With this being my second year of teaching now I have been able to learn from so many mistakes and make myself a better classroom teacher.  I feel that through self evaluation and mostly collaborating with other teachers I have given myself the ammunition needed to be successful and reach out to my students in the most effective way.  I know that there is still much for me to learn but I feel that I have become more prepared and effeicient in my teaching methods.

Getting Them to Fall in Love With You

In the Love and Logic text there is this little insert of pg. 311 that talks about the relationships that a teacher from the inner city of Los Angeles formed that made her a one of the most successful teachers in this area.  So I took this insert and applied it to my classroom.  I have found that through building my relationships with my students I have been able to take them to new heights that they once thought where not possible.  I believe the greatest satisfaction comes from seeing students work problems and communicate problem solving methods that they never thought possible.  I know that through my relationships my students would do anything for me and I believe that through their leaps I have been able to take to new heights they never thought possible. 

In the readings for Love and Logic this week I ran across a useful hint that struck me as something I already do in class and how it can be effective.  This concept is that of negative assertion with my students.  I do believe that sometimes by not playing their game so to speak you let your words and actions be the discipline for the student.  I have found this true when moving students to different seating locations and also recieving zeros on days for participation grades for not participating.  Students seem to think it is fair and want to argue and I just point out that they earn what they got and nobody is to blame but themselves.  This has been a very effective strategy for my discipline throughout the school year.

How to reach those kids that just say I can't?

Is there really a true answer to this question and I believe that answer to be a no.  I think though that each teacher has in them the capabilities to reach these troubled students.  I have found ways through my readings of the text and my experiences to reach these types of students in my classroom.  I have developed relationships with these students where they trust me and I have familiarized myself with their likes and dislikes.  When they seem disgusted and frustrated I make a point to try to provide real life examples to them that are connected to things that they like and are interested in.  I think that through this development of a relationship I have put myself in a position where I have become an effective teacher to all types of learners.

In my readings in the text I really became engaged in the concept of giving students choices.  I think that this avenue not only leads to more power sharing but in all more responsibility on the part of the students.  I think that the more we are able to let hte students choose different items the more positive reinforcement we are providing them.  In my own classroom I sometimes make assignments that allows the students to know to choose which assignment they complete and ones that may spark more interest for the students.  I believe that the more choices you are able to provide to the students the more involved and interested they become in the subject and the class.

Reading in the Love and Logic text I really became interested in the different intervention strategies to deal with the disruptive student in class.  I really thought some of the interventions where simple but really effective and I have found that I use them in class on a regular basis.  The biggest component of these interventions that stood out to me was the fact of how they are delivered to the students.  How teachers need to be moving throughout the room when delivering these interventions and how they must be delivered with genuine compassion.  I believe the latter to be the most important aspect as students want to feel that you do have their best interest at heart. 

I have really been examining discipline within my classroom and ways that I can improve.  I found something really interesting to me in the Love and Logic text.  I think that there idea of core beliefs is essential within the classroom to promote positive behavior.  I think that by the class helping develop beliefs that are core to their positive behavior and posting them that students will hold themselves more accountable.  I think that this is an approach that I will try at the beginning of next year and see how it works.