[DataDoxy]

Thanks for adding to the conversation. I have a few more comments based on your comments...

First, the best way to teach anyone something is to give them valuable and constructive feedback as soon as possible. For example, when I was learning to strike a golf ball, my dad would take me to the range and let me swing away. As such, I developed a particular swing that was has now been deeply embedded into my psyche. To this day, I have a back swing that goes waaaaayyyy beyond the optimal position which has led to my propensity to slice the ball. (Damn you muscle memory!) If someone had corrected my swing as I was learning the game, I would have had a better chance to learn the correct behaviour in the first place. Unlearning is much harder than learning!! The same goes for academic learning. As a math teacher, if I gave Monday's homework or quizzes back to my students on Friday, I would not be helping the kids who struggled with Monday's concept at all. In fact, since math is always building on prior lessons, students who were a little confused Monday would have been totally lost by Friday. Whether it is learning a sport, or learning an academic skill, or learning to behave, people need immediate feedback to learn optimally -as opposed to waiting for their tally at the end of the day. (There is a TON of research on the importance of immediate feedback.... much of it came from video games but I digress.)

So... if we are trying to teach kids how to behave properly, the best way to do this is to try and do it in the moment so they can learn what is expected and correct their behaviour. This can and should be done in a discrete manner as most students will already feel badly about their 'mistake' or 'poor decision'. This could include things like the teacher giving the student a private message (such as a note, or a tap on a desk chart indicating a need to change behaviour), or have a discrete signal that the students and the teacher know so they can get an in the moment reminder to change behaviour, or they can have quick chats with their teacher as soon as an appropriate moment arises. A creative teacher can make this happen. In short, kids do not want to be singled out because of their behaviour, but some of them just do not have the skills or focus to remember the rules all the time and they will make mistakes.

Other students do know how to behave but consistently misbehave anyways. Posting their behaviour on a chart in front of the class serves as a visual marker confirming they are in fact 'bad' both to themselves as well as to their peers. Over time this can lead to two things: It reinforces the student's identity as a 'bad' kid which does not lead to positive feelings or corrective results. In fact, when emotion (sadness, disappointment, embarrassment, anger) is connected to a consistent stimulus such as being tagged as ‘bad’, it can become a deeply embedded belief. In addition to negative identity creation, these ‘bad’ students often become socially isolated as kids do not want to hang out with the 'bad' kids. Again, this is not helping these kids learn to change or correct their behaviour. Both results can lead to issues later in life.

Finally, teaching kids they are ‘bad’ encourages a negative mindset. What we want in school is a Growth Mindset. Research shows that using a Growth Mindset leads to positive changes in beliefs, behaviours, and in academic results. Therefore, I highly recommend talking to teachers about Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset - it was designed to help teachers help kids learn optimally! It is also important to add that all kids just want to belong. Teaching them to behave in school will help them belong in their classroom as well as in life outside the classroom.