(One minute read)
Question:
I have a third grade student who always argues back when she is reprimanded, and does not accept what the teacher is saying. Shall I teach her to accept? I’m always scared that there’s a 1% chance that my student is right. Should she just learn to swallow?
Answer:
Whereas we don’t want to force students to simply swallow reprimands especially if they might have an adult who is treating them unfairly, at the same time, we DO want to teach them the difference between “escalating problems vs. de-escalating problems.” Escalating might mean yelling, speaking disrespectfully, being stubborn, refusing to leave the classroom when asked, and continuing to disturb the class. De-escalating would look like speaking softly, being respectful, walking out of class right away, being quiet in the classroom, and discussing the problem with the teacher or parent at a later time.
To teach the above red and green concepts, we follow the standard six steps in RGBT: Label, Picture, Model, Practice, Reinforce, and Correct, to make sure the child clearly understands what escalating vs. de-escalating means, and what it looks like in action.
Have a successful week!
Devora