It’s a new quarter and that means it’s time for some changes!
Although I hate change, I was really onboard with these ones: First, I changed my look.
New quarter... New look
Just in case you wondered what it looked like before...
Then, I changed the student’s seats.
Finally, I decided to implement a change that I hoped would bring me less stress when it comes to discipline. I’ve enacted a demerit system in my class and I pitched it to the students in a way that really appealed to them.
“How would you like to decide whether you should get a detention or not?”
This question caused practically every student to jump up in their seats and pay attention. Many said they’d take their detention forms and rip them up. Others cheered they’d never serve detention again. One asked the smart question: “What’s the catch?”
I told them that they could control their fate by paying attention and doing what they were supposed to and if they did they wouldn’t get demerits. However, if they chose to disobey, they would be “rewarded” with demerits (varying by offense) and, at 5 demerits, they’d get the special prize of spending a silent hour in the cafeteria on Saturday.
There were still those who were confused.
I explained that for different offenses, they would receive anywhere between 1 and 3 demerits. When they had accumulated 5, they’d get their detention. I then explained the new system of points.
Talking in class w/o permission, being out of their seat w/o permission, tardiness, and inattentiveness would each be one demerit.
Horseplay and leaving trashing in the room or the hallway would earn them two demerits each.
Finally, the big offense would be disrespect at three demerits. But not just disrespect toward me, but also disrespect toward each other. I get tired of the kids calling each other “stupid” and making other unkind comments at another student’s expense. This basically becomes a one warning offense. If you do it again, you’re busted.
There are also demerits that pertain to specific classes. For instance, my 8th grade boys often feel it’s okay to not hold their gas until class is over. Farting for them is one demerit.
I also explained that this new system would be more fair to them and to me. Now I wouldn’t have to deal with the frustration of getting so frustrated that I just start throwing out detentions just because someone sneezed wrong once. Now they had 4 “warnings” before they would be punished.
I’ve felt that all year I’ve threatened them with punishment, but I’m too nice to actually dole it out unless I’m pushed to my edge. I then feel guilty and also tend to not act fairly toward some students who don’t necessarily “deserve” the punishment based on what they did. Now they work up toward it and I feel freer to give punishment because they’ve had ample warning.
This is when the haggling began. They asked for 7 demerits when I explained the demerits were based on a 5 day school week and to just behave better. My 6th grade class has me for 2 periods a day. They claimed they should get 10 demerits a week. I told them they just need to behave more, follow the rules and live with it. I had one girl ask me 5 questions that were designed to test my patience (it’s the girl that called me a “bad teacher” and she does this often). I told her she understood my explanations, to stop looking for loopholes and just behave.
Overall, it seemed to be a welcomed change. Making middle schoolers feel a little older will help them learn responsibility and make them feel like I’m respecting them. I think because I put the ball in their court and gave them control of the power of detention, they’ll respect the system. This still confused a few students, though, who continued to think they could rip up their detention slips.
