So there's this student of mine. Let's just call him Caesar. He's a great student. He's so smart, and so polite, and he says some of the most amazing things in class. I bet you're wondering...well what's the issue? I'll tell you. Caesar is always late. Always. Well okay, he's late a lot!
He was late so much that I called his mom, and we had a conference. And then he was on time for like two days. And then, you guessed it. He wasn't. He was back to being late.
I told him one day, "Caesar, I hate that you're missing out on so much. When you get here late, you miss the warm up, and then I have to explain it to you, and it would be so much better if you got here on time." I said all these things in my sweet and encouraging teacher voice.
No change.
People. It was time for plan B!
One day, after it was clear Caesar was going to be late again, I told my students, "When Caesar walks through the door, let's surprise him and clap for him, so he knows we are happy to see him."
They did, and it was amazing! Caesar had the biggest smile on his face. After this happened for a few days, I made sure it was okay with him. "Caesar," I said, "I want you to know that we're happy you made it to school today, but if clapping for you makes you feel uncomfortable, we'll totally stop." And with the biggest smile on his face, he told me it was okay.
I have to say that Caesar is still late some of the time, but mostly, he gets to school early, and he is always greeted with applause. And the best part? It's now a tradition that the students have adopted. Whenever anyone is late, we greet them with smiling faces, and you guessed it...a round of applause.
He was late so much that I called his mom, and we had a conference. And then he was on time for like two days. And then, you guessed it. He wasn't. He was back to being late.
I told him one day, "Caesar, I hate that you're missing out on so much. When you get here late, you miss the warm up, and then I have to explain it to you, and it would be so much better if you got here on time." I said all these things in my sweet and encouraging teacher voice.
No change.
People. It was time for plan B!
One day, after it was clear Caesar was going to be late again, I told my students, "When Caesar walks through the door, let's surprise him and clap for him, so he knows we are happy to see him."
They did, and it was amazing! Caesar had the biggest smile on his face. After this happened for a few days, I made sure it was okay with him. "Caesar," I said, "I want you to know that we're happy you made it to school today, but if clapping for you makes you feel uncomfortable, we'll totally stop." And with the biggest smile on his face, he told me it was okay.
I have to say that Caesar is still late some of the time, but mostly, he gets to school early, and he is always greeted with applause. And the best part? It's now a tradition that the students have adopted. Whenever anyone is late, we greet them with smiling faces, and you guessed it...a round of applause.
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