Connection

Students can be unpredictable.  I once had a student that...the more you pushed him to do well, he did the opposite.  He pushed back so hard at the pressure of doing what was expected that he ended up getting in trouble in all of his classes. 

From here, he was put on a special program that monitored his behaviors.  A list of steps of intervention was included.  The problem- the interventions made him angry, act out, and his academic performance fell.  The harder staff pushed, the harder he pushed back.

His parents were caught in the same spiral.  The school staff and his parents were at a loss.

Instead of following the program, I decided to simply show his positive attention.  I completely ignored the negative behaviors according to the plan and did my best to help isolate his behaviors from bothering his peers.

The result...Connection and better behaviors.

He was no angel...ever.  But- he was manageable and able to do an amount of work that I was not able to get out of him under his plan.

Maybe this isn't the approach to take with all kids, but the kids that are pushing back are often really trying to communicate that they need the connection and caring...love...a relationship.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites