How To Strengthen Accountability By Getting Less Involved

It Wasn't Me

Do you follow your classroom management plan yet still struggle with behavior?

Do your students seem unfazed by your accountability measures?

Do they return from time-out with a shrug, no more inclined to follow your rules than before?

Then chances are you’re interfering with the accountability process.

In an effort to improve behavior, many teachers get too involved—and end up easing the burden of responsibility on misbehaving students.

And unless your students feel the full weight of their transgressions, they won’t improve. It’s as simple as that.

To ensure strong accountability, it’s best to take a hands-off approach.

Here’s how:

Don’t discuss why.

It’s common for teachers to approach students in time-out to talk through why they did what they did. Let me save you the time. Students misbehave because, ultimately, in that particular moment, they wanted to.

When you coax a reason from them, you’re giving them a ready-made excuse. So if Thomas says, “I pushed Karla because when I get mad, I have trouble controlling myself,” then you’ve allowed him to justify for his rotten behavior.

The responsibility for his bad behavior, then, resides not so much with him, but with his now teacher-endorsed difficulty controlling himself.

The fact is, there is no acceptable reason, excuse, or justification for bad behavior. There is no reason to discuss why. Thomas did what he did because he wanted to, and leaving him alone in time-out to stew underscores the lesson that he alone is responsible for his actions.

Don’t cause resentment.

When you enforce a consequence, resist the urge to add a lecture, a scolding, a sarcastic remark, or anything else that could cause students to resent you.

Let your stated consequence be the only consequence.

If Thomas pushes Karla, and you lay into to him before sending him to time-out, then Thomas is likely to sit in time-out and seethe. So instead of feeling remorse about what he did, which is what we want, he’ll be angry at you.

And more inclined than ever to misbehave.

Don’t sympathize.

No matter how difficult home life is for your students, or how tough it is for some to make friends, you do them no favors by sympathizing with their poor behavior.

Don’t tell them you understand why they’re misbehaving. Don’t drape your arm around them and tell them that their anger, disrespect, and attention-getting silliness is normal given the circumstances. And don’t look the other way because you think they can’t help it.

Doing so is akin to giving up on them.

You have to believe in your students and their capacity to improve, to change, and to overcome challenges. You have to expect them to behave. And if they don’t, regardless of who they are, you must hold them fully accountable.

It’s the most compassionate thing you can do for them.

Let Them Stew

To allow accountability to work, let your classroom management plan do its job.

Avoid pep-talks, lectures, arguments, or trying to discover why they did what they did. Stop kneeling down to counsel, persuade, or force assurances from them. Stop absolving them of their responsibility.

When you send students to time-out, leave them alone to think. Let them miss being part of the class. Let them feel disappointment in themselves and in their behavior. Let them see how much fun you and your class are having without them.

Let remorse seep in.

Let them stew in their own juices.

Let accountability work.

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8 thoughts on “How To Strengthen Accountability By Getting Less Involved”

  1. What would you do if you have more than one of them needing time-out, but the room is too small and the kids too big and many? When I put two clowns at opposite ends of the back table I got a circus.

    Reply
    • Hi Mojave,

      I know it can be challenging, but having two separate areas for time-out is important. If you find this (sending two students to time-out at the same time) happening more than once in a great while, then there is a problem (elsewhere) with how you’re managing your classroom.

      Michael

      Reply
  2. This article really hit home for me. I have a couple of questions about time out. First of all, is it always in the classroom? If so, I don’t see time out really working if we are just doing a regular lesson (i.e. a workbook page in math). I know you mentioned trying to throw in something really fun when a student is in time out, but that isn’t feasible all the time. Or is time out sometimes outside the room? If so, when does the student make up the required work? Finally, would you consider “talking out” or “playing with things in your desk” worth a time out? These two things are very common with my low-income, highly ADHD students. The talking out is almost always related to what I’m talking about and the fiddling in their desks seems to be beyond their control sometimes. I know I need to have engaging lessons, and I really do strive for this. I teach with enthusiam and take mini-breaks often to stand up and stretch.

    Reply
  3. Great points. A lot of times teachers can get overly involved in the small spats between kids and wind up fueling the drama with more drama. When it comes to discipline, teachers need to be good poker players. Don’t show your hand. You don’t make a big deal or give the lecture unless the situation is big enough to warrant that sort of thing. The teacher that makes everything a big deal, winds up being taken less seriously and then nothing becomes a big deal. You won’t be effective or respected when you need it most.

    Chris Bowen
    http://teacher2teacher.lacoe.edu/a-fresh-dreamer.aspx

    Reply
  4. I have a reply for Kirsten. It sounds like we have similar students and I was also having the same types of issues you were mentioning. I chart every warning and time out and was noticing that many of the reasons students were going to time out was for “blurting.” They were paying attention and fully engaged in the lesson, but not raising their hand and waiting for permission to speak. I went to WalMart and bought red raffle tickets. I explained that the tickets were for students who needed reminders to raise their hands (not for students who weren’t paying attention). Every time a student speaks without raising a hand, I give one out. This dramatically reduced the blurters. To see more, you can check out Rick Morris’s site on student bulletins/red hands. As far as the students with ADHD, I realized that I am feeling sorry for them and giving them too many “warnings.” We just have to be consistent with our discipline plan.

    Reply
    • Hi Cindy,

      It’s important to note that the red hands Rick recommends aren’t simply a warning, but have a strong consequence attached (tally sent home at the end of the week) in order to give the strategy teeth.

      Michael

      Reply
  5. Hi Michael,
    I read your post on Saturday and a few hours later found my 16 year old did indeed have a party when my husband and I went to visit our daughter for the weekend. Before we left, we made it very clear that he could not have friends over and he knows the rules about drinking. He readily agreed and I told him if I find out otherwise you will lose your cell phone. He said he understood and repeated the consequence. We were crystal clear. Saturday night my husband showed me some pictures he found on Facebook. Yes, you guessed it…my house filled with friends and beer. I didn’t yell, or scream, or talk too much because your post was fresh on my mind. I called my son over and said look at these pictures (all the color drained from his face). I asked if he remembered the consequence. He said yes. I immediately suspended his phone service. He went to his room and didn’t come out for like 6 hours (I know he was starving). His demeanor tells me he is feeling the full weight of his actions. It would have been really different if I hadn’t read your post. Thanks for the great advice – it works!!!

    Reply

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