I heard of a school just down the road from mine in Walthamstow which had a teacher who took the "dunce's corner" concept a step further. He had a dustbin in the corner, and, if you were naughty, you'd be made to stand in it. His reasoning to the class was that bad behaviour was rubbish, and, well, what do we do with our rubbish...?

I must say, I did manage at times to defuse a situation in which a pupil was giving me lip by roaring in his face "How DARE you open your mouth when you're speaking to me, boy!"