About James H Burns
Since 1977 Jim Burns has been working with students who have learning disabilities and behavioral problems. He has almost 40 years of experience working as an administrator, teacher, college instructor, and seminar leader. He is committed to helping administrators, parents, and teachers establish standards of excellence and help them build successful relationships with their staff, students, and children. He has written and designed The Bully Proof Classroom, a graduate course that is now offered at The College of New Jersey, and La Salle University in Pennsylvania in partnership with The Regional Training Center. This course has been endorsed by the NJEA. He has also written “Anti Bullying 101.” A book that provides teachers, administrators, support staff and parent’s 101 tips on how to achieve permanent help in dealing with unruly behavior and can be used as part of any anti-bullying program. In May of 2015 Jim was awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by Gratz College in recognition of his almost forty years of work in student behavior management and anti bullying. He is available for on sight in-services and keynotes.
Responsible Motives
Do you ever watch CSI (Crime Sean Investigation)? I do, occasionally. I am at amazed how all
of the evidence that is collected can point directly at the suspect in question, but they just can't
seem to figure out a motive. They need the motive to convict the person of the crime. We all
know what the motive of a bully is, right? Power. They want to have power and control over a
smaller or weaker person. How do you change the motive of a bully? By being the strongest and
most influential person in the classroom. That's right, you, the teacher have this ability. You
don't need to use power; you need to use your influence. When your students realize that you are
in charge their motives change from wanting to hurt others, to wanting to help. They have met
their match. Remember, it is not about the influence of your power, but rather the power of your
influence.
A Unit Plan On Responsibility