I have received a lot of great comments on this post, and I figured I should respond in the comments, but then the comment kept getting longer and longer, so I am just going to do a blog post.I understand what most of you are saying. I think what I am still struggling with is that this class really has been my worst. When they are here, I have a sick feeling. This is my fault. I have been so fed up with their attitude, passive-aggressive behavior, backtalking, and all the other things they have been doing that I just don't know what else to do with them. It was not a motivational thing. I motivated my students with negativity a lot last year, but it is not effective, for me at least.The real benefit to this all happening is that they have actually listened to what I have said since this incident. They are not just blowing me off. I think that we listen to each other more. This week we have been doing state testing, and I was not looking forward to dealing with them while those who finished early goofed off and weren't respectful of the other students. But they have been doing a really good job. I haven't had that sick feeling this week. I know that kids can and will be kids, and I am okay with that. It is the over-the-top aggression and disrespect that drives me nuts. I said it before, do I deserve respect from this class after calling those girls out? They certainly have not thought so.Image Credit: Road to Well BeingPaul, great link! You are right on as usual. Both the students and myself had a blind spot. They were blind to how they were making me feel, and I was blind to how they felt about me. Now that something is out in the open, we can start to have a conversation about what is going on. Hopefully, it will lead to something productive. This class has been much better this week. I don't think that it is because they are trying to please me. In my opinion, they realized that I am telling other people about them, and they don't want to spoken ill of. (And that would be bad, talk about losing trust!) Either that, or they realized that I was serious, and they don't want to be "the worst" at anything. Or maybe, I just got it off my chest, so now I am not as annoyed. Who knows?Have a Good Life.

I have mentioned that I am impressed with my school this year. I enjoy being in a place where most teachers respect and have concern for others. This year we filled out a rubric to see if kids qualify for Foreign Language in 8th grade. My big problem with the rubric is that it tends to put all the good kids in Foreign Language and all the bad kids in Reading. That is not a good combination. I raised a question about it, and although those who I asked seemed to say, "Well, we know more about the situation than you, so stop making waves" they were supportive after I persisted in expressing my concerns. It led to some quick changes to the rubric, and they were able to change things to be better. I suggested we have an application for the students to fill out that would help them decide if Foreign Languages were right for them. This is what it looks like. I am glad that these teachers and counselors are willing to work together to come up with something that is hopefully better.Have a Good Life.

The last couple weeks we have been doing Skype video calls with another 7th grade class in Oregon. All we have been doing is reciting poetry, but it is still fun. My students have been really nervous, which is cool because they are able to perform in front of a real audience. I blocked out the faces of the students. We have been working with a class in Oregon. I think that it is so much fun to do this.Today, we did a video call with a fourth grade boy and his teacher. The boy, D. asked a bunch of questions about Utah. It is part of a big project that the whole class is working on.So, here is what I think of video calls with other classes. This can be a great way for people to learn more about other places and other people. I would really like to do some video calls with some writers since I teach English. It would be very beneficial to be able to learn from them, and use their knowledge and experience to help my students. Maybe my 7th graders are too young for that. I don't know. I do have one friend who is an author, but we just haven't had an opportunity to talk to him, though, thankfully, he is willing. This is something that I want to keep doing next year. The good this about this is that you are not putting anything on the internet, your kids' identities are protected, and you meet new people in the process.Have a Good Life.

I have been using Blogger as my blogging platform of choice for two and a half years. It is very easy to use, pretty fast, and I don't have too many complaints. My biggest complaint is that it doesn't host files. That frustrates me, especially when I try to help teachers use it for school, and they can't attach their files to it. You can use Google Docs, but I have found that Google Docs requires a paradigm shift for most people that they aren't quite willing to make.When I write for The Apple Blog I use Wordpress, which many people have mentioned is much better than Blogger. So far, I do like it a lot. It works well if you know a little more about computers because you can customize it much more than you can Blogger. Blogger is much more simple, and that has its own appeal as well.Do you know which platform I refuse to use? Typepad. And here is why: their comment system stinks! Whenever I want to post a comment, I click the submit button. The Web site sends the request to show me a page that says my comment has been submitted, so I think it is all done. Well, that is wrong, because this happens every time: about 20 minutes later, I browse through my tabs to see what is open, sometimes to see if anyone has responded to my comments. When I do this on a Typepad blog, I get the screen below:It is still waiting for me to put in the correct Captcha letters/numbers. Despite the fact that I hate these things, I always mess up the Typepad Captcha. In the picture above, can you see where I messed up? I sure can't. But, sure enough, I had to enter another response to this Captcha. So this happens every time I post a comment on a Typepad blog. I don't think I have ever entered the Captcha correctly on the first try. By the third try, I just give up. Typepad makes it so hard to leave a comment, it is just ridiculous.If they make it so hard to leave a comment, I can only imagine how difficult it must be to even enter a post! Typepad can do some things to make it a better system:Have the anti-spam question, Captcha, or whatever it is, on the page where you leave your comment. Don't make us think there just isn't one.Change the Captcha system. Perhaps it times out after too much time. It is easy to let it sit there for a while when you expect your comment to just appear.Just these two changes would, I am sure, increase the amount of comments on posts. Am I alone here, or do you share my feelings?Have a Good Life.

