Middle School... When kids are assigned to ISS (In-School Suspension), there is a lag between the time they arrive to the room and the moment when work is received from the student's teachers. There are times that teachers do not send any work even if the student is assigned for multiple days. Question for ISS Aide - What do you? Do you have generic work packets created so you can hand work to the student immediately? If so, what type? Where did you get the work? Thanks!
I have sent students to ISS many times before. I know how much fun it can be to work in that environment so whenever I have extra packets made I send them to the ISS office for the supervisors and teachers to use as needed. Specifically, if there are students with no work they can pull from my stack of extras. (Its usually just a grammar and a reading comprehension packet.) What kid does not need to practice that? Maybe send an email to teachers and ask for any extra copies that they might have? If that doesnt work try Readworks.org they have reading passages and questions you can print out for all grade levels. PS its free
I always kept extra papers for the iss room. They'd use them for other grade levels when they got desperate.
I have somewhat of a disagreement with the idea of schoolwork as punishment. Kids are naturally curious and eager to explore; school shouldn't attempt to squelch this curiosity by using schoolwork as a form of torture. If school is b-o-r-i-n-g, something is wrong. If the purpose of ISS is to provide an unpleasant detention, then have the students sit quietly doing nothing. One peep, and they come back the next day. But if I might add an alternative, although I do agree that a penalty for misconduct is socially appropriate and can be effective, if there is time and staff for ISS, then there is time and staff for ISE, In School Empowerment. OK, I just made that acronym up, and perhaps an even better title can be created, but what if the students discussed their misconduct, deciding why it was socially inappropriate for a school setting, developing a plan of action to discontinue the misconduct, and creating an acceptable and appropriate alternative conduct. This could be done one-on-one with a teacher or counselor, but even more effectively, perhaps in a group situation led by the teacher. Middle school students are especially open and creative in such discussions: we do this in cooperative learning with stellar results; it should work for resolving behavioral conflict, also. Did you ever notice that ISS has a lot of repeat offenders? Hmmm, must not be working all that effectively.
"What if the students discussed their misconduct, deciding why it was socially inappropriate for a school setting, developing a plan of action to discontinue the misconduct, and creating an acceptable and appropriate alternative conduct. This could be done one-on-one with a teacher or counselor, but even more effectively, perhaps in a group situation led by the teacher. " This sounds a lot like restorative justice and PBIS. We do Restorative circles at my school. It helps but in all honesty EVERYONE needs to be using them or being consistent with them or they aren't as effective as they could be. If the staff doesnt buy in why should the students?
Free is ALWAYS appreciated! (you said that YOU have sent kids to ISS many times; for us, only an administrator can do that; what is your school's policy on that? Any teacher can send any time?)
Obadiah - wow... too many assumptions here! LOL 1 - the schoolwork is not the punishment; the ISS room is. The schoolwork in ISS is supposed to be the same assignment as the classroom so they do not fall behind in their work. 2 - As far as "One peep, and they come back the next day" - good luck with that! 3a - We DO have an alternative: we have a BASE room. This is very similar to your ISE room and comes with our plan to implement PBIS school-wide. 3b - regarding your comment, "if there is time and staff for ISS, then there is time and staff for ISE" - that is not exactly true. An ISS room is very different from a BASE room. 4 - As far as your comment, "Did you ever notice that ISS has a lot of repeat offenders? Hmmm, must not be working all that effectively." True; I agree! But, I am not the one who can make that change. My question was on how to get work for students whose teachers aren't sending work right away. Thanks!
YES! We have a BASE room at our school ("Behavior and Academic Support Environment") but you are right... "EVERYONE needs to be using them or being consistent with them or they aren't as effective as they could be" True - but that's true of any program. It's a lot harder to implement when some teachers do not buy in.
Friday evening, I was driving home from the market when I suddenly realized I had misread your original post. That morning, for some reason although I was reading in school suspension my mind was thinking detention, such as is done before or after school. I apologize for misreading and misresponding; it might have been I was still a bit sleepy that morning, or perhaps it's a sign of old age. No, I totally agree with you, ISS is the punishment in that case, and yes, they need to still be doing schoolwork in school. Back to my concern, which again, wasn't the intent of the original post, my thoughts were reflecting to the many times I've seen (and even used in the beginning of my career) extra school work as punishment. It kind of put school and learning in a bad light, as a thing to be avoided. Again, I apologize for misreading the post.
I was fortunate to have admin who backed the teachers 110%. We had to show a paper trail or record of trying to handle student and behavior in class first. So In my room I use a 3 strikes you're out policy. I offer a verbal warning, redirection first, and then maybe a seat change 2nd, and if after that we still have an issue I make the call to ISS. I also have a form that documents everything I tried with the student in class. I send that form down to ISS and a copy to the parents or guardians.
I am just now needing to get back to this question. Firstly, thank you to Obadiah for your explanation of your original reply. My struggle still exists: when kids are assigned to ISS (In-School Suspension) OR to BASE (Behavior and Academic Support Environment) and they do NOT have any work with them (maybe they just got placed at the end of 1st period - the 1st period teacher thinks they do not need to send anything; but the 2nd period teacher hasn't read emails yet and doesn't know to send down some work; the 3rd period teacher is absent, etc.). What do you have on-hand to be able to get the kiddos working straight-away?
A bucket of books they can read. Once they’ve read one, or read a few chapters, have them do a double entry journal response.
I struggle with coming up with assignments for students who are in ISS. So much of what we do is project-based! For English, I tell them to read their AR book, but there's no way for them to watch movies for film class, or do peer review for speech. I refuse to give them busy or punishment work that I have no intention of grading, and I don't believe in giving work as punishment, so I often don't send work with students. Why should their misbehavior in another class (or sometimes at an extracurricular event) cause more work for me, creating optional assignments and having to grade them later? Our students should have an AR book on them at all times. They can read that!
Work assigned during ISS should be a reinforcement of what the class is working on inthe suspended student’s absence. Ots not a punishment- the isolation is. To be sitting doing nothing is a waste of time and could lead to more behavior issues.
When I originally responded back in June, I added a second post due to my first post being based on my misunderstanding of the situation. I do agree that it is most profitable if students can continue working on the classwork they are missing and that the isolation is the actual penalty in that situation. My concern was using busywork as a penalty, and Czacza, you raise a good point of consideration, too--sitting doing nothing is a waste of time. Often an adult will say, "Now I want you to just sit there and think about what you've done." I'm not so sure the student is productively considering alternative and appropriate actions during such a time. I have seen success in discussing situations with a student and during the discussion the student decides which behaviors are more appropriate. Kids are learning how to conduct themselves in social situations such as a classroom, and teaching proper decorum is just as important as anything else we teach.
I agree with the comments, but the reality is that kids arrive in ISS with no work from teachers. I don't have a stock of assignments based on what each teacher is working on in class. My question is what do you (ISS teachers) have for students that students can work on immediately? I have books but some kids refuse to read or claim there's no book they like.
Do students have access to computers? We use a few different ELA and/or math programs like i-Ready and Achieve 3000. If they're going to be in ISS for a long time, you could even consider enrolling them in an online course through Apex or Edgenuity or something like that.
In that case you may want to start gathering up some generic test prep materials. Your state standardized tests probably have resources and study guides and practice tests.
In our school, we have premade packets that are tailored to whatever reason they are in ISS (Though we call it SAC (Structured Alternative Classroom). There are packets on so many specific things (even cutting detention) You get them from here https://advantagepress.com/discipline-and-behavior-programs/ Here is a sample from the website. These are only used if a student has no work from a teacher. http://advantagepress.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Cutting-Class.pdf
