Every school talks about high expectations.
Only a small few actually live it.
The truth is, for the most part, it’s a sham. Expectations for student behavior in this day and age are knee-high to a five year old.
And getting lower by the year.
The trend is being driven by an educational culture that no longer feels comfortable with consequences.
But seems obsessed with making students feel good at any cost—including their very future.
Timeout is becoming a bad word. Suspensions are becoming outlawed. Victims of bullying are being forced to sit down with their tormentors.
And all the while, large bands of troublemakers, more emboldened than ever, are free to roam campus, cursing, harassing, and disrupting with impunity.
Oh sure, they’re pulled out of class occasionally for counseling. They’re sent to the office for a couple hours to write about how they feel and why they did what they did.
They may even get a talking-to by the principal.
Then it’s right back to your classroom—where you’re asked to tiptoe around them, ignore or redirect appalling behavior, and praise and reward them for the slightest improvement.
You’re asked to rely on one of the several trendy “research-based” classroom management systems your school has adopted that reject true accountability, replacing it with extrinsic rewards and appeasement.
So you “catch students being good.” You narrate expected behavior until you’re hoarse. You do your best to fulfill your praise quota and waste precious time looking for reasons to pass out tokens.
It’s exhausting and stressful and all but obliterates intrinsic motivation and the love of learning.
Except for the occasional temporary improvement (e.g. students getting quiet or sitting up straight) that can happen in exchange for a reward or false praise—hence the “research”—behavior worsens over time.
And the bar of what is considered good, respectful behavior drops ever lower.
But for only the strength and toughness of those well-behaved souls who endure near-constant disruption and disturbance, many, many schools would be in complete chaos.
All students need firmly established, nonnegotiable boundaries.
If they don’t have them, in the form of clearly defined rules and their consequences, then they’ll push and probe and test until they find them. It’s human nature.
Their misbehavior—all the disrespect, awful and degrading language, and lack of care and concern for others—screams out their desire for a leader to step in and say enough.
You see, boundaries let them know more than anything else that someone cares. Despite their initial protestations and at times aggressive pushback, it makes them feel safe, loved, and cared for.
It creates a world that makes sense.
It frees them to be kids and to enjoy learning and making friends without fear of being made fun of or looking less than popular culture’s warped sense of cool.
If your school or classroom is chaotic, it’s not because the students can’t do it. It’s not because they need more shiny certificates, prize boxes, behavior contracts, and other forms of bribery.
It’s not because you need to better grasp their personal struggles and obstacles and give them a free pass because of them.
It’s because expectations are too low.
It’s because you don’t have rules tight enough and clear enough to protect the sanctity of learning and enjoying school above all else. You don’t have consequences, consistently given, that students don’t like but that allow them to reflect on their mistakes and resolve not to make them again.
Caring isn’t giving chance after chance. It isn’t looking the other way or excusing behavior you know is wrong. It isn’t pretending everything is okay while Rome burns.
True caring is making the hard decisions and doing what is right for all students and their long-term social and emotional health and academic success.
You do them no favors by justifying for their misbehavior.
In fact, doing so is akin to giving up on them. It tells them that they’re not good enough, that the way they look, where they’re from, or who they are precludes them from fulfilling their secret dreams.
You do right by students, and their families who have so much hope for them, by establishing boundaries that safeguard excellent teaching and inspired learning. By lovingly holding them accountable for every single time they cross them.
And by lifting expectations far higher than the current educational establishment believes is possible.
PS – How to create a SCM classroom when your school is a mess, as well as how SCM is compatible with (true) restorative practices, are topics we’ll cover in the future.
Also, I’ll be taking next week off to enjoy the holiday break. In the meantime, have a happy and safe thanksgiving!
-Michael
PPS – If you haven’t done so already, please join us. It’s free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.
> how SCM is compatible with (true) restorative practices
Ouch. You’ve been around my school, huh? Is restorative practices A Thing now? We no longer have detentions or suspensions or behavior plans. “Conduct ineligible” lists were ended. In their place we have…circles. Which cause as much harm as help – the kids are even more disrespectful to each other than they are to adults.
I get it that you can’t punish your way to success, but circling your way there seems ineffective as well. How much is there really to talk about on the behaviors that destroy a class? Kids know what to do; they’ve been taught it since kindergarten. When consequences are raised, they do it – they’re fine if the principal is in the room.
Classroom behavior doesn’t seem like a deep and rich subject – the expectations are simple and known. Talking about them more isn’t what’s needed. Simple management of them is.
I think that SCM strives toward that, and for that I appreciate you, Michael.
Thank you for this validation!!!!
Enjoy your holiday.
Karen
I agree. We need to be consistent and let the consequences follow so students know there are rewards and consequences that will take effect.
Thank you all!
Carol
When I insisted that students remove their hats in my classroom and that I had to let them run out of the room for RR breaks whenever they felt like it in the middle of instruction for a 25 minute class, I was told that I had a “Generational Problem”. What was meant that I didn’t understand that “kids today are used to having choices” in classrooms and in parenting. The young lady who insisted that I had to let her leave the room didn’t need an RR break. Three seconds out of the room she was sitting in the hallway looking at XXX TikTok. Her parents complained to the school that I didn’t let their daughter use the restroom, so administration was afraid that “we would get in trouble”.