As many of you know, I am a BzzAgent. I get invited to try out products and services and tell people about them. I get compensated by getting the products for free (or a reduced price). Well, I recently got invited to join a campaign for Claritin RediTabs. I don't have allergies, so I almost didn't accept the invitation. But then I thought about all the times that people complain to me about their allergies at this time of year. It turns out, it is good that I did take the campaign because I am allergic to something. The last two Saturdays we have been working out in the garden, and after I came in, I took a shower. That made my contacts really dry, so I put some Visine for Contacts in my eyes and they were no longer dry. It felt great. Well, it didn't look great. The image below shows how I looked about 10 minutes after putting the drops in my eyes.I did edit the image a little because the redness wasn't showing up so that it was visible on my computer screen. It looked a lot worse in real life. It still didn't hurt, but I don't think that Visine is supposed to do that to your skin. So, I took some Claritin RediTabs, and in about 15 minutes the redness was all gone. The Claritin did not leave an aftertaste in my mouth and dissolved in 5 seconds. The first time I used the Claritin, I thought it was a fluke, but the second time, I knew that it really did work. Staci has also used these when she has had sneezing attacks. If you have allergies, try these RediTabs and let me know what you think.

I love using Google Reader. I loved it even more when they introduced Sharing items with people that you chat with. All the time, though, I wanted to add comments to what I shared with people. Google implemented that feature a couple weeks ago. It is wonderful. I got connected with a slew of people when Google announced sharing to begin with, but I would like to get connected with more people. If you read my blog and use Google Reader, please add me to your chat list, so that we can share things we read in Reader. My email is jethro dawt jones at gmail dawt com. You are not required to chat with me, but I do love reading what people share! Have a Good Life.

Twitter Version: I don't argue.At the end of last year, I did a couple reflection posts. Now, it is time for me to reflect on some things I learned this year.My first year of teaching, I spent a lot of time arguing with my students. At one point, the VP came and talked to one of my students outside my classroom with me. I remember so vividly the way she handled that situation. He had done something wrong, and she was lecturing him. He started a weak protest, and she said, "Sir, this is not a time for you to argue, you will listen to me now." That sounds like a harsh and unhelpful way to talk to a student, but it is really quite effective. I know there is a lot of talk about how we should treat students--they are people too, after all. I think there is a fine line you have to walk in these situations. You need to treat people like adults when they deserve. Not all students deserve that treatment, especially when they are just arguing for argument's sake.This is how I handle situations now. When a kid is goofing off or doing something wrong. I very firmly and authoritatively tell them to leave the room. When I get outside, I ask them questions like:Why are you out here?What is causing you to act like this?Why would your behaving like this make me upset?How would this behavior cause problems in the classroom?If, at any point during our conversation, they want to argue, I immediately interrupt them and tell them that they are not permitted to speak right now. They are out here to answer my questions. I never raise my voice or get angrier at them. If they continue, I calmly say something like, "M., we are not here to argue."If they still argue, I repeat the above and say, "You did X wrong, and it has created a big enough problem in class that I need to come out here to talk to you. You will have your opportunity to say your peace after you answer my questions." Invariably, their peace is, "I understand that what I did was wrong, and I am sorry."Nearly always, I give them an opportunity to say or add anything else. My belief is that if they answer my questions, I should answer theirs. Usually, this consists of them saying "Someone else started the problem" or "Why didn't you get so-and-so in trouble?"When they ask those questions, I focus them on themselves, and talk about what they did and say that I will deal with the other student as needed. Usually this works pretty well, because it is almost always the same kids that do something wrong. (Hmm, that sounds like a whole other blog post.)This method has been very effective for me this year. Students have behaved better, and even though it is the same kids goofing off, they have been goofing off less this year, and problems have been resolved quicker, and with less administrative involvement.Have a Good Life.Image: Busted (my title). Crop of IMG_2994 by Mr. Woo

