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.

Do Kids Have Rights

I found that this small segment in Love and Logic was very truen and influential in the classroom.  Not only do I believe that each and every student has rights but that they also tend to misbehave when they feel that those rights have been violated.  In my classroom I am very considerate of the rights that the students have and let them be heard so as to create a positive learning environment.  I think that it is very important to remember this because students are more willing to listen and participate in class when they feel as if they are being respected and looked at as an uniques individual with rights.