20 Techniques to Detour Around the Danger Zones: #15 Accentuate the Positive

I am a trainer for The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. During that workshop, a concept is taught called the emotional bank account. The emotional bank account is a metaphor for the relationships we establish with one another. We make deposits (positive interactions) and withdrawals (negative interactions) in other people’s emotional bank accounts. Continue Reading…

20 Techniques to Detour Around the Danger Zones: #14 Teach Your Rituals

In every school, there are teachers who very effectively manage students. At first, it was thought that those teachers had some big bag of tricks that other teachers didn’t have, which helped them to know just what to do in various situations. What the research is telling us is that effective classroom managers spend an inordinate amount of their time during the first few days and weeks of school establishing their expectations and procedures, in other words, their rituals. Continue Reading…