I am participating in a program by our school district called the Engaged Classroom. I (and two other teachers) are going to have a mobile lab with a bunch of other technology to use for the year, and hopefully create some good projects and learning opportunities for our students. This is exactly the type of thing that I have wanted to do for a long time, so I am glad that I now have the opportunity.Kelly and Darren are doing a great job teaching a very technologically diverse group of people about the different tools we should/will be using. They are experiencing what any other person teaching about technology will experience: sometimes, people just don't get it. Even if they say, "Yes, teacher, I understand what you are asking and I will do it from now on just like that."After learning how to use Diigo (which I finally kind of understand now, thanks), Wikis, Google Docs, and plenty of other collaborative web apps, one student wanted to share a link with another student. So, this is what she did:)You gotta love that. The image is backwards, and it is because I took it from Photo Booth and didn't have the energy to mirror the image so it came out right. Call me lazy. Honestly, the worst thing in the world to me (not really, but a close second to getting stung by a jellyfish) is writing out by hand URLs. Talk about torture!So the real question is, what is this person going to do with what she has "learned" this week? I am most certainly not mocking or poking holes in the wonderfully developed program. They have done a lot to make sure that they are following up; we must make a portfolio, attend monthly meetings, and teach others about the same things we are learning. This is a large beast to tackle for them, and I am excited to be a part of it. Have a Good Life.

I just completed the Engaged Classroom training: a four-day course that covered a book and a bunch of social/web tools. It was pretty intense, and I think that a lot of people are overwhelmed. Below is a picture of the stuff that we got (I used Delicious Library 2 to get that all organized).I am so excited to do this. I have the tools now to do stuff. That has been the biggest hurdle for me.I am required to train two other teachers to use these tools: Matt and Melinda. Matt is a self-proclaimed technophobe, but he is coming along. I think my biggest challenge with him is the actual implementation of the tools. I think that if I work with him over the summer, he will be good to go. He just needs to start using these tools.Melinda is pretty savvy, and I think she will need direction to find what is good for her class. She is still new, and teaches a heavy curriculum, but I think that she will come along nicely, as well.The best thing is that I really like both of them. Matt and Melinda are awesome, and I am very lucky that I get to teach with them. They are both very accommodating, eager to learn, and flexible. I am really looking forward to this Engaged Classroom program.The biggest concern that I have is the time that it will take to teach the students to use these tools. Some of them will "get it" and some won't. Some will be so engrossed I will have to pry the technology away from them, and some won't care at all.I think the key is to make sure that I am not forcing them to use the tools, but making an environment that will be conducive to them learning with a lot of failures will be crucial. I think I am up to the task.This is not going to be an easy thing to do, but it will be worth it, I think.Have a Good Life.

I spent my first 6 hours of "Internship: Summer to Remember" at ES School. I just found out this week that the beloved principal is retiring. It has been a good run, and I was able to meet the replacement today, as well. She seems very nice. Sadly, Mr. P. had to leave at about 11, so I didn't get to spend much time picking his brain.He did have to deal with a situation while I was there, and it was very interesting to see how he handled it. He said Public Relations is the biggest part of his job. It is number 1. He reminded me how important it was to take care that you think before speaking, not get defensive, and try your hardest to not pit a person against anyone else. There is a lot of careful speaking that you have to do with the teachers and parents and students and your supervisors. It seems like a principal's job is that of a peacekeeper.When Mr. P. called the parent who complained, he did a great job of calming her down, making sure she realized that he took it very seriously, then told what he did, calmed her down some more, and then told her what a great friend of the school she was. He extolled her virtues and helped her see that this really was not a big deal, and there is nothing we can do about it now. Put it behind us. She ended happy.He also mentioned how important it is to treat every concern the same. Follow up on everything that you say you will and make sure that it is done to the satisfaction (or at least as close as you can get to that) of all parties involved.Not a simple task to be sure, but a worthwhile one.Have a Good Life.

