Ain't teaching great!

Had a funny, if not, draining day today. I have one student who is the most awkward of blighters that you could ever wish to meet. He refuses to do what I ask of him. Fair enough I say,
'what do you want to do then?'

'I don't know?' he replies.

Giving choices is often a nightmare in my experience. Just bloody give the students a challenge to do and tell them they have to do it.
Or a more clever strategy is to twist the task to suit their need without them making the connection. That's exactly what I did today. This student vehemently didn't want to write a letter. No way. Hate it.
But lo and behold when I asked him to send a letter to the prison he used to be in...what does he do? Write the fucker!!
Happiness and joy all around. I motivated him. I encouraged him. I nearly killed him but we negotiated, we agreed and a happy ending after all. He smiled for the rest of the day. We finished on a good footing.
At the end of the day, teaching should be about negotiation. About finding a common ground between teacher and student. Only then, I believe will you have a good relationship with your students.