End of August. Focus of the first day of school. There is some concern: how will my students be this year? Will I get a good group? Will I be able to handle them? Or will it be like last year, when they kicked me out…

If you are asking yourself any of the above questions, you have what I have called an ‘open’ discipline system: the question of whether or not your students will behave depends partly or wholly on external circumstances: the personalities of the students, whether or not no, your administration has your back, and oh, let’s add the planetary alignment for good measure.

Anytime you depend on these outside forces for a good teaching environment, it makes for a shaky year and a bit of anxiety.

This is no way to live.

You know, in our society, teaching is often considered an undervalued profession, and I agree with this assessment. But we ourselves devalue the profession when we find acceptable what no other professional would do. No, I don’t mean cafeteria food, I mean tolerating a certain amount of interruptions and disrespect in the classroom.

I view my classroom the way a doctor, lawyer, or dentist would view their office: as a place where great things can happen for the edification of all, but where it would be intolerable to walk in and be disruptive or disrespectful. If I were a dentist, I wouldn’t ask my patients the best way to fill a cavity, or if they were jumping up and down in their seat, I would try to convince them that this cavity is really worth filling. That might seem nice at the time, but it would really be an abrogation of my responsibility to be in charge.

And in the classroom I don’t check with students if they think my rules are okay or resign myself to the idea that a certain amount of rudeness goes with the job; That, to me, is devaluing the profession.

Rather, I set up what I call a ‘closed’ system: a system of behavior in which at all times you will behave and show respect, or you will not remain in the environment.

How do I achieve this so that I get the same results with every class every time? This is the closed system:

1. A complete and clear list of the rules of what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior, positive and negative.

2. Consequences that matter for each unacceptable behavior.

3. Disqualification from future participation in the class if a consequence is not followed.

4. A full lesson for students on how this all works so they have no doubt that the rules are not worth breaking.

5. Eliminate all manipulative talk about the first four.

6. Follow up every time you test.

Far from leading students to always be removed from the environment, it leads them to show appropriate behavior within that environment in order to remain. Why would they want to stay? What is your positive reward? To get an education, of course. Isn’t that reason enough? Actually, it is, unless as teachers and society we act as if it isn’t.

Don’t leave your classroom environment to chance: have a system by which you know students will behave in every class, every period, every year.