Pub. 5 2015-2016 Issue 1

12 M r. Frampton was beat, utterly spent. Despite his best intentions, the first few weeks of school had left him as worn down as a rodeo clown, lasso- ing and dragging the herd to the pen. Because, in fact, that's akin to his classroom reality. Mr. Frampton's students, as a whole, lacked the motivation to go where he was going, to follow where he was leading. So, his only alternative was to saddle up, toss his lasso, and drag them upwards on their path of learning - a challenge to be sure. As you, me, and Mr. Frampton welcome our students back for another year, let's toss our lassos in the dumpsters out back. There is no need for us to drag the unmotivated along as they swerve off course. The extrinsic tactics of coercion, bribes, and wishful pleading pay little dividends in student progress, not to mention teacher longevity. We need an alter- native. We need a tool that builds intrinsic motivation. We need a strategy that transforms our lugging lassos to lighted lines, a relationship cord where we gently tug one end, and the student, holding the other, eagerly follows. If the ultimate goal of a teacher is to create an environment in which students choose the path of success for themselves, a tool to create such an environment is building a relationship with students so they want to follow. They want to succeed. Their relationship of respect and trust with their teacher is such that they are firmly connected, each grasping their end of the cord, enabling a gentle tug and an eager follow. Idealistic? Sure. Doable? Absolutely. How? Quadruple P Interactions. To build individual relationships, a teacher must have individual interactions with students. If a student is treated as just one of the masses, the relationship (or lack thereof) From Lugging Lassos to Cord Construction BY NATHAN CURETON, TEACHER, AUTHOR, TRAINER