ABOUT THE STRATEGY
Teachers are not emotionless human beings, they have many different sides to them and there is nothing wrong with showing multiple sides to students. This strategy teaches ways that you can be kind and compassionate towards your students while also being inflexible and strict in certain classroom situations. As a teacher just being one or the other is not good enough.
Ways to correctly execute this strategy include:
Giving reasons to your students as to why you are doing what you are
Explaining allows the students to know why certain things happen in the classroom. For example if two students are talking during a silent reading time, instead of just shushing them approach them and say something along the lines of "please don't whisper during silent reading because it's disruptive to the other students who are trying to focus on their books." This gives them an understanding of why they need to be quiet at this time.
Don't equate a student's behavior to who they are
When addressing a student who is misbehaving instead of telling them they are a poor student tell them that their current behavior is not appropriate. For example if Aaron is being unkind to another student instead of saying "Aaron you're impolite!" say something along the lines of "Aaron you're behavior is impolite right now but I know you can change it." Calling out the student's behavior instead of the student gives them reason to change instead of reason to believe they are a bad kid.
Don't just rely on verbal behavior
Warm behavior can be verbal as well as nonverbal. Something like putting your arm on a student's shoulder or arm is an appropriate way to provide comfort. For example, if a student did better on an assignment than usual pat them on the shoulder when telling them good job. This extra bit of warmness could really make a student feel proud and encourage them to work harder.
Ways to correctly execute this strategy include:
Giving reasons to your students as to why you are doing what you are
Explaining allows the students to know why certain things happen in the classroom. For example if two students are talking during a silent reading time, instead of just shushing them approach them and say something along the lines of "please don't whisper during silent reading because it's disruptive to the other students who are trying to focus on their books." This gives them an understanding of why they need to be quiet at this time.
Don't equate a student's behavior to who they are
When addressing a student who is misbehaving instead of telling them they are a poor student tell them that their current behavior is not appropriate. For example if Aaron is being unkind to another student instead of saying "Aaron you're impolite!" say something along the lines of "Aaron you're behavior is impolite right now but I know you can change it." Calling out the student's behavior instead of the student gives them reason to change instead of reason to believe they are a bad kid.
Don't just rely on verbal behavior
Warm behavior can be verbal as well as nonverbal. Something like putting your arm on a student's shoulder or arm is an appropriate way to provide comfort. For example, if a student did better on an assignment than usual pat them on the shoulder when telling them good job. This extra bit of warmness could really make a student feel proud and encourage them to work harder.
Why this is a working strategy
There are different type of teachers that you can be. These types follow a similar scale of types of parents that one can be. The scale has four categories, high demands, low demands, low involvement/warmth, and high involvement/warmth. Each category can fall into two of the categories. For example a permissive parent/teacher falls in the low demands and high involvement/warmth category. This means that the adult doesn't really expect much from the child and will let them do whatever they want without much punishment. As a teacher this is not how a classroom should be run. The best type of teacher to be is authoritative. An authoritative adult falls into the high demands and high involvement/warmth categories. This means that the adult expects a lot from the child but is also highly involved and encouraging in the child's life. They are there to challenge the child and encourage them along the way. With the warm/strict strategy a teacher can do just that. They can be there for the student when they need to but also hold them to high standards of behavior and grades. This means the teacher is not always trying to be the student's friend, which would be too permissive but they are not constantly demanding from the student with little warmth. When used correctly this technique allows the teacher to be the perfect type of adult that a student needs in their life.
this strategy in my classroom
I want to teach young elementary school kids so incorporating this strategy in my classroom means that I need to be able to challenge and encourage children of a young age, which can be harder than older kids. If a child is struggling I want to be able to assure them that I believe in them but also tell them I know they can do better. This is when things like pats on the back or arms around the shoulder come in to play. This allows the child to know I support them even if I am telling them that they need to try harder. I want to be a teacher that can motivate children through all types of techniques. Mostly I want my students to look up to me and be motivated to work hard because they want to do well in class.