My Students 
NO HE WAS NOT ONE OF MINE!
Now I did over 20 years pretending to be a Teacher in the Los Angeles County Juvenile Hall Court Schools. So I first want to thank everyone there for putting up with me!
As for me. It was the Best Job that I ever had and I had a lot of fun there. I do not know if I taught my “Kids” anything. But they did not kill me either. So that’s fair, I guess! (I have been retired now for almost 10 years now.)
This was my District map by the way. It’s almost the same size as Rhode Island. So you really need a car for this job!
But enough of that now. Let us move on to the meat of the subject. Now my Students were a mixed bunch mostly. But the majority of them were from (SURPRISE!) the Inner City of Los Angeles.
The majority of them were either Hispanic or Black with a few other odds & sods. Yeah I know it’s a very Un PC description!
Most of whom come from broken homes, single moms or other dysfunctional groups. (Gangs)
Yep that’s my Good / Really Bad Boys / Students. Funny that I actually miss them somewhat. 
Crazy huh? But let us move on.
Okay! Moving smartly right along. Here is some things that I learned and put into my Teacher’s bag of tricks. Maybe they might help you some day. Most of it is really just common sense.
The most important thing to remember is that they are Human Beings! They were not dropped off from a Spaceship. But sometimes I wonder!
If you show your students respect. Amazingly you get it back from them. DUH!
I do not know why it is. But a lot of Folks think that yelling at somebody is considered talking to them. 
I also found that working one on one with my thugs worked best.
How how in the Hell do you do this, You ask? Well I give each student an assignment.
Then while they are working on it. I call each one up and “Grill Them on what they are doing”. Especially when you use the Socratic Method on them I.E. Endless questions.
Then if they are fairly close to the right answer. Give them a little praise and then say stuff like this. “I just knew that you weren’t stupid. I do not care what the School Office said about you!”
(This creates a sense of us versus them mentality)
I would also give them a grade for their performance. Which helped cut down my after school grading /workload. Hey I want to have a life after class too!
I shall post some more stuff later on! But I now want to take my Lovely Wife out for breakfast!
Grumpy