Write the word STOP on the board in large letters. Each time you have to warn the class about being uncooperative, loud, rude, or anything else, you cross off a letter. When all the letters have been crossed off, you simply stop the cooperative activity and give a seatwork assignment. That's it! Usually a class will push you to the last letter of the word STOP the first time you use this. But if you have your Plan B ready for them that time, the next time you use it you will only have to erase a few letters. What do I do if the kids don't do the seatwork assignment? That's easy. I always plan a fun cooperative activity for the next day. The kids who had the seatwork have earned their way back in. The ones who don't sit in at a table in the room and work on the assignment they should have done for homework.

• Don't use this technique if just one or two students are causing a problem. Use another technique like putting their names on the board and putting checks by their names. Give the trouble-makers the seatwork after 3 checks. Don't punish the whole class if one person is misbehaving UNLESS the whole class is encouraging the behavior by laughing.
• You can use another word instead of STOP, but I like this one because it has just the right amount of letters. A teacher once told me that she writes the word HOMEWORK on the board and if she crosses off all the letters they have extra homework. I said, "I'll bet you don't see any improvement in behavior until you are down to the last few letters, right?" She saw my point immediately. She was coming across as very ineffective because she was giving 7 warnings before taking action!
• Don't lecture the students about their behavior when you cross off the last letter. Just calmly tell them to go back to their seats because you are going to stop the activity for the day. Let them know that you will give them another chance tomorrow, if they complete the assignment. If they linger and don't get back in their seats immediately, let them know that it might take a few more days before they are ready for another activity . . . tomorrow might be too soon! They'll get the point! Just don't lecture the class. The ones who were causing a problem will tune you out, and the ones who weren't causing the problem will be irritated at having to listen to a lecture when it wasn't their fault. Remain pleasant and calm, and project the expectation that you know they will get the work done and be ready for more fun tomorrow. It's amazing how well this works!