If I am pulled over for going 20 mph above a speed limit, the officer doesn’t offer a circle meeting for Restorative Justice, I get a ticket and a fine. Why? Because I was going over the posted speed limit and breaking the law. The End.
Wow! This article really hit home for me. I must admit that “high expectations” had never made sense for me before. Until I discovered your classroom management techniques, it was just a phrase I would repeat without really getting the real meaning. When I think of how your techniques can help entire neighborhoods with low-achieving schools put in place a system that will put sense in “no child left behind” … What you are doing is so commanding! Thank you!
…It’s both commending and commendable!
Thank you, Michael. Happy Thanksgiving!
Just yesterday I removed a student from my class for throttling another student. I gave him an in-school suspension. My AP asked me if I’d had a conversation in the hall with him first about why throttling other students is wrong. She said jumping straight to in-school suspension was a bit much.
This kid is a Junior in high school. I replied that he wasn’t a Kindergartner, so I didn’t think such a conversation should be necessary at this point.
I like restorative justice. I don’t like the way it’s been implemented. I wish admin and the DO had more moral courage to correctly implement it, so the kids who are victims of bullying felt safer.
When my kinder student throttled s classmate, he was sent home. I thank my principal for his support!
I love your blog, and often use your suggestions, but lately, it’s like you haven’t been in today’s classrooms. If only my misbehaving, physically aggressive, and chaotic students were rational, thinking, beings with which this strategy works. I have great relationships with my students and few behavior issues, until I get a kid who is ASD or not-yet-diagnosed RAD, or a myriad of other disorders that take all the rationality and typical anger reactions out of the equation. I have yet to have a kid who intentionally grew out of control without there being a serious underlying issue that was not being addressed. And let’s not even talk about the kids coming to me with trauma. If having high enough expectations worked every time for every situation, then we wouldn’t be losing some many loved kids and adults to suicide, prison, and addiction.
How about a topic like: how to get all teachers to actually have high expectations? Just sayin’…
Agree 100% with you Cheri! There is no single system that will work for every student because of the huge difference in backgrounds, traumatic experiences, and neurological responses. I also often use suggestions from SCM, but believe that there must be a combination of strategies used to really breakthrough to every student. Just as academics must be differentiated and accommodated, so must behavior, social, and emotional instruction.
I agree with you, Cheri. It’s certainly easier to send a child to the principal’s office but that is my last resort, generally reserved for physical altercations. My ASD students tend to have separate behaviour plans, as a trip to the principal’s office would have no meaning, or at least not the meaning that one might hope for. For most students, building rapport, getting to know your students and what they are dealing with at home will go a long way in increasing the behaviour you want to see. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it to play the long game with students. In this last term, I had one of my students , who has a history of parental neglect, homelessness, and school suspensions go from showing up 10-15 minutes late to class if he showed up at all, with no supplies, no homework done, and passively refusing to work in class, to coming to class every day and doing some work. I removed barriers for him. I keep his supplies in my classroom and give them to him when he comes in. I reduced his workload so that he can get his work done in class and get help from me. Oh, and I praised every little victory, “Hey, I am glad you’re here, come on in,” when he is late, calling on him in class when I know he knows the answer, “Wow, you really know this”, when he gets an answer correct. The result is that he is more likely to come to class and learn. He got 80% on his last math test. The one before that from the beginning of the year? 6%. I had no idea if this approach would work for him, but it was better than getting into a power struggle and kicking him out of class. Behaviour is communication, and until I figure out what a student is trying to communicate I’m not giving up on them. So I do have high expectations, I just hope that I can live up to them.
Well said, Catherine. And, thank you for all of your hard work.
Did you read the article?
Cheri, I agree with you – and I also read the article, Tonya.
It is important that educators, admin, students and parents continually reflect on what is working and what isn’t. Learning is a process, whether that be strictly in a content category or behaviorally. I believe that having high – and clear – expectations is where you start. I believe that schools need to CONTINUALLY discuss what expected behavior looks like and then be consistent with what consequences are for not meeting those expectations. There absolutely needs to be accountability – from all the above-mentioned parties. However, I see adults in staff meetings on their phones, I see blaming on every front, and people throwing their hands in the air saying they can’t do anything about “it” when staff cannot even agree on what “it” entails.
I have concerns about your readers taking this article and reading into it the reassurances that they do not need to reflect on how to do better, by their students and themselves, when it comes to their classroom management. Those that see their expectations as perfectly reasonable will just hear, “carry on – YOU are not the problem.”
Normally, your articles provide excellent guidance and serve as powerful reflective tools. This particular article seems hollow, however. I agree that we should not be looking for ways to justify student misbehavior. However, we will get nothing but temporary compliance if we do not seek to understand why they are choosing that behavior and then act as educators to guide them in the process of learning more productive, respectful behaviors.
I agree. I teach first grade and many issues aren’t diagnosed until 2nd or 3rd grade, so we have some severe behaviors that can’t be managed with “high expectations” alone.
Thank you for this Cheri. I commented below as well. Relieved to see your words. Be well.
As a neurodiverse person myself, I’m pretty disturbed that you don’t seem to think we’re “rational, thinking beings.” You do *not* have a good relationship with the kids in your class if you think this about them.
