The Difference Between Punishment and Consequences

After much reading and thought on this issue, I've finally come to the conclusion that punishments and negative consequences are not necessarily synonymous. While punishment might be a consequence of an undesired behavior, a consequence isn't always a punishment. For example, if my child doesn't study for an important test, a possible consequence is that he will make a failing grade. I can take it a step further and decide to punish him by taking away privileges such as games or television.

After reading this article (and quite a few others) about the difference between punishment and consequences, I concluded that a lot of it really is determined by the intent of the teacher and the way the consequence is doled out. I loved the table that showed precisely what the differences between the two are. Consequences teach, are given with empathy, relate directly to the actual behavior, and teach students to take responsibility for their own choices. Isn't this what we all want?! That's what I'm striving for daily, although I must confess that I often miss the mark. Hopefully, I'm not the only one :) Punishments are about controlling behavior and are often arbitrary. They leave students feeling helpless and focus on the actual punishment rather than the student's choices.

The same result could be either a punishment or a consequence depending on how it is delivered. So, in real-life, practical classroom application it would like like this:

Infraction: Child avoids doing work
Punishment: "You're not doing your work again! No break today!"
Consequence: "Are you using your time wisely? You have a choice. It is very important that you finish your work during the allotted class time or it will have to be finished during break."

Infraction: Child blurts out or talks over others

Punishment: "Stop shouting out! That's a conduct mark for you."

Consequence: "It isn't your turn to talk right now. Everyone has the right to learn, and when you shout out answers it disrupts other people's thinking. That shows disrespect to your classmates. Please work on being more respectful." (in this case the consequence is actually a talk from the teacher, but it directs the student to think about others, focusing on his/her behavior.)

While both the punishments and the consequences in the above examples might be considered "negative" depending on the personality of the child, there is a HUGE difference in the thought process behind them and the results of each one.

So, Consequences or Punishment? That depends on what the teacher is trying to teach the child--to have self-control and make good decisions, or to do as he's told or else. I know what I'm striving for.

Punishment or Consequences?

Can rewards exist without punishment? Are punishments synonymous with natural consequences?

I recently commented on a post by Mrs. Pripp (Put Your Name on the Board) that I don't really do a lot of punishment/reward type activities because I haven't seen a significant change in student behavior and it is exhausting to keep up with it all. I do, however, think that sometimes students need to be rewarded (see Mrs. Watson's post, "The Day 'Reward' Became a Bad Word.") and that there should be consequences, whether negative or positive, that directly relate to students' actions.

A recent email from my principal regarding the use of rewards and punishments for Accelerated Reader goals has prompted me to re-evaluate rewards altogether. He maintains that we should reward students who achieve their goals, which is "above the line" behavior. He also stated that we shouldn't punish students who don't achieve their goals (below the line). So as not to take his comments out of context let me say that he was talking about the practice of having students who had not achieved weekly AR goals sit at the silent lunch table and read. But, the comment made me think...does the same concept apply to other situations? It sounded good to me at first, but then I tried to see it from a child's perspective, and wondered what's the difference between not receiving a reward and being punished?

Take the following situation for example:
Each 9 weeks students have AR goals that they are expected to meet with 85% accuracy. In my room there is an abundance of books and ample time to read. Reading is encouraged and expected during the day. At the end of the grading period, those who achieved their goals are rewarded by participating in the AR party. The ones who do not are sent to another teacher's room to read and get a head start on their goal for the next 9 weeks. Seems logical to me...They didn't meet the goal this time, so I'm allowing them extra time to get ahead for the next grading period. That's the way I look at it, but to a child, isn't it the same as being punished? Is there a way to reward the ones who do as they should WITHOUT punishing (in their minds) the ones who didn't?

Another example:
In my area students all have at least 30 minutes of Physical Education every day, so recess is not a common practice within most schools. However, in  my classroom I instituted a "reward break" for 10 minutes at the end of the day for students who behave appropriately, finish class assignments, and move speedily through transitions. It is a well-deserved reward for those who work hard, but an additional work time for those who do not. Everyone would be working during this time anyway, but instituting a reward break allows most students to be recognized each day for doing their best. How do you do this without some students some of the time not participating? Some may consider this "punishment." I consider it a common sense consequence to specific behaviors.

