The role of accountability in classroom management
Accountability is a crucial element for the effectiveness of any family, business, political system, or classroom. To maintain a positive atmosphere in your classroom at all times, you will need to hold students accountable for every action or behavior that does not contribute to that atmosphere; and what responsibility really means is that there is a significant consequence for not behaving properly.
The first step in this direction is to be sure exactly what you yourself find acceptable and unacceptable. Have a list of rules that cover every behavior, positive and negative, that you require of students. Anytime a student deviates from this acceptable behavior, be ready to hold them accountable. Every time!
Do you let certain behaviors ‘slide’ from time to time and other times try to give them consequences? This kind of inconsistency will lead to constant classroom agitation, whereas if a student knows in advance the response they will receive for undesirable behavior, they won’t try it in the first place, i.e. IF they have the clout to back it up. above.
If you spend your time warning students, telling them to shut up, reminding them to get down to business, and find yourself endlessly repeating directions because they don’t follow them, then you haven’t built in accountability for your standards; consequence for not performing the unwanted behavior, for which the student repeats it.
Develop an accountability system: Know in advance the consequences of any undesirable behavior, positive or negative (in other words, it’s not enough for a student not to speak, they must also exhibit the positive behavior of being focused).
Some ways teachers try to control classroom management that DO NOT work are lecturing, scolding or repeating instructions, yelling, calling parents, and giving warnings.
These don’t work because they don’t really hold the student accountable.
You need to find a consequence that matters to the student, not a consequence that you think the student SHOULD care about, but one that really does.
Once you find something the student cares about, like having to come over after school, for example, you have leverage. This means that when you give direction, the student will now listen, because he or she doesn’t want to lose something they value most: their time.