Managing behavior in science labs can be… annoying. Hard, even. And sometimes, especially with some groups, seemingly impossible.
But I have ONE TIP – just one – that made a massive difference in the behavior in my science lab classes.
And it’s so simple.
*The obvious caveat here is that this might work in your particular situation, or maybe it won’t. Every class is different, and support from the administration varies widely from school to school. All of that will obviously dictate if this helps you or if you have to dismiss it. But it has made a HUGE difference for me, so I’d at least like to share it with you.
Here goes…
Maya Angelou has a great quote that, personally, I really needed to hear at the point in my life when I heard it – not for science teaching, but for life stuff.
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
But as it turns out, this also works for managing behavior in science labs.
And this is my tip. Hear me out.
At the beginning of every science lab, especially in the beginning of the year, I give my students “the talk.”
I read them this quote and ask what they think it means. We discuss as a whole class, talk about examples from real life, and just generally have a nice non-sciencey chat about it.
Then, I tell them that this is true in a lab situation, too.
I ask them what my number one job is. They’ll reliably say, “teach science.” Here’s where I let them know that my number one job is absolutely not to teach science – it’s to keep them safe.
I tell my students this verbatim: “The first time YOU SHOW ME that you can’t be trusted to be safe in a lab, I WILL BELIEVE YOU.”
“If you touch something you aren’t supposed to, I will believe you the first time that you can’t be safe in the lab.”
“If you do something that isn’t in the directions, I will believe you the first time that you can’t be safe in the lab.”
“If you aren’t where you are supposed to be, I will believe you the first time that you can’t be safe in the lab.”
“If you are being silly and not paying attention, I will believe you the first time that you can’t be safe in the lab.”
(I’m sure I could go on with examples like that forever, but you get the point.)
I then talk about how I am responsible for the safety of every student in the room. I say things like:
“What would happen if a student got hurt AFTER that student or another student showed me they were unsafe in the lab? That would mean I LITERALLY HAD EVIDENCE that a student wasn’t being safe, and I let them continue. If I knowingly let someone continue in a lab after they proved they weren’t being safe, then it would be 100% my fault if someone got hurt after that! What would your family think if a student SHOWED me they couldn’t be safe, I let them do the lab anyway, and then they hurt you? That’s just stupid! They could come at me and say that I knew something bad could happen – and they’d be right! I don’t want anyone to get hurt on my watch! And I certainly don’t want to get in trouble for letting an unsafe person continue!”
And then say…
“So, there will be no, Hey, I told you not to do that with the beaker.”
“There will be no, Where are you supposed to be right now?”
“There will be no, You’re not supposed to be touching that.”
“There will be NO NEXT TIME. I will believe you the FIRST time you show me you can’t be safe.”
But here’s the key: if they do something in a lab that SHOWS YOU that they cannot be safe, you must BELIEVE THEM and excuse them from the lab THE FIRST TIME. I don’t care if it’s the good kid. I don’t care if it’s the kid with ADHD. I don’t care if it’s your teacher BFF’s kid. If they show you they can’t be safe, they can’t continue.
You HAVE to follow through, or this isn’t going to work.
Maybe they sit at their desk or maybe they go to the office, but they can’t do the lab. They’ve shown you they can’t.
🙄 So I can hear your eye roll from here.
You’re thinking, “She must not have the PIA kids that I do.” I promise, I have pain in the ass kids. I have kids who can’t stop. I have kids that won’t shut up. I have kids who can’t read. I have kids who are going to do something highly inappropriate the very millisecond I’m not looking. I have kids who have horrific backgrounds and never ever learned how to manage their own behavior and emotions. I have kids whose parents will blame me for their behavior. I have kids whose parents I grew up with. And I teach in a public school with classes of hugely varying abilities within them, including some classes with students who need an aide’s help with toileting.
This is all to say – I have the same range of kids you do, and I don’t have a utopian classroom. But I swear to you – this works!
There’s something about framing it in this way that helps kids understand the why behind the rules.
All I can say is TRY IT! And stick to it.
Managing behavior in science labs can be done, I promise!
Good luck out there.
If you find my content helpful, please follow me on TPT!
If you’d like tips on how to make labs themselves easier to prep for, check out THIS BLOG I wrote.
