When I see teachers trying to be friends rather than teachers I think the lessons are lost as is the respect. When we walk into the class we are authority’s (even if we have to fake it) we must appear as if we are on a mission, not there for no damn good reason, but for purpose. I have seen teachers make light of serious situations to avoid conflict, only to have to revisit the same scenario the next day. No go on the buddy factor!
I think it depends on the teacher. There are many different styles of classroom management and I think the one that works the best is the one that fits your personality the best. My husband and I work with youth outside of the school setting. Many of the kids call me by my first name outside of the school setting and we have friendly (but not friends) relationships with them. I've been researching different styles of classroom management that reflect my personality type more than the ones we've been reading in our texts. There is some interesting research out there about having relationships with the students. I left a long commentary about it on Laurie's blog and I'll try to post one of the papers I've been reading on my blog. You might find it interesting... :+)
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