In real life there are positive and negative consequences for our actions depending on the choices we make. If one of the main goals of schooling is to prepare students for the real world, I think the concept of common-sense consequences is just a natural way to do that. Which leads me to ponder this---are consequences the same thing as punishment? Does it really all depend on how one looks at the situation? Is there any real way to reward one group without the appearance of "punishing" the others?

When "Helping" Hurts

Can helping kids too much actually hurt them? This idea has been rolling around in my head for a few years now. I'm speaking of science and social studies instruction/assessment in elementary school in particular. Here's the situation that prompted this particular post:

Alabama History, Chapter 6 (Reconstruction) is taught by my wonderful student teacher, who covers everything that is on the test quite well. Lessons are interactive, engaging, and meaningful. Students are given a study guide that is already completed. There are 21 items, but as I CUT THE TEST IN HALF, I circled the items that would be tested. Students played a review game the day before the test. Right before the test they had about five minutes to review the study guide. Although the study guide and test were not worded identically, they were pretty close. The test had 11 questions and was OPEN BOOK. The students had 40 minutes to take the test. (Even as I write this I'm thinking, "You did all of that?!"). And of course, the test was read aloud to those students who have that specified as part of their educational plan. The results? A class average of less than 70%.

When I spoke to the children about it and asked them why they struggled on the test, they responded that they just need to study more and pay more attention. It was when I was telling them "I can't think of anything else I can do to make this easier for you..." that I realized maybe that is the problem. Maybe they think they don't have to work hard because it is too easy. Maybe they're not challenged enough so there's no real need to work. Maybe they've been given so many "helps" that they've come to rely (and dare I say, expect?) them.

Of course you must understand that I didn't start out giving students all of these "helps." It has evolved over the years for various reasons. The biggest reason currently is that students have so much less exposure to the content areas before 4th grade than they used to have. They are not nearly as prepared for science and social studies as they were in past years. This is not the fault of their lower grades teachers. The push to teach reading and math for the majority of the day has simply shoved other subjects onto the back burner. I'm even struggling with teaching both subjects in a day myself!

Which brings me back to my issue---am I helping my students so much that in fact I am hurting them? I believe so, but I'm afraid to remove some of the scaffolds I've set up for them. After all, I put them there for a reason! Is anyone else noticing this in their classrooms? What have you done to "fix" the problem?

Above the Line

My principal has started an attitude initiative in our school based on Top 20 Teens, which I think is a fabulous idea! It amazes me that so much of what he has spoken to us about goes right along with the Responsive Classroom approach that I'm currently studying and trying to implement. He has already met with the teachers, explaining the initiative and letting us in on some of the lessons and shared vocabulary.

His first installment with the students was a talk the other day during PE about how important attitude is, and how there is a line between behaviors that the people in the top 20% do verses the people in the bottom 80%. He discussed with them that people who have attitudes that are in the top 20 are more successful because they are positive and they work hard at doing their best.

I LOVE this initiative because now my students and I have a shared language for speaking about attitude and positive behavior! Throughout the day we can discuss if something was above or below the line. Students are starting to see where some of their behaviors and thoughts fall within the 80/20 example. They're even starting to discuss how to bring attitudes and behavior into the top 20. This has been (and I believe will continue to be) a very positive experience for me and my students.

And I must say that my principal did a very "Above the Line" thing by getting this ball rolling. I can't wait for future installments!

One Step Away from Frustration

It almost happened to me today. Today was one of those days where everything was just a little bit off...kids were just a little bit inattentive. They were just a little bit off-task. There was a little too much talking during transitions. They were a little too slow moving from one subject to another. I was just a little less patient than usual. It was as if the class (and myself) as a whole kept tiptoeing across the "acceptable" line. Add up all of those little tiptoes and then picture the last part of my day:

It is about 20 minutes until dismissal time: students cleaning, a vacuum going, two students working on school store items, three students rearranging the carpet squares, two students organizing books, two students lifting the carpet in the back of the room to get rid of the hidden dirt, three students preparing tomorrow's coffee, and me saying "Remember to study for your history test!!!"  Meanwhile we have only a short time left and we still need to do the read aloud! I decided we needed to finish up the cleaning so we could do the read aloud, but the students just couldn't be redirected. The work they were doing was important, and none of us could switch gears and focus. I felt like I was literally one step away from  going crazy!

