Reward rather than Punish

My discipline policy is reward based. I would rather reward and praise good behavior than constantly nag and exasperate myself over misconduct. I believe that at a Secondary level, students should have developed a basic understanding of their interests and areas that they perform best in. I understand that all students will not excel in Language Arts and may lose interest. Behavior problems may develop from lack of interest in the class, a personal dislike for the teacher or issues outside the jurisdiction of my classroom. I will attempt to reward model behavior with appropriate rewards for the current grade level I am teaching. Misconduct will result in losing privileges initially given to the entire class. Punishment will only be used in extreme cases of misbehavior. My classroom will be run as "business casual". I will explain to my students that they will punish themselves by missing knowledge that gains self respect and the respect of others. I plan to set my classroom policies and guidelines at a level that can be easily understood by everyone. I will go over my policies and guidelines thoroughly and post them in the classroom. I will create an environment of mutual respect and I believe this will result in fewer behavior problems in the classroom. Ultimately, if a school rule is broken, I will follow school policies in disciplining the student but minor classroom issues will be handled within my classroom.