41. “Call on all the kids, so they’ll feel like they’re a part of a classroom learning community.”

42.“When they give you a right answer, genuinely praise them.  You want to try to get them to feel good about themselves.”

43.“I try to convince them that they can do it if they try hard enough, so the first thing I work at is getting them to try. Then I try to convince them that their effort will pay off on problems they view as useful outside of the class.”

44.“I have a chart on the wall with all the kids’ names on it.  Whenever they turn in their homework, no matter how inaccurate it may be, they get to put a red star by their name.  If they do it and they get 7 or more out of 10 right, they get to put a blue star by their name.”

45.“I always try to start a lesson with something unexpected.  It keeps the kids interested.”

46.“We’d like you to work with Mr. Z.  The kids think he hates them, and consequently they don’t like him, so they won’t do their work.”

47.“I try to give my kids’ tests back to them the next day.  Immediate feedback rewards the ones who did well.”

48.“I try to do an appropriate amount of group work. Kids will sometimes do more work in groups than by themselves, because the other kids push them along.”

49.“Kids need to succeed on activities that are important to them. If they can’t do the work or if they don’t think the activity is worthwhile, they won’t try.”

50.“I always try to tell the kids why we’re studying the particular topic we’re on.  Even if they don’t quite agree, I think they try harder when I tell them why. ”