The Power of "0"

I appreciate all of the advice (and articles!) on disciplining my little demon children. I read ALL that was sent my way. So, thank you!

This is what I did last week - I did not grade them. On the attendance sheet there is a spot to grade the class. The teachers told me that I should never give a class anything lower than an "A". But, I just could not force myself to do that after another truly frustrating class.

Sooo...

I wrote comments instead on the class' performance on the front side AND the back side of the paper. All of the kids gathered around the podium and "oohed" and "ohhhed" with every new line I wrote. They knew they were in trouble. I wrote more than I needed to since I had the audience and I wanted to reinforce how disappointed I was with the class. Basically, I gave them a "0" for the day.

Fast forward to this Monday.

The kids were great! They were quiet when I told them to (and I only had to ask once) and participated very well - it was a great class. At the end when I had to grade them, they all crowded the podium and shouted their appeals - "We very good, teacher" and "We good, quiet today, teacher".

So, I think that I have found something that will work okay for the time being, but I am always interested in finding more ways to get the evil out.