A friend of mine, who happens to be a wonderful teacher, told me about natural consequences. It is just what it sounds like. An example she gave me is, “If a child keeps flipping out of his chair, then he doesn’t deserve to have a chair anymore. He gets to stand until he decides that chairs are an important thing to have and should be treated properly. If a child ties his shoelace to the chair, then he can drag the chair with him until he figures out how to untie his shoelace.” I really liked this concept and decided I would see how it worked.
One particular day at my service learning site, the teacher who is normally in the classroom was not there. It was a second grade classroom, and the stand in teacher was a man who was normally with 6th graders. There were three students playing at the electric pencil sharpeners. I tolerated it for a minute hoping the teacher would take care of it. However, he said nothing. I gave them ample time to do what they needed to do, but they broke their pencils over and over so they would have to sharpen it more. Finally, I went over there and told them to go sit down. They argued with me so I unplugged the pencil sharpeners and took the cords. Two of them went and sat down, but one of them threw a fit! He started throwing things and yelling. I just sat there and watched him act out. The teacher then handed him another pencil. I was so mad! I was trying to prove a point, but instead I was undermined and made out to have no control at all. The little boy gave me this devious grin. Later, I even saw him stealing classroom pencils. The teacher saw it too, but said nothing.
It was quite frustrating. That is why the students act the way they do. No one makes them do anything. They are in control and they know it.
Electric Pencil Sharpener image found at:
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