I loved the part of the article that talked about assertive discipline. I think as future teachers, one of our biggest, or at least one of my biggest worries is how am I going to control my students? After observing for the past two semesters I’ve seen many approaches that work, and many more that don’t. I think to control your classroom well, you need to have some knowledge of child/adolescent psychology. Many times students act out because they’re dealing with a personal issue, which could be something as silly as having their crush circle “no” on a “do you like me” note. To know how to discipline, you have to know your students. I found the “writing a students name on the board” pretty hysterical. Some students may thrive for that, because it gives them attention, and if attention is what they want, then you as the teacher have succeeded in giving that to them, therefore reinforcing their bad behavior. I’ve observed some teachers who want to have such a tight grasp on their students, which the students end up resenting the teacher and misbehaving even more. As teachers we need to gain the trust of our students; we need to make them feel like what ever is going on in their lives is just as important as what’s going on in our lives. Having a well behave class, in my opinion, comes down to what kind of relationship you have with your students; if you have a good relationship the number of behavior issues will be less. If you have a bad relationship with your students, well, good luck.
