As an educator, one would ideally be able to focus on giving students the tools to access knowledge. However, educators deal with children, who grow up under the care of their teachers. So, besides subject matter, teachers are charged with the duty of teaching children behaviors. And sometimes, instead of encouraging proper behavior, educators sometimes mistakenly encourage discipline problems with ineffective punishments or behaviors of their own. In Wasickso and Ross's article, common mistakes of educators in discipline are given, as long as many effective solutions.
The article is opened with a list of ways to effectively encourage discipline problems. (For the teacher who feels they don't have enough on their plate already.) But what follows is truly a helpful guide to classroom management. My reaction will focus on three particular pieces of advice: "Expect the best from kids," "Know each student well," and "Treat students with love and respect.".
If an educator expects little out of their students, the children will perform just at that expectation. It is a human flaw to work just as much as needed, and do what is needed for the bare minimum. Teachers have a responsibility to show children that the bare minimum, while it may be enough, is not the best. If they put forth the extra effort, they ought to receive a reward, be it extra-credit, extra recess, or special privileges. This thought goes hand in hand with discipline. If a teacher expects her children to misbehave, they will sense this expectation and perform accordingly. However, if a teacher expects a high behavioral pattern, and expresses this adequately, and also provides rewards for meeting this expectation, children will live up to this expectation, or at least put forth an effort to do so. And how does an educator set their expectations for classroom behavior without knowing their students? Is it enough to know their names, the names of their parents, or what subjects they struggle with? No.