I now understand why paperwork is the bane of principals' existence. I had to get everything in order for Mr. P. to check out at the end of the school year. There are 46 items on the checkout list for elementary principals! That is a lot. What makes it really hard is that I don't know who I need to go to to get the information that is needed. Even though it is a bit of a pain, I did enjoy seeing the progress that I made so far. I got the little, easy things done, and I am ready to move on.On the way to school this morning, two girls got in a fight and one of the city's finest caught them. They weren't on school ground, yet, and so the cops dealt with it. When we heard that the police were involved, we were sure that it was going to be a long and tiring process of trying to get everything sorted out. Luckily, however, the police officers just took care of the whole problem, so we didn't have to deal with anything. That was really nice.Also, we had a fire drill today and some of the walkie-talkies did not work. Some teachers do not plug them in so they can charge, which makes the possibility of danger in a real emergency very high. Other than that, everyone did their job quickly and well.Have a Good Life.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a pediatrician. When I was about 16, I threw my nephew up in the air, and he landed behind me on his back. That cut me right to the core. It was so hard to see him in pain. This morning (even though it feels like 2 weeks ago), a boy got in a fight and didn't seem to feel any remorse, until he called his dad. His dad was not happy. He started crying when he got on the phone, and I could tell that it was difficult and sad for him. That made me feel sad inside. For about two minutes. Then I realized that I would be crying if I did what he did as an elementary school student. Then I realized I can't feel too much compassion for these kids. A healthy amount is fine, but I can't get bent out of shape about it.It is a good thing I got that thicker skin because kids were in the office crying all day today. I dealt mostly with kids and their issues. I really do like solving the problems.Kids lie. Sad, but true. I need to remember that. Every single kid told a different story than the others.If they are not going to tell the truth, there is no way that I can help them. They just don't want to get in trouble.Mr. P. suggested that I write down and ask him questions that I have as they arise. I will add them on to the bottom of my blog posts with his answers. Feel free to add your responses to the questions as well.The problem I have is that all the questions I could ask are so subjective and the answer is invariably going to be "It depends." Being a principal is not a formulaic job. I can't plug X solution into Y problem and expect everything to work out. That is why I must think, prepare, plan, and carefully consider what and how I do everything.Question: What should I do when I see a kid out in the hall being "yelled" at or lectured by a teacher? Mr. P. says he just walks away unless called upon for assistance. He stressed not doing anything to undermine the authority of the teacher. The more you do to undermine it, the less authority you and the teacher have. Almost everything should be taken care of in the classroom.How do you know how far to push a kid when punishing them? Some just need a lecture, others need to go to jail--how do you know which they need? What do you do when a teacher says a student can't come back to his or her classroom? The important thing here is to make sure the teacher knows that you are the one who makes that decision. Teachers cannot say that a kid is not welcome in his or her class. Take the teacher's input, but be sure that you communicate to them it is your decision, not theirs.Have a Good Life.

