education

Small Consequences The consequences in this section take a low amount of time and effort from the teacher and usually no follow-up. Consequence 1: The Body Language of Meaning Business We owe a lot to Fred Jones, who studied people with the “aura,” the teachers with whom nobody seemed to fool around, and discovered that […]

Limit Setting with Escalating Consequences A consequence should be logical and fit the infraction in terms of magni- tude and severity. Hence, it is important to develop a range of responses, from small to large. The general rule of thumb in limit setting is to apply the law of least resistance. Start small and escalate

Canter elaborates on the virtue of persistence and consistency: Children may not care if you keep them after school once, suspend them every now and then, or send them to the corner infrequently. But there are few children who would not care if they knew that they would have to stay after school every day

Appropriate Consequences Logical, Not Punitive Rudolph Dreikurs (Dreikurs & Cassel, 1972) understood that punishment breeds resentment, whereas logical consequences begin to teach students the reality of the social order. Every act has a consequence, and to avoid unpleasant results, students must behave in a way that will help guarantee favorable re- sults. Punishment is any

Recognizing and Rewarding Responsible Behavior No discussion of consequences would be complete without examining posi- tive consequences: how to respond to students—individual students or a whole class—who are meeting expectations. Canter and Canter (2001) recommend three guidelines for positive consequences: they should be things teachers are comfortable with, that students like, and that comply with

Who says ninth graders can’t learn to function in self-organized task groups to plan and organize a project? Every year, we work with at least one or two excellent teachers who are tal- ented and caring people but whose effectiveness is reduced by their ambiva- lence about expectations. They are unsure how reasonable it is

Who says first graders can not sit still in a circle and listen to each other for a 15-minute meeting? Every year, we work with at least one or two excellent teachers who are tal- ented and caring people but whose effectiveness is reduced by their ambiva- lence about expectations. They are unsure how reasonable

Are they capable of doing so? Is it reasonable to expect first graders to sit and listen at a classroom meeting for more than 10 minutes? Are they capable of doing so? If you believe that your first graders will never be able to sit for more than 10 minutes, they won’t. Are your inner-city

Is it reasonable to expect first graders to sit and listen at a classroom meeting for more than 10 minutes? Are they capable of doing so? Is it reasonable to expect first graders to sit and listen at a classroom meeting for more than 10 minutes? Are they capable of doing so? If you believe

Establishing Expectations at the Beginning of the Year The opening weeks of a term or year are the prime time to ensure solid under- standing of expectations, establish routines, and begin to build class cohesion. It is useful to think of this period as one of teaching or training for the students. Training requires practice;