I cannot imagine what I would have done if a teacher threw things at a class that I was a part of. As early as 4th grade I know I called teachers out on what I considered unfair behavior, much less dangerous. I absolutely would have marched myself to the office at lunchtime or recess and reported the teacher to the secretary adn my mom would have heard an earful.

The next class after I turned in my first English paper in college, the prof wrote a sentence on the board and asked the class what was wrong with it. Everyone immediately pointed out the problem except for me--I was the one who wrote the sentence originally, and recognized it right away as mine. He never identified the writer, but I got the point: don't ever write that way again.

(I'm really brain dead today, trying to remember the proper grammatical term for my big error. Instead of saying "X did Y," I said "Y was done." What's that--indirect? Subjective? I can't think today!!)

Passive voice.

I'm sure that (as in teaching any subject) different kids will respond to different approaches.

Yes. This.

I guess I'd define good pedagogy as getting through to as many students as possible. When you're teaching to the group, it's sure as hell difficult to modify your teaching style for one student. Not that it shouldn't be done in some circumstances, but it's difficult.

I'm sure my thoughts on this subject will change as Owen heads through primary and into secondary school.

In math class, by the way, not English.

Yes, but her school system teaches cross-cirriculum. They teach writing in math, English in science, etc.

"Y was done."

Passive voice.

t edit flea is so much faster than me!

I ended a sentence in a preposition, didn't I? EAT IT, hard and fast rules!

The next class after I turned in my first English paper in college, the prof wrote a sentence on the board and asked the class what was wrong with it.

That, I've done. I've always warned students that sentences from their essays could end up on the board, though, and that they won't be named.

Passive voice.

The passive voice was used.

Or if you're Yoda and using the passive voice: "Used was the passive voice."

I definitely think it's okay to use an example if you do not name the student and are speaking objectively and not personally. Say "This {example} is not acceptable" as opposed to something like "The person who wrote this is an clearly an idiot." And you have to do it the FIRST time it happens or it will keep happening. I was told when I started teaching that it was good to over-enforce rules in the first few weeks, because that shows kids there ARE rules and once they know that they stop pushing as hard and you can relax more and I found that to be very true.

But with some behaviors, you have to make an example of the student in public--if a kid, for example, says something insulting about another kid, I think it's fine to call that kid out on it right that second in front of the class.