the hallway

I found it interesting that many students see the hallway as a bad thing, as a punishment. I can see w hy they feel this way because in my classroom that I observe in, the hallway is generally used for that purpose, however, my teacher tries not to put them out there if she can. What is interesting is when I was in high school, the hallway was the "cool" place to be. Whenever we had to work on a group projext, we always wanted to work out in the hallway. I was probably because we weren't being stared at by the teacher and it was quiet enough for us to actually be able to work. It was always a competition to see which group was going to work out in the hallway today. It was just somethng I noticed in class that is different from the experiences of students in middle school today.

I definitly can see why the hallway is an easy place to send a "trouble" student, however, it is almost as if we are encouraging them to behave poorly. Many students, i feel, look at the hallway as somewhere where they actually have independence. Plus, if they are out in the hallway how can they possibly be learning anything? Those students are generally the student that need a little more help in the classroom, however, teachers get tired of dealing with them so they just send them out into the hall so that they don't have to deal with them. By sending them into the hallway, you are also segretating the students. Yes, it is a punishment, but as the teacher, you are enforcing the fact that they are "bad" and can't be with the other students. It is almost as if you are telling them that they aren't good enough to be with the other students. I know this may sound a little harsh and a little extreme but I think some students could see it this way. There are so many other ways to repremand a student other than sending them into the hallway and as teachers, we should strive to use those other methods. Other methods can include detention slips, losing other privledges in the classroom, assigning more homework (students really hate that one), and so many more. These other methods still allow the students to continue learning even though they were punished, as where the hallway can just be a place to get out of learning.