There hs been much written on the forum concerning deteriorating student behaviour. Poor self esteem is often cited as the cause. Students with poor self esteem frequently feel they cannot do things and behave in such a way that adults give all their attention to the behaviour while students are distracted from the set task or lesson outcome.

If children live with criticsm they learn to condemn.
If children live with approval they learn to like themselves.

As teachers do we find enough things to 'catch our students being good at ?' Are we careful enough in the way we treat our students ?

At our last parents' evening I had a couple who had obviously had a traumatic evening because of the poor behaviour (which is immature rather than malicious) of their child.

I was able to talk at some length about his ability with computers. He acquired most of his skills with computer games and in internet chat rooms but he is very enthusiastic and willing to help other pupils. I was also keen to have his parents taking an interest in what he is getting up to on the internet at home.

The point of this anecdote, apart from proving I can take Anne's advice, is that there are pupils who have skills outside the curriculum which we ought to be able to build on.

Cyberspace
The final frontier...
Our five year mission...etc