You’re talking too much so you need to give me 5 laps at recess.  You haven’t started your work yet? 5 more laps. These don’t really add up.  But teaching logical consequences does.

After the students have created the class rules and procedures have been established, it’s time to talk about what happens when students choose to break the rules.

In my responsive classroom, I use logical consequences as means of responding to misbehavior. This approach to discipline and classroom management has transformed my classroom.  So, what are they?

 

Consequences vs. Punishment

The goal of punishment is the have the child comply using authoritative discipline. This may quickly stop the behavior, but it usually leads to the child feeling anger and/or resentment. Furthermore, it usually doesn’t increase student responsibility.

The goal of logical consequences is to help a child take ownership, and to think about the effects of ones’ actions. A student can be supported without being shamed, developing self control and an intrinsic desire to follow rules.

Responsive Classroom breaks the consequences into 3 main types:

1. Loss Of Privilege:

In your classroom, you have no doubt set up certain expectations, procedures and routines for your students to follow. When a student ignores or defies these, he or she will lose the privilege of using a material or participating in a particular activity.

There are a few things to note. First, whatever has been taken away (blocks, Ipad, crayons) must be directly related to the misbehavior. Second, the amount of time that the student loses the privilege should be brief. Finally, the teacher must make sure that the child truly understands the expectations.

Example: If a student throws blocks out of the morning bins, he or she will lose the privilege of using the bins for that morning. Re-teach how to play with blocks appropriately.

 

2. Positive Time-Out/ Take a Break:

At some point, all students need a way to reset, calm down, and regain self- control. This consequence centers around a student child moving to a time out/cool down/take a break spot in the classroom.

In this area, they will take time to regroup and using pre-taught de-escalation strategies (take 10 deep breaths, squeeze a stress ball, etc.). They will then rejoin the class once they have calmed down.

Example: If a student keeps interrupting the lesson, he or she will go take a break, and then can rejoin the group when they are silent.

More on all things calm down corner here. 

 

3. “You Break it, You Fix it”:

This consequence is focused on responsibility. If something has been broken or messed up in some way (whether accidentally or intentionally), the student must take responsibility for fixing it. This is also sometimes referred to as “apology of action.”

Examples: If a child spills juice on the carpet, he or she will get a paper towel and clean it up. If a student hurts another friend’s feelings, he will write an apology note.

Note: A certain behavior may fall into more than one category. For example, if a child drew all over the table with markers, they may lose the privilege of using the markers as
well as “fixing it” by cleaning up the tables.

 

Now comes the most important part: YOUR ROLE AS THE TEACHER:

Things to Say:

• “We will talk about this in a little while.”

A child needs to be calm so that the consequence will be effective.
Focus on de-escalation first (make sure you have a take a break space set up).

• “What happened?”

Once everyone is calm, you’ve got to find out information before jumping to conclusions. Ask questions and let the kids talk. You might find out why the behavior is occurring, and be able to respond more effectively.

• “You made a bad choice, but you are not a bad kid.”

Children are human beings. At some point they will mess up, make a mistake, or “act out.” Make sure you are conveying that the behavior is a problem, not that the child is a problem.

• “What did you learn from this?”

It is our job to help students learn from their infractions and know what to do in the future. Reflection is important.

 

Things to Do:

• Model:

Before getting mad, model! Does the child truly understand what is expected right now? Have you tried interactive modeling, and spent time showing what the procedure/routine/expectation looks like and sounds like? Not sure? Model again.

• Stay calm:

Your tone of voice and demeanor are CRITICAL. When responding to misbehavior, don’t let your own emotions get the best of you.

• Talk in private:

The beauty of this approach is that a student’s dignity stays intact. Never embarrass a child in front of the entire class. When speaking to a student, focus on positive teacher language: reminding, redirecting, and reinforcing.

• Think about what will help:

The consequence must CLEARLY be related to the child’s behavior.

Want this cheat sheet on a handy dandy one pager? Click Below!

Finally, it’s time to teach logical consequences!  Last year I created a 5 day lesson plan full of simple and meaningful activities where students are able to role play, have open discussions, and listen to read alouds that all help to unpack these logical consequences.

The kids are super engaged with these activities, and the act of unpacking these slowly is so important in continuing to create a positive learning environment.  They are all centered around interactive modeling.

If you are interested in teaching logical consequences, there is a day one freebie for you below. Click here to grab day one of this 5 day plan!

I also have the students help me fill out logical consequence posters.  As a class we worked together to come up with what would make sense as a consequence for each action.

It is so important that your students have buy in and understand where the logic comes from. This powerpoint is 100% editable so that you can do the same! I refer to these posters at the beginning of the year and we re-visit as needed (especially after breaks). Click below to check them out!

Here is an instagram IGTV video of me helping my first graders complete a poster together a few years ago.  It is also on my highlights under “logical consequences.”

I hope all of this has been helpful for you as you navigate the beginning of the year, and just setting up logical consequences in general.

Please come and visit me on instagram so we can connect there!