Responding to trauma is vital and important, but I’m not seeing how that makes daily classroom management impossible. In fact, having a room where that sort of thing is allowed can make them feel *less* secure.
This was an amazing article! I have been teaching for 23 and I’m at a new school this year. It’s chaos, and it is hard to watch! I have high expectations and am the “bad cop” who is always busting kids. I wish I could send this to the totally green principal of my school, but she would be offended. I will hold the line and you sir, keep doing what you do because you are the best!
send anonymously!
I disagree with the premise that you shouldn’t sent it to your principal or you should do so anonymously. You seem to agree with the thesis that sometimes we need to do hard, unpopular things for the good of those we love. My suggestion would be to ask for a meeting with the principal. Find several things (s)he is doing well, thank her for those. Then tell her that you want to be honest, not as a critique of her but for the good of the kids. Being direct and professional, the worst case is that the principal disagrees. Thank the principal again for having the guts to have a hard conversation and a much more difficult job.
I am a newly retired principal from elementary school and I would never be offended with articles, suggestions or discussion of student management or any topic. If your principal is that thin skinned and unapproachable, you have bigger problems than you think! Give it a try and remind the principal that we are in this together!
It’s about time for a truthful article about the issues in our schools!
Thank you.
Yes, teachers being bullied needs to be addressed!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I have been expressing this thought for years to schools and administration. I will be sending this to them! I cannot agree more that CONSEQUENCES need to be enforced…the lack of consequences in school plays out into real life…hence the shootings and other chaos we see! I wish that EVERY school district would get a hold on your message!
Hi! How do we respond when schools’ approaches to discipline is as you describe, and is said to be based on children experiencing trauma?
To have high expectation and having tough rules is not necessarily the problem of the teacher. It is also the problem of school and district administrators who may not back the teacher and the parents or guardians who complain the loudest when their child is disciplined too severely.
And with all the touchy-feely strategies and a child’s self esteem will be damaged being touted, teachers are sometimes afraid of actually enforcing tough rules and consequences.
I totally agree. Teachers look to each their buddy teachers to cope. No tough support for teachers at all-re: cell phones, behavior, & detention is a thing of the past. They wonder why there is a shortage of teachers!
Joan
The lack of consequences culture is also true in college, of course.
How do we get the administration to back faculty in establishing boundaries?
Nice article. You want emboldened, the adjective, not “embolden” the verb. Just wanted to share the article and I know some ffolks will be less receptive to an article with misspellings.
*folks
*mispellings
Just sayin’!
Petty
Those people would be part of the problem. If they care more about playing “grammar/spelling police” than fixing the MAJOR source of teacher burn out, and realizing there is at least ONE EDUCATOR out here trying to solve the problem (ML via SCM) then they are indeed part of the problem. Some folks will never see the forest for the trees.
Dearest Mr. Linsin,
Thank you for your service to teachers! Great article, as usual!
Have a happy Thanksgiving with you family!
SO not the point, Brad Ffanklin. 😜
I appreciate your candor, Michael and have been using the SCM system with a lot of success for several years. Establishing clear expectations and your system of delivering warnings and time-outs works very well. But, for me, there was also a secret sauce missing within SCM and it’s the very thing you’re dismissing: Restorative Practices. As we educators do, the pendulum of pedagogical practices have swung way too far in embracing this trend as the be all, end all. But many of us are seeing how components of these practices help build classroom community and preserve students’ need for a gentle reminder before they trigger public consequences. And we are seeing how they can go a long way in lessening problem behavior. Class Circles help my students see how their behavior have had an impact on their peers and other school stakeholders. Using strategies to repair harm (that which you refer to as forcing students to sit down with their tormentors) is holding students accountable for going beyond a muttered apology and I’m seeing these students exercise more self control because of this exercise. My point is that you might be too quick in dismissing these trends towards of looking at how we deliver consequences. And Michael, your expectations of teachers and schools might be too low just because we have decided to seek a more nuanced approach. I suggest you take another look.
Thank you for referring to restorative practices. Too often we divorce such practices from their origin in Indigenous forms of justice. Restorative work is just a word if we aren’t also doing it in relationship as a staff (yes, teachers sitting in circle with one another too) and in relationship with local Aboriginal groups (yes, they still exist, and many are flourishing). Education is political, and so is healing.
Oh my goodness, Michael, I want to share this with everyone at my school. This is exactly what has happened, and morale among adults is disturbingly low as a result. Thank you for being frank.
I am not n the USA so sounds like this is a world wide problem
In all western countries
Thumbs up!
Michael,
I could not agree more with this article! Everything you said is right on the money. My hope as an educator is that more teachers and administrators will realize this in invaluable lesson!
You are spot on. I believe that lack of consistency with rules and thus also consequences is also an issue. In many schools I sub teach in I observe the school rules/expectations i.e. hoods off, no cell phones that are not upheld by all staff. Some teachers have said to me that you have to pick your battles so students in their class are allowed for example to keep hoods on. These teachers have obviously not realised that in not upholding school rules, not expecting their students to follow the rules what they are conveying to the students is that rules are not really rules but options. The result is that students are going out into the world believing for example that when their boss says 9am is when you must clock in it is ok to start at 9:05 or 9:10. When their boss reprimands them they don’t understand why he/she is upset with them. A root of less suspensions and expulsions is often tied to funding. Less students means less dollars so behaviour that should not be tolerated is. Instead of loss of dollars, the student loses out on needing to build self control and accepting accountability, teachers lose by continuing to have disruptive classes and the students who are focused on their education lose out on the quality and quantity of education they are entitled to.
