Classroom Interventions

I enjoyed reading about the inner city teacher who said, "I guess if there is only one thing I could depend on, it would be relationships..." During my student teaching and Great Explorations experiences I have found that building relationships can make a huge difference. It is amazing how much more cooperative the students are if you take the extra time to build a relationship with them.

I also found it interesting when they suggested that providing a student time and space can be benefical. I have experienced this in the classroom. In the beginning, my star student, would do something, and I would kindly ask him to stop. But when he continued to do what he was doing I would get irritated and ask him again, which made it a game for him. After a while, I realized that if I would just kindly ask him to stop and walk away to continue teaching he will often just quit the unwanted behavior.

I also found the greetings in the hallway interesting. My cooperating teacher at my placement last fall in L'Anse Middle School would do this between each bell. He would stand out in the hall and greet all the students and make jokes. You wouldn't believe how much respect all the students had for him. This teacher could get the students to do just about anything he wanted because he took the extra time to build relationships with each student.