But this is where the great part comes in. (In years past I would have handled this situation in a total different way and everyone would have left frustrated.) Today, however, I took a deep breath and called everyone to the carpet for an afternoon meeting. It went something like this:

"I know we are all having a difficult time focusing because there are several distractions, and there is nothing wrong with that." (I could tell they thought they were in trouble, so I wanted to reassure them). "Let's all take a minute to breath and focus our minds on one thing: how our day went." We then went on to discuss below the line and above the line attitudes and behaviors and everyone discussed some above the line behaviors that they had participated in or witnessed today. After that we talked about some below the line behaviors (volunteered by students). It was a very non-threatening type of discussion about each person's behavior, including myself. Everyone was responsible for evaluating him or herself. We finished the conversation by stating one thing each one of us could do to make tomorrow a better day. It was so interesting to hear some of their responses! A few said attitude (including yours truly), but several said they wanted to stay on task, make better choices, do better during math, and show more respect to others.

Presto! In that short 10 or so minutes I was able to refocus the students, have a valuable discussion about self-assessment and acceptable behaviors, and have everyone leave on a positive note! I'm so glad I didn't take that last step over to frustration. What a difference the teacher's response and actions can make! 

The Test Game

As in many other classrooms across the country, there is a teach/test cycle in my classroom. I like to call it the test game. Kids know how it works. Parents know how it works. Even most teachers know how it works. It goes something like this:

1. Look over the test before preparing lessons.
2. Teach the lessons, paying special attention to items that will be tested.
3. Prepare a study guide for students to have/use either before, during, or after instruction.
4. Spend class time each day or the day before the test reviewing the test items.
5. Give the test.
6. Start all over again.

What's the problem with this, you may ask? The number one problem is that I don't agree with teaching to the test. Should we preview the test? OF COURSE! Should students know what they are expected to learn in advance? DEFINITELY! Should we focus the main part of our instruction on test items? Not really. This is the part that boxes me in as a teacher. I know that I must "cover" what students will be tested on, but worry that focusing too much on such things will stifle their learning.

Year after year, unit after unit, it is the same, predictable pattern: Students who have good memories "learn" what they need to pass the test, then may forget the information when it is no longer needed. Students with less help, less background experience, or who struggle to remember have trouble with the tests.

I'm left wondering: How do I make the assessment match the learning? How do I make learning about LEARNING and not so much about the test at the end of the unit? How do I make sure that students really learn the material, and not just memorize for the test? How do I accurately assess student learning, rather than their reading ability or memory? Can their learning be accurately assessed? Does everything HAVE to have a number or letter attached to it?  I'm going on an assessment adventure. Hopefully, some of my questions will be answered along the way.

Can We Do This Everyday?

Don't you love it when you hear this? It's a magic little 5-word phrase that says to me, "Yep, you pulled it off today!" For someone whose goal is to inspire students to learn for the sake of learning, and to teach them that LEARNING is FUN, this magic phrase is music to my ears. 

In a world of high stakes testing, report cards, and higher standards (accountability), I sometimes worry that my instruction tends to lean toward the "preparing for the test" end of the spectrum. To counteract this, I strive daily to incorporate "fun" activities, keep students engaged using multi-sensory, interactive lessons, and provide choice within their independent work. 

So, what brought about the magic phrase? A science lesson about vertebrates and invertebrates. My student teacher and I front-loaded some of the content information during small group reading this morning, using our science leveled readers, so during science today I set up rotating stations: 

1. Streaming online Bill Nye Invertebrate video

2. Cute flipchart on Promethean board about vertebrates/invertebrates that students went through without my help.

3.  With me: Students were given play-dough and told to build a person as tall as possible and see if it would stand on its own (of course it wouldn't). Then they were given toothpicks to be used as backbones and they repeated the activity. We discussed the differences between vertebrates and invertebrates. 