We are not just in this to educate children. We are here to help modify their behavior. -Mr. P.Although "behavior modification" sounds a little scary, the quote is true. We were talking about a teacher that was out in the hall lecturing a student in a loud manner. He told me about a friend that is implementing a card-pull system school wide, and the teachers voted that if a student gets his card pulled, he cannot earn it back. How will that kid react? He certainly isn't going to do anything to be good because it is "the right thing to do." He needs a reason to act appropriately. We will save a discussion about rewarding positive behavior or expecting it for later.Anyone who knows me will agree that I love to make things easy to do. I get so frustrated when circumstances require me to expend more effort than what I need to. Teachers need to remember to not make their jobs harder by the "punishments" they give their students. Take the card pull thing. Let's say you have a kid who just goofs off all the time, and you make him pull a card, and that card means that he has to stay in for recess. You just want to make it to recess, but it will be hard with this kid, so what do you do when he asks if he can earn back the opportunity to go to recess? Do you say (because let's face it, you are frustrated, trying to save face, and want to make him feel the pain he has caused you) "No, you lost your opportunity, so there is nothing you can do for the next hour to get to go out to recess"? Or do you say, "If you do X and Y and behave in Z manner until recess, I will put back the card, and you can go"?With the first option, you will have a kid with you at recess (keep in mind, it is a kid you probably don't want to be around, anyway) and the kid is probably not going to do what he should for the rest of the day. With the second option, however, you will be able to give him specific requirements to be able to go to recess. If he doesn't do what you require, he can't go. If he does, not only does he do X and Y and behaves Z, you also don't have to spend your time with him. You can start fresh after recess.I know there are many teachers that think this is crazy. If I punish a kid, I want him punish. But it is not about punishment. It is about behavior modification. We want that kid to change his behavior. We want him to stop acting inappropriately. If we just punish him with no thought of how to make him change his behavior, nothing will happen.If all we give them is negative responses, all we will get is negative behavior.The above examples are just one way that teachers make their jobs harder. Class behavior systems can make things hard, too. Take these two examples:The first teacher uses a point system in his class. When one student does something good, the teacher tells her to mark it down on her paper where their points are kept. When a student does something wrong, the teacher tells her to take away points. Very simple and straightforward consequence system. It is easy on the teacher because the teacher does not keep track of anything. Can the kids cheat the system with this approach? Sure, but does it matter that much?The second teacher uses a money system. When a student does something good, the teacher gives her money, and takes away money for bathroom passes, bad behavior, etc. It is also simple and straightforward. It is easy on the teacher because he doesn't have to keep track of things, either. But he does have to think about counterfeiting money. Kids will (and do) counterfeit it.Now, either one of these teachers can make their job much harder. If Misha counterfeits the money or adds points he never earned, and the teacher says, "Because you did this, you don't get any more money/points," Misha will probably continue acting poorly because he has nothing to strive towards.If they lose all their money or points for their behavior, they can at least start over. They will have a chance to act better.This whole concept brings me back to a quote that Mr. P. said today in almost the exact way Leigh VandenAkker said it last summer:If you don't have good classroom management, nothing else matters.It is true, if you can't manage your students, you are going to have a hard time teaching them. The real question of the day isHow can I teach that to my faculty?Have a Good Life.

Ginger raised some good points in the comments yesterday. Valid points that I didn't have time to go in to. The truth isI have some students who have become master "negotiators" meaning that they misbehave, get busted, then at the last minute, so as to keep their positive rewards, will change their behavior to what is desirable. So they are in the pattern of misbehaving, making a little change, then still getting rewards.The plan should work for 95% of the kids. These other kids, the "negotiators" need something else. Not an entirely different system, but if the teacher just does a little bit more, she can really affect some change. The kids that are always right on the edge are usually the most frustrating. The point is, changing behavior at the last minute is not enough. If these kids are gaming the system and changing at the last minute, they don't get to have the rewards.This pattern is not healthy for their future decision-making skills. So while I agree, especially for elementary levels, there should not be a "punishment" atmosphere some of your teachers seem to be recommending, that after a point, the "punishment" may need to occur to keep them from getting into the pattern described above.Maybe they get to "re-direct" their own behavior for X times, but after so many of those "re-directs," the kid gets a card pulled for one recess?Or is that just a longer pattern?Great point, Ginger. I think, though, that a longer pattern is closer to no pattern that a short, 2-hour pattern. I think any teacher would rather have a longer pattern than a short pattern. Also, I don't think anyone has the silver bullet to destroy poor behavior. It is a never-ending fight. Just don't send everyone in your class down to the principal's office. Please. Have a Good Life.

I had lunch today at 2:30. As Mr. P. said, there is just not a good time to take a lunch break, and so he got in the habit of not taking one. I need to think about my policy for that when I am an administrator. I don't know yet. Any tips, hints?I called the mom of a boy that got in a fight the other day, and she exploded. She says that her boy is constantly being picked on and nobody ever takes his (or her) side. She is ignored in her complaints and not given any consideration. She yelled and cried and complained and bad-mouthed and threatened and every single thing she could do.I stayed calm, focused on being empathetic and understanding (though she deserved neither) and tried to help her understand she didn't need to get so upset. She came in later and I talked to her again. She got much more emotional and was complaining a lot. She even threatened calling the police! I realize that I should have called her when the actual problem happened, and I should have probed more to find out if there were any witnesses, or maybe even checked the cameras.This woman was being irrational, and I even went so far as to go get a transfer form so she move her kid from this school. I tried very hard to stress that if she felt her kids were not safe here, she was not required to leave them here. She has a son at a different school, and so she can take this child there as well.She talked to her son about what happened before she left, and he told her there were witnesses to what happened, and he was innocent; he was attacked without provocation. I said I would talk to the other students who saw what happened, and go from there. I did. Those boys agreed that this little boy (as I suspected earlier) was making fun of the other boy that attacked him. I am not going to call and tell her that, though. She does not want to hear that. She feels she is being victimized and nobody listens to or trusts her or her son. That makes dealing with her situation very difficult. If she is unwilling to listen to me, or anyone else for that matter, there is not much I can do. She wants to be mad, and she is choosing to do that.That is a very brief summary of all that actually happened. I think that I handled it pretty well. I was empathetic, admitted to no wrong-doing (because I really don't think there has been anything wrong), and helped her feel (I hope) that she was being listened to. Hopefully that is enough.Have a Good Life.

