Polly Bath: If I have to take away any freedom or any free time from a kid that needs it, I want to make sure that I don’t have to do this on a constant basis. I will not take away recess for kids who don’t do work, because now I’m punishing that kid with the very curriculum I want him or her to do. Now, they hate the work.

The other thing we say to kids is, “If you’re not all quiet, you’re getting more homework.” Let’s punish them with the thing we want them to be excited about. That’s never worked!

I’m really careful about that. I’ll say, “Before you go out, today, let’s work on this.” It takes three minutes, two minutes, 30 seconds, we’re done, as long as I get that piece of instruction.

If I have to give an after school detention to an older child, I do the same thing. We’re not after school for 40 minutes. We’re after school for as long as it takes us to get an idea of what’s going on, what the problem is, and how we can repair it. That also gives me time to build a relationship. We know, in a Tier 1, relationship is everything.