I had to go,back and double check the name on this post because I didn’t remember writing it. Your words are exactly my thoughts.
It is fine to say that the school should set these boundaries but when these boundaries conflict with all the laws.
As a professor in a Faculty of Education, my students (Pre-Service Teachers) are accepting the “trend … driven by an educational culture that no longer feels comfortable with consequences” as status quo – It’s OK. The students see no pedagogical problem and are oblivious to the slide in teacher responsibilities. I’ve been described as “old-fashioned” when I highlight in my class your mentioned points in this article.
My name given here is a pseudonym and my email is real but is not my university email. I may easily lose my job if my views are identified!
Food for thought? No, this is IT in a nutshell. Thank you for speaking the truth! Kids need boundaries and the rule followers need the attention that they are leaders. Currently they ignored by staff running after all the rule breakers. We need a FIX and fast.
This has gone on too long and look what has happened? Speak up!
I’m a 30 year veteran teacher. It’s always been my philosophy that kids will meet your expectations no matter how high or how low, so set them high! The higher they are, the better your students will do! I believe this philosophy is the reason my students have always had the highest test scores in the building.
“You don’t have consequences, consistently given, that students don’t like but that allow them to reflect on their mistakes and resolve not to make them again.”
I agree. However, if I follow your methods & give points off for lack of respect & participation to the point where the student is nearly failing, but they don’t care bc I can’t actually fail them. I send emails documenting the repetitively disruptive behavior to parents & principal, but there’s no reaction bc they’re seniors & the school isn’t going to not graduate them. What do I do?
Thank you for this article. It is what I needed to read to solidify that I’m not the ‘bad guy’ because I don’t give out school bucks for holding the door, walking quietly in the hallway, following directions, etc. My students use to ask me why I don’t give them out like ‘Joe’s teacher.’ They stopped after I told them that they should make good choices and follow the rules because they know it’s right thing to do.
Wendy M
This is so true. You and John Rosemund are two peas in a pod. I like your approach to teaching and his to parenting. We are not doing students any favors by letting them act in ways that are disruptive and destructive with no consequences. Setting them up for failure.
Thank you for such a timely article. Our district is now calling suspensions “exclusions”. We have classrooms that are chaotic beyond the pale. I use your system and my students are calm, engaged and making progress. Even better, so am I!
Really looking forward to integrating restorative justice practices, although after some research I think I’m starting to see how it can fit. Thank you Michael!!
Amen.
BRAVO!!!
I left the classroom, in part due to this “mollycoddling” that is trending in schools/systems. The other & bigger part is a fundamental disagreement with the direction of instruction.
Back to “mollycoddling”: A student yelled the “C” word (rhymes with hunt… that’s what he claimed to say), heard by entire class of 30. Write up was deleted from the system by AP.
Systems now employ “Mindfulness” rooms where kids go to “meditate” & do yoga when they are acting out… Observation scores on “motivation” section are “below expectations” if evaluator doesn’t SEE you hand out PBIS tickets (even though they’ve seen you do it numerous times)… 6th graders in my last school developed an underground, drug-lord/mafia-esque economy thru tix stolen from teachers or counterfeited by tech savvy kids including purchasing body guard services, snacks, homework “help” (aka PBIS tix in exchange for someone completing an assignment), mafia-type shake downs for unpaid/late PBIS ticket payments. Admins laughed when it was reported to them… didn’t believe teachers who witnessed the events first hand. Students used cell phones at will… including FaceTiming/Skyping & recording movies in classrooms (a violation of County policy); Exec Principal lied telling teachers told they could NOT take up phones, against County policy because students/kids could not legally own cell phones, Reego phones belonged to parents; the bold few teachers who did take them up were forced (publicly even) to give it back to students; students tattled on teachers (and threatened to tattle) over any attempt at consequences/boundaries to principals who then asked teacher to “pop down” to the office only to face an ambush & inquisition of 3-4 admins + instructional coaches + a folder of student “WITNESS” statements & never allowed to actually read/see the complaint(s) because “anonymity” was promised. They’ve now gone to a “scripted” curriculum in ELA…
Morning circles galore… 30 teachers left in one year… another 10-15 the next (the ones who couldn’t get out the previous year)…
In schools such as these, teachers are cliquey, back-biters, betrayers, who’ve lost trust in anyone but themselves… new hires (unless fresh out of school) are considered moles—persona non grata—especially in small town or small-town minded schools.
