321 Learn! » student discipline

Lying is not a novel concept, a fact that parents will readily share with any who ask. Children will lie when it seems easier in the moment than telling the truth and dealing with the consequences of the truth.

Teachers will often deal with students who are telling lies for one reason or another – getting out of homework, not admitting what really goes on at home, not wanting to get into trouble, and sometimes simply not remembering. Understanding why a child is lying is important as this helps the teacher understand the best consequence for the lie.

If a child is trying to hide the truth about something, there could be good reason for the teacher to know what that truth is. Here are some common reasons why a child might lie: about homework:

Lies about homework -

The child may not have understood the homework
The child may be struggling with the concept being taught
The child may not have help at home (or the materials to complete an assignment)
The child may have forgotten to do the homework
The child may simply be trying to get out of extra work

Depending on the reason, the teacher should handle the resulting consequences differently. A child trying to get out of the work, for example, may be rewarded with extra work. A child without help at home or who is struggling to understand the work may need extra time with the teacher and modified homework for a time.

Team Meetings Increase Student Motivation

Jennifer Wagaman — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:28:16 +0000

Teachers often struggle with a lack of student motivation along with numerous classroom management or student discipline issues. Holding a classroom team meeting may help students take responsibility for their education as well as their behavior in the classroom.

Teachers need to team together as well and provide support and motivation for each other. Celebrating the small successes and providing ideas for handling the various problems that come up will become invaluable in preventing teacher burn-out.

Read more about how to implement team meetings within the classroom.

Zero-Tolerance Policy for Weapons

Jennifer Wagaman — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:01:41 +0000

Schools have implemented zero-tolerance policies for weapons and drugs as well as strict rule for handling those students who break the rules. So when a six year old is caught with a cub scout knife and was sentenced to 45 days in an alternative school for breaking this weapons rule, people question the logic behind such a strict rule.

In this child’s situation, the school district voted to change the policy for Kindergartners and First-graders to a 3-5 day suspension. But where do schools draw the line and how do they keep all students safe?

Schools should have strict policies for students who bring in any kind of weapon or threaten any type of violence. In fact, some schools have suspended Kindergartners for breaking the zero-tolerance rules, and for reasons less innocent than a child trying to eat lunch with a cub-scout knife.

Parents should back up the school and teach their children not to bring in weapons. While it may be an acceptable tool for use in the home, teachers must keep all students safe and what parent would want their child in danger while at school? While one student may not mean the tool as a weapon, another child with anger issues may take the weapon and use it maliciously.

While teachers must use judgment in keeping students and staff safe, the fact is that many teachers work in schools where violence is a serious issue and students as young as 5 years old attack teachers with flying fists. Violence is not an issue isolated to high-school students and schools should stand behind their zer0-tolerance policy.

New Website for Classroom Management Tips

Jennifer Wagaman — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:17:48 +0000

Looking for a site devoted just to helping you improve your classroom management? The My Classroom Management website has free information and ideas for how to create that perfect classroom.

Find new ideas, ask questions and share things that worked in your classroom!

Visit: myclassroommanagement.com

Stop Bullying Now FREE resources

Jennifer Wagaman — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:32:14 +0000

The Stop Bullying Now website has free resources for educators and administrators to teach students about bullying. The resources include multimedia presentations designed to teach school staff, teachers and parents about bullying.

Find tip sheets, webisodes, books and more. All resources on the website are free.
Bullying is a serious problem and needs to be addressed in every school across the country. With these resources teachers will have the tools they need to learn how to stop bullying in their schools. Awareness of the problem is the biggest first step towards preventing and solving it.

Start a stop bullying now campaign in your school!

Attention Deficit Disorder

Jennifer Wagaman — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:37:13 +0000

ADHD, the disorder that tends to effect more boys than girls: is it over diagnosed as a result of poor parenting? Is the child who can’t sit still in class simply disobedient or did he have too much sugar or other food additives?

Some teachers still believe that ADHD is a made-up disorder; an excuse for parents and teachers to use medication to manage discipline problems in the classroom. In fact, ADHD is a very real, very frustrating disorder that effects more students than we probably realize at this time.

This great book: All About Attention Deficit Disorder provides straight-forward honest answers regarding this disorder, the diagnosis and the treatments. Even if you think you understand ADHD, check out this book. You may be surprised at what you learn!

Teach Proper Vocabulary to Minimize Discipline Problems

Jennifer Wagaman — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:37:37 +0000

Everyone gets frustrated and upset. Students are no exception to that rule. How children are taught to handle their frustration and anger will make a huge difference in the classroom behavior and overall atmosphere for learning. Unfortunately many parents are not teaching their children how to handle their anger and the job is left to teachers. Here is an idea for helping students learn to manage themselves while keeping problems to a minimum in the classroom:

Teach Proper Vocabulary: Instead of simply chastising a student for swearing, encourage the class to learn the meaning of words and to find words that better describe their emotions. In addition to helping students talk about their emotions and thus working through those emotions, you will also help students expand their vocabulary and prevent fights and other behavior problems in the classroom.

Teaching proper vocabulary will also help students clearly communicate with you and others. If they are frustrated, they can explain their angry outburst with words that tell you and others what is frustrating them and why. While it may be awkward at first, with consistency, using proper vocabulary in the classroom will help to minimize discipline problems.

Teachers Involving Parents More

Jennifer Wagaman — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:35:55 +0000

Involving parents in the lives of their children is vital to classroom discipline. The more involved parents are, the fewer discipline problems while the less involved, the more serious the infractions. Permanent expulsions in Baltimore City schools has brought up the question of the right for a child to receive an education, and the rate of dangerous and serious behavior issues has dropped as schools begin to come down hard on these students. Parents need to step up and become more involved and provide greater boundaries for their children.

Here are some tips for teachers to involve the parents more:

Send home positive notes! letting parents know when their children do something good is a great way to build a positive rapport.
Make every effort to meet with parents frequently through the school year to discuss the child’s progress
When a parent comes to you with a concern, take it seriously and discuss ways both you and the parent can work together to resolve the issue
Make phone calls when the child does something good, not just when they misbehave.
Invite parents to come and observe the classroom
Always encourage your students to talk to their parents about what is going on at school
Assign students projects that require them to talk to their parents

Find out more information on preventative classroom management that starts at home.

Students Acting up in Class

Jennifer Wagaman — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:20:34 +0000

Every teacher has had that student who seems to be constantly acting up in class. Getting frustrated doesn’t help, warnings, threats, discipline and more does not help. So what do you do? I would challenge you to consider one of two possibilities:

Is the student bored?
Is the student struggling?

Boredom is often a result of a bright student who is not being challenged enough. Often the student thinks the work is “dumb” or “kid stuff” and will often rush through and finish early. Provide this student with more challenging assignments, and provide educational tasks for when an assignment is done early: writing in a journal, reading a book, a challenge packet of material, etc.

A struggling student may have a disability or may simply be struggling to keep up. This student will often act out in the effort to prevent their weakness from coming to light. Provide extra support for this student, pair up a stronger student with him or her to provide help, break assignments down in smaller steps and in some cases it may be beneficial to assign easier tasks.