Classroom Gem/Concerns with Lavoie

The closest thing I have to a "classroom gem" that works well is what I've seen called the "chorus effect." I tried this over my 2 week practicum and it was fantastic, and I used it in my lesson in John Fawcett's class, and while it's a little pedantic for university students, it was very effective in high school. Basically, you just get the students to all say the answer/phrase/whatever all together, like a chorus. Depending on how much they need to know it, you have them repeat it a couple times. When I tried this with grade 12 students I thought they would just laugh at me, but because I prefaced it with "I know this is a little dorky but..." they were totally fine with it. I found it was an excellent way to get them to all memorize a short, but very important, piece of information really quickly.......and they'll never forget it! I wouldn't recommend using it all the time, but once in a while it can be really effective.

As for the Lavoie video, there was one example he gave that didn't have me totally hooked. When he told the story of having to talk to the teacher who was always late for recess duty, he used the "oreo" or "sandwich" format. Start with something good, mention the stuff that needs to be fixed, then end with something good. He then said that this was a good technique to use with students. Now, I DO agree it's a good technique for using with students when you're working with them in some progressive, longer-term type thing. "Johnny, you're so good at sitting quietly at your desk now! You still need to work on not punching suzie in the face, but I've also noticed you're consistently coming to class on time now. good work" That sort of thing, I'm totally fine with, but I'm not so hot on his idea of using it with an employee.

I know we're not all going to be administrator's and bosses, but I think it's important to note. The teacher was just duffing it with recess, and all he needed to do was tell the teacher he was duffing it. By prefacing it with something good, you're going to set the teacher up to always expect a reprimand when you start with a compliment. I think it's important to compliment and affirm employees, and if you're reporting on someone's progress in an area (as with Johnny's behaviour) then the sandwich/oreo is just fine, but if someone does something wrong that's an isolated behaviour, just reprimand that. Don't degrade a compliment by sandwiching it around a reprimand. Compliments with Compliments. Reprimands with Reprimands. Oreos for progress-based things.

Just a thought. (ps that was something I'd heard from another speaker, it's not my idea but I thought it was a good idea).