He once gave me my most valuable tool for working with students.
I saw him working in a classroom ith some 'challenging' students and he had them completely engrossed with this competition thing. If they did well, he'd add points to a total on the board, if they did poorly or misbehave he'd take them away.
And these kids were INTO it! Each addition of points was met with a cheer or high five and the substraction of points seemed like a real physical wound.
After watching for this for a few minutes, I thought I wanted to use it with my own students and asked him what the points were redeemed for.
"I have no idea" He said, "They're just 'points'."
Congrats to Rick! Sounds like a school will miss him. Mrs. Doohickie is a school teacher too, and I've heard her speak of similar methods. She had it easy though: She didn't start teaching until she was in her 40s. By then she had raised two boys into their teens. The kids in her classroom were dealing with a pro.
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