Classroom Management: That's Your Warning

I spend too much time giving warnings and demerits. Discipline takes up a lot of my time. I did not anticipate having to give warnings to twelve kids in a single class period, but that's happened more than once. The only good news is that I have stuck to my guns, and I think that in time, all of these disciplinary measures are going to pay dividends.

My classroom management plan initially entailed the following ladder of consequences:
1. warning
2. stay after class and talk to Mr. Hebert
3. write an essay
4. demerit

When I started the school year, the kids did the inevitable testing of the water. I gave out lots of warnings that first week, and I had to ask many students to stay after class. Too many students in fact: this step soon became more trouble than it was worth. I eliminated it during the second week. I continued assigning essays, and students did them (though they insisted they would not). But these did not seem to curtail student misconduct. So the third week of school, I eliminated this consequence. Now, my consequence stool looks like this:
1. warning
2. demerits

Students know I will not hesitate to dispense consquences, and now that I've given out handfuls of demerits, they are hopefully beginning to get the picture. I have seen a reduction in the number of students receiving warnings, and plan to use my amended management plan for the weeks ahead.