Student: Have you ever taken points off the whole class because one kid was talking?
Me: Yeah, but that wasn't fair of me.
Student: Mr _____ did that today.
Me: Let's not talk about other teachers. If you have a problem with it, you should go to them directly instead of talking about it to all of your friends.
See how that happened? I was in it before I knew it.
Anyway, while I have been one of those teachers, it isn't fair to the kids to punish them for my inability to manage one child. I get it. You're having a bad day, you want the class to manage itself, you want to turn the class against that kid so maybe they do right, and you are at the end of your rope because it's the end of the week. That doesn't make it right. Also, when you cool down and realize you were wrong, there's nothing that says you can't restore the points, apologize, and reestablish classroom norms. I've done it a million times. The students appreciate it most of the time.
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