That is all it took today, 35 minutes. In 35 minutes I had been in every classroom except 3 at school, and left every teacher a note about what I liked in their room. Many said thanks. Many said, "That was a bad time to be in my room. We were waiting for the fire drill." True, but I still found some stuff that was worthwhile and worthy of a comment. Can I as a principal give up 35 minutes to informally observe my teachers? Wouldn't that make official evaluations so much better if I am in their rooms more than once a semester?The real question is how do I find the time to be in every room?My answer: I don't think that I need to leave a note in every room, but I think that if I leave a note at least once every couple weeks, it could do some real damage. And I mean good damage. It will help me be more comfortable with them, and it will help them be more comfortable with me.I have noticed, by the way, that people treat me differently now, even though I am just an intern, and have no real power. You know how when you are talking with a person in a position of authority and you are done talking but they are obviously not? Sometimes you wait to be "dismissed" by their words or actions. I have noticed a lot of the teachers do that with Mr. P. when they come into his office. This happens with me a little bit; not much, but enough for me to notice already. Also, I feel like people are more wary of what they say around me, too. Again, not everyone, but it is interesting that I am starting to feel that way after only a week. I have heard many leaders say that leadership is a lonely business. They may be correct.Have a Good Life.

Today, Mr. P. had the day off. I think it was because it was his birthday, and he didn't want the attention. He is that kind of guy. That meant that I was all alone.Here is what I don't get. I talked to this kid this morning about fighting because he got in a little tiff with some boy before school at the bus stop. Then, about 20 minutes later, this same boy gets in a fight on the playground. The kid he got in a fight with has been in fights before now, and he doesn't always think before he acts. Well, bus stop boy was certainly the aggressor in the situation. I sent him home. Any other day that I didn't talk to him 20 minutes earlier, I would have sent the kid with a history home. Why would you do something like that so soon after you had just received a lecture about fighting? I just don't get it. Maybe I am not a good lecturer.And beyond that, when bus stop boy's mom came in to pick him up, she complained about both boys that her son fought with bullying her son. Honestly, that is what I have heard the most of in the people that I have been dealing with. Every time I call a parent, they say, "Well, that kid has been mean to my son all year long!"The problem with kids that get bullied is that they often do not tell adults. And, sadly, when they do, most adults see them as weak, babies, tattletales, or whatever. Many adults don't do anything about it. For good reason. If we took care of every single complaint brought on by a child, we would constantly be tracking down kids for saying some tiny little thing. There is not enough time in the day or (tea in China) to do that. (And, by the way, kids lie.)Dealing with bullies is a tough situation:They don't do anything where adults can seeThey know how to play the game (be good around teachers, and you won't get blamed)They don't leave visible woundsIt is always two-wayIt turns to a battle of he-said she-saidKids lieIf it is not two-way originally, it turns into two-way by the time the story gets to the administrator who has to sort it out.My advice to kids that are bullied is to write things down. I tell them to write down anything mean that another kid does. When someone does something, they need to walk to an adult, stand by them (so they are left alone), and then write down exactly what happened. When they have three things by one person on their list with dates, they have proof that they are being bullied. (I think any teacher would be hard-pressed to ignore a student that had done that much footwork.) If that teacher does not do anything, take the list to another adult anywhere in the building, especially the office.Keeping a record is not an easy concept for kids, but I can't figure out any other way to deal with bullying in a systematic way, and without inciting kids to do all sorts of lying and manipulating to get other kids in trouble. By writing things down, they are committing to a story--a story that is hard to change later.I tell this to every kid, and either the bullying has stopped, or it wasn't really bullying to begin with, or the kids never write anything down, and just bottle it up until they explode.Dang.Have a Good Life.

