1. Everyone wants to be "liked". Who knows what the children go through everyday at home. School may be the ONLY place they feel "liked". We need to give them that!!
2. (1) If I praise people, they will stop working - Not me!! I will work that much harder so that I don't dissappoint ... now that they noticed! (2) If I start praising people - I might miss someone and hurt their feelings. If you praise authentically, specifically, immediately, and privately then that statement doesn't make sense. (3) I don't have the time - Who doesn't have a couple of seconds to say.."I like how you raised you participated in the math lesson - you gave a great answer." I like how you began reading your AR book when you were finished with your assignment". "You worked well in groups today" Whatever it is - those 5 seconds that you take to look into their eyes and acknowledge something they did well - will put a smile on their face and a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I'd much rather spend my 5 seconds making someone smile.
3. Sometimes it's easier said than done. Working with great colleagues everyday - makes them our friends too. Who do we turn to when we have a bad day? - our "friends". We just need to continue to think positive thoughts and talk about other things "friends" talk about. Fun things...our own kids...movies...silly things we've done...American Idol...and before you know it everyone is smiling and laughing!!!
4. We set the tone for the day. Somedays we are actors - and we could get an Oscar for our performances. Even if we are tired, not feeling the best, running late, worried about someting at home, stressed about things...we can make it a great day ... or not... the choice is ours! I love that saying because it is soooo true. The kids depend on us to make it a great day.
5. Less-effective teachers do not recognize the need to repair because they are "offenders themselves". We need to help them with their people skills, build their confidence.

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1. Great teachers focus on positive expectations and make them very clear from the beginning. The example in the book listed Respect yourself, Respect others, and Respect your school. These are general enough to encompass every aspect of the day and yet refrain from the "No thumping" specifics.
2. Good classroom management focuses on prevention of misbehavior more than on the punishment. Consequences need to be fair and consistent, but should not give the teacher too much pleasure. There should be a sense of disappointment in not having prevented the problem, rather than satisfaction in "getting the kid".
3. There is a simple rule to follow to know what not to do... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Therefore, most of us would agree that we don't want to be embarrassed, yelled at, ignored, made an example of, or argued with. I have been guilty of sitting children in the hall, I hadn't really thought of it as making a spectacle of them until reading this. I had seen it as a means of removing them from the situation. I have kind of rethought that after reading this.
5. It was a very important point that Mr. Whitaker made about responsibility. We are responsible for our own actions and those are the only ones we have control over. However, our actions can have an enormous impact on the actions of our students. By focusing on ourselves, we focus on what we have the ability to change and don't get overwhelmed with things that are out of our control.
I found these chapters as a refreshing reminder to do a self check and look at myself for the answers to some of my own classroom situations.

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