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Next February, this blog will be celebrating its ten-year anniversary! Leading up to it, I’m re-starting a series I tried to do in the past called “A Look Back.” Each week, I’ll be re-posting a few of my favorite posts from the past ten years.

You might also be interested in:

 A Look Back: Best Posts From 2007 To 2009 

 A Look Back: 2010’s Best Posts From This Blog

A Look Back: 2011’s Best Posts From This Blog

A Look Back: 2012’s Best Posts From This Blog

I don’t believe teachers ever can really “win” power struggles in the classroom, so in 2013 I wrote a post titled Classroom Management Strategy: “Sometimes The Only Thing Worse Than Losing A Fight Is Winning One.”

Here’s how it begins:

An old community organizing adage goes like this:

“Sometimes the only thing worse than losing a fight is winning one.”

In organizing, that can mean your group gave so much to an issue campaign that you’re left with burnt-out leaders and a hollowed-out organization, or perhaps you burned too many bridges with potential allies along the way (it could mean many other things, too).

I was reminded of this saying when I overheard a teacher commenting that he “never let a student have the last word.”

You might also be interested in The Best Posts On Classroom Management.