A discipline plan that includes rules, procedures, consequences, rewards, and severe clauses is a must for maintaining appropriate behavior from the start of the year. Holden recommends having just a few core rules or they may be hard to keep track of. That also adds more accountability for students to follow the rules since there are not too many.
A discipline plan should also include consequences that equal the misbehavior. Holden correlates consequences and misbehavior with how often a student has to sign a discipline book. Each misbehavior equals a signing of the discipline book. One signature means a teacher/student conference, two signatures mean a call home, and so on. He added that teachers should try to handle the misbehavior several times on their own before sending students to an administrator as a consequence. Don’t forget about rewards for good behavior! These can include a positive call home, dance tickets, or a sit-where-you-want day.
Student information sheets contain important information for tracking calls to home. They should contain the parent contacts, reasons for and date of contact, and any comments. It is helpful, if the misbehavior continues, to track the amount of calls home and to whom they were made. Teachers must simply tell parents that they’re calling to let them know that their child had to sign the discipline book (or whatever the discipline plan includes) and leave any emotions out of the conversation.
If these steps seem like a lot to handle on top of everything else at the beginning of the year, Holden says: Do it anyway. “Some teachers will say, ‘I don’t have time to do all of this!’ You don’t have time to not do this,” he said. Taking the time to start off strong at the beginning of the year means teachers will be viewed as accountable and firm but fair—and will therefore maintain positive relationships with students, parents, and administrators throughout the year.
About the Presenter
Assistant principal at Republic Middle School in Missouri, Shannon Holden has been a high school and middle school administrator and teacher in Texas and Missouri for 20 years. He presents frequently to teachers and administrators about classroom management, maintaining positive relationships with parents, instructional strategies that engage students, and implementing technology in the classroom. He is the host of the Teacher HELP! and TechTools for the Classroom communities on edWeb.net. Follow him on Twitter @newteacherhelp.
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