THE TROUBLE MAKERS

Over the Summer I read a book this entitled "Trouble Makers: Lessons in Freedom from Younger Children at School", written by Carla Shalaby.  She has taken my educational philosophy and placed it on overdrive and underscored the part of education that can NOT be quantified with a grade.

#1 Kids act out out because a basic need is not being met.  Such as attention from an adult, fear, rejection, or because the child is a leader in the class, and does not know the correct way to make their ideas heard.

#2 Relationships count with kids.  Yes, we know this, and it's easy to build a relationships with those "good kids".  But, we MUST build kind, loving relationships with those kids that are difficult. Those kids that drive us CRAZY.  Those kids who are defiant.

#3 - Give kids opportunity to fail, to learn from their failures AND to correct their mistakes.  Sounds easy, but it's not.  Nobody likes failure.  But, I want to build a classroom where kids know that if they are not making mistakes, they are not learning.

From these three points covered in this book, number two will be the most challenging for me.

How about for you - which do you think are the most important or challenging?

Also, don't forget to visit the Social Studies SuperStore to spice up your classroom for elementary, middle and high school Social Studies classes.