Assignment for 5060

1. Building Character & Trust
Leslin Ossoff
November 16, 2014
MAE 5060: Strategies for the 21st Century Classroom

2. Building Character and Trust
The importance of building character and trust in students goes
beyond just the one class that the teacher might have with them.
Students will feel safe in that classroom, and the teacher might
actually care about they are doing in that class. Doug Lemov has
different techniques to help with this. This presentation will go
over three of them; Precise Praise, the J – Factor and Explain
Everything.

3. Precise Praise
 Technique 44 (Lemov, 2010).
 Experts say that it should happen three times as often as
correction.
 Lemov has guidelines that should be followed when using
positive praise.
 Differentiate acknowledgement and praise.
 Praise and acknowledge loud; fix soft.
 Praise must be genuine.

4. Precise Praise cont.
 Differentiate acknowledgement and praise
 Praise when the exceptional has been achieved
 Acknowledge when expectations have been met
 To let the student know that they met the expectations, let them
know, “You did just what I asked, thank you,” (Lemov, 2010).
 Also letting a student know that they have done something that
they should be doing all along, like brining their textbook to class.

5. Precise Praise cont.
 Praise and acknowledge loud; fix soft.
 Sometimes just whispering, or giving a glace to a student to let
them know to get on task is better than actual communication; it
allows them to self correct.
 Praise must be genuine
 Students sometimes see praise as an indication that their work is
not good enough (Lemov, 2010).
 Do not praise if it is just to make the student feel better.

6. The J – Factor
 Find the joy in work and learning.
 The key is to not just have a happy classroom, but to have a
high achieving classroom too.
 There are five categories of J – Factor activites that can used
in the classroom
 Fun and games
 Us and them
 Drama, song and dance
 Humor
 Suspense and surprise

7. The J - Factor
 Fun and games
 Activities that draw on kids’ love for challenges, competition and
play
 Activities could include spelling bees and around the world
 Us and them
 Make students feel like they belong
 An example of this includes developing secret signals or a song
that belong just to that class.

8. The J - Factor
 Drama, song and dance
 Movement and music can help students remember things, and also allows them
to be active during class
 Take for example learning a Spanish jingle that one might allows remember.
 Humor
 Laughter is the best medicine.
 It allows the teacher to build an environment of happy and fulfilled students
 Examples could include songs or having inside jokes
 Suspense and surprise
 Classrooms need routine, but it is also okay to mix it up
 Examples include changing the schedule or even the seating arrangement

9. Explain Everything
 Students understand the dynamics of personal and group
accountability.
 Know the logic behind the rules and expectations designed for
their betterment
 The teacher knows when to keep the students on task, “I
would love to talk more about this, but we need to stay on
task,” (Lemov, 2010).

10. References
Lemov, D. (2010). Teach Like a Champion: 40 Techniques
that Put Students on the Path to College. Jossey
Bass: San Francisco.