8 Comments
Aug 10Liked by Dylan Kane

Very important comments Dylan. There seems to be this push at the moment to just constantly praise the good. I often find leadership using this strategy as advice if you are having problems with some children. This strategy is being overblown to it's effectiveness (I'm an Australian teacher, to give some context). It can work for some low level disruptions, but I find not much after that (also, the older the students get the less powerful this strategy gets). Praise needs to be authentic for it to work, this is not very often pointed out

I still use positive praise and it can be great. As long as it is not seen as this panacea to classroom issues. I just hope it doesn't turn into this overblown solution, which I feel it is a bit at the moment. It's another tool in your toolkit. Nothing more than that - in my view.

I agree with targeting off task students privately. I often rely on non-verbal gestures to help with this.

Expand full comment

Yes, you make a valid point. I have been using an AI Name Generator recently, and it works quite well. You might want to give it a try. https://aithename.com

Expand full comment
Oct 28·edited Oct 28

Ah, the classic classroom conundrum! It's like trying to stop a cold [Sprunki](https://sprunki.xyz) —one sneeze, and suddenly everyone’s got the sniffles. Maybe we should teach students to cough dramatically whenever someone’s playing Slope. Only then can we really contain the contagion! 😂

Expand full comment

“Be quick, be quiet, be gone.” I like that. How do you quiet a loud class?

Expand full comment
author

There's no trick that works every time. Solid routines and expectations at the start of the year. I find Adam Boxer's "golden silence" idea helpful: https://achemicalorthodoxy.co.uk/2021/11/07/golden-silence/. Be patient, do a reset, explain why you're asking students to work quietly.

Expand full comment

Thank you for this. I’m definitely one of those teachers who appreciates students working silently from time to time each class.

Expand full comment
author

Me too. I've been toying with a post about this idea, I should get around to writing it!

Expand full comment

I think that this is about a simultaneous solution = see & ignore any negatives AND be explicit by praising what SHOULD be happening… Which works well when you praise a student sitting near that student who isn’t doing what was asked? Just a small suggestion supported your post!!

Expand full comment