Unusual ways of punishment

As a teacher, I sometimes have to use some discipline in order to keep the show on the road. All of my students now know how allergic I am to mobile phones in the lesson...I never want to hear a peep out of them, never want to see the furtive hand movements under the desk as they check that 'urgent' message...so, over the last couple of years I invented the 'yellow card, red card' system - which works quite well. It's simple: if I catch you (or your phone) then it's a yellow card - the next time it happens (just like a football match) it's a red, no questions asked. The punishment can vary...in the past I've got the students to either write me an essay on 'why I should not use my mobile phone in a lesson', or a talk in front of the class on the evils of such behaviour...but I'm still working on it ;-)

Another one is chewing gum in the lesson - actually, it's not really a punishment...I provide a piece of paper, with this written on it:

CHEWING GUM

PAPER

kindly use this for your gum – you don't need it in this lesson

I got the idea from a tea room ;-) It works quite well...

Recently, I have begun to punish students for not bringing their exercise books with them - well, they have paid a lot of money for them & should get the most out of them! So, if the book is A.W.O.L. then they have to either sing a song (it could be a solo or a group song, depending on the number of students who have forgotten their book!)...but if they refuse to sing, then they have to buy some chocolate for me (plain/dark, as my wife likes it too :-))! 

I have heard of some punishments given by other teachers from universities...

One of my friends, Simon Gill, gets a bottle of quality beer if a mobile phone goes off in his lesson ;-)

And one student told me that her Japanese teacher, who is quite strict, has a novel way of dealing with lateness...he tells the student to leave the class, and they have to go outside & climb up to the balcony on the first floor (where the class is situated), and then they have to climb in the window! I like it!! Mind you, I think I might have problems if my lessons are on the 3rd floor...