When students aren’t held accountable for misbehavior, they take advantage of it.
They become brazen and disrespectful. They affect a cool, uncaring attitude. They take their sweet time responding to instruction.
And no matter how hard the teacher tries to stay positive, no matter how earnestly she tries to build rapport with her students, resentment inevitably begins to surface.
She starts taking their behavior personally. Her tone turns sharp and adversarial. She finds herself raising her voice in anger and pulling students aside for lectures and how-dare-yous.
She becomes the teacher she never wanted to be.
And thus, her relationship with her students becomes strained. It’s hard for her to make personal connections. Building rapport is forced and awkward.
Every day feels like a battle.
The truth is, accountability is the foundation upon which positive relationships with students are built.
For it is accountability—that which is defined by the fair use of a classroom management plan—that is key building rapport.
Here’s why:
Accountability protects students.
A classroom management plan is a contract between you and your students that protects their right to learn and enjoy school. Its primary objective is to benefit them and their right to learn in a peaceful environment—without interference, annoyance, or aggravation.
It frees students to embrace learning and friendships, and everything school has to offer. And because so many of them have been in chaotic, ill managed classrooms in the past, they become deeply grateful and appreciative to the teacher who stands firmly committed to this principle.
Accountability isn’t personal.
A classroom management plan allows you to hold students accountable for misbehavior without causing friction or resentment. When you let your plan do the work for you, you have no need, nor do you have any reason, to yell, scold, or otherwise take misbehavior personally. And so your relationship with your students is never negatively affected.
When a student does misbehave, he has only himself to blame. So instead of sitting in time-out and stewing in anger at you because of the tongue lashing you gave him, he is left to reflect on his own misbehavior. When you lean on your plan for accountability, instead of taking misbehavior personally, rapport, influence, and leverage remain intact.
Accountability builds trust.
Following your classroom management plan builds trust between you and your students because in a very concrete way it shows them that you can be counted on to do what you say you’re going to do. It shows them that you’re a person they can confide in, laugh with, and be influenced by.
It opens a harmonious connection, an understanding, between student and teacher that says that yours is a special classroom, sacred even—where membership and participation is a privilege earned through respect, kindness, and polite behavior.
Effortless Rapport
The biggest surprise to teachers who make the unwavering commitment to hold students accountable is the reaction they get from their students.
They’re taken aback by the smiles, the thank yous, the notes and pictures, and the invites to lunch or to play at recess.
The loving attention from students—even from the most challenging among them—can come as a shock, particularly because the only change made was a simple one.
When you follow your classroom management plan to a tee, when you honor your commitment and do what you say you’re going to do, when you refrain from yelling, scolding, or creating friction . . .
Your students will become so appreciative that you don’t have to work hard at building influential relationships.
Your students will come to you. They’ll seek you out.
They’ll want to get to know you better.
And rapport becomes effortless.
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I’ve been experiencing such results, thanks to your always helpful advice. Yeah, it was so sweet and charming the way that kids wanted to get to know me better. I was astonished! then some kids from other levels told me they hoped I could be their teacher soon. It feels so great and it takes just a little effort. Effortless effort =)
That’s awesome, Lucero! And so true.
:)Michael
Michael–Great post. Effective accountability is an essential part of any smoothly run classroom. I would add to your comments that the delivery of the consequences is also very important–this should be done without anger or attitude as much as possible of course!~Doug Campbell
Thanks Doug!
:)Michael
Michael, I just found your website today, and I totally love it. The layout is so clean and, unlike so many ed websites, it’s free of ads!
Thanks for the high quality work you’re doing — I’m going to go sign up for the newsletter now!
Great! Thanks Dave!
:)Michael
Hi Michael,
Thank you for your interesting articles. I am a new subscriber to the Smart Classroom Management website and finding the articles to be very interesting.
I have recently moved interstate and changed schools and am currently working as a substitute teacher in the interim. This follows after my most recent stint of seven years at my last school.
I am looking for hints and wondering if the idea of a classroom management plan (as outlined above) would be my answer. The last school that I taught at had a whole-school approach to behaviour management and pastoral development of the individual which was very well supported and successful. It was based on the Responsible Thinking Process (as developed by Edward Ford). Are you familiar with this process?
To be successful, the process must be well supported by the school, implements a Responsible Thinking Classroom with specific RTC teachers whose full-time job is to staff the RTC classroom, and requires all other staff to be well-trained in the process. Suddenly moving to another school that has not got a well-structured, whole-school approach, I am finding that I am missing this process and that I have lost a very powerful tool to help support students that are displaying wayward behaviours. The staff at the new school are very supportive, however I am in need of finding a permanent solution in regards to consequences, as currently I am feeling that I am over-utilising the very friendly help of the Deputy Principal and Year Co-ordinators in dealing with some of these students. I wonder if this approach (as you outline above) may be my answer?
Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing your opinion.
Hi Kristy,
I haven’t heard of the RTC approach. As for whether I believe Smart Classroom Management is your answer, indeed I do. There is a lot here on the website, however, and I encourage you to work your way through the archive to get a feel for the entire philosophy. I recommend starting in the Classroom Management Plan and Rapport & Influence categories and then going from there. I’m glad you found us, and I hope you’ll sign up to become a regular reader!
:)Michael
Yes, accountability is important. How do you do this in the system. Every time I set up a policy and make students accountable, it is undermined by the school or parent. I am not supposed to write students up, put them in the hall etc. Ideas?
Hi Monica,
Please read through the Classroom Management Plan and Rules & Consequences categories of the archive. You’ll find everything explained thoroughly and all your questions answered.
Michael
Hello Michael,
This was very helpful! Because of this article I feel better prepared.