Roadmap to Responsibility The Power of Give 'em Five to Transform Schools

by Larry Thompson

Facing disciplinary conflicts and challenging moments with students is hard enough, but not knowing what to do is particularly stressful. Roadmap to Responsibility: The Power of Give ‘em Five to Transform Schools represents an unprecedented paradigm shift in the area of school discipline. It provides a step-by-step plan for making a long-term, positive difference in schools that will help educators feel less stressed and more empowered, while influencing students positively for the rest of their lives.

Genres: Education, Leadership, Nonfiction

137 pages, Perfect Paperback

Published July 1, 2015

Reviews

[Mariya Ortiz · Rating 2 out of 5]

The problem with a vanity press is that you don't get the rigorous editorial process involved in traditional publishing. The information shared is good, but the text itself is so repetitive that it sounds like a sales pitch. The book would have been much more highly effective cut down by 50+ pages of convincing me that the system works. It is entirely based on adolescent brain psychology. Of course, it works. I would have found it better written had the argument for why it works been illustrated with specific details of that brain and body physiology. For example, in a challenging situation, beginning with Support lowers a student's affective filter when they realize the educator is not a threat but a coach. This helps to short-circuit the fight-flight chemical and biological response in mid production. Less cortisol and adrenaline production means my body doesn't invest its energy in muscle-preparedness to run or fight at the expense of critical thinking and problem-solving to help me address a problem. Instead of being informative, this text reads more like an infomercial. A good editor would have fixed this issue that spell check and grammar check can't. Still I give the book 2 stars because the system is 4 star worthy.

[Sandra Pepos · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read and will be attending a district directed PIR on this in August. Jumped ahead in reading before the seminar for once. Great ideas to implement, but it takes an entire village and that means from administration, other educators, staff buy in. Learned a great deal from the book and looking forward to the semniar.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was quick read separated into short chapters. It seems a good system for having students take responsibility for improving their own behavior with regard to discipline issues. Even if someone did not use the entire system, most individual aspects of the system would still be beneficial to students and educators, if used.

I would agree with another review I saw that the book is a bit repetitive. However, I found that ok since it was short, and the repetition helped me retain the main ideas by just reading through without taking a lot of notes. Chapter 11 (second to last chapter) seems a good review that one can quickly reread as a review of the entire system if you are already sold on its merits and understood the details from the first reading of the book.

[Matt Svare · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went to the training and really like it, so I bought the book. The book does a great job of explaining the system for addressing student behavior. I do wish that it went more into Levels 1, 2, and 3.

[Courtney Celner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great system that I’ll be attempting to bring to my classroom this fall! The book was pretty repetitive, which was alright to help you get the steps memorized; however, I would have really liked to see more example conversations to help with implementation.

[Ferren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good little nuggets and the Give em Five is an interesting concept. But the book seemed really disjointed, there were lots of thoughts, sections or paragraphs that didn't quite feel complete. It was a good quick read but not sure I could recommend it to anyone.

[Shane Knauss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book. Larry Thompson was my high school principal and I grew up within this system. It works and I now use it myself at the school I work for!

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on teaching children how to take responsibility for their actions.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good summary of what was covered in the Give Em Five training. I really liked the examples and am looking forward to trying this in my classes this fall.

[Carla Whitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely loved this book, and the idea that students become responsible for their own learning. Looking forward to utilizing it in my classroom!

[Melani Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an educator that struggled with classroom management for the last two years, this book spoke to me. I can’t wait to try these techniques with my incoming students this year.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Similar to Love and Logic. Very high overview... Very good at demonstrating need for buy in... Needs more specifics for implementation

[Amy Carr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of the program. Quick read. Not really meaty enough to help you dive in. Left me wanting more examples and scenarios which would probably come with the training courses.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas in this book!!!

[Dylan Steffen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good information but very repetitive. One chapter of this book could be an article and still just as valuable.

[Sara Scalf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the focus of students taking responsibility for their actions and not jumping to only punishment

[Fritz42 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard Larry Thompson speak at a workshop, and much of this book was covered in that venue. However, I appreciated the review and extra details from the book. The Give 'Em Five model is a good format to have when dealing with challenging students. I had previously used something similar in those situations, but to have the five steps organized and detailed was very beneficial for me. The whole premise of encouraging and helping students accept and appreciate taking more responsibility for their behaviors really does work.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be required reading for all teachers! This book shows the importance of teaching children how to succeed in school instead of punishing them for not succeeding.