I am a new ELA teacher for 8th grade. I have given warnings to these students but found it really does nothing. I have started moving students who misbehave or are off task. I have called a few parents. What are some other consequences that would work for this age group? Thanks!
The most effective consequences for lasting behavioral change are natural consequences...next best are logical consequences. Contrived consequences are the least effective. I am sure google can provide resources for each of these types of consequences. What behavior do you desire? What behavior are you observing?
If your school allows it, try lunch detention. It takes away their "down" time to be social with friends. They still eat lunch, just by theirselves in a room with their teacher. There is no talking, etc. I've never had a repeat customer. Of course, as a teacher, you have to be willing to eat your lunch like that as well. But it beats staying an hour after school.
This is an excellent example of a "contrived consequence." Before using a contrived consequence, look for natural or logical consequences. They are more meaningful and have longer lasting effects. Natural or logical consequences make direct connections between behaviors and their consequences. Detention is typically unrelated to the behavior that lands a student there. Therefore, it frequently does little to TEACH students anything about their behavior. (Afterall, shouldn't we be using misbehavior as an opportunity to teach students how to behave effectively?) An example of lunch detention as a logical consequence follows: Student misbehaves at lunch time by throwing food in the cafeteria. Student must remain behind when students leave to clean up the mess he/she made. It is impossible and not practical to suggest specific interventions without knowledge of the kinds of behaviors you want to influence.
We had a re-training this year on the Boys Town discipline model. Basically, you train the kids on the proper ways to behave or perform certain procedures. When they "forget," you verbalize what they are doing, what a better choice would be, and then discuss with them how they can avoid the wrong choice in the future. Ideally this is done in a private conversation. I have to say, the training was NOT well-received in my building. However, I think that had more to do with the trainers than with the program itself. It seemed like they just read the manual to us. We could have done that on our own instead of spending two full days in our frozen tundra of a library, on rock-hard chairs, thinking about how much work we had to do in our rooms!
Maybe this "contrived consequence" is not effective for you, but it has proven to be very successful for me. My students know they have three chances to improve their behavior before lunch detention happens. They have a verbal warning, a second warning, and "care-frontation" in which I talk with them privately about what and why they are doing something and how they can change it to avoid consequences.
As a 8th grade teacher I like natural consequences because they are immediate and they let the students know I will not tolerate that type of behavior. What is a good consequence for getting out of your seat without permission?
I tell the kids if they don't want to sit in their seat they have to stand for the whole class. They think it's funny for the first five minutes but after awhile they see how nice their seat was to begin with.
Hmm what are some examples of more logical consequences in the classroom? If students were off task, talking out of turn, etc.
Try threatening the entire class with extra homework. This will cause students to turn against their peers who are misbehaving. Since 8th grade is such an important social time in a student's life, they will turn their behavior around right away so their friends aren't mad at them.
lunch detention WORKS but if one day doesn't work- try an entire week next time. You have to have your principal back you before you try it of course or those whiney parents will wiggle through
I can't do lunch detention because I have an open door for questions during lunch. I usually have about 2-3 kids show up with lunch in hand to get extra help. (I had to borrow another teacher's classroom this year, because my classroom IS the cafeteria). One of my most effective tools is group vs. solitary work. If students are chit-chatting or out of their seats, they must do the classwork on their own instead of in small groups. I explain it to them this way: In order to do gourp projects, I must be convinced that they are responsible enough to get the work done instead of using the opportunity to socialize. One of the ways they show me that responsibility is by following the other rules in my classroom. I really don't have that many rules. If I'm talking they're not (and they're in their seats), and respect for everybody in the room. I then explain how some common misbehaviors are manifestations of disrespect. They disrespect me and their classmates by causing disruptions when they talk, get out of their seats, throw things, or otherwise misbehave. It takes a little while for them to get the hang of it, but they catch on real fast that the work is easier and gets done faster when they work together, and they don't want to loose that chance, so they get with my program . Other things, like speaking out of turn or blurting out answers, I simply repeat the question like I heard nothing and then call on whomever raised their hand, then lavish praise on the correct answer-giver, regardless of wether or not he knew it to begin with. It's more of an unspoken "practice" for them to raise their hand.
These are good suggestions. I think the challenge with logical consequences is always being able to come up with one. But once you have the consequence in your head for that particular infraction then you know if for the future. I definitely did the "work alone, not with a group" consequence last year with a few students who simply could not stay on task with a group.
Try the Scoreboard Game from Power Teaching's Big Six. My students, 8th graders, love to play for control of their homework. They never get more, just the amount I originally assigned if they lose. If they win they get a reduced amount, or none. You will have less to do than before as the students will handle much of the behavior management, quickly squelching the behavior of non-complying classmates. I find the strictest enforcers are the kids who have been the most disruptive before. They like the feeling of controlling their homework.
I agree. A natural consequence of getting up out of their seats without permission is making them stand.
