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I have Haim Ginot’s quote on the wall of my classroom where I can see it every day. I need to remember that, even though they do thrive in a classroom of cooperation, students are used to coercion and control and I need to be patient as they are ‘untrained’ so to speak and get used to a new teaching style.

In other words, it can take weeks, even months, for some students to respond to a classroom environment other than coercion and control. My job is to remain patient and consistently show that I am always there for them, that I am fair, that they can count on me. voila.

After years and i mean years of playing with this stuff in a very serious way Here is some thoughts:

Tobin puts us on a different path:

Control is not the most pressing issue in classrooms! Most classroom management systems still look to use coercion as a way to get kids to do stuff.

Your most pressing issue is your ability to generate…….
COOPERATION!!!!

Think: Who do i really cooperate with and why?
How do i beging to get kids to cooperate with me?

The misbehavior of troubled children is seldom what it first appears to be. Understanding this, I believe, is the only place to start. No child has a need to create a life of conflict. (L. Tobin)

If you are drawn to education, and if you enjoy a challenge, there is no greater challenge than to walk alongside a troubled child and to help her see a better world. ( L. Tobin )

He’s Violent, you say.
Perhaps. But imagine what it takes for a child to strike an adult- his only source of survival. Imagine the depth of terror behind this bravado- Imagine the depth of hurt.
(L. Tobin)

There is something about the eyes of abused children- a depth, a darkness, an absence of spirit. Scan any classroom and you will find those eyes. Scan any classroom and they will find you. (L. Tobin)

The hurt that troubled children create is never greater than the hurt they feel. ( L. Tobin )

Troubled children do not conceal their emotions well. They have a raw and disconcerting honesty. Perhaps that’s why we call them difficult. ( L. Tobin )

To recognize and meet the needs of troubled children, you must recognize and meet the needs with-in yourself.
(L. Tobin)

CONSISTENCY is the key component when working with troubled kids. But consistency is far more than just a rigid application of rules. What troubled children need consistently is to feel your openness and caring, your heart touching theirs. ( L. Tobin )

One of the greatest benefits in working with troubled children is that you get to live at the edges of your competence and discover that they are not fixed.
( F. A. Fecser )

Hang in there if you are having difficulty…
use it to drive you learning!

Looking back troubled kids have been a major growth producer in my life.

Don’t wait for others to tell you how to do this work… go find it…learn it…make it yours….

Teaching, like any truly human activity, emerges from one’s inwardness, for better or worse. ( Parker Palmer )

Good teaching requires self-knowledge:
it is the secret hidden in plain sight.( Parker Palmer )

THE POWER OF TEACHING:
“I’ve come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate; it’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture, or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated or a child humanized or dehumanized.” ( Haim Ginott )

BE WELL… mike

This is a wonderful idea particularly for new teachers who need a chance to experiment and feedback without the fear of being judged for what the new teacher often perceives as inadequacies on their part. We lose too many enthusiastic new teachers because there is insufficient direct support to them. Encouraging reflective feedback on what worked well, what would make it even better is a positive way to channel frutiful experimentation. Keep up the good work!

The image for this post is one of mine I took it about 2 years ago on a cold morning while walking my dog. It felt right for this post. Either I use one of my own images or I do a search for creative commons images with SpinXpress –>http://www.spinxpress.com/getmedia

What works for me:

~ Give positive attention WHENEVER you can. When a (problem) student is on time, when he gives a good answer, when his behaviour is better than in the previous class, anything will do.

~ Give hyperactive students special chores such as distributing handouts.

~ I love to start my class with a 5-10 minute examination in which I ask one student questions about the material they had to learn. This way, the room will be totally quiet which make it easier to get started.

~ It’s true. Blogging really really helps!

PS. Tracy, where do you get all those beautiful images that go with your blog posts?

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