Gone but not forgotten: putting marks on the deportment chart.
Mr. Schucker, are you still out there teaching sixth graders proverbs and how to enunciate the alphabet one letter at a time? Mrs. Jones, are you still running your tongue over your top teeth as you teach Math and Science? I'm sure, by now, you've both retired -- but can I take a moment this Monday to reminisce about your system of behavior modification that you enforced at Southeast Elementary?
Since that grade was team taught at my school, each of the above teachers kept a list of students on a closet door in the classroom. As we were caught displaying inappropriate deportment (as defined by those in authority, naturally), we were called out and told to go the relevant room and put a mark on the chart next to our name. Those of us for whom it worked felt the sting of the shame during this act of public humiliation. Those of us for whom it didn't (and I was in the first group as I didn't turn so anti-authority until much later in my youth), marked their way up the punishment continuum, which I recall ended in a paddling (since that was allowed back in my day). Looking back, there's something comforting to me now about a system that taught a clear sense of personal accountability and gave the individual the choice to determine how far one would push the envelope.
Elementary system of punishment that laid the seeds for an adult understanding of risk/reward, you are missed.
DEPORTMENT CHART PROPS FROM THE EIGHTIES:
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ280874&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ280874
MY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (for 5th and 6th grades) ON THE INTERWEBS:
http://www.lebanon.k12.pa.us/southeast/aboutus.php
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