So in this blog, I wanted to write about some of the key points I took away from the last day and share them all with you and for my future self because I most likely will forget everything.

Highlights of the last day:
1) Pick your battles...I think this means to really focus on what is important for you and for your student. If you choose to pick on everything, I personally think students will loose respect for you because everything annoys and or irritates you which demonstrates that you cannot control your own emotions well. I think also that when you pick your battles well, students will more likely adhere to the rules that you do have in place because you will most likely have a select few important rules.

2) Give time for your students to cool off...give them an OUT
So this point seemed quite interesting to me especially because of the context V put it in. You want to use the "send the kid down to the office" as a last resort because if you do it right away, you will have no other things left to use on the student when they come back or do the same thing again. So the idea I think is to give them warnings, so for instance, a look, a tap, a conversation and finally when nothing else works, then the office.

3) Don't give them only one choice (ex. apologise now to me or so and so will happen)
I think this applies to anything in life when someone bothers you or is giving you a hard time. Ultimatums are never a good option and should never be used in any situation. If a compromise cannot be reached, well maybe you aren't trying hard enough, or being creative enough. I found that in my own personal experience, I tend to use ultimatums when I am beyond livid and I feel like it has to be my way NOW! so being mindful of when you start to feel that rage of emotion get to the point where you might thrown out an ultimatum and use techniques to soften or lower that.

4) Don't give them feedback in front of their peers.

Conversing with parents:
#1: Don't go into the conversation with judgement, go in with a mindset of "how can we make the situation better?". I think realising that parents are sending you the best thing they have each and everyday as V pointed out is extremely important to be cognisant of. It also ties in with the fact that each and every person is being the best version they believe they can be. No one wakes up and lives life thinking I am going to be the worst version of myself just for the heck of it. People put the best they have everyday given their circumstance and situation.

Some cool quotes I liked were"

"Don't let perfection be the enemy of action"
"An engaged student is a managed student"

Thanks again V for an awesome 3 weeks! Truly had a blast in your class and won't ever forget the experience!