Punitive power is the weakest form of leadership along with the teachers that reveal their lack of self-confidence in exhorting such tactics. An enriching climate is imperative for the students that do not receive this at home. I cringe to remember my former classmates begging for attention and receiving the same screams of frusteration that they must have at home. I believe that it is highly important for a teacher to understand her students as much as she or he grasps her or his subject area. Someone brimming with intellect and worldly knowledge means so very little to me if they cannot share it with others in an effective fashion.
Creativity is the root of productivity with our teenage youth.
Monotony is easily encountered for this technologically advanced generation of dependents. A teacher must be willing to accept that this generation is different from the previous and new strategies will indefinitely become a necessity. A teacher that denies the changing times will find their classroom flooding with drool from sleeping students. Incorporate computers, television programs, the music on the radio, anything to meet these students in the middle of the river. I have learned that if you are willing to relinquish your own perception of their perfection, they will fly miles beyond what you have expected.