After Christmas Break I made a conscious effort to include more of the Love and Logic Philosophy in my classroom. One of the expectations in my classroom is "when there is a problem, I will do something." My doing something does not include solving the problem. It is the responsibility of the child to do that.
One issue I have been having is students not wanting to participate. I go back and forth on giving participation points and I understand the arguments against grading participation, but I am also a firm believer that students must participate to learn. In the past, I have spent time trying to talk my students into participation, which is usually a failing endeavor.
I can't make my students do anything, so I have decided to give the responsibility to my students. I have explained to them that the consequence for not participating is to loose points. I compare it to speeding as an adult. Police can't make you follow the law, but they hope that the fines and fear of getting pulled over will prevent you from speeding. I am working on being better about telling my students the consequences (only when an issue arises) and it is their responsibility to decide if it is worth it.
I have found in many cases that in the mind of a student, misbehaving is ok if there are no consequences or if the consequence is considered worth it (which is why my consequences are not listed or predetermined). When a misbehavior occurs, I quickly and quietly explain to the student what my response will be (sometimes I don't have one and I tell them I will have to think about it) it is then up to them to fix the problem. I am still working on doing this consistently, but I have had great success with it so far.
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