Paying the Piper

or, FAFO

Last Tuesday was a beast. The children at King School lost their minds, chose violence, embraced chaos, embodied all the idioms that make teachers want a stiff drink and a hot bath at the end of the day. Students were talking back, swearing at each other, getting in fights at recess. One student pounced on the fact that the cafeteria was serving meatBALLS for lunch and double-entendréd himself right to the office. By the end of the day we had all had it. One of our beloved paraprofessionals could NOT get the child she was working with to stop talking for one blessed minute, so you know what she did? Took out her hearing aids. Set them right on the table in front of that kid. You know what we call that? Logical consequences.

12 years ago, I took a course called Responsive Classroom. It was all the rage at that time, an evidence-based approach on teaching and discipline. A main component of the program is the idea that discipline takes a positive, non-punitive approach — students are given space to fix their mistakes and maintain their dignity. Though this and other programs (such as PBIS, the program we use at my school) have been criticized for hegemonic bias, I believe that both can be tweaked to fit all groups of children. The object is to recognize positive action, avoid shaming at all costs, and allow students to repair mistakes they make. Teachers absolutely must be able to recognize our own biases as we do this work, but that’s a whole ‘nother essay.

The idea around logical consequences is that they are, well, logical. Students are able to see the connection between their actions and the result of those actions. A group of my students were disrespectful for my bestie, Charlie, in his class last week. This week, they don’t get to have their special lunch group with him, and they understand that it is because they did not show Charlie that they deserved it. The aforementioned students who fought on the playground spent the next recess period standing by the wall outside with their fellow guilty parties, still out in the fresh air but with the privilege of playing with their peers unavailable to them. Students who were throwing popcorn at each other at lunchtime were tasked with sweeping up their mess… along with whatever else happened to end up on the floor.

With all due respect and affection to MY dear elementary school principal, Mr. Gray, these consequences tend to be more effective in the long run than putting their noses against the wall. I have never, in my adult life, been asked to put my nose against the wall for any kind of infraction. (Well, neither was I asked to at Southwest Elementary. I was quite the goody-two-shoes.)

I experience logical consequences every day. Some are extreme: I refuse to wear my boots and do a slip-and-fall in a snowy parking lot, I eat a Jordan almond and crack a crown, or I over-schedule myself and don’t manage to eat dinner until 8:30 at night. Most examples of logical consequences, however, are simple cause-and-effect: I’m “too tired” to fill my car with gas on the way home from school one night, so the next morning I’m forced to do it and run late. I press the snooze button in the morning too many times, so I don’t have time to sit and play my word games before I get in the shower. I don’t plan a lesson carefully enough, so my students don’t understand and are confused and frustrated and I have to re-teach the next day.

True confession, Dear Reader: I have been known to crow, “Logical consequences!” at my offspring when they can’t use their phone because they didn’t charge it, have dog poop in their room because they left it open with a bag of snacks on the floor, or miss hanging out with friends because they did something bone-headed with that friend the last time they were together. I have gathered that I can be quite irritating in these moments. I say, that’s part of my job as a parent.

I have the distinct feeling that we — United States citizens — are going to experience some significant consequences soon. Though the logic might be harder to come by for many of us, I think we can agree that there are about to be ramifications on a massive scale.

I hope we survive, and that we learn.

Thanks for reading.

Love, Susie