Where we choose to discipline students can determine if your conference will be successful.

Never underestimate the importance of holding student discipline conferences in private. Choosing to confront a student in front of their peers can actually escalate the situation. Students will respond to a conference in public by unexpected and defiant means merely to save face with their peers. Often confronting students in front of their peers brings out the opposite behaviors of what you need from the student.

Begin conferences by calling the student by their name, stating what you need, (we tend to describe what we don t have rather than what we need), and reassure the student that they are capable of meeting needs. It’s equally important to acknowledge the appropriate behavior when you witness the behavior.

Regardless of the behavior, your goal should be to limit the interruption and distraction caused by the misbehavior and to have the student refocus their energy on the learning objectives.

– Gene Bedley