If you are passionate with your students, it creates a relationship with each of them.  If you focus on the good in the students and communicate that, they will see you as a "nice guy" and you'll be more like friends than teacher and student. 

1. In what ways do you see Mr. Van Dyck connecting with individual students?
2. What personal experiences can you draw upon to better understand your students?
3. How does focusing on one positive element discourage negative behaviors?

Mr. Van Dyck connects with his students by creating an enviroment that encourages good behavor rather than discouraging bad behavor. Mr. Van Dyck focus on postive attributes from each studned to foster a postive relationship. Lastly Mr. van Dyck teaches with passion and enthusiasm to promote intrest from his students.

Personal experiences are great ways to relate and understand your studnets. I can think back to my Highschool days and be able to identify several characteristics of behaviors that you can see today. This give me a sense of understanding and patiences, a starting point to identify behavoirs promot or change. 

Like I mentioned before, its more effective to promote postive behavoirs than it is to discourage negative ones. By engouraging and rewarding behaviors you want in your classroom, you create an postive environment. 

I see him connecting with the students as he is making his way around the room by the conversations he is having with them. Some are about the class but it sounds like he is also taking on a more personal level. He lets them know that he is truly interested in what they think.

Mr. Van Dyck has empathized with his students.  He personalizes his relationship with each student to make that student feel special and the connection is to show he has a real passion for his students and the subject that he teaches.

I believe that the more to talk to your students about unrelated things, the more they will let you in their world.

The student who always speaks out of turn, walks around the room and cracks jokes is the student you want to give them a chance to get the behavior expectation right before you discipline them.  A warning will work if it is heeded to, but if not, you explain to the student, you don't want to discipline them but you will because you need order in your classroom.  He/She doesn't like to be the outcast, so they will refrain from acting out in your classroom.

Mr. Van Dyck connects with his students on an individual basis.  He stated that he works hard to find at least one good thing about the child and something that interests them.  I think we have all had difficult students that we find it more struggling to reach or accept their behavior.  I can see that focusing on one positive aspect of a student rather than noticing the negative aspects will help me make a connection.  It will be through these connections that will increase the effectiveness in the classroom.  He stated that when we focus on one positive thing about the child, negative behaviors will often disappear.