After spending some time as an administrator, I have decided that I will send kids to the office only if they are harming (or threatening to harm) other students or if I have documented disruptive behavior. Last week a teacher sent down all but 4 kids from her whole entire class. Another teacher sent down a kid that as she said later, she "could have taken care of it in three minutes" but she didn't.The problem is that when kids come to the office because the teacher is so mad he can't stand being in the same room with the student; I don't feel that same frustration. If it is something little, I can't be mad about it. It just doesn't bother me as someone who is removed from the situation. I know how it feels to be frustrated with so much passive-aggressive (or just aggressive) behavior from students. The problem is that the teacher wants the kid out of the class forever, but I can't justify that.The reason that I bolded "documented" above is that if I have documentation from a teacher about what Xander is doing in class every day and I see the interventions the teachers have made to correct his behavior, I can have a lot more feeling and passion behind the disciplinary action I can take. If a kid has been sent out of class and given packets to correct his behavior for many days in a row, and nothing has changed, it makes more sense to send him down.The biggest problem is that all that teacher work takes time and effort. It is hard to be motivated to help misbehaving kids. You just want them out of your sight. It is a fine line I will have to walk.Have a Good Life.

Today I met Mrs. P. She is going to be the new principal after Mr. P. retires. Well, I actually met her for about 38 seconds when I had my first full day at ES. She seems very with it and I am excited to see how she runs the school.This internship is working out better than I had ever thought. I will get to see two really good principals in action. I will get to learn from two really good principals. I will get to see what happens at a school when a new principal comes in (those lessons will come in very handy because I will be a principal at some point, and I need to be somewhat prepared for that). I can put on my critical glasses and view the teachers', secretaries', Mrs. P's, and the students' reactions. I think this will be invaluable to my learning. I have had some great opportunities to stand on my own two feet and this will make my internship even better.Mrs. P. told me that she cares about student learning. She cares about the kids. I remember when I first decided that I wanted to be a principal and I shadowed Mr. Bone in The Burg and he said that before him the principal only focused on the teachers. Before that principal, the focus was only on making the parents happy. Mr. Bone never understood how a principal could focus on anything but the kids. That was his top priority, and that has stuck with me for a long time. It is important. The kids are who we are there for.With a new principal coming, I know that there is going to be some gossiping, some complaining, some "whispered secrets" in dark corners. That is too bad. I don't want that to happen. People need to be open and honest about their feelings and thoughts. In an effort to ease the transition, I have been collecting peoples' thoughts and concerns about getting a new principal. The responses have been interesting. I think some of the faculty still don't trust me, and that is okay, but many of them have been very forthright with their fears. I hope that Mrs. P. will use it as an opportunity to address their concerns and be aware of what they are afraid of. Obviously, it is her school, and she will run it how she wants, but I would think that some advance knowledge would be very good to know. I really think it will make the transition easier. If I have an opportunity, I hope that I can get this kind of input when I am a principal.Have a Good Life.

This article is contributed by Heather Johnson, who regularly writes on the topic of grants for graduate school. She invites your questions and writing job opportunities at her personal email address: heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com.Motivating your students can be the most challenging aspect of your job. The factors why a student isn’t particularly responsive on a given day are vast. You’re not going to have the magic potion to make all your students alert and attentive all the time. This is a fact you’re going to have to live with. However, there are a ton of ways you can try to turn the tide in your classroom. Not all of these will work for you as there is an ebb and flow to your classroom. Here are six tips to consider the next time you feel your class isn’t putting forth an acceptable level of effort:1. Make sure your classroom is comfortable. Sometimes the problem can be as simple as having an uncomfortable environment. Make sure the room temperature is at a level that is comfortable for you and your students. Check the lighting and air circulation. These are details that can often be overlooked but can be the key to maintaining a steady level of attentiveness.2. Pay attention to strengths and weaknesses. Reward students for excellence and work on bringing up their weaknesses. When the student sees that rewards are out there for solid work, they’ll usually take the onus on themselves to strive to strengthen areas that are weak.3. Relevance goes a long way. Come up with ways to make your material that you need to cover relevant to your students’ ages. There are ways you can make the driest material interesting to your students. This is a key you have to strive for when you’re trudging through the mundane.4. Keep moving. When you’re lecturing, move around the room and stay energetic. Even if the material you’re covering isn’t the most exciting stuff your students will pick up on your energy and be more receptive to the material.5. Show, don’t tell. Straight lecturing will bore your students to no end. They need you to give examples when you’re presenting material. Keep the phrase, show don’t tell, in mind when you’re in front of your class.6. Let your sense of humor shine through. Students will connect with you if you can use your sense of humor as a teaching tool. Exhibiting a sense of humor will forge a greater connection between you and your pupils. Don’t be too silly as this can lead to a loss of control of your classroom, but using some wit will make your material not so dry.

