Today I made my class stare at the wall?

Question

I'm a 6th grade science teacher and we were playing a game. Everybody was getting really loud and rude. So I made them stare at the wall quietly for about 20 mins. at the end of class. Was that a fair punishment, I feel so bad?!?

Answer 1

I'm an 8th grader, so I kinda know how they feel.

My friends and I seem to be the trouble makers of the class, though. =/ So I'm not sure if I'm going to be the one helping you, lol.

Anyways, they'll get over it. I mean, your the teacher after all. (It took me a whie to learn that, though) I think it was a fair punishment. It could have been worse. One time when my class was acting SO obnoxious, my teacher had to call off our dance that was ONLY meant for 8th graders....

And I was pretty angry at first, but he's still my favorite teacher! =D

(He's the only one with a sense of humor!)

Also, if you HAVE a sense of humor, (I love that saying!) the kids might abuse it. (Or if you're a playing nice teacher, kids abuse it...)

Anyways.. No, the kids will get over it. Lol. I really don't know what I just wrote down... funny! XD

Answer 2

yes it is definetly fair those kids wouldn't have acted that way at home if u gave them warnings yes if u didn't still yes it is their fault themselves if they acted politely and inside voices then they could have kept playing it is their fault not urs

Answer 3

i'm not a teacher but that was kinda unfair. it was you who made them play a game, you should have thought of a few ways to keep them under control whilst playing, and even if it got out of control, maybe stop the game and start written work (thats punishment on its own).

hope this helps xoox

p.s. dont feel bad, there is no point. if you feel you made a mistake, learn from it.

Answer 4

If it was me, I would rather stare at the wall for 20 minutes than to write out of the dictionary. When I was in 8th grade my teacher made me do that once and... trust me it wasn't fun.

20 minutes seems kind of long but hey, you're the teacher. They shouldn't have misbehaved in the first place. It was a game, a privilage, not a right. They should have been glad that you let them play a game and not do some kind of boring work.

Answer 5

The people who think it is unfair either are not teachers or their school's back them in other forms of punishment. At my school we are not allowed to take recess  or specials, have afterschool detention, put a child in the corner for timeout (supposedly it's "public humilation"), send them to another classroom for timeout (they miss instructional time) or call their parents during the school day unless it's an emergency.

Soooo...staring at the wall is pretty much my only option for punishment too. I see no issue with it. Stare on sister!

Answer 6

"You should feel real bad" Your actions have been described as unprofessional. The comments you have made indicate you have classroom management difficulties and are unable to manage the more informal structures of class work.  The class should not have been permitted to get loud and rude. You have to evaluate every aspect of that lesson from start to finish and also evaluate your management skills, then make the hard decision.

Answer 7

ha ha. You're nice. All they're doing is staring. I'd rather stare at a wall than get carpal tunnel from dictionary writing. I remember that being a form of punishment in school back in my days. You gave your class the opportunity to make learning fun, but unfortunately they took it outta hand. Sounds like you're a great teacher.

Answer 8

trust me, if they were'nt snickering, they were inside their head just waiting to get out of the class, 20 minutes seems too long though,

Answer 9

You should have been in control of your class. Staring at the wall is inappropriate punishment. You should have controlled the class and used the other time for academics.

Answer 10

i'm a sophomore.  

what you did was entirely appropriate, as long as you warned them first.  i know how bad 6th graders can get- it wasn't too long ago that i was one.  

don't feel bad about it.  i had a science teacher who did things like that to us every once in a while.  we all loved him anyway.  what he did do that us well-behaved kids appreciated is he would apologize to us- "i'm sorry to those of you who have to (hear this, do this, whatever), because i know you are well behaved.  there are about three of you, and i appreciate that you behave, and the others are ruining this for you..."  he would even apologize after class if we were talking to him one on one.  he was an amazing guy, but that did not stop him from keeping order and punishing us if we were bad.  in fact, remember that you are teaching them valuable lessons in respect and behavior.  

what my science teacher did was give us five or six chapters out of the textbook to read and answer every single question. we were to turn it in the next day.  that way we reviewed things, but it bored the heck out of us and it was long... and tedious.  he didn't even correct it- you can just grade it on how much was completed- or if it was at all.    

hope this helps!

Answer 11

I think you made a mistake.  You wasted 20 precious minutes of academic time, 20 minutes of taxpayer money down the drain.

You were playing a game that I assume was to help them learn new material or review old.  If it got out of hand (which often happens), then you move to something else.  Open the book and read out-loud.  Give a pop quiz.  Assign science problems.  Their punishment was stopping the game.  Staring at the wall did not accomplish anything.

With that said, make sure you have back-up plans in place next time you play a game.  Tell the kids, "listen, we are going to play this game.  If you act out and do not participate respectfully/properly, this (fill in the blank) will be what we do instead."  And then follow through if they act out.

Answer 12

As long as you warned them first, yes it is a good punishment. Also, I agree with Johnny. Many kids don't do anything wrong and get punished. You should maybe reward them tomorrow with candy or something. They don't deserve to be taken down with the group!

Answer 13

Wow...people are actually saying you're wasting taxpayers money. I'm surprised at your answers. I'm a first grade teacher and I don't think any HARM is going to come to these kids. Wouldn't you be wasting taxpayer money even more if the kids were out of control? This time that they spent staring at the wall wasn't spent in vain. You were teaching them a lesson: ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES. If you can't play by the rules, you don't play at all. If you would have moved on to another activity, it wouldn't have the same effect. You gave the rules and they chose to break them. I do admit that 20 minutes is probably too long. You could have had them sit there for 5-10 minutes and it would have done the trick (and maybe just disciplined the trouble makers), but don't take all the harsh comments from the politically correct people on here. I used to think the way they did until I became a teacher myself. It works and it does no harm. And I'm amazed that one of your answerers said that putting a kid in the corner is considered "public humiliation." What has this world come to? This is why kids are so unruly! They need discipline! I don't believe in corporal punishment but a time out never harmed anyone. Keep doing what you're doing!

Answer 14

what u did is called DISCIPLINE.  Why would you feel bad? you are teaching these kids to behave and be respectful and they need to learn that. for them and their future.

Answer 15

I'm a ninth grader and I think that you handled it semi-well.  I know this is a difficult thing for a teacher to do to a whole class--especially whenever it probably wasn't the WHOLE class who acted up.  I'm pretty much the quietest kid in school.  I've never gotten in trouble at school--not even yelled at.  I always hated when the whole class got punished just because of the immature kids.  Next time, I think that you should just make the kids who were goofing off go out in the hall or something.  Overall though, you did an okay job.  :)  Good luck with your class tomorrow!! ha ha :)

Answer 16

Please don't ever assign writing as a punishment.  Please.  Or reading.  Anything you want them to excel at and not hate--don't assign for punishment.

Staring at a wall seems fine.

Answer 17

sounds mean to me, take a deep breath & regroup!!!!!

Answer 18

hope it was a big wall sounds like they needed to get somthing out of it.

Answer 19

well, i'm an 8th grader, and when my class gets really load, the teacher just keeps us in after class for every minute we wasted.

i think that's a better way of punishing them then wasting 20 minutes of class.

Answer 20

No, it was not fair punishment. It is psychological torture. All it does is to show your weaknesses as a teacher. If you cannot control a Grade 6 class get out of teaching. What you have done is totally reprehensible and unprofessional.