Here at SCM we recommend a 15-minute time-out. Even for younger students. This is longer than many teachers are comfortable with. The thinking is that a student in time-out will miss too much participation time. They’ll grow bored and antsy and start misbehaving. Besides, … Read more
Reflection forms have been around forever. And at first glance, they appear to be a good idea. Dig a little deeper, though, and they tell a different story. The way they work is that when a student is sent to time-out, they’re handed a … Read more
So you send a student to time-out and almost immediately they start goofing around. They wriggle in their seat. They giggle and make a racket. They stir up their classmates and distract them from their work. Here you enforce a consequence in order to … Read more
So a student, let’s call her Karla, pushes another student while rushing to enter the classroom after recess. You see the incident and quickly realize that, because it’s her second rule violation of the day, a time-out is in order. As soon as Karla … Read more
Teachers who use time-out as a consequence but don’t know the details of how to carry it out are bound for failure. Less obvious, but equally important, is the knowledge of its purpose. You see, it’s the why of time-out—its ethics, benefits, and lessons—that … Read more
Most teachers don’t keep their students in time-out long enough. Five to ten minutes seems to be the norm, but to be most effective, your students need to sit and reflect on their misbehavior for at least fifteen minutes. Another common mistake is deciding … Read more
When a student refuses to go to time-out, he (or she) often has a good reason. This doesn’t mean he isn’t responsible for making such a decision. He is—completely and fully. For it’s never okay to defy a teacher’s direction. But in his mind … Read more
‘Through the rainstorm came sanctuary, and I felt my spirit fly’ ~Seal, Love’s Divine If you’re like most teachers, you don’t keep your students in time-out long enough. For a majority of students, regardless of grade level, five or ten minutes won’t cut it. … Read more