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"One More Chance!"


"You talk that way one more time and into the time-out corner you go!"

What's wrong with this picture? Easy, say Ricker & Crowder: the child belongs in the time-out corner now. Here are their arguments against offering a second chance:

The students have already heard idle threats.

Teachers before you have threatened to cancel field trips, cancel PTA pageants, cancel this, cancel that. But how many teachers have actually made good on such dire threats? Not very many!

The students buy back valuable time.

Ricker & Crowden tell us that not only the verdict, but the consequence should be immediate. Suppose that the consequence is no field trip a week from Friday. The child can now continue to act up until a week from Wednesday, and then act like an angel.

Then you will be so overcome with the change in behavior that you will forget the previous behavior. Why? Because of The Law of Recency as presented by Thorndike!

Most children have never heard of Thorndike, but many children have learned this sneaky little trick through trial and error.

You might overreact when you finally do administer the consequence.

The Transactional Analysts call it "saving stamps": you hold it in only for so long, then you explode. Careful, now, there are laws against child abuse!

The students learn not how to behave, but how to negotiate

Here are some effective ways to appear cute and cuddly:

  • turn the head down
  • turn the eyes up
  • tilt the head
  • touch the mouth with the finger
  • speak in a soft voice
  • turn the chin up and bare the throat
  • stand close to a taller person and look up

    Lorenz, Eibl-Eibesfeldt, and Tinbergen spent years of study to learn these clever little maneuvers, but the students in your class have learned them through trial and error.

    I know, it's hard to say no when those big beautiful eyes are staring straight up at you, but it must be done. What do you want your students to learn - not to behave, or to behave and look cute and adorable afterward?

    Later, in the real world, the students will expect a fair warning after every offense.

    Fat chance that the employer will say "Don't skip work again." Fat chance that the judge will say "Don't sell drugs again."

    Get it done now and you get it done now.

    'Nuff said.

    As important as these reasons are, offering only one strike is not such a simple answer. There are some arguments in favor of allowing Strike Two or Strike Three, which Ricker: & Crowder seem to have overlooked:

    The copyright of the article "One More Chance!" in Classroom Discipline is owned by Thomas Robertson. Permission to republish "One More Chance!" in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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