Schoolwide Discipline Plan Without the Loopholes: Yeah, but- A Salamander is Not a Fish!

by Jim Fay

In A Salamander Is Not a Fish , the legendary Jim Fay helps teachers create conditions that are absolutely essential for great academic and social learning. Many schools have responded to the pressure of the modern age by increasing the content of the curricula and the rigidity of the student code. Both educators and students feel the pressure. Some become overwhelmed by this pressure. Jim Fay gives you the skills to help you create the relationships and respectful environments that are at the heart of great learning communities. The bottom line is that the Love and Logic tools in this book make teaching easier and better. The path of Love and Logic helps teachers create conditions that are absolutely essential for great academic and social learning.

Genres: Teaching, Education

108 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 2005

Reviews

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The only effective motivator for chronically disruptive students is a positive relationship with a significant adult."

This book is part of the staff summer reading curriculum at my school. Although this is my first introduction to Love and Logic, I am already familiar with and in favor of its philosophy. This book is specifically critical of prescriptive discipline plans in public schools that do not enable teachers and administrators to treat students as individuals. I am 100% on board with that criticism.

Instead of following a byzantine and impersonal discipline plan, the author advocates for considering the following factors in student misbehavior:
1. the precipitating events
2. the child's intentions
3. the child's personality and temperament
4. the facts of the case, and
5. the damage or hurt caused by the misbehavior.

I think this individualized approach is definitely the right way to administer a classroom, and I am glad to see this philosophy spread. However, the book is written very hokily, almost as if Ned Flanders wrote it. The author's voice came off as very contrived, which I found off-putting.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a lot of great ideas and examples. It is skewed more towards middle and high school, but could be tweaked to be more appropriate for elementary school students.

[Megan Beck Wisener · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first written introduction to Love and Logic and I was very excited about this book, and what great info it had for me as a first year teacher. I have always believed discipline comes easier when there’s a relationship, and this book strongly encourages that and many other techniques.

[Dawn Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me look at discipline in school very differently. Although parts of the policy will need to be re-written before being able to use it in the small Christian school setting I work in, I think the concept and idea of it are exactly what we need.

[Jonathan Butcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read from Love and Logic; Reinforcing each student is a unique individual, with a unique personal, social, and educational needs.