Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Small Successes

One of the 7th grade groups was in my class yesterday learning some word processing skills. The last time they were in, I had two particularly 'spirited' boys that were quite disruptive. Yesterday I started class chatted with one trying to set the class up differently.  I reinforced how I wanted him to act and said I knew he could do it.  The other boy I had to move to a different computer station because his usual one wasn't working. He grumbled and griped but I chatted quietly with him as well.  Well, my quiet chat strategy worked! Both boys were less disrupted and actually worked. What I have known for many years is that building relationships will trump all when it comes to the classroom. I sat in a training yesterday for No Nonsense Nurturing and was again reminded of this important element to a classroom. I am hoping that the connections I'm making with some of the 7th and 8th graders during their elective time at the end of the day will start to filter into the times they come to the class with their other classmates.  The group I have is only 15 or so kids who are exploring some various tech tools. Yesterday while chatting with a few of them, I had the aha idea of having them do some learning about things they're interested in and then somehow teach me or the class.  For example one student was looking up Otter Box cases and talking to his friends about how they work. Another was looking up info on a new gaming system he wants. These are the things I need to build from and hopefully build a relationship with.

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