Love and Logic

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Home : 2005 : May : 15

Love and Logic
By jamie

This is the kind of kid that Love and Logic works great for in the classroom. It takes the tension away by offering the student lots of choices without giving up the outcome that you desire.

Next time you want him to
do something, don't ask! Tell him (for example), "I'll need your work area cleaned up before you go to recess." This gives him the choice about when it gets done, but the message is clear that the expectation is there. Same thing with his work: "You can finish your work now, or I'd be happy to help you at recess time."
I have a student like this too, and I've found that if I

make a firm request and then walk away from him, he can't draw me into his behavior. Unless they are threatening or blatently disrespectful, I'd ignore the glares and mumbles. This kind of behavior usually happens when a child has had issues with adults in the past, and is his way of trying to control his own world. My student who does this was abandoned by his mother and was being raised by his stepfather, and he has enormous amount of anger about it. When he realized that I wasn't going to force him to do anything but that my expectations were clear, he eventually came around, and now I have very little trouble with him.

Good luck! It's hard at this time in the year, but you can do it!