|
Edison Middle School
Dan DeLeon, principal at Edison Middle School in Houston, knows
his students and his campus — especially having been a student at Edison
himself in the seventies. Working as an educator for more than 15 years, Mr.
DeLeon has seen a shift in the way education and discipline are viewed in our
society.
“The change I’ve seen in education over the years is that with
our fast paced society, we think that education needs to be fast and discipline
needs to be fast. It shouldn’t change though. We need time. We need time to
manage students when students are misbehaving. They need to be heard and time
to be listened to. They need adults who have the time, and unfortunately, with
education, we don’t have the time. We need to get a lot of instruction into
them as soon as possible.”
“The traditional process is great if you can spend all of the
time that you have to get through the process — unfortunately, we don’t always
have that time.
MindOH! is able to help us in that it gives the student an
opportunity to focus their thoughts, and focus on the situation, so that they
can put it down into a statement. Then when they sit down with the
administrator, they can look at the situation and they have been heard.”
MindOH! has helped students change their reaction to situations.
“MindOH! is a motivator for students — a motivator to do what’s
right. It sets them down and helps them come face to face with themselves, with
the issues. It asks some hard questions — What did you do? What could you have
done differently? What should you have done?”
“I think what the students like most about the MindOH! program
is that they get to put their thoughts down, and someone is reading those
thoughts, someone is listening. They get to tell their side of the story. I
think that’s probably the same reason the adults like the MindOH! program —
they can cut through all of the other stuff and just get to the issues as to
what happened, why did it happen, and then go from there.”
Mr. DeLeon believes that MindOH! is unique because it is “just
in time training.” A student is faced with an issue and they need some
instruction here and now. It helps them change behaviors and attitude
immediately as they relate to the situation that just got them in trouble. He
thinks that MindOH!’s self-reflection exercises start to change behavior
because students have an opportunity to think back on what they’ve done and
what the consequences will be.
“The students I have talked to have really been pensive and
reflective on what they’ve done, what has happened, and have been able to make
some changes because of that. We have just got to face it – [students] don’t
listen to anyone over 30. MindOH! is good for them because they’re putting out
the answers, they’re putting out the information. It’s not any different advice
or information than we would give them, it’s just in a medium and in a way that
they can grasp – it’s something they need for the moment and it’s something
that they’re willing to listen to.”
Mr. DeLeon and other Edison Middle School administrators have
used MindOH!’s School Administrative Database as a tool to track and address
discipline trends on campus.
“The data that we collect from the program is very important.
It gives us an idea as to the kind of behaviors the students are exhibiting,
the needs that exist in the student body for a given period of time. It also
gives us information about how adults are dealing with students in certain
situations. Also, it gives us an idea about what’s going on with the student
body as a whole.”
According to Mr. DeLeon, MindOH! fully meets his criteria for a
character education program. “I think some of the good elements of a character
education program, at least what we look for, are to make sure it’s sound,
based on solid research, solid evidence and solid curriculum. But even the best
curriculum in the world — if it doesn’t engage students, it doesn’t do any
good. We want to make sure it gets to the students, and that they learn it, and
not just in the sense of being able to repeat it and put it back on test.
MindOH! causes them to reflect, evaluate their own behaviors, their own
character, and do whatever it takes to improve that character. There is no
better discipline than self discipline.”
Using MindOH! to Get Edison Students Back to Class
Juan Gonzalez, seventh grade assistant principal at Edison
Middle School spends about 60 percent of the day dealing with behavior and
discipline issues. The objective at Edison Middle School is to see students
succeed academically, and so time spent in the discipline process detracts from
a student’s time in the classroom. Mr. Gonzalez recognizes that the more
efficient he is during the discipline process, the better the teachers will do
in making students successful. So, he uses MindOH! as a tool to make the most
effective use of his time and get the students back to class.
He thinks MindOH! has helped students’ behavior. “MindOH! has
allowed my students to take more responsibility for their actions. It gives
them an opportunity to be heard. We want [students] to understand — if you keep
doing what you’re doing, you’re going to get the same results, so something
needs to change.”
Mr. Gonzalez thinks that MindOH! helps students calm down
because they’re often upset when they first come to his office, and they don’t
want to see anyone or talk to anyone. He says students are often spending their
time waiting to talk him as a chance to figure out how to get out of trouble or
make up excuses for their behavior. With MindOH!, there’s no “wait” time —
students go directly into an exercise that allows them to reflect and tell
their side of the story. MindOH! also helps him to compare different sides of
the story — what the teacher wrote compared to what the student says.
“They type it in, in their own words, what happened and their
perspective, their point of view. And, they’re being heard – they’re being
listened to. It may be a computer, but then they see me. Some of the time I
learn that what they’re saying is different from what the teachers said, and I
investigate a little, and they were right! And the kids, they feel great when
someone is really listening to them. They feel that they count as a person.”
MindOH! has enhanced Mr. Gonzalez’s relationships with his
students. “It has helped me build a little more of a rapport with my students.
They understand that I don’t arbitrarily give them a detention or suspension. I
give them an opportunity to give me their perspective, their point of view, and
the reason why they’re having difficulties with their work, their behavior, or
whatever it may be.”
“MindOH! helps students reflect, look inside, and think about
their actions. When you do that, you have the power to make different choices.
We, as adults, need that as much. If kids can learn that now, while they’re
still young, it will help succeed in life no matter what they do. They need to
learn respect for themselves, respect for others, and responsibility for their
actions. And MindOH! incorporates all that.”
MindOH! and Edison Middle School in the News
The Houston ABC and CBS affiliate television stations filmed
news stories about how Edison Middle School was benefiting from MindOH! in
spring 2002. View the news clips.
|