ch+13,+15,+Joanna+Hermes's+reflection

Discipline is an extremely complex issue and in my opinion, takes up a huge part of our instructional time. Imagine a classroom where every student behaved and came prepared?! Wow! Although we do not live in this utopia setting, we can do things that help. We MUST be consistent with our rules. Do not establish a rule, only to bend when you need to enforce it. Students watch very closely and will try to bend more rules when they see that you bent once. I have also noticed that even if you verbally state over, and over again a rule (no cell phones, for example), they will STILL see if you will do anything about it. I just had a student the other day say, "But I was texting my mom!" Too bad, his phone still went to the office. I imagine I will not see him texting in my class again.

This particular study also enforced the importance of parental support. Education and behavior issues are truly a team effort. If a student is suspended and gets to do the things that Fred Jones mentioned (sleep in, watch TV, etc), certainly, suspension is not a punishment but a reward! No wonder students misbehave in school! However, my parents would have had me up at 4AM to scrub every sq. inch of grout with a toothbrush, from dawn to dusk, and whatever other laborous chores that I hated, I would have NEVER wanted to get suspended. And therefore, I never did or even came close.