In the last 8 years, I’ve been in several schools (interim positions)… and to a school, urban, suburban, rural, the culture is TOXIC, some a little less than others, but still highly toxic. If public education were a human, it would be diagnosed with chemical poisoning, MRSA, cancer, & sepsis all in one! Its toxicity is systemic & off-the-charts; it is on its last measures of life-support, I see no hope! After 29 years in the classroom, the beautiful thing teaching & education was from 1990-2012 is dead & gone… (really 1972 to 2012 if I include my own educational years). I didn’t realize just how bad it was until I changed careers & landed somewhere that is NOT toxic. (And I still love teaching & I definitely believe in teachers—they are not the problem. This is a top down problem, starting in houses of government where those with agendas & no educational background make decisions that trickle down… where funds are wasted & teachers are constantly forced into a “build the plane while you fly it“ but we’re only giving you half what you need to do so, but it better be perfect & all passengers better arrive at the landing as successful & ready to build their own plane! Its the best bait & switch game ever!! Politicians, superintendents, & Administrators make the decisions—using “researched” practices—and when it’s an #epicfail, the teachers are pushed forward as the scape goat & cause of the problem. It’s heartbreaking to watch.
Oh, and I would not have survived the last 2 years had it not been for SCM!! I read this blog daily, tried many strategies, & questioned & cried over how/when/where I lost my mojo & why couldn’t I get it back.
If I could have afforded it, I would have hired Michael to work one-on-one with me.
I have shared your website ANY TIME someone in an educational group /thread posted questions about classroom/behavior management. It was then, when I saw teachers across the country, at all kinds of schools & all levels of experience sharing experiences that read just like mine that I realized the problem wasn’t wholly with me—and thus came the decision to walk away.
I did that last year. I’m now in beautiful Wyoming, where the AP personally gets involved if, after 2 warnings, the phone is not put away. The best schools I’ve seen since getting my certification in 2012.
Sorry this happened to you. It’s broken and all you said is true. Take care.
THANK YOU! This is right on the money!
When schools start supporting and hiring more teachers who actually have a backbone, stand up to unruly students, enforce consequences, and don’t back down to equally as unruly parents, that’s when everyone will see less of these articles being published every year. The “nice guy”, coddle-the-students approach towards disrespectful, lazy students is failing our schools. Bullies (that goes for parents too) don’t respect nice guys. They respect those who stick to their guns and don’t back down to challenges. I’m not saying we need more “authoritarian” teachers; I am, however, saying we definitely need more authoritative teachers who actually hold students accountable and make students work up to higher standards whether they like it or not. Teachers, our job is to teach and inspire, not be “liked” and win popularity contests just to avoid “pushback”.
Teachers don’t have the autonomy or superiority to “stand up” for what should be done.
Any suggestions for specials teachers? I teach elementary art. I feel like each year I have higher expectations than some classroom teachers. (It’s my 28th year!) When I see them for only an hour a week, it’s hard to keep going over my expectations for 27 classes. All teachers have different tolerance levels for noise, body basics, etc. So if the classroom teacher lets them interrupt or get out of seats or doesn’t have them look as directions are given, it’s hard to change that for one hour a week. If I say something to the teacher, some act like it’s just with me. Even if I have students from year to year, how they are allowed to act all day, carries into the art room no matter what my expectations are! Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
Michael has published a book for “specials” teachers.
This is so true. And if your school doesn’t support you, it is so much harder to have that next level of good behaviour that you want. I think THAT is a big issue.
I used to have such dynamic classes with a great class culture, engaged and enthusiastic students and fantastic behaviour. I am still in touch with a lot of those students. But then I started listening to other teachers’ opinions of my lessons and disciplining style.
I am currently in a shared classroom (2 classes in one big room) and the other teacher is my senior. She often gives me feedback and advice about how I handled students or how I should. So that means basically I have to let things slide and expect less. The students aren’t completely terrible, but now they are allowed to get away with doing nothing, if they just do it quietly. It’s so sad.
The shared space environment is hard enough because I can’t really raise my voice, so I can’t tell exciting stories to the same extent, I can’t quickly do a ziip to get kids’ attention in a funny way, we can’t do noisy quizzes… I feel like the kids can’t just be kids. (And I can’t be a clown! It’s tough!) So I don’t get the same level of engagement, or discipline.
Sure times have changed but now I realise that maybe I was right in the first place. It is so encouraging to hear that. I’m looking forward to reading your tips to see if I can get my classes closer to what they used to be. In spite of teachers who disagree with my style, staff who don’t help approve time outs/warnings/emails, and being in a dumb shared space!
And I’m going to take a break from listening to (some) other people’s helpful opinions!
THANK YOU to infinity and beyond. Thank you for saying what needs to be said.
THANK YOU. Enough said. You are not afraid to say what NEEDS to be heard. Our students need this. Thank you.
Wow! Amen! You continue to amaze me with your posts. As often as I can, I recommend SCM to new teachers and even veteran teachers when they are frustrated with the way things are going. I assure them they will love your posts and find each one helpful and inspiring! This is my 21st year and I’ve seen so many changes take place over the years. I appreciate the common sense in all that you write. So many places have lost what works and sent common sense and consequences out the window. You certainly can have consequences while loving your kids and wanting the best for them. In fact, it is a necessity!! I feel fortunate to be in a school where they still believe in consequences and boundaries.
Thank you! Please keep writing!
Totally agree, thank you for speaking the truth. A 35+ year veteran teacher, I’ve seen a lot, and since students are now coming to our classes with anxiety, trauma, and a myriad of other difficulties, they need consistent structure with consequences. My classroom may be the only absolute they have in their day to day lives. Also, administrators/principals are so afraid of being sued by parents that our next generation is turning into self-centered opportunists with no respect for any kind of authority. A Principal observing behavior in a classroom makes no difference to a student who knows he/she can “beat the system” because it has no teeth. Teachers cannot “fix” all kids, but we can show students an environment in which definite consequences are carried out and students can thrive in a calmer, more orderly classroom. A bottom line & consequences. Kind of like real life, isn’t it?
