Quote Originally Posted by Dîn-Heru View Post
Was this exchange dishonest? I say no, because whilst I do not care, I sure hope she has a merry christmas.
Then we have no disagreement, since you did mean what you said

Quote Originally Posted by Dîn-Heru View Post
As a sidenote:
I do not know if this debate has reached your side of the mountain since it has to the with the implementation of a common set of rules for acceptable behavior for children at school in Bergen. Anyway I would just like to hear what you as a teacher think of one of the issues raised. One of the suggested rules is that the pupils have to greet the teachers and principal when they enter the classroom (I don't remeber if they have to stand up or not, but I imagine that they would have to). One principal described this as cold blast from the past and a form of "carcass disipline" (kadaverdisiplin) that he would not agree to enforce in his school and that the teachers should earn the respect of the pupils before they had to treat the teachers with respect in return. One of the letters to the editor that came in response to this said something I agree with. "When you meet people you should treat them with respect, they then have to work to keep your respect of them" Anyway, I just wondered what your opinion on this is? (I'll dig up links in BT if you like)
Linkys very much appriciated!!

By "greeting the students when they enter the classroom", I assume you mean shaking hands with each one as they enter? If so, then it's a tried and tested trick to ensure that every pupil feels heard and acknowledged, and I am not quite sure why a principal would object to that... I'm doing it myself to great effect. Felt weird the first couple of times, but you get into it quickly. The pro's are that no student will get left behind this way, as you shake hands with, look in the eyes and say hello to every one of them, there's no way for shy pupils to hide. It also eases the transition from the active and playful state to the calmer state needed to learn.

I do, however, object to it if they make it mandatory. People are different, something may work with one teacher in this situation, something else may work for another teacher in a different situation.