What is he learning in the hall?

In my 13 years of teaching in a high school math classroom, I did send my share of students to the hall. It was usually because the student and I needed a "break" from each other. One or the other of us needed some time to cool off so that class could proceed and other students could continue the learning process. What sending students to the hall looked like in my classroom changed over the years. In the beginning, I would send them out there for a while, until I had time to go have a good conversation with them. As time progressed, I heard an administrator talk to another teacher about there being no supervision in the hall. I started to change my philosophy about students being in the hall. After another few years, I started hearing conversations among teachers and administrators about the learning that a student missed when he/she was out of the classroom. Now I was really rethinking sending students to the hall. I wanted to be more cautious about it. One time, I went to talk to my student in the hall and he was gone! He had decided to go to the bathroom on his own and walk around in the halls! Oh the horror I felt when I realized that I had a student go missing on my "watch!" I knew then that I had to change my ways and find a better way. 

I hope that you understand that I am not saying that there isn't a time when students may need to be sent to the hall. I just believe that we need to think about the reasons that we send students to the hall, the time that they are in the hall, and the student's perspective on being in the hall.

Let's start with reasons to send a student to the hall. In my opinion, the only reason to send a student to the hall is when you feel that the student or you, the teacher, needs a quick break from the current situation in order to get the class back to "normal." Let the student know that when he/she can come back in and not disrupt class that he/she can walk back in quietly and join the work being done at that time. Sometimes the student just needs a chance to catch a breath and refocus. Having said that, I should share some things I have seen in the past 3 years in coaching. Many students are sent to the hall for reasons other than this. I walk through the halls and ask students why they are in the hall. Here are some of the reasons that I have heard (and they are true):

• Student wasn't in her seat when the tardy bell rang (spent most of the class period in the hall)
• Student didn't have supplies for class (spent the entire class period in the hall)
• Student was acting silly before class began (spent the entire class period in the hall)
• Student got up to get a worksheet when he hadn't completed the worksheet assigned prior to that one (spent the remainder of the class period in the hall)
• Student spoke without raising his hand to answer a question (spent most of the class period in the hall)

The list could go on. I would love to hear some reasons that you have seen students sent to the hall that didn't seem to make sense. There are lots of them!

What about the time that these students were spending in the hall? Not being in a seat when the bell rings is cause for a student to miss a majority of her class? I don't think so. And I won't get into the whole discussion of how students will rise to your expectations of them, especially if they are eager to come to your class. What about the student who spent the entire class period in the hall for not having supplies? I understand that the teacher was probably frustrated, but the student missed everything from that day. What could the teacher have done differently in that situation? She could have had the student look on with someone else. She could have let the student get supplies from his locker. And what if the student left his supplies at home because his home life was a crazy mess that morning or the night before?

Let's talk about those students. What if the student didn't bring his supplies to class so he wouldn't have to participate? The teacher gave him just what he wanted. He didn't have to do any work for her. What consequences are there when he doesn't do the work? A zero? To this student, a zero doesn't make him jump and work harder. He just feels like there is no point in even trying. It just sets him back. I had a talk with a student who has been sent to the hall several times over the 9 years he has been going to school. Let's call him Rob. I asked him about the reason that he was sent to the hall. Some sounded pretty legitimate, like throwing things, playing with toys, etc. He said that sometimes he spent the entire class period in the hall. When I asked him how that made him feel, he surprised me with his answer. He got a big smile on his face (which is rare for Rob), and said, "happy!" He was thrilled to get out of the classroom and do nothing in the hall. This came straight from an 8th grader's mouth! So how did sending Rob to the hall help him learn not to throw things in class?

I know you have stories. I want to hear them. I sent a tweet out a while back, in hopes of finding the research that backs up my feelings about sending students to the hall. Although some educators agreed that it wasn't the best thing to do, no one was able to help me find the research to back it. I have tried doing searches, but I must be using the wrong key words. I know that the research exists. If you know where it is, then please share it with me.

Rob is a student who spends time in my office on a regular basis. I have enjoyed learning more about what motivates him and what doesn't. When Rob goes to the hall, he isn't learning math, science, social studies, English, reading, art, etc. When Rob goes to the hall, he is learning how to escape learning. And I just have to think that someone cares about that! Because, you see, Rob may not be my child, but, Rob, he is someone's child!