There are rare times when you do need to send a student to the principal. But only for the following reasons:
- Violence
- Threats of violence
- Weapons
- Drugs
- Fighting
- Continued or severe bullying
In other words, anything dangerous.
The reason is to protect yourself legally, protect your class physically, and officially document the behavior.
Beyond this, however, sending students to the office is a mistake.
Here’s why:
It weakens your authority.
Appealing to someone outside of your classroom to address behavior issues—which can also include a counselor or vice-principal—communicates loud and clear that the buck doesn’t stop with you.
It all but screams to that student and the rest of your class that you can’t handle them and therefore must call upon a real authority figure.
The result is an increase in all-class misbehavior. It also empowers your most challenging students to become more brazen and aggressively disruptive. In fact, it’s the fastest way to lose control.
It increases disrespect.
Any show of weakness in leadership, including inconsistency, bribery, and fear of giving consequences, is always followed by less respect for you.
Students will laugh and joke while you’re teaching. They’ll talk over you. They’ll ignore you. They’ll use bad language in your presence, call you bro or dude, and view you as a hanger-on friend they don’t particularly like rather than the head of the classroom.
They’ll push and push until you find yourself stressed-out, giving in, and walking on eggshells just to survive.
It tells your principal that you can’t manage your classroom.
Despite what some principals will say aloud at staff meetings, if you need their help with managing behavior, it raises a giant red flag in their mind.
It tells them they need to be concerned about you, keep an eye on you, and consider you for an improvement plan. Make no mistake, when you announce that your classroom management is poor, there will be a response.
It’s one sure way to get on their bad side. If you feel as if you’re perpetually in the dog house, this is why. The only way out is to prove you can be trusted with behavior management.
It crushes your confidence.
Besides the increase in misbehavior, which can also have an effect on your confidence, the knowledge that you didn’t handle a tough situation or particularly difficult student on your own will stay with you.
It will make you question whether you’re up to the job. It will increase your stress and fear of your students. It will hand any leverage you had over to them, which is the worse place to be as a teacher.
You’ll be left trying to convince, bribe, beg, and talk your class into behaving. In other words, you’ll be relying on methods that in this day and age will never work.
The Solution
The solution is simple and doable for any teacher no matter where you work, your grade level, or who is on your roster.
Become an expert in classroom management.
Effective classroom management isn’t magic. It isn’t trickery or manipulation. And it isn’t saved for the lucky few with the right personality or physical traits. It’s knowledge-based and predictable.
By learning the SCM approach, you’ll never need outside help with any student or any class.
I realize that for many teachers this sounds like a fantasy. It’s not. It’s the daily reality for tens of thousands of SCM teachers.
My advice is to start with one of our classroom management plan guides (at right) and then delve into one or more of books. Increase your understanding day by day. Build skill upon skill.
And you’ll be able to walk into any classroom in the world and transform it into your dream class.
PS – If teaching has become stressful for you, check out my new book Unstressed: How to Teach Without Worry, Fear, and Anxiety.
Also, 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.
I’m wondering if you have any tips for substitute teachers at the high school level. Most of the classes I have are great. But there’s always that one near the end of the day.
This may be the first time in the years I’ve been with you, that I disagree. What about the EH kids who scream, yell, and constantly disrupt so you cannot teach. I’ve even had the other students beg me to have them removed so they can learn.
I teach special education with severe emotional disturbances and I have one kid who makes inappropriate comments to other kids and refuses to stop. The rest of the class is great and usually ignores the kid. Instead of sending him out which I want to do and the others also want me to do, I give him an “errand” to bring something to a teacher down the hall. You could write a note to the teacher letting them know this kid needs a few mins out of the class but in a way that not punitive.
I felt so sorry for the kids who really wanted to learn but couldn’t because of the students in the room who disrupted the class every single day.
Same here. More often than not, I handle everything in my classroom. On the rare occasion, the student being so belligerent must be removed. Those students watching the power struggle will join in and then there’s a real big issue. Not all schools are the same. Not all demographics fall under the norms of other geographical locations. This thought process would not benefit a couple of my classes.
I am finding the same problem this year myself, with 4 students from homes with severe abuse/neglect, and who have been allowed to make a scene for years no matter where they go. The behavior is clearly learned and has been reinforced. I normally can be consistent, but they don’t stop. It is exhausting.
Connie, I was thinking the exact same thing. I do however, reach out to the parent/guardian before I ask for the child to be removed from my classroom. But, yes ma’am, I totally understand where you’re coming from.🩷
that’s nice, thanks. I think I have the best possible personality for making learning fun, and the worst possible prerequisites for managing behaviours.
I would add refusal to accept consequences or insubordination in the face of consequences to the list of reasons to remove a student. If a student can remain in your class while refusing to accept consequences as per you behavior plan you will lose more by keeping them in the room especially if their behavior is actively disrupting others learning. At a certain point they need to earn their way out of the learning space.
This is my question too. I have a student who doesn’t care about the consequences and will disrupt to the point where other students can’t learn. I have good rapport with him, I contact his parents per my classroom management plan, and parents are supportive. The specific student has a very difficult time regulating his emotions and if I don’t call for support when I see the signs his behavior can get aggressive or extremely disruptive, it will get worse no matter what I do. I do try to keep him in the classroom but when he gets aggressive or the disruption is too extreme where learning cannot take place ,I do call for support with this particular student.
