Entry 8 ~ Discipline Measures

There are two disciplinary actions taken in the classroom daily by Mrs. Grigg. I feel like she handles them well and doesn't let disciplining the students disrupt the classroom. The first one is "laps". This means that during recess, the students have to walk/run around the track the number of laps they have earned. The instances where this would be useful is when a student isn't following directions or is disturbing a classmate, etc. This is used for mostly minor things. Mrs. Grigg used this as her main disciplinary action at the beginning of the year. The reasoning behind this is that, instead of putting them "on the fence" for a certain number of minutes, they get more energy out by walking/running laps.

The second discipline measure taken is more serious. This is when the student has done something repeatedly after being warned. For instance, one of the girls in the class makes remarks that are like instructions or something that a teacher would say to another student, which is disrespectful to Mrs. Grigg. Mrs. Grigg knows the girl is power hungry, and she has warned the student many times. To discipline in this area, Mrs. Grigg only has to say, "[Student], go put your folder on my desk." This refers to the individual red folders each student has in their mailboxes by the door. The red folder goes home every night, and so Mrs. Grigg and the parents can keep track of disciplinary actions. This is done more frequently now, since the students know the rules of the classroom.

For the first discipline measure, I think that it is a fabulous idea. Not only do students build up so much energy sitting in the classroom, but it encourages healthy lifestyles. Though we may be taking our students outside for recess, many of them may not do any physical activity. Girls like to sit and talk; boys may exchange sports cards, etc. This helps them release the built up energy so that they are focused when they come back to the classroom.

The second action taken has its pros and cons. The pros are that it is not disruptive to the class, the student has a visual picture that they did not follow the rules of the classroom, and the parents are directly involved. The cons are that it does not promote community, it is a one-time deal for the day, especially if the teacher is behind in writing in the folder, and though there may be physical representation, it is easy for the student and teacher to forget about it as the piles build up on the teacher's desk.

Mrs. Grigg handles classroom management quite well, without singling students out. She is loving but sticks to her word. That is the kind of teacher I want to be. I would change the second method of disciplining to something more visual, and not as demanding of me as the teacher, yet it is implanted into the student's mind.