Why wait until after school?

Well, for the third time I called a parent DURING class to get the attention of the student and correct the behavior immediately, and might I say, the third time is definitely the charm.

As we were walking back from lunch, the students are supposed to be silent in the hall. In the stairwell, I hear somebody make a wookiee sound that would impress even Chewbacca himself. I stop the whole class, fight myself to not laugh, then ask who did it. Nobody responds. The class begins to all speak at once. Long story short: nobody fessed up, so the whole class suffered. After a very effective lecture, I send them up the stairs. Then, I hear someone shout. I look back over the balcony of the stairs and 12 kids are pointing at one boy whom I will call "C".

I call him up to the top of the stairs, tell him to stand right next to me, and he responds in a smart alec way. Out comes my phone and I call his dad. The conversation is as follows:

Me: Hi, Mr. H, this is Mr. Lowe, C's English teacher. We're standing in the stairwell and the rest of your son's class is silent, but he decided it was a good idea to shout something out when I told him repeatedly to be silent. I just thought you should know.

Mr. H: Would you like me to talk to him?

Me: That would be nice.

I then hand C the phone and he has a conversation with his father in front of every single student in the class. He hands the phone back.

Me: Yes?

Mr. H: He should be just fine now. I don't know what's gotten into him, another teacher called earlier this week. I don't know if it's his hair or what, but he's gonna get a whoopin' tonight...and then he'll get a haircut. I sure wish y'all could whoop them still, put them right in shape. But you don't worry, Mr. Lowe, he'll get his butt whooped and then he'll get his hair cut. Thank you for calling.

Me: No, thank you, sir. Have a nice day.

So, the things I learned today:
1. Either my students are lying or there are wookiees roaming our halls.
2. The length of one's hair is directly proportionate to their misbehavior.
3. A quick call to a parent DURING class does wonders.