ABSTRACT
Webster's dictionary defines discipline as "training that develops self-control, character, or orderliness and efficiency." Consequences are an important part of discipline. Teachers who remain in the classroom know that if they don't maintain discipline, it doesn't matter what creative teaching techniques or what innovative methods they employ; they cannot teach if they don't have their students' attention. Margaret LeCompte, co-author of Giving up on School: Teacher Burnout and Student Dropout, reports that "teachers are being trained for the 1930s school, but they are experiencing 1990s kids and 1990s society." Beth was once discussing with the mother-in-law some discipline problems she was having with a student. Because of the situation and teacher turnover during the school year, even students who wouldn't normally be discipline problems joined the crowd.
