When Should You Leave Things Alone?
Leave a situation or a
student behavior alone when all indications show there is no real
problem. This is generally
the case with any situation which fulfills all three of the
following conditions:
1.
The behavior will almost certainly go away without your getting
involved.
2.
No one is harmed.
3.
There is no danger of a ‘ripple effect” (i.e., other students
are unlikely to imitate or repeat the disruptive student’s behavior).
What Does “Leave Things Alone”
Mean?
Leaving a situation
alone does not mean ignoring or being unaware of it.
On the contrary, you have to be completely aware of what is going
on so that you can decide whether or not to act.
“Leave things alone,” then, means taking no active part in a
situation – not acting to correct things – just continuing with your
regular routine.
Even though you decide
to leave the situation alone, you should track the student’s progress.
(See component #5). You
need to be able to recall what happened and the fact that you decided to
leave things alone.
Why Leave a Problem Alone?
As teachers, of course,
we act to make things better. Yet
there are many times when action can only make a situation worse – by
blowing it out of proportion, by focusing attention where it should not
be, and so on. The fact
that you get involved may provide the disorderly student exactly the
“reward” he or she is looking for.
Instead of stopping the disruptive behavior, you may be promoting
it. Learn to leave a
behavior alone when it appears that nothing positive can be gained
through action.
How Can You Decide to Leave Things
Alone?
In order to make this
basic decision, you need to focus your attention on the student or
students involved in the problem situation.
Observe what they are doing.
Listen to what they’re saying and how they’re saying it.
Try to identify the type and intensity of their feelings
(“strong anger” as opposed to “mild irritation,” for example).
Finally, think about the implications of ignoring the matter. Given what you know about the present situation and the
students, both those who are involved and those who are not, do you
think the situation will improve or deteriorate if you leave it alone? Here are a few guidelines which may help you make your
decision:
| 1. |
Students often act up just to get attention.
By reacting you may reinforce their troublemaking behavior.
By ignoring them, on the other hand, you can often show
such students that you cannot be baited. |
| 2. |
Remember that students can act as reinforcers for
one another. Thus a behavior you choose to ignore may continue if the
disruptive student senses the support of his or her peers.
Recognition of this fact of classroom life should play a
part in your leave-it-alone / act decision. |
| 3. |
Know which of your students are leaders and work
especially hard to keep them in line so they can serve as models.
Here your leave-it-alone / act decision is crucial.
Ignoring trouble from a leader may encourage imitators, and
acting impulsively may only earn the leader sympathy from the
other students. |
| 4. |
Keep classroom rules to a minimum.
By definition, problems increase in direct proportion to
the number of rules that can be broken.
For example, do you want a rule against chewing gum and
(since some will chew it anyway) against disposing of it
improperly, or only the latter? |
The leave-it-alone /
act decision may sound complicated, but it quickly becomes habit and is
usually made in a split second by the effective teacher who knows that
the best action is often no action at all.
Examples:
A good example of a
situation which should be ignored or left alone is the case of the two
students who jostle each other in the doorway.
While the teacher may at first feel nervous or apprehensive at
this show of high spirits, the incident does not represent a serious
problem. The bell has not
rung yet. Unless these
students continue to act up once class has started, the teacher should
definitely leave things alone.
Another Example:
Sandra has been at the front of the room. Going back up the aisle to her desk, she trips over Nikki’s
feet, which are in the aisle, and mutters “Dummy!” at the other
girl. The teacher sees what
has happened and hears the irritation in Sandra’s voice.
He notes that Nikki’s expression is apologetic – brow
furrowed, mouth turned down – rather than malicious.
The rest of the class pauses, looks up to see what has happened,
then continues to work on a math test.
Realizing that the problem will disappear by itself, that no one
is being harmed and that no one is likely to repeat the offense, the
teacher wisely chooses to maintain discipline by leaving things alone.
The decision is a good one.
Had he spoken out – “Nikki, keep your feet under your desk!
And Sandra, please be more careful!” – he probably would have
made a minor interruption much worse.
Sandra and Nikki both might have felt anger over his criticism. And the rest of the class would have been needlessly
distracted.
Now It’s Your Turn
Think of and jot down
notes on some possible disruptive situations in your own classroom where
you probably would be wiser to leave things alone rather than take a
hand. What behaviors and
feelings would you look for or listen for in making your decision?
What are the implications you would want to consider?
How could you be reasonably certain that the problem situation
would fade away by itself, that no one would be hurt, and that no one
would be likely to repeat the offense?
Then practice sizing up such situations in class and not acting
on all those that fulfill the three conditions listed above. Your
aim should be to develop the skill to “leave things alone” as your
first option in handling class disciplinary problems.
So You Leave Things Alone, What Then?
A problem arises in
class and you decide that your best option is to leave matters alone.
This doesn’t mean you should forget the incident.
Instead, you should plan to track the progress of the
student or students involved. This
means checking to make sure his/her/their behavior remains satisfactory
and perhaps developing some specific reinforcements to keep things
moving in the direction you feel is best.
Another advantage to
tracking progress at this point is that it gives you something to do.
In most of the petty annoyance situations, you – the teacher
– are one of the most affected, most disturbed by the situation and
you will want to do something about it.
Putting the incident in the “track record” – date, time,
etc. – may pay great dividends in the future, and it may be personally
satisfying that even though you took no overt action, you did not ignore
the incident. There is
great value in appropriate tension relief for you as the teacher.
The specific activities
required to track students’ progress are discussed more fully under
component #5.
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