Classroom Management & Discipline Discipline
Santiago is at the interactive whiteboard, showing the class his solution to a math problem the teacher challenged them with. Everyone is paying attention except Claire, who repeatedly and loudly bangs her feet together. Her teacher reads confusion and tension in her scrunched-up face.
“Time-out,” the teacher says quietly to Claire.
As she and her classmates learned to do in the early weeks of school, Claire gets up and goes to a chair a few feet away but still within earshot of the group. She takes some deep breaths but continues to seem tense. Then she remembers the additional calming techniques her teacher taught the class and picks up a soft ball stored in a small box nearby. As she squeezes the ball, she relaxes and returns her attention to Santiago’s math demonstration. At a nod from the teacher, Claire returns to the circle, in time for questions and comments about Santiago’s solution.
Positive time-out—referred to in middle school as Space and Time—is a valuable strategy for helping students regain self-control and return to learning with a clear mind and calm body. When a student begins to show signs of losing focus or self-regulation, a short break in a designated spot in the classroom gives them time to pause, reflect, and reset.
Unlike traditional time-outs, positive time-out is not a punishment. Its purpose is to prevent minor misbehaviors—whether intentional or accidental—from escalating. It offers students a safe, structured opportunity to calm down, recognize their actions, and rejoin the group in a productive way.
During a positive time-out, students are encouraged to sit quietly or use calming strategies they’ve practiced—like breathing deeply, stretching, or simply sitting still—so they can get back on track. The break is short—usually one to three minutes—and should be used consistently for all students to maintain fairness and trust.
Teachers may follow up with a brief check-in to help the student reflect on what led to the break and what might help them meet expectations next time. When introduced thoughtfully and used consistently, positive time-out becomes a powerful tool for building students’ internal control and emotional resilience.
The following guidelines will help you use positive time-out as a positive and supportive teaching strategy.
Rather than only responding when children struggle, it’s important that we first establish with children the expectations for behavior and then take the time to teach them how to translate those expectations into action in different classroom and school situations. Interactive Modeling is one Responsive Classroom practice for teaching such skills.
Many children have experienced punitive uses of time-out in the past. It’s important, therefore, to explain clearly that its purpose in your classroom is not to punish anyone but rather to help students restore the mental focus and emotional control needed for efficient learning. Let children know that sometimes they might decide for themselves that they need a break, in which case they can go to the break spot on their own. This can further erase any stigma associated with positive time-out.
It’s best to have one or two designated positive time-out places—chairs, cushions, or beanbags that are neither isolated nor in the thick of activity. You want to give children the separation they need to calm and refocus themselves, yet enable them to keep track of what’s going on in the classroom so they can rejoin the work when they return. To keep students safe while they’re in a break, make sure you can see the spot or spots they go to from anywhere in the room.
Early in the school year is the time to talk about, model, and let students practice how to use positive time-out. Be sure your teaching covers these key points:
Don’t wait until a child’s frustration or misbehavior escalates. It’s easier for children to recover from a smaller than a bigger upset or distraction. Using positive time-out early also helps preserve your feelings of empathy toward children. It can be hard to have empathy when, for example, a child has become aggressive.
Of course, to use positive time-out early, we must observe children well so that we catch signals indicating they’re about to lose control. They may make negative remarks, pick and poke, furrow their brows as their faces flush, or crumple up their papers. Learning students’ early signs of losing self-control will help you respond proactively.
Knowing the children you teach will help you decide if positive time-out is the strategy most likely to help a particular child. For instance, using positive time-out for fidgeting may be inappropriate if what a child needs is more physical activity or a different seating arrangement (to sit in a chair instead of on the floor, for example). For other children, a break may be just what’s needed to get the fidgets under control.
Also, a child who has completely lost control is beyond positive time-out. In these cases, you need a strategy that may involve the principal, a guidance counselor, or other support staff.
Finally, if you repeatedly send a child to positive time-out without seeing any improvement in behavior or frustration tolerance, or if a child crumples or becomes extremely distraught at even one use of positive time-out, more than likely the child needs a different strategy. Seek help from colleagues, parents, and counselors, and consider other problem-solving strategies.
If you’ve taught positive time-out well, saying a simple “time-out” may be all that’s needed in the moment. Even better, teach and use visual signals for going and coming back. This avoids drawing attention to the child or distracting classmates.
Never negotiate with the student in the moment. Remember that an important purpose of positive time-out is to allow the group’s work to continue when a student is misbehaving or upset. Discussing the situation with the student will only disrupt the group further. Moreover, a student who needs a break may not be in a frame of mind to discuss the situation reasonably. However, when you introduce positive time-out, it’s important to assure students that they can always talk with you about the situation later.
Positive time-out is a broadly useful strategy for helping children collect themselves, whether that takes the form of loudly acting out or silently hitting a personal wall of frustration that’s impeding their learning.
When you teach positive time-out, it’s important to let children know that because it’s useful in so many situations, just about all of them will have the opportunity to experience it at one time or another. Getting that message generally helps children accept using the strategy when they need it.
Positive time-out can be more than just a strategy teachers use to guide students—it can also become a tool students use on their own to manage emotions and behaviors. For some children who are easily frustrated or prone to emotional outbursts, learning to recognize early signs of distress and choosing to take a short break can be transformative. With guidance and practice, students can develop the ability to monitor their internal states and independently use positive time-out to calm themselves before their emotions interfere with learning or social interactions.
Many teachers set up a “buddy system” for times when a student refuses to positive time-out, continues to be disruptive or upset while there, or continues to struggle after coming back. The teacher then has the child positive time-out in another teacher’s room. This prevents the situation from escalating into a power struggle and enables the teacher to go on teaching the class. Learn more about this strategy in the article “Buddy Teachers.”
Calming oneself, controlling impulses, and consistently following the rules of the group are tough skills to master. But they’re essential for the smooth functioning of a learning community, as well as for each student’s personal growth. Positive time-out is one strategy teachers can use to help children develop these skills while ensuring everyone’s safety and keeping the learning going full steam ahead.
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