Discipline or Punishment?

When I think of the word punishment all I can think of is how harsh the word is. I don’t think punishing a student will get them to learn anything. Instead I think students begin to be fearful not only of the situation, but of the teacher too. Teachers aren’t supposed to be feared of. And if this continues, the student will have trouble learning and it will become a big problem. Teachers need to make misbehaviour situations into positive learning (from their mistakes) experiences, not negative ones. I think sometimes teachers don’t want to deal with the situation so they just use punishment such as sitting in the corner or sending them to the office. But this isn’t right. A consequence should be determined based on the students’ misbehavior.

I feel students should not be punished, but they should be disciplined in an appropriate way. As B&S said in the text, it is important to give choices to students. It allows them to accept some responsibility and gives them a chance to decide on a choice they feel is right for them. One thing teachers must do is make sure the choice becomes a reality. Teachers must be consistent and if the choice is not taking place the teacher needs to respond by saying, “This is the choice you made, next time you can decide differently” (Bennett & Smilinach, p. 235). I’m still a bit unsure about giving students choices because I’m afraid the students will take advantage of the choices. But I think responding to student behaviour before giving them a choice like asking the student to sit and wait for the teacher or work in another classroom is a good way of calming the student down (p. 239, 245).