In another life I taught in both private and public schools. I have some experience with misbehavior and how to address it. I want to teach—not correct student behavior. What works? First, in any science classroom safety is paramount. Any safety violation is addressed immediately. Students who remove safety glasses during lab clean everyone’s lab stations. If I catch two kiddos, both clean. Usually, a few sessions cleaning lab equipment nips the problem of wearing safety classes in the bud. This has worked in private, public and Co-op settings.
There are always a few students who misbehave. Step one is to move the teen or change partners. Generally, I move the student next to me. In fact, I make sure to keep an especially close eye on the student indefinitely. What happens if he or she continues to annoy the class, pull stupid stunts, etc? Next is the cleaning chart. There is always a list of chores: sharpen pencils, vacuum, sort kits, wipe stairs, etc. (I have three bathrooms which are fair game, too.) Usually, Rob and I assign 15 minutes of chores for each offense, such as dangling the dissected frog in one’s neighbor’s face. We issue a warning. If the behavior continues, the kid cleans. Kids can spend an afternoon sorting material on the shelves in the basement at their mom’s convenience.
Once in a while, there is a kid who just won’t stop doing annoying things. Then we talk to his or her family. Next the child remains after class to scrub the basement floor and the steps—after vacuuming the rugs. If there is more misbehavior, I encourage mom to take away all of his devices and tech privileges for a week. The next time the same kid misbehaves, I explain that the next recommendation to mom is a month without any tech. I also explain to the child that mom is key strokes or a phone call away.
Be sure to explain tiered consequences for misbehavior. We keep a list of unpleasant chores posted. Last year, we issued only one 15-minute penalty. The kids know we are serious.
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