This is a breath of fresh air! Thank you for saying it outloud!
Amen!
This is the best article I’ve read in 10 years! Thank you!
Thank you!!! I wish more people in leadership positions in our schools understood this and supported teachers in classroom management.
Great article, thanks. If consequences are needed, is there a list of effective consequences out there that one can use?
Hi George ,
a) You can search this website by topic. There are literally hundreds of articles about consequences.
b) Michael has written several very reasonably priced books 📚 (hard copy and Kindle) that explain the Smart Classroom Management system in detail.
c) Best of luck!
Hello. I must say that in my classroom, I live and breathe your articles. I have shared them with my staff and now my student teacher. I am not perfect yet, but I’m working hard on it. My group is tough this year, but the strict rules and consequences has helped. That being said, I have a few outliers that I’m still having trouble with. Two run away when they are mad, 1 cries when she doesn’t get her way, and 2 stomp their feet and slam things down when they don’t like what I’m asking them to do. These kiddos are all 6 and 7 years old. I’m not sure what to do next. Do you have any suggestions?
Dear Mr Linsin
May your Thanksgiving this year be truly special, and may God bless you and your family with His most precious blessings.
Thankyou ever so much too for your continued good advices. We truly appreciate it, and this weeks mail has to be one of the best ever read. Thankyou. It puts so much clarity, firmness and mercifulness into it all, and gives encouragement to continue on track as always, and to keep to what is good and right, and to inspire others, the students, to do the same. Thankyou.
Godbless
Loved your article and empathize with so many of the comments. Fact is, unless we have high expectations that align with school wide rules, and also have a sincere interest in our students, things will still be difficult to manage if we don’t have a solid “in school” suspension policy and program. An ISS program that has a “full time” strict disciplinarian in charge, separate cubicles or spaces, make up work, and follow up counseling. There may be underlying reasons for misbehaviors and support staff and counseling should be engaged in diagnosing these issues however for kids who are just not following the expectations for our classrooms when all of the elements of discipline are in place we must use the remediation of ISS to resolve the issue. ISS should be punitive and yet therapeutic and productive, and it will work when all of the elements are in place.
Teachers must have “high expectations” that are taught and understood and applied consistently. Teachers must also be positive and interested in their students and create good lesson plans that don’t bore their students. If we control time, space and energy we will have success and this success will be guaranteed if our Principal is strong enough to advocate for a great ISS policy.
This year I have many students who refused to do any work in class and will not produce work no matter how much time/prompt/positive narration given. They will see their failing grade and be ok with it. One student told me that her parents will not buy her anything anyway if she did well.
I also have a smart student, who if not sleeping for the whole double period, would disrupt my class by shouting answers, talk to friends, etc. I told him that to ensure his success, he will have to make up his work during lunch or after school. He responded to me with an attitude “yep, not happening, I am not doing that”. When given work to make up at home for his almost failing grade, he said “not going to have time for that”. The parents came to blame me for their son’s failing grade when they saw the report card though this wasn’t a surprise since
I had been in contact with them all marking period long.
I am having a hard time holding students with high expectations because if many failed my class for low accountability, I feel like the only way to prevent many from failing is to somewhat lower my expectation, make the work easier for them (even after doing this I still see low accountability), or to make my grading system easier so more students receive at least a passing grade.
At this point I’m at a loss of what to do as I feel like I’m losing my class, have to throw my ideology/expectation about education out the window, and not enjoying teaching at all.
Please share what to do in this experience.
amazing amazing amazing stuff. God bless you
PBIS has become the bane of education…one of the reasons I left the education system. I worked with at-risk teens in a public charter school for over 20 years (yikes!) and we had great success with Restitution. Then the district bought into the myth of PBIS. No longer did we help kids fix the issue. We had to catch them being good and reward them! Drug addicted angry teens!
This new trend is proving to be so ineffective. Long ago I read the book Setting Limits, and Setting Limits In The Classroom, which lays out an easy to implement classroom management plan based on firm and fair limits. I also gave this book to many struggling parents.
2 years ago I quit teaching. I miss it so much and I keep wanting to go back… but I know I can’t. Even though I was getting paid only slightly a month more than it cost to put my kids in daycare I felt so fulfilled. I had so much fun with my students. We played games, we had a classroom economy, students kept the fish fed and the room clean. I wasn’t the best at classroom management, but for a title 1 school with 30% on behavior plans, and gun/knives periodically showing up in the classroom, I was doing a great job and my students were catching up several grade levels. Then the administration came down hard on me. They wanted me to lecture more. They wanted me to repeat myself when kids didn’t listen. When a kid exploded they were sent right back into the classroom so they didn’t miss anything. I had to give out stamps in their books. I had to cave to parents to increase grades. Then the worst happened…
I was forced to start using “Learning-Focused” lesson plans. I had 45 min to prep 5 different classes across three grade levels, and each plan took about 1.5 hours to do. So I stopped sleeping at night. I gained 35 pounds. My plans didn’t include enough visual aids and flow charts so I got pulled into special meetings to try and help me. Then I was required to give them more and more multiple-choice math tests so they could practice for the end of grade tests. My students stopped performing as well as they had and so I would get letters forcing me to change my teaching even more.
