Today many teachers and support staff from every grade and content level are worried about the state of discipline within our schools and society.  There are many students who are willing to do less, even as more is expected of teachers, poor behavioral issues, academic dishonesty, and challenges with some parents who do not always agree with educators during difficult classroom/school situations.  Times have changed, as some students have the expectation that they are socially promoted from one grade to the next with a limited understanding of the instruction that has been presented to them.  There are teachers across this nation are under immense pressure, as they handle a myriad of responsibilities from instructing K-12, coaching, club advisors, and various activities, as they endure the strains of this rewarding, but this challenging profession.  The class will delve into educational rigors that place pressures on teachers across this nation.  We will look at the beliefs of some students who are not willing to do their best, adhere to school rules, and demonstrate a sense of entitlement.  Discipline in our Schools is a powerful look at education today, the struggles of teachers, complex situations, and important ways to handle these hard times for all teachers.  There will be forums, films, documentaries, news footage, stories, and national educational statistics that will reinforce the need to support all educators!!!

Teachers enrolled in this course will

Know

1. The importance of support for all educators across this nation are not alone with the serious issues that are facing them today in classrooms with a lack of discipline and motivation of some students
2. The role of expectations for students that need to be fulfilled
3. The similarities and differences of problems that teachers from different parts of the country are facing.
4. How times have changed over the theory of discipline in schools with our students (absence rate, technology/phone use, violence, cheating, refusal to follow directions, etc.).

Understand

1. The need to keep students’ goal orientated with all of their tasks, objectives, and skills
2. The different problems that students endure at home through drugs, alcohol, divorce, violence, working parents, etc.
3. The role of communication with parents
4. The expectations of students are still necessary within the current educational system.
5. The noticeable increase of entitlement amongst our students and how educators can handle this growing social and educational problem.

and Be Able To

1. Develop newer methods of coping skills in handling the pressures of being a Twenty-First Century educator
2. Analyze statistics of graduation rate, truancy, crimes in school, violence, and the rigors of dealing with many hard situations
3. Identify the positive nature of education and the importance of teaching for this nation
4. Explain the current issues that are facing students and how to best respond to them in our schools

Visit www.nyctd.org to learn more and to register.