Give Me Respect

I always thought that I would automatically get respect from students when I walked the coridoors of a school because I was a teacher. That was not the case. You have to work hard to get respect. You have to say “hi” and get to know names of kids. You have to pay attention. You have to stop and talk to students during recess or any chance you get. Don’t be an authoritarian. Respect will come. Things become easier.

My shortest post on motivation.

Rewarding students and punishing students can be exhausting and counterproductive. Focus on the intrinsic, not the extrinsic motivators. Building relationships and discovering what motivates students is the best “classroom management” I can think of. Just imagine the growth.

Is teaching all about Control?

“Do you have control over your class?” “ She does not have control over her class.” “ He does not control his class at all.” “ You need control over your students.” I have heard questions and statements like these a lot in my teaching career. It would appear that teaching is all about control, control, control. It is not. It is about building relationships with students. Learning follows. Get away from the “mind set” of control. Then sit back and watch the results.

For more on this topic see Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community, Alfie Kohn, http://amzn.to/kLSQzD as recommended by Scott McLeod below. @mcleod

A Short Conversation With…Greta Sandler @gret

How long have you been teaching?
I’ve been an English as a second language teacher for about 8 years. I used to teach young adults at the university level and then moved into elementary education. Teaching kids has made a huge difference for me. It’s such a gift to be able to reach out for them and help them flourish!

Are we just here to bore each other?

Meetings, presentations, speeches, ceremonies, etc. can be interesting; Most, however, not so much. I know that not everything can be exciting all the time. That is a given. However, I often wonder why we, as humans, continue to bore each other with long ceremonies, drawn out meetings, and uninteresting speeches/presentations. Can we at least question the value of how we do many of these things? Can we change some of these things or are we just here to bore each other?