Did you have a teacher who was a strict disciplinarian?

What did he or she do to let you know you were skating close to the bad boys and girls line?

In my fourth grade class we had a young man, Chris, who was not so well behaved. I don’t remember him doing anything too outrageous – more talking out of turn and general obnoxiousness. Today he would probably be labeled ADHD, but we didn’t have much of that when I went through so we made due with old-fashioned punishment.

For punishment, his desk was moved to the hallway.

He could still hear the lesson, but he was physically removed from the class. This improved the in-class environment and made a very clear distinction of who is a member and who is being ostracized. This was clear not only to the class members, but also to anyone walking down the hallway.

The desk in the hallway was the nonverbal cue that he had misbehaved. Everyone understood the signal.

Chris is now happily married with children yet I remember him as the misbehaving 4th grader because of the desk in the hallway.

The signal to those of us in the class was – misbehave and your desk goes to the hallway. Behave and you get to stay here and avoid the ridicule and humiliation. That was enough for me.

What did you teachers do to demonstrate discipline?

Related posts:

1. Contextual Cues Influence Learning
2. Education Issues: Quantity, Quality?
3. Education Issues: Peer Effects?