So I quit and took a job in a different state designing instruction that paid 3x more. Now I want to go back to teaching because I miss it so much. I must be crazy.
I always enjoy your articles, but this is THE BEST ONE YET! Nailed it.
Thank you.
Wow was this written in the 60’s? While I have to agree with the issues in school today, the solutions/corrective actions do not take into consideration the current student population.
What about students with ADHD, I.E.P’s. 504’s, inclusion , and single parents working 2 jobs. Not to mention government programs like “no child left behind”.
I think the author should be required to practice this high bar discipline in the inner cities of Chicago, Baltimore, St Louis etc. instead of say…North Dakota, Vermont. Maybe a wake up call to the reality of today’s schools
Thank you Michael! I will be eagerly looking forward to how to hold to high expectations when your school is a mess and you are constantly undermined by administration!
I, t00, am horrified by tormented children being told to go back and tell bullies to stop they do not like it. If someone halls off and decks me, I can and would, call the police for assault. I would not be forced to go back, put myself in more danger, and state pathetically to stop I do not like it. We have students physically assaulting children every day (sometimes the same children daily) and being told they have more rights than the children they are assaulting. NOT OKAY!
Bravo! I posted your article to Facebook because your comments are so relevant they need to be shared as broadly as possible. Thank you.
I teach adult students & the ultimate consequence occurs in the market place. They cannot obtain or hold employment in their chosen field. If they were not diligent in college, they will not be so in their field.
As a parent who has high expectations for my children I would hope the schools had them as well.
I worked for our local school district for ten years. My children attended the school as well. There is four years difference between my oldest son and my middle son. The way the schools had changed between those four years was crazy. But when my youngest daughter who is seven years younger than my middles son went to school, it felt like a bomb had went off and education had been remodeled. Everything was different. The teachers, the curriculum, the dynamics of the students and their families. I feel my older son got a very good education graduated in 2006, he has since graduated from college and is a loan officer and and appraiser for a national bank. My middle son was failed by the education system, He was a graduate in 2010, he is a very smart bright overachiever was valedictorian of his class. He was not challenged in any way. They tested him for the bright flight program four times before I finally said no more. He didn’t qualify because they said he was not creative. I informed them that because he was a perfectionist he wouldn’t be able to be off the cuff creative. If he is to write a story he will write it then read it make corrections read it again and make more corrections until he is sure it is perfect. So since he was pretty much a self motivator and picked things up easily he flew through school with no problems. He graduated from college and is now a chemical engineer . My daughter well since she didn’t cause any issues she pretty much was ignored, she was a 2017 graduate. She passed school with a mix of A, B and C’s. The thing was she never passed a single test in high school. I asked the doctor and teachers about things like ADD and Anxiety. They all told me she showed no signs of it. But what I saw was a girls who would be talking to you about one thing then quickly change to another subject, she would be working on one homework assignment and then move to another before she finished the first one. She talked all the time at home but apparently not at school. We would help her study for test and she seemed to be ready then go take the text and fail it. Extra credit was her best friend. She graduated in 2017 and is currently a Junior in College, double majoring in Dance and Sports medicine. Her freshman year was a struggle she was confused and not sure why she couldn’t pass her biology test. She was sure she was ready but every time she would get to the test and then freeze. Her advisories recommended yoga something to relax her. But it wasn’t helping and in the second semester she would have to take biology again. I convinced her to speak to her doctor about it. After a few test and conversations they choose to treat her for anxiety. She had medication and was given special testing facilities to take her test rather than in the classroom. It seemed to help but things still were not what she had wanted it to be. I told her the difference is That in high school you had daily grades that helped keep your grade up. College most of your grades are test. She passed her biology class and then next hurdle was Anatomy. Well the first time went the same way biology went. The second time was a little better but not perfect. The third time was better in the summer with smaller class and a tutor. I asked her to speak with the doctor about the possibility of ADD. She hated it and didn’t think that was it. My husband and boys thought I was wrong as well. But the doctor began the testing sending questioners home to family member and she even got two of her friends and one of our life long family friends to fill it out. We all had different answers but when it was compiled it did come out she was ADD. My friends that I trust talk to about it they don’t see it. I told them that ADD is not always someone that is going off the walls. It can be someone that can’t stay focused on one thing for a longe period of time . They are working on one thing and their mind is thinking about something else that is going to happen or has happened so their priorities in their minds change and then they change with them. It has been four months now that she has taken this medication. She can tell the difference in herself, her friends have mentioned it, her dad who was against it says he can actually have a conversation with her with out her moving the topic. And my friends have noticed her more relaxed and not as fast taking. ur most of all she has seen a difference in her test grades.
I wish this had been caught in middle school or high school because she would have been able to manage better but everything is better now.
I now have grand children and the thought of them going to public school scares me. There are parents out there that work hard and raise their kids to be respectful hardworking and responsible. But there are far to many families that just let their kids go and be free. Coming from a Family where the children have both parents under the same roof is not the norm. When my daughter told me we were not normal I was speechless. I have been married to her father for over 33 years now.
