From Chapt. 12 A. of Prof. Seeman’s online course and book at Pro-Ed Media: Classroom Management Online:

1. Decide on a consequence that you will enforce, in the form of a warning, if the rule is broken.

2. Obviously, don’t make a rule that enforces a miscall. Check the “typical miscalls” in Chapter 4, section B. You certainly should not make (or have) a rule that helps you go after what is actually not a discipline problem.

3. You should feel congruent with your rules. Don’t blurt out something you don’t really believe in or that you later realize is too harsh. How do you stop such incongruent blurts? Again, go back to the list of misbehaviors on page 260-261 and formulate a rule now about each that you believe in. If you plan your rule according to your feelings now, you won’t be apt to put your foot in your mouth in class.

Of course, your rules must also be in line with the rules of your school, what the administration (and, hopefully, with consent of the staff) has decided. You should be able to feel comfortable with the school’s rules, such that they do not cause you to be incongruent with your rules. If you do have problems here, see the discussion on pages 258-262 to help you sort out this problem.

4. You should be able to follow through with the warning you design for each infraction of your rule. Again, don’t blurt out “I’ll suspend you!” if you can’t really do that for, say, calling out. Again, go back to page 285 and decide on a warning you can follow through for each infraction. And keep in mind that not to follow through on one is to weaken your whole system and credibility.

5. Your rule should be one that is for the sake of their education, not just for your convenience. It should be appropriate, professional. If the rule keeps order so you can teach and they can learn, fine. If it only helps you, e.g., get your work done or wash your car, it’s inappropriate.

6.The rule should be fair. You need to keep track of your warnings or the points that earn rewards for them. If you forget, or lose track, the students will experience this as unfair. Also, we all have biases. Realize yours and then monitor that you are not judging one student over another by unfair criteria, or over-reacting.

7.Your first response to an infraction should be as nonverbal as possible, e.g., a disapproving look or no recognition to an answer called out, instead of a verbal reprimand, “John!” Why? Because the latter gives more attention to the misbehavior. You don’t want to accidentally award “negative attention” to behaviors you’re trying to extinguish. If you have to reprimand, reprimand while giving the misbehavior as little attention as possible. Thus, for example, putting a disruptive student’s name on the chalkboard or asking him or her to come to the front of the room, etc., places the student in the limelight. It’s a negative limelight, but some students would rather get negative attention than none at all.

8.Along with the above, starve students who seek negative attention, but reward these students immediately as they “turn over a new leaf” and newly try to get attention for being good. Go deaf, dumb, and blind to a call-outer,[According to our criteria listed in questions (a)–(j) on pp. 268–269.] but call on him or her the second s/he does raise his/her hand. (For more on handling “calling out” see pp. 348–349.)

9.Try to deliver your warnings in a place, or in a way, that has the least audience reaction. Don’t reprimand a student in front of the class if you can at all help it. Try to remember that a reprimand in front of the class, especially for adolescents, is always much more severe than the same one given in private. Students reprimanded in front of an audience need to revolt against your warning to save face. Always, if you can, deliver your warning after class at the “See me after class!” meeting. Or deliver it at least in the back of the room while others are working. In both these situations, you should have your back to the wall (not the student) so when the student faces you, s/he is not exposed to others as you scold him/her. If you don’t do this, the student will be facing you and his/her friends and will resist “facing the music” to save face. Or you might arrange with a teacher next door that if either of you have a disruptive student you’ll just send him/her next door with, for instance, a punishment assignment to be done by the end of the period. The student suddenly must sit in the back of the room of a class s/he doesn’t know. This strategy is usually better than sending students to the librarian or chairperson who may give the student a task the student enjoys. It’s also a better idea than sending the student to the principal, who then wonders if you can handle discipline problems by yourself.

10. Don’t deliver your rule in the third person. Be direct and say, “I won’t tolerate….” Don’t say: “We don’t do that….”or “One wouldn’t do that in….”

More at: Prof. Seeman’s book and training video at: Pro-Ed Media: Bk/Vd/Cd and its: Table Of Contents