And the best part of all, is that after it was over and we met as a whole group to discuss what they learned, the students mentioned ideas that I probably wouldn't have even covered if I had lead the lesson in a "traditional" way. I really feel like today I met the needs of my diverse learners, leaving me with the question,

Can we do this everyday?

A Step in the Right Direction

A few days ago I decided to embark upon a journey to cut out homework. I had this great conviction that I needed to teach the kids what they need to know and provide enough time for practice IN CLASS while I'm there to give assistance. I had made the necessary schedule changes, curriculum adjustments (slight reduction in work load), and carved out a few additional minutes here and there to help the "strugglers", and I was ready! I couldn't wait to go to school and talk to my kiddos about it!

The reaction I got from them was not quite what I expected.

When asking students how they felt about homework, I got the following:

"Homework makes us smart."      "Doing homework gives me something to do."    "Homework is important."

(If I could raise just one eyebrow, at that point it would have been up to my hairline). And then it hit me: They're playing the SCHOOL GAME! They're saying exactly what they think I want them to say. What an eye-opener! (Perhaps I have a little more to learn about making a truly child-centered classroom, if they think they have to feed me lines like that).

Little by little, though, they began to open up. They were hesitant at first because this kind of conversation about school with a teacher was just new to them. By the end of the day, pretty much everyone in the class was excited about the change, and many have even blogged about it, asking "Will it stay or will it go?"

I think I've learned that I've got quite a distance to go and much to learn, but at least I'm making a few steps in the right direction.

Hanging Up the Homework

This idea  has been marinating for a while, but really has gotten a kick-start lately for a few reasons:

1. My son's recent experience in middle school. Let's just say he didn't get much sleep those two years because of the hours (not exaggerating) of homework. High School has been a completely different experience.
2. My concern that the students who could really benefit from the extra practice are seldom the ones who are capable of completing it without support.
3. A parent who asked at orientation this year, "You're not one of those teachers who gives a lot of homework are you?"
4. Most of my students' days start around 6:30 and we dismiss at 2:40. Many bus riders don't get home until 3:30 or later. 
5. Kids need time to be kids--they need to have unstructured time at home to just play and spend time with family. 
6. I worry that it causes problems at home and can diminish a child's enjoyment of school.
7. I've been reading blog posts like this one: by Mrs. Pripp: So What's My Problem With Homework? and this one by J. Steven Carr: Should Homework Be Banned?
8. I've been reading online research that suggests homework is not beneficial: The Truth About Homework

Before I go any further, let me interject that I DO NOT simply send home busy work pages just for the sake of sending work home. Our daily homework consists of 3 things:

Read for 30 minutes (school-wide). I think that is reasonable. I don't require reading logs or parent signatures that are checked daily, so there isn't the dreaded "homework check/punishment. I just remind students and encourage them by having book talks and discussing what books I'm currently reading at home. 

Study for Tests: Perhaps 5 minutes of reviewing a study guide if needed. Students have a science or social studies study guide at the beginning of a unit. Social Studies tests are open-book, and many students don't really need to study the science as long as they are present at school during the lessons. (We currently alternate units of science and social studies). 

Finish Math Classwork: Here's where I have a bit of a problem. Math lessons at this point in the year have 30 problems. These are in addition to the whole group lesson, practice set problems, fact practice, or any review we may need to do. (In my post The Marriage of Saxon and Guided Math I talk about how I teach the lesson and arrange independent/group work.) I totally "get" that in Saxon Math, problems are practiced over and over in different lessons so that students don't forget how to do them from year to year. But here's the thing--why so many? I just think it is too much. What happens is that I help them as much as possible at school, but those struggling students still can't finish (which means more homework for the ones who really can't do it independently). 

So, I'm going to try something radical: I'm going to reduce the number of problems on the lesson set to between 20 and 23 and check the lesson set in class at the end of guided math time. Students who haven't finished will have to finish during recess, (where I can be there to give guidance), rather than taking it home. 

I've been warned that students who don't do the entire lesson set won't be able to pass the assessments. I don't know if this is the case or not, as I've never talked to anyone who has actually admitted to doing this in 4th grade, but I'm about to try. Well, we'll see...