Sixth Sense

Today I write about a really good strategy for classroom management, which means it didn't come from me. To give a little context, one student's brand new shoes got stolen last Friday. Based on when the shoes were missing and last seen, and what students were coming in and out of the room at the time, one of the teachers had it narrowed down to one or two kids. One student in particular had been testing the waters for a while, seeing how much he could get away with. He was confronted, a police report was filed, and he had coughed up a pair of shoes by Monday.

Now if he was in my class, I don't know how I would have handled it from there. The experienced teachers have a sixth sense about this stuff. The thief's teacher had been noticing from day 1 that this student is an attention seeker in a rather rude and disruptive way. She was explaining her strategy from here on out: ignore all his attempts at negative attention and emphasize positive feedback for the rest of the class. Within a day, she is already seeing that his demeanor is beginning to shift. He wants to be a part of the class, like everyone else that is getting attention and praise from the teacher. He is learning how to do that in a positive way.