Don’t delay hard lessons

You have planned to conduct an interesting experiment in your science class, to be held in the afternoon. Your students also know that they will have a great learning experience and they are quite excited about it.

Your challenge starts when your students return after lunch. They are distracted and chatty – they paint a very different picture from what they were in the morning. Don’t let their state bog you down. It signifies that you must get their attention back. In such a situation, you can clearly tell them how disappointed you are because of their behavior. You can also delay the lesson and hope that their excitement about the experiment will bring their attention back. And if nothing works, you can completely cancel the experiment.

No matter whether it is calling off an exciting experiment, any activity or any outdoor program, this hard lesson is probably the best possible way to manage your students’ behavior, thereby improving the culture of your classroom.

Hard lessons clearly send the message that the classroom is a place of mutual co-operation. When the teacher gives his/her best to students, it is expected that students must reciprocate by paying their full attention to the lesson. This way, it will be possible to strike a balance between teaching and learning and make students feel obliged to their teachers.

If you let things go and do not correct your students’ behavior, you will, in fact, send a wrong message to your students. Through hard lessons, you can clearly tell your students that mediocrity won’t be accepted, disrespect won’t be tolerated, and half-efforts won’t be encouraged.

Hard lessons, no matter whether they are applicable to any specific student or the whole classroom, go a long way in rectifying students’ behavior. They are also effective in preventing students from making the same mistake again.

Last but not the least; hard lessons have a long-lasting impact on students. However, you should not explain, lecture, or try to tell your students anything after announcing a hard lesson in the classroom. Your words will do nothing but lessening the impact of your hard lesson.

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