Some Highlights from Classroom Motivation from A to Z

I thought it would be best just to put in some of the highlights that I came across through reading this book. Let's take a look at some.

Catch Them Doing Something Good (C)

This chapter discussed trying to not focus on the negative when dealing with students. Sometimes that can be very difficult to do every day. They encourage you to raise the "PRAISE." However when you praise you must try to do the following:

• P--make the praise Personally meaningful.
• R--must be Respectful of the individual (some won't like to receive praise in front of everyone.
• A--your praise must be Authentic. Saying "good job" over and over does not do it. Let them know why you're proud of them.
• I--your praise must be Immediate.
• S--your praise must be Specific.
• E--praise must be Encouraging.

Dealing with Diversity

This section really dealt with the idea that we should not hide differences but that we should celebrate them. The opening quote asks teachers to think about how many categories their students fit into. In a classroom built on trust, this could be a powerful team building strategy.

Engagement Equals Success

I wrote about this in an earlier post. Take a look.

High Expectations for Everyone

It's very powerful as a teacher to know that our student live up or down to our expectations. Think about that for a second. If we walk into a classroom saying that it's okay for a certain group to perform lower and never give them the opportunity to prove us wrong, what have we done for that child? Some of our students may need more strategies to be successful, but that doesn't mean that we don't hold them to the same high expectations. Sometimes all a student needs is a teacher to believe in them.

Jump to Conclusions (Don't)

This section really hit home for me...as it asks us to not jump to conclusions but to find the root causes to various problems (especially discipline). How many kindergarten students and 1st grade students do you know who do not like to go to school. When/How does this change? Is it something that happens as they progress through elementary school and into middle school? Is it that some students begin to notice differences between them and others? Is it that teachers begin to "disconnect" from students as they progress through the grades. It's hard to keep up those personal connections when you all of a sudden have 100 students to work with in middle school compared to 15-25 in the elementary grades. We need to push ourselves to go the extra mile to make those connections.

I plan to review the rest of the book in a future post.......