This is so true. I was in a school like that my first year, and I had students who challenged me every day of the year until the very last day. Nothing worked. The principal couldn’t get even get them to behave. I know Michael means well, but he doesn’t know the whole story, or the story has changed since he was in the classroom.
Michael, are you still in the middle or high school classroom? Many public school students are not phased by any classroom
management consequences. Nothing you do or say affects them. They are not phased by calls home, detentions, or even suspensions. Many do not care if they fail because they are socially promoted. I know there are pockets of exceptional schools, but many public school teachers are at the end of their ropes . Parents don’t parent, admin is afraid of parents, and we are left with no support.
This is 100% true. There are some students, and quite a few, who simply will respond to absolutely nothing.
Exactly, Laurie Lee. For example, I ask them to move their seating, assign detention etc and they start arguing and swearing and the whole class is heightened. I calmly walk away after giving the consequence (as recommended) and the student continues the behaviour and does not move, present for detention etc. Cosequences have no inconvenience
or shame. They only care about getting their way. They can run the show and know it.
I totally agree with Rosie! However, it is not just in high school. I am an elementary teacher and I see the same lack of respect or concern by some students and parents. Lack of accountability is the problem. Taking away recesses or having them sit in “time out” is not enough. I do agree that sending them to the principal or vice principal is a bad idea, but not for the reasons you suggest, Michael. The reason I disagree is because sending the students to the administrators leads to the administrators giving them yet another warning. Some administratos are told that they must lower the school’s suspension rates, so instead of making students take responsibility they are given warning after warning. Why even have Edcode policy? Do police officers not give drunk driving tickets to intoxicated drivers because there are too many of them on the road. That’s ridiculous! I am so glad I am close to retirement. My heart goes out to all of those teachers who are just beginning this journey. Best of luck!
I agree, Rosie. What do we do when several students per class are loud, disruptive and refuse consequences? Attempting to manage their behaviour leaves no time to teach the responsible kids.
100% agree. On the rare occasion I’ve had an extreme case where a new student tested my commitment to order in my class by escalating to throwing over desks and loud disruptive tantruming after an enforced consequence, I escorted the student to the office myself and called the parent from there myself. The student knew I was still the one stopping the buck and disallowing the disruption in my room and became one of my most consistent rule followers from that day on. It almost never comes to that when I am faithfully following all the principles of SCM though. Maybe twice in 5 or more years. And this includes students who were frequent office visitors in the year prior. Thank you, Michael, for sharing a system that really works!
I agree with Rosie.
The school I teach at, we use educator handbook to document behavioral issues. But the admin gets on your case if you have too many write ups.
There are too many parents that just don’t care and the kids know it. You call home and get your butt chewed out for calling.
The kids don’t care about doing any of their work. The response I got the other day was “it’s not ball season, so I’m not doing anything”. That’s the other issue too, students need to be held accountable for their class work all year long, not just during ball season. And it should be all classes not just certain classes they need to pass to be able to play a sport.
A lot of times I feel like I have zero support from my administration. The group of 7th graders I had this year (1st time teaching that grade level and teaching science) has a reputation in the k-8 school I’m at for being the worst when it comes to behavior. Even venteran substitutes know this groups background. And I feel like I got zero support this school year. I did end up reading a book on classroom management, and sharing control with students, but you can’t expect miracles in April. Everything I read was very informative, but would be better off to stat at the beginning of the year, not at the end of the year.
Michael, I love your books and these emails but I have to say I think this depends I the admin at your school. And it feels like you are contradicting your message that our job to protect her demanding environment for every student. Our admin tells us to send them out once they’ve used their 3warnings because it shows the class we won’t let any one steal their opportunity to learn. It tells the 99 that they are just as important as the 1. It allows teacher to teach and not be disciplinarians. We don’t waste classroom time because we send the issues out and keep everyone else moving forward. A principals office visit automatically triggers a parent email so everyone knows this is serious and by the time student are in 4th/5th grade we have very few discipline issues.
Article is right-on! I’m a sub, and I know that the classrooms I walk into that are “very bad behavior” probably already are bad when the regular teacher is there. I have found that weak principals and weak admin that don’t support the teachers are the main causes of out-of-control classrooms, so, sending the students to “the office” probably will go nowhere. Except for the reasons that Michael listed for sending students to the office, I say hang tough and state the classroom rules and stick with them. If you’re a sub, get to the classroom early, write the classroom rules on the board, write the teacher’s assignments on the board, and then stand and state those things to the students. Walk around the classroom to keep students on assignment. If very bad behavior, document carefully and leave notes for the regular teacher.
I have found that sending students to the Office works well. In our system students are being sent to an office where they are required to sit and do work and also spoken to by year level leadership. The impact to the classroom is positive, usually the other students are then given a chance to work better, and seem to fall in line and I’m more compliant and cooperative and engaged. In one term of school I probably have to do this, about three times per class. I find the remaining students, usually calm down and they’re a bit quieter and more respectful towards me because they have seen my authority in evicting a student.