What systems do you put in place for discipline in the classroom?

You might try writeoffs. this worked pretty good with our children. for a child this age, writing “I must not talk in class” 50 times is a challenge for most. they will remember this for the rest of their life. good luck. john

Pick the troublemakers more often for answering questions. If it is a somewhat normal kid, the crap feeling it gets and the shame it feels from being unable to answer the question should get to it sooner or later and make it pay atttention.

If your schools have recess/play time breaks, perhaps that privilege could be taken away for bad behavior. When I went to school, sometimes kids would have to stay on the sidelines w/a teacher, instead of playing; or stay inside sitting at their desk.

What about blatant disrespectfullness such as deleberate disobiedience? How would you deal with that..for instance, if you are speaking to the child and the child shouts NO at you, or you are giving him an instruction and he/she is blatantly ignoring you, what do you do? Have any one of you encountered that in the classroom?

At lunch they have to sit at a table by themselves away from their friends. This was the big punishment when I was about that age and after that one time I never did it again. The other kids usually like to talk about you to find out what you did bad…. terrible feeling.

Again, drawing from my memories as an elementary school student, sometimes the teacher would send a disruptive student out of the classroom, & they would have to stand in the hallway outside the door.

Whatever system you put in place, you must be consistent in its use. Otherwise the children won’t believe that you will follow through with any consequences/punishment and the whole thing falls apart. Make sure that every student understands the class rules and knows what the consequences are for not following them. They need to know your expectations up front.

I remember one that I learned about a hundred years ago. If a student is disruptive or breaks a rule, you write their name on the board. No discussion, it just goes on the board and they can see it. (And no, “You don’t want your name on the board, do you?” nonsense. They do something wrong, their name goes up.) That’s the warning. If it happens again, with the same student, a check mark goes up next to their name. They lose half of their recess. Once more is a second check mark and they lose their whole recess. A third check mark means a note home to the parents. You can modify what they lose at each check mark to fit your situation. Or, make check #1 loss of the whole recess and #2 a note home. If the incident happens after that day’s recess, they lose tomorrow’s recess. However, all names come off the board at the end of the day and everyone starts with a new slate the next morning. You just have to note the lost recess elsewhere.

The more important, and usually more effective thing is having a positive reinforcement piece. One thing to try uses beans, marbles or beads. Each student has a container. Throughout the day, you watch for and reward good behavior. “I like the way so-and-so is working quietly, ” or whatever behavior you’re trying to encourage. Put a marble in that student’s container. Do this with many students throughout the day. At the end of the day, everyone puts their marbles into a group container. As well, if you see good behavior throughout the room, you can put a few marbles into the group container. When the container is full, the teacher springs for a pizza party, or ice cream for everyone. Something fun that the students can earn with good behavior. If you find that this is too many marbles or beans to buy, find a way to track them on a chart that’s visible to everyone. Children need to see that they’re making progress towards a goal. (This is also a good “anti-instant gratification” lesson.) It doesn’t have to be beans, it can be stickers on a chart or even just filling in squares. Make good behavior both an individual and group effort. I found that the positive reinforcement made a bigger dent than the punishment piece did.

@cornbird – I was extremely lucky and didn’t have any outright defiance issues. (Considering some of the places I taught, “extremely” is an understatement.) You say that you can’t put the child out of the classroom, but can you send them elsewhere? The principal’s office or to another teacher? If I had a student who was being disruptive, I would send him/her to the kindergarten across the hall, or up to the eighth grade classroom. They didn’t like being in the Kindergarten room because they didn’t like being seen with the “babies.” And the eighth graders were intimidating. They had to take their work with them and they were expected to get it done. The change of situation often calmed them down if they were on the edge. I wouldn’t leave them more than an hour and it gave both of us a chance to remove ourselves from the stress. My door was open to other teachers, too.

Does your school principal or head have a procedure for situations of outright defiance? I would ask for suggestions so that you know what your limits are. As well, in my opinion, that is a time that definitely warrants a call or letter to the parent/guardian. That behavior can’t be allowed as it disrupts learning for all the other students.

@tedibear39 Great advice thanks. Yea I can send them to another teacher or classroom. The law here states that you cannot hit the child, send the child out of the classroom or give them any sort of corporal punishment. You cannot send them out of the classroom because they say that it would be denying the child of his education.

@cornbird – I see. You may want to work out an arrangement with other teachers on your hallway then, assuming there will be different ages nearby. Make sure, too, that you send them with work so that they still receive their “education.”

I wish you the best in your classroom! Teaching takes a special kind of person and I hope it all goes well for you.

The word “rules” to me has a negative ring to it. The first day of school I provide the students with a set of “procedures” they need to follow while in class. It works. Our class should be able to keep busy and run as though we are not present.

If there is “bad” behavior then we as teachers are not keeping our students motivated or interested in the subject. We have to be aware of their learning styles. If the students are busy at all times there should be no bad behavior because there is no time. There are exceptions though.

There was a problem in my class with a young gentleman that is very intelligent. When he is not there the class is quiet. He is bored and finishes his work then engages in conversations with other and distract them. He likes to challenge me in a rather disrespectful manner. He needed to be made aware of how it feels to be in my shoes so I got permission for him to teach the class. I provided him with the required subject matter for that day. I sat at the back of the room and read a very large text book and it appeared as though I was not paying attention ( I was listening in the event he gave incorrect information that needed correction).

He came forth and said “Now I can appreciate all you do to prepare for the classes. It is not an easy job.” That was done on Friday and tomorrow I will see if there is a change.

@Flo_Nightengale – I like that idea of allowing the student to do your job. Excellent! And I hope that the desired change happens, or begins to happen. Let us know!

Will do @tedibear39 !