

Administrator

White Knoll High School SC

admin — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:34:21 +0000

This is the end of the first semester and our office behavior referrals have been reduced by at least 65%. I actually have time to get into the classrooms. Middle School Asst. Principal

What is Discipline?

your-web-guy — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 05:37:04 +0000

There are many different kinds of discipline programs on the market today. How do you decide which program is the right program? Let us start with the basics. What is discipline? I have found that the original definition of discipline no longer fits today’s view; it has been distorted over the years. Today the word or concept of discipline seems to have taken on a more punitive feel or action. When we see a child running loose throughout a store or restaurant, completely out of control, we tend to react to this display by thinking to ourselves, “That kid needs to be disciplined!” or, “Boy, if that was my child…!” These thoughts are punitive in nature.

Returning to the original definition of discipline, we find that it is referred to as a “body of knowledge” given to or received by a disciple or student. Back in the day, we would have said that a person learns the “discipline of economics,” or the “discipline of education.” Learning a discipline meant that students became proficient in an area of learning through a systematic method of instruction, followed by plenty of repetition and practice. Unfortunately, today’s schools have moved right along with society. With the fast-paced and ever-changing educational system, the concept of discipline has been reduced. What once was a systematic training for students to be instructed as to how to make good choices or how to be proactive has changed to a gotcha, punitive style of catching and assigning consequences.

We can develop a proper discipline or training program that will focus more on developing or training students as to how to make good behavior decisions. There is nothing stopping us from this endeavor but our own limited vision. Let us take off the blinders and start from scratch. Throw out all you know about discipline, and let’s start anew. This discipline or training program need not be held to one classroom or grade level. We can construct a program that continues to train our students as they get older and have to deal with more of the world around them. This is accomplished by developing a school-wide discipline program. With a school-wide discipline program in place, each teacher and each grade is a continuation of the students’ systematic training. Not only does the continued training benefit our students in decision making, but a consistency in expectations and environment will also be significant in the students’ emotional stability.

The Relationship Bank of Choices

your-web-guy — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 05:35:20 +0000

Each time your child makes a good choice, be sure to give praise. “Hey Nancy, I really appreciate you not arguing with me earlier; good choice.” “John, I really thank you for cleaning your room; good choice.” Every time you say “good choice,” you are making good choice deposits into that child’s Relationship Bank of Choices checking account.

We as parents need those good choices deposited into each child’s relationship account. There need to be enough good choice funds to cover a poor choice check. A parent does not want to bounce a poor choice check. Have you ever bounced a check?

NSF is not a good thing to experience. It is not a good feeling. It makes us hesitate every time we write a check. We start to fear whether or not we have enough funds to cover that check, and there is always a penalty attached to a bounced check, which ends up costing you more. In the Relationship Bank of Choices, every good choice deposit is worth $1.00. Every poor choice check costs $8.00. This is an 8 to 1 ratio. This means that for each poor choice check you write, you must have deposited 8 good choices. At times, children will bounce or react negatively because they did not have enough good choices deposited into their account when we had to write a poor choice check.