What Is and Is Not Fair
According to Michael Linsin, “When you attend to poorly behaved students more often, you’re communicating to them in a subtle but clear way that they’re different, that they don’t have what it takes to control themselves like other students, so they need extra attention.”
So, why exactly do some teachers warn, argue, escalate and interrupt instruction to repetitively lecture more often to misbehaving-prone students or give them more attention than other students? I believe these teachers are doing the very best they know how. Therefore, it’s time to reveal the secret strategy to creating conditions conducive to learning. The solution is to simply treat them just like everyone else. Allow your most challenging students to feel what it’s like to be a regular student.
Michael Linsin states, “To do this, you must follow your classroom management plan to the letter. Stick to it no matter what, and acknowledge your students when they do something well. Stop pulling them aside to explain this or that, stop lecturing or trying to get assurances from them, and stop telling them how wonderful they are because they sat quietly for 15 minutes during a read aloud.”
Simply acknowledge them for the same things you would for any other student. Remember, students have a distinct sense of what is and what is not fair. You must act fairly for all students if you expect to be respected. Make sure that if your best student does something wrong, they too are treated like