Last week, I wrote about how to fix time-out if it isn’t working.
And I got some peculiar responses.
“What if my students like time-out?”
“What if they want to stay in time-out?”
“What if they prefer the quiet of time-out?”
“What if they’re soured on school and just don’t care?”
My first thought was to simply point them back to the article. However, I’ve been doing this long enough to know that teachers want their specific questions addressed specifically.
I get it. And it’s okay. Happy to do it. However, in order to be as clear as possible, a forewarning: I may come across as a bit cantankerous. I hope not, but I don’t want to beat around the bush either.
I owe every SCM reader the unfiltered truth.
So I’m going to give it to you. But first, it’s important to reiterate that every one of our strategies is designed to make your life easier and less stressful.
When followed as prescribed, our approach will save you time, give you maximum classroom management control, and allow you to love your job—all while doing what is best for your students.
This entails two broad responsibilities.
The first is everything associated with accountability, which includes setting up clearly defined boundaries, consistently following your classroom management plan, guiding detailed routines and transitions, and shifting more and more responsibility over to students.
This is what most teachers are working to improve, which is good. It’s important. But high levels of accountability aren’t always enough, especially with challenging students.
You must embrace the second responsibility. In the previous article, I called this responsibility essential, but perhaps mandatory is a better word.
So what is this second responsibility? It’s to create a classroom your students love being part of. In other words, you have to make your students care. This is a big part of your job.
Time-out won’t work if you don’t have any leverage.
To put it another way, your students must enjoy their day-to-day classroom experience sufficiently enough that they don’t want to waste a second in time-out.
This second responsibility includes your likability, trustworthiness, and temperament. It includes your room environment, your humor, and your ability to teach compelling lessons—among a few other things.
But is creating enough leverage really possible? In this day and age?
Yes, 100 percent. Anyone can do it. It takes time to read and learn, of course, but everything you need to succeed can be found here at SCM. All of our books address these two critical responsibilities in a way that allows you to experience near-immediate results.
If currently your students don’t seem to mind time-out, it isn’t difficult to turn it around. You don’t have to be perfect or great at everything.
Often, it’s just a commitment to being more consistently pleasant, for example, or improving your content knowledge or never responding emotionally to misbehavior that will make the difference.
But every classroom in the world has a tipping point at which it can be flipped from nightmare to dream class.
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Is there really any need for “time-out”, in the first place ? As a sub in a variety of many classrooms, I’ve noticed that students— starting, alas, in elementary school—are accustomed to not having to focus and listen. (I’ve noticed this in classrooms with the regular teacher there— not just because I am the sub). And there is a woeful lack of making the students simply close their chrome books and look up at the board while the teacher teaches, combined with a lack of making the students take notes— hand-written actual notes in a notebook— from which the students are expected to study— in “study hall”— where students actually “study” instead of teachers allowing them to play video games or play on their cell phones “if they’ve completed all their work”. If a student truly has “completed all their work”, they should be reading a book. Certainly, a joke and humor and laughter are good things and a healthy part of the classroom. But mechanical “time-outs” seem a waste of valuable time.
That’s not the type of time out referred to in this article, time out is if a student has been warned but continues interrupting learning for other students, they then have chosen to have to sit at another desk still doing the work and listening/ working, possibly in back until the teacher calls them back to their seat or table. this is just MY take on it… but I agree with you kids should be reading books in study hall if done with their work. that certainly would be ideal. I’m not happy when my children/ high schoolers say they are allowed to go on their phones when “done with their work”. I want them reading more. I probably will bring this up with my kids– that’s what I would like them to do.
I agree that Michael doesn’t refer to time-out in the traditional, stigmatized sense of the word. I usually don’t even use words or give students a chance to refute being separated. And I also allow them to rejoin the group as soon as they’ve had a few minutes to think about their actions. The point is to limit classroom disruption and hold students accountable.
This would be a nice aspect to read more on: what makes students really enjoy class? Especially at the age when they start finding everything uncool?
I loved learning as such at that age, so I cannot connect well to people who find cool stuff uninteresting. I agree about teaching details and stories about what they need to learn (I can’t find the post right now).
Thanks!
Hi Michael,
I often hear you saying that our lessons must be engaging but how do you make dull, required curriculums engaging?
I second this question. It was so easy in private school when I could choose how to teach the standards. In public, I am forced to teach the most dull lessons. Yes, they constantly check on us to see if we are “implementing to fidelity.”
Ugh! Fidelity… my true “f” word. I love it when they say to “teach with fidelity,” but then refuse to fund the printing cost of the materials or workbooks. How do I teach cursive with fidelity without actual handwriting practice?
How do I grade “with fidelity” if I have nothing to prove student mastery? How do I use my time “with fidelity” if it takes students twice as long to figure out how to fold paper for notes because I can’t print a graphic organizer?!
I think I manage, but the district really makes it harder than it should be…
I’ve been implementing timeout in my middle school classroom this year. I have only needed to send a handful of students to “observation mode.” In every case, following the technique to the letter has resulted in these students dialing in, focusing, and changing the behavior. I have only needed to go to the 3rd consequence once and have only had a couple of frequent fliers so far. My students trust me to do what I say and fulfill my commitment to protect learning for everyone. It does work.
I love that you call it ‘observation mode’ for middle schoolers. I teach elementary and I call it the ‘practice desk’.
How do I apply all this inspiring information in a class of 69 children?
I need a point in the right direction.
That is shocking! You teach a group that large? I think there is a limit to what 1 teacher can handle. That sounds like a need for crowd control. I know that I feel rushed off my feet at ‘just’ having 32 teenagers in my largest classes.
I think that teaching a group that large is only ok if you have great support and another person to help you.
I believe that even the best teachers could do their utmost best and still struggle with a group that large. I feel for you and I hope they can work on splitting the group into 2.
At my school there are several classes of 14 year olds with each 32 students in them. The principal did not want to create an extra class before summer holidays due to the costs of doing so.
Now, 8 weeks into the school year , we are creating an extra class so that each group shrinks to 27 kids. It was all due to the behaviour getting worse and classes becoming unmanageable.
Good luck and I hope you can find some help at your school.
What country are you in? When I taught in China I had 40-60 students per class but they were university age and extremely well behaved/ at the time the culture really respected teachers. I do not know why but they were embarrassed to talk out of turn or have people look at them maybe. sorry, no advice, just wondered where you are teaching. Just stay calm and pleasant, smile. That’s the only thing I can think to say. Fake it until you make it 🙂 lol
How do I start?
I work really hard to follow your plan, BUT. I don’t know how my students (grade 3) are going to follow what’s going on AND take some think time. I work in a title school with a high level of behavior. I will say that I have a good rep for managing my classes thanks to following your method. However, my teaching schedule is so tight, given pullouts, and other interruptions. So, I’ve adapted the time out to a 2nd reminder and then the 3rd is loss of a ten minute choice time I give every afternoon, so that student can write about why they got to 3 and what they need to do now. 4 or more is my contact home.
This might be helpful for those who don’t have a place, or need participation during the whole lesson.
My junior high students think that Time Out is for babies. When I send them to Time Out they play and laugh and continue disruptive behavior. They don’t want to return to class because they do not want to work on their assignment.