I grew up in a divorced family step fathers that were abusive mentally, physically, emotionally spiritually. I was sexually abused as a young girl by a family member. I was seven when my parents divorced and I was the oldest of the four kids. The youngest was six month old. We went to live with my dad and that was the day I became a care giver. I cooked cleaned bathed and cared for my siblings. My father beat me with belts and steel batons when I didn’t do something he felt I should have. I walked to school rain shine or snow storms.
We went to live with my mom and her new husband six months later when my dad was diagnosed with a brain tumor. My step dad never wanted any kids. We spent much of our lives grounded for one reason or another. When he and my mom would fight I would gather my siblings and just to stay out of the line of fire.
I hated it and didn’t want to live that way. It was a middle school teacher who told me I could be different. I didn’t get my homework done. I told him my parents were fighting and I was taking care of my siblings. He told me he was sorry I was going through such a nasty situation. Unfortunately there Was nothing he could do about it. He said he could only hold me responsible for the things that needed to be done in his classroom. He said that he cared about me but couldn’t change my situation. He said the only person that can change your future was me. I can choose my path. It may not be easy but it wouldn’t always be hard. I had support but I had to walk the path. He told me to get the paper done that night and turn it in the next day. I would only get half credit for the late assignment. But at least I would have it done and begin my life path. That night I went home and vowed I wasn’t going to live like that. I did my work sheet. I still got an F. But it was better than a 0.
I still made mistakes and looked for an easy way out as kids do. But when I would get mad or upset because of something like a grade I would remind myself my teacher is a support system to help me through the walk of my path.
My teacher friends tell me I am one big piece of trauma. I inform them that that is a bunch of crap. I have had bad things in my life that define a part of me but they do not hold me back for doing what is right or from
Being responsible and respectful. If they think that these kids are trauma then they have given up on those students. Kids with bad home lives or are homeless or lost a loved one need to know this is life and how they choose to deal with it will determine their adult hood. Sometimes kids don’t realize that their actions today affect their lives later. Sometimes kids don’t know how to act when they go to museums or plays because they have never been. Disciplining then for not acting correctly is a good thing that is how they learn.
I have said this before many times. Education is wasted on the young. They can’t see the need for some subjects. I know I didn’t and I know there were times I just wanted to get through the day. now when I see everything going on in this world and how children and adults are treating each other I wish I had payed a lot more attention to history and government.
Teachers have a hard job to do. Teachers should be teaching and if students don’t want to act right then send them home. School is not a daycare center. Government needs to get out of education and administrators need to support the teachers. If a teacher is wrong let the teacher know but just because a parent is throwing a fit doesn’t mean the parent is correct.
I beg and plead don’t give any more excuses for a child’s bad behavior. Treat that child the way you would treat your own. Have the same expectations for your student as you have for yourself and your family. Be caring and understanding but don’t be the students crutch. If a child fails a class then that child takes it over. I would rather support school that is more concerned with the quality or their graduates than a school concerned about how much money they may or may not loose if they truly give earned grades and proper discipline.
I think it’s very dangerous to set up a binary with a sort of “my way or the high way”/tough love attitude with no inclusion of trauma-informed modalities. Having read the first few comments, I was relieved to find Cheri’s–I applaud you! I won’t read all the comments, but I highly recommend “The Body Keeps the Score” by Bassel Van Der Kolk. There are numerous summaries available through audiobook services and public libraries, as it’s very long. But I highly recommend it!
Thanks so much for the update. Enjoy your holiday and happy Thanks giving
Well written, well said now say it louder for the people in the back! You are a true champion of student success. Earnest conversations is the start!
Your article is spot on, Michael!!! The only thing it left out are the biggest and most important reason consequences, beyond the classroom, cannot be consistent or appropriate is called – PARENTING. Until parents work with the schools/teachers/admin and agree to abide by the consequences that are in place, none of the the expectations matter.
Parents and families are 98% of all the school problems and issues. Think about it. When I went to school in the 60’s I was more afraid of my parents’ reactions and their consequences than the school personnels. Now one of the first things parents ask is what did the teacher (or other school personnel) do to provoke their misbehavior. Another thing that is so often brought up by parents is a demand to know who the other student was (if two or more were involved) and what their consequence was (which is confidential). I could list many more, but these few make the point. To some (too many) education is not valued at home. Many parents are raising snowflakes, and doing a great job if that is the goal! So, therefore, our consequences are many times not the final word and students catch on to that very quickly with threats of “I am going to tell my mom/dad that you said or did…” They definitely understand who is in charge!!
So, since we cannot control any of the root causes of poor behavior and attitudes, we do what we can, including reading Michael’s weekly words of wisdom and implementing a classroom plan. But make no mistake, frustration is REAL in the word of education, and it’s not a mystery why that has happened or what the cause.
Michael,
First, thank you. Looking for much needed answers, I found your blog and ebooks and experienced a real paradigm shift. I’m wondering if you would speak to this idea of high expectations as it relates to grading. I teach young children (2nd grade) and struggle to know how to balance the expectations of what I often perceive as unrealistic curriculum and the students’ developmental levels to get the most from my kids. Little kids often rush through their work or do just what they need to get by. But I’m afraid poor grades will cause my students to quit trying rather than motivate them to do better work.