Each teacher usually enters the school year with an established set of disciplinary “steps” when students misbehave.
When dealing with disruptions of any kind from your students, your response to the disruption is less intrusive for the rest of the class than the initial disruption.
It doesn’t make much sense to react to a minor infraction with all guns blazing and create more of a disturbance than the student did in the first place. The punishment should fit the crime.
To ensure you have a consistent and appropriate incremental discipline plan, you should follow certain steps that escalate according to the severity of the behavior and how many infractions the student has committed. The steps can be whatever you choose, such as:
- Step# 1: Verbal Warning
- Step# 2: Second Verbal Warning
- Step# 3: Written Note Home
- Step# 4: Trip to the Principal, or whatever you choose as a last resort.
It is essential that you also list your specific discipline steps and post them in several places around your classroom. The list should be short and concise and be stated positively. Write down your rules as behaviors that you expect your students to exhibit. Take the time to clearly and thoroughly go over the rules and the steps with each class.
Also, clearly let the students know in extreme behavioral cases, you can and will skip to higher steps since there are certain behaviors you will not tolerate. Always be specific and give students examples because they are not mind-readers, and each teacher’s unique behavioral tolerances and rules can vary greatly.
For instance, one behavior that their previous teacher may have excused may not be okay with you, and this can lead to hurt feelings or confusion on behalf of the student if they are punished without being clearly told what is expected of them.
The first step of any discipline plan should be some form of a verbal warning. Warnings are not the most pleasant thing teachers need to do, and at times it may seem difficult and frustrating.
Most teachers have a behavior plan that includes at least one verbal warning before a consequence is administered. It’s easy for one warning to turn into more. Either the teacher gives the student the benefit of the doubt, or the teacher may become distracted by the hustle and bustle of the classroom.
To help remind yourself and the student that they have been warned about their inappropriate behavior, use a visual aid. For example, try placing a laminated stop sign or a detention slip on their desk. This allows the student to see that one more disruptive action will result in a consequence. Ensure students are aware of the consequence of their behavior.
When instituting this plan, select your warning token carefully. Select an unappealing but meaningful token to give your warnings more validity. A discipline plan will be extremely effective when both you and your students are clear about how it works, and are consistent in implementing it.
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