"This is my little Utopia," Mrs. P. told me as I toured her school. Later, I asked her if she would be satisfied leaving it if it wasn't a utopia. "Well, probably not!" she replied. I am really glad that I was able to go tour her school. She has a bit of a reputation as someone who will not take a lot of "scruff" from her staff and faculty. I got to see how much of that is true. She seems like any other leader that expects greatness. If you don't want to live up to your full potential, you are not going to be happy working for her.I also got to sit in on her meeting with the principal that is replacing her. That was very interesting because I got to see what she really expected and cared deeply about.Here is what I perceived. First, she cares about what the students are learning. She puts great effort into making sure that each classroom is a safe, comfortable learning environment where learning does happen. No faking it here!Second, she believes in presenting a united front to parents. She is on the teacher's side almost all the time. If it is a problem with the teacher, she will present a united front and then deal with the teacher later.Third, she is in charge of her school. If it has her name on it, she needs to see it. She likes to see everything and know about everything that is going on that will have her approval.These are the three most important things I learned about her leadership style.In the two hours that I was there, not one kid was sent down to the office for discipline issues. Nice.Have a Good Life.

I spent most of my day sounding a blowhorn every 15 minutes for field day. My biggest takeaway is that there needs to be something for kids to do who are not able to attend or get kicked out of field day. Idle hands are the devil's playthings. Kids need something to do with themselves if they are not participating in a school-wide activity. I would suggest cleaning the school since it is close to the end of the year, and cleaning is usually a pretty boring thing to do.Have a Good Life.

Mr. P., in the few moments we had to talk today, mentioned a couple points to remember. He said that one of the most important things I can do to prepare to be a good principal is learn about what a good teacher looks like. Knowing how to identify those qualities will help in hiring, training, retaining, and mentoring.He also reaffirmed my idea that leaving a note is important. Small acts that help teachers know what they are doing well go a very long way. It opens the door to mention things they need to focus on to improve. You build trust that you care about them, and you aren't threatening their job security, but simply letting them know how they can be even better.Have a Good Life.

I thought that since today was the last day Mr. P. was here, I should write my thoughts about what I learned from him.First of all, though, it has to be hard to retire. You put your whole life into something, and then it just vanishes in no time. You walk out the door, and you are no longer a part of that. It is hard.Mr. P. is famous for saying, "All our kids are good kids." He didn't just say that, it was part of his belief system. It was a huge part of his belief system.Part of doing that was always separating the kids from their actions. They would do something that was wrong, and he would say things like, "Mikey, you are a good kid. You wouldn't usually do stuff like this, would you?" I don't know how they felt about it, but I sure felt like he cared about each kid's welfare. He also stressed the importance of letting kids know that you care about them. Many kids don't get that feeling at home, and if they can get it here, it may be the only place. So it is very critical that they feel safe and comfortable here."Give people enough info to make intelligent decisions, then let them decide it." He liked to give people authority to make decisions, and if he gave them enough information, they would usually come to a conclusion that he would have come to as well.He often said that his office was a center of respect. Kids came in to his office and gave him respect. He treated them with respect as well, and if they were not respectful, they didn't belong in his office until they settled down.As one of the teachers was checking out today, he said to Mr. P. "Thanks for being a human principal. You treat us like humans" and seem to understand the delicate balance that must be maintained while you serve all of your publics (your supervisors, teachers, parents, students).There are a lot of people that think they should be served by a principal. It is important to remember that the most vital people to serve as principal are the kids.Have a Good Life.