Chapter 9

Providing students with a choice is very effective in the classroom. I usually provide students with a choice, but lately that is how I have been making leaway with my "new student." The other day he handed me a science worksheet that had 3 our of 9 questions completed. I handed the worksheet back to him and told him that I will only take it completed. Then I told him that he had a choice, he could either finish the worksheet or take a zero on it. He was really mad and yelling so I told him don't do it and I won't have to take the time to grade it (probably not the right thing to say, but I said it anyway). Then I left the classroom (it was recess) to run some errands. When I returned there was the student sitting in his seat working away on his sheet. He finished it and brought it up to me completed. Then he appologized to me for his behavior, and I thanked him and told him he should be proud of the choice he made.

Providing choices with my class has proven effective. I was happy to know that providing my "new student" with a choice was effective, because I have not found much success with anything else I have tried. This student is very stubborn and does not care to be in school at all!

Chapter 8

I found this chapter interesting because many of my students are lacking a self-concept. I would have to agree that many parents do too much for their children because they are trying to help them, but they don't realize they are not helping them any by solving their problems. Page 119, says,"Parents who solve problems their children could have solved for themselves (albeit with guidance) are likely to raise children who give up early." These students hate to struggle so rather than continue to struggle their way, they simply give up trying.

I also found it interesting when it said, "A significant problem in our society is that we tend to rescue kids from consequences far to frequently." This is a problem because students don't learn to stop inappropriate behaviors. I see this a lot in my class. If we are having trouble with a students behavior we will contact the parents and let them know about the problem. So many times I have heard a parent make excuses for their child's behavior rather than try to fix it. I think it is because they are embarrassed about thier child's behavior and what others think of it.

Chapter 7

I like the quote, "'Fair' is often not identical treatment, but rather giving what is needed." My supervising teacher has this quote hanging above the chalk board in the front of the classroom. In my classroom I have 4 students with IEP and in their case they may need to have their test read aloud to them, while the other students are capable of reading their own test. This is not identical treatment, but it is necessary for these students to do well on the test.

The one rule was great! This is a universal rule that is worded just write to cover all the other rules. "You can do anything in this class you want, provided it doesn't cause any problems for anyone else." What a great way to get the students to empathize with their actions towards others and make the rules and consequences more meaningful.

chapter 6

The first thing I thought of when I read the "fight or flight" was my third grade teacher. This teacher was a drill sergent and was constantly belittling students. We were practicing for our spring concert. Our class was doing line dancing and we had to practice the "electric slide" Nothing has changed since the 3rd grade because I still can't dance! The teacher saw me missing the steps and she just started yelling at me and embarrasing me in front of my peers. This is the first and probably the only time that I yelled back at a teacher! She made me mad and I yelled back and ended up with a trip to the principle's office. Now when I think of 3rd grade this is always the first thing that pops into my mine. This teacher failed to build my confidence, instead she shot it down even more and it caused me to fight back. Self-worth is to be encouraged. I have found in my classroom that the students eat up the praise and really strive to show me what they can do.

I found the different perceptions of achievement to be very interesting. I liked how they tied the perception of a woman's idea of shopping to a man's idea of shopping. I have a little boy in my classroom who struggles academically. However, this young boy has a tremendous work ethic. He spends twice the amount of time on a homework assignment and triple the amount of time studing for a test to receive a c or B. He is always so proud of his work and focuses more on what he has achieved rather than what grade he got.

Chapter 5

I thought it was interesting when they were talking about the source of the disciplinary problems. If you can see the child's home environment then you can find the source of the problems. I have two students who are struggling getting their homework in on time. To try to help these students we had a child study for them last week and one parent didn't even bother to show up. Needless to say we didn't get a whole lot accomplished during our meeting. I have found out that building the students self-esteem up works wonders when trying to control the classroom. If the students feel like something is accomplishable then they are more willing to try.

Chapter 4: Teaching with Love and Logic

Hi all,

Opps, I forgot to include chapter 4. I thought this chapter was very helpful because it seems that the ones who are misbehaving are always performing for an audience. I ran into this problem when I was student teaching! I had a young boy who would act up and the class would laugh. The laughter was fuel to his fire and the behavior would progress.

see you Wednesday!
Lisa

Chapters 1-3 of Teaching With Love and Logic

Hi all,
I hope you are all enjoying this book as much as I am. I have a young girl in my classroom that I have not been able to establish a relationship with yet, and I am anxious to try the relationship building techniques on page 21 to see if that helps. This young lady is the "queen bee" of the classroom, and although I have established relationships with all the others in the class I think that this girl is capable of ruining those relationships. If I can create a relationship with this young lady I will have it made in my classroom. I have tried a lot of things and it seems like everytime I feel like I am getting somewhere with her she falls off the deep end with her sassy, I am too cool for you attitude. Hopefully this new approach will help me get her aboard. I will keep you updated and let you know if I am making any leeway with her.

I also enjoyed reading the enforceable limits on page 27 that talks about getting kids to make their own decisions. Currently, I am struggling to get students to turn in their work in my classroom. The only way they turn it in is if I am constantly reminding and allowing extra time. They seem to be making improvements, but there is still much work to be done. I really enjoyed reading about the two baskets, one for work to be graded tonight, and the other for work to be graded in the summer. I think it would be fun to experiment with this and see if it helps my students become more responsible and turn their work in on time without the constant reminders.

This book is loaded with tons of wonderful advice, and I can't wait to start applying some of the techniques in the classroom and watch what happens.

If you have any